KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan police killed a Taliban terrorist militant alleged to be behind the July kidnappings of 23 South Korean church workers, authorities said Tuesday. Up to 27 other terrorists insurgents were also slain, while separate suicide attacks killed three police officers.
Mullah Mateen was among 16 terrorists militants killed in fighting late Monday and early Tuesday in Ghazni province, where the South Koreans were kidnapped, said Ghazni Deputy Gov. Kazim Allayar. Allayar said Mateen played a key role in the kidnapping, including negotiating with the government in the early days of the kidnappings, which underscored the security problems facing Afghanistan at a time of surging Taliban violence.
He said another Taliban terrorist leader wanted over the kidnappings, Mullah Abdullah Jan, remained at large.
A Taliban terrorist spokesman said he was not able to comment on the claim of Mateen's death, which a senior police official also made.
Earlier, the U.S.led-coalition said in a statement its troops, along with Afghan forces, killed "several" terrorists militants overnight in the same part of Ghazni where Allayer said Mateen and the 15 others was killed. The statement made no mention of Mateen and it was not immediately clear whether it was referring to the same battle.
#1
I hope this report turns out to be true and accurate. If so, the talabunnie didn't get the chance to spend his cut of the ransom money. Hehehe.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
09/04/2007 8:16 Comments ||
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#2
Great news. Now they need to kill the families of those terrorists as a price for the Korean hostages that didn't make it alive. Disproportionate response to this crap will save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in the long run.
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
09/04/2007 8:18 Comments ||
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#3
Now they need to kill the families of those terrorists invade and occupy "saudi" arabia as a price for the Korean hostages that didn't make it alive.
#4
They were tortured first by American military criminals!
Why weren't Lawyers provided for the poor native Talibans?
Vote for Shrillary!
Posted by: Time Inc ||
09/04/2007 12:04 Comments ||
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#5
Now they need to kill the families of those terrorists as a price for the Korean hostages that didn't make it alive. Disproportionate response to this crap will save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in the long run.
I don't know if killing the terrorist family of a terrorist could be called "disproportionate", but it may be the best we could do. Maybe they could all be blinded and sold as $ex slaves or something.
Twin roadside bombs killed seven Afghan security personnel in the east of the country, while insurgents destroyed a convoy of trucks ferrying supplies for NATO-led troops, officials said Monday. According to AP, the blasts in Kunar province on Sunday destroyed two vehicles, killing four intelligence officers, one policeman and two private security guards, said Ajmal Mukhtar, a spokesman for the provincial governor. According to AFP, six people were killed, who were all Afghan militia fighters hired by US-led forces in the fight against the Taliban. Kunar province lies near the border with Pakistan which is why it is and is believed to be a stronghold of the Taliban.
Also Sunday, AP reported that militants attacked a 12-truck convoy carrying supplies for NATO-led troops in southern Zabul province, destroying all the vehicles and sparking a gunbattle that left one of the attackers dead, said Jailani Khan, a police official. However, AFP said the convoy had been consisted of some 50 trucks and 16 vehicles had been torched.
Also on Monday, Reuters reported that a Taliban spokesman warned that the militants planned to abduct and kill more nationals from foreign countries whose troops serve under NATO and the US military in Afghanistan. The vow comes just days after the Taliban released 19 South Korean hostages after their government struck a deal that critics said sets a dangerous precedent that could spur more kidnappings and make life even more dangerous for foreigners. We consider it [kidnapping] as an arm that can help us in imparting a blow to the enemy, Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location. Yousuf, one of two Taliban spokesmen, said the group would not target nationals from foreign countries who have no troops in Afghanistan.
This article starring:
Ajmal Mukhtar, a spokesman for the provincial governor
Jailani Khan, a police official
QARI MOHAMAD YUSUF
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The Democratic Republic of Congo has used a helicopter gunship for the first time in the fighting against rebels in the east of the country.
A Congolese general told the BBC that the bodies of 80 rebel fighters had been found but this has not been independently confirmed.
The clashes are continuing in two parts of North Kivu province, including in a park inhabited by mountain gorillas. Some 170,000 people have fled the area this year, says the UN refugee agency.
The air strike by the Mi-24 gunship took place some 80km (50 miles) west of the regional capital, Goma, Colonel Delphin Kahimbi told the BBC. "There was heavy fighting near Karuba. We deployed an attack helicopter to back our ground troops," he told the AFP news agency.
A Congolese general also said there was fighting near Sake, about 40km (25 miles) west of Goma, where fighting broke out last week. The army says that 180 rebel fighters have now been killed in recent days...
Gen Nkunda's forces are believed to have moved into the park in pursuit of Rwandan Hutu rebels, who have bases there. Officials from local conservation group, Wildlife Direct, say the forces looted weapons and communication equipment from Jomba and Bikenge ranger patrol posts within the park. A third post, Bukima, was evacuated for fear of imminent attack, the group said.
Gen Nkunda, a Tutsi, has accused the government of forming an alliance against him with the Hutu FDLR, accused of involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide of Tutsis. After Tutsis took control in Rwanda, they crossed the border into eastern DR Congo. Over the weekend, Gen Nkunda told the BBC there was a "state of war" in North Kivu.
The United Nations says up to 10,000 people have fled the latest fighting into Uganda.
The UN refugee agency says it is organising shelter for those who fled the violence Monday night and wish to stay on the Ugandan side of the frontier.
Following a visit by Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande to Kinshasa, DR Congo has promised to increase its operations against the FDLR.
Rwanda has twice invaded its large neighbour, saying it is trying to stop the FDLR from attacking its territory.
BBC Kinshasa correspondent Arnaud Zajtman says that the two countries are still divided by the same issues which have divided them for years - DR Congo wants Rwanda to reign in Tutsi fighters, such as Gen Nkunda, while Rwanda wants DR Congo to stop the activities of the Hutu rebels, known as the FDLR.
Last month, Rwanda protested against DR Congo's move to call off an offensive against the FDLR.
Mr Murigande and his Congolese counterpart Mbusa Nyamwisi also asked the UN to intensify patrols in the east of the country where fighting is raging.
The UN has some 17,000 peacekeepers in DR Congo - the largest such force in the world and has sent an extra 200 troops to the region after the latest fighting.
Our reporter says the ministers have also agreed to form a commission to ensure that Congolese ethnic Tutsis who are refugees in Rwanda are repatriated.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
09/04/2007 10:23 ||
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#1
Well certainly they are not in the hands of the "useful idiot" that was interviewed on the news segment video attached to the article. Lawyers are getting our guys killed disproportionally in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Australia they are protecting the terrorists masquerading as protestors for APEC. However, the news guy and his comely companion, are much more skeptical of these sorts than the American variety of talking head.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/04/2007 15:39 Comments ||
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Danish police have arrested eight people with alleged links to al-Qaeda on suspicion of planning a bomb attack. The eight suspects arrested late on Monday in Copenhagen form part of a terror cell with links to a senior al-Qaeda figure, police said.
The suspects, aged between 19 and 29, were of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin, police said.
The suspects, aged between 19 and 29, were of Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin, police said. Denmark's contribution to the US-led military campaign in Iraq has prompted fears that terrorists may target it.
of course!
The country also drew anger from Muslims worldwide after a Danish newspaper last year printed cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
oh, yeah, that ... and don't forget all those hams they sell
Eleven addresses were raided in Copenhagen during the overnight police operation, police said. Buildings in the city's southern suburb of Ishoej and its Noerrebro district - both with large immigrant populations - were among those cordoned off by police. The suspects held on Monday had been under surveillance for some time, police said. Six of them are reportedly Danish citizens. "With the arrests, we have prevented a terror attack," Jakob Scharf, an official from the Danish police intelligence agency said. "They also have been producing an unstable explosive in a densely populated area," Mr Scharf said.
He gave no details of what might have been the intended target of the alleged bombers.
Danish security services have conducted two major raids on suspected terrorists since 2005. In February, a court sentenced a Danish citizen of Palestinian origin for involvement in a plan to blow up a European target. Another three defendants in the trial were acquitted. One of them is awaiting a retrial. And four men arrested last year in the city of Odense are due to go on trial on Wednesday on suspicion of planning terror attacks.
This article starring:
Jakob Scharf, an official from the Danish police intelligence agency
Posted by: lotp ||
09/04/2007 08:31 ||
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COPENHAGEN (Rooters) - Danish police on Tuesday arrested eight young Muslims they said were plotting a terrorist attack and had ties to al Qaeda. "These are militant Islamists with connections to high-ranking members of al Qaeda," Jakob Scharf, director of the Danish police's Security Intelligence Service, told a news conference in Copenhagen.
"Our investigation has shown that some of the suspects had acquired materials to make explosives."
He declined to comment on the target of the attack and which country it was planned for. Scharf said police believed they had foiled an act of terror with the arrests, which came after several months of surveillance. "Our investigation has shown that some of the suspects had acquired materials to make explosives," he said, but declined to say whether explosives had been found.
The Muslims, who ranged from 19 to 29 years old, came from Afghan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish backgrounds. Six were Danish citizens, Scharf said. He added that the eight suspects had been arrested under Denmark's anti-terrorism laws passed after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
This article starring:
Jakob Scharf, director of the Danish police's Security Intelligence Service
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
09/04/2007 08:24 ||
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#1
He declined to comment on the target of the attack and which country it was planned for.
On August 31, 2007, the Islamist website www.ekhlaas.cc, hosted by SiteGenie LLC in Rochester, Minnesota, posted a document calling for "martyrdom [i.e., suicide] operations" in Denmark. The author, who identified himself as a member of Al-Qaeda, urged the Muslims not to forget the incident of the Danish cartoons, and promised the people of Denmark that the "brigades of martyrdom seekers are on their way... and will soon carry out blessed operations" in their country. He called on the Muslims to register on the site as candidates for these suicide operations.
#2
Funny how they mention cartoons in that excerpt and yet forgot to blame Haliburton and Bush's poodle Tony Bliar. Someone must have forgot to send al Qaeda the memo.
What a bunch of medieval ignoramuses. Can we just martyr them wholesale in their mosques and madrassas right now? Spare the cafe diners and bus passengers in our own country?
I wonder is Denmark administers a loyalty oath to people becoming citizens. If not, they should, then have a muslim ask for a Fatwa on whether you should lie on your loyalty oath. Wait for the affirmative answer.
#6
mhw, it doesn't matter what they say. A Muslim can say anything that will help advance Islam. "Truth", "lie" - it doesn't matter.
Rambler, that was mhw's point. Wait until the imam issues a fatwa declaring that it is all right to lie when taking a loyalty oath. That would tend to make the Danes a wee bit peevish.
That Islam awards itself this incredibly unfair advantage of church sanctioned deceit and perfidy is what makes Muslims intolerable in modern society. There many other undesirable aspects to Islam but taqiyya and kitman represent an insurmountable barrier to any trust whatsoever. This renders Islam a threat at all times no matter the situation. The West has yet to understand this by even 1%.
1. The Little Mermaid
2. The Carlsberg Brewery
3. Danish Crown Pork Processing Plant in Horsen
4. Tivoli Gardens
5. The "red light" district of Copenhagen
6. Victor Borge's Piano
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/04/2007 15:49 Comments ||
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#9
Victor Borge's Piano
Is nothing sacred!?!
My Danish grandmother used to go see Victor back when he performed in Copenhagen under his real name, Borge Rosenbaum. The Nazi occupation of Denmark provided Borge with an abundant supply of material for his comedy sketches until certain chaps in brown shirts made it quite clear thatshould he keep skewering the Third Reicha lampshade figured prominently in his future.
Denmark's loss was our gain and Borge went on to have the longest running one-man comedy show in all of Broadway's history. One of Borge's jokes about the piano:
Here I am in the airport and this nice fellow in line before me says to his wife, "I wish we had the piano here". I'm thinking to myself, 'How wonderful that this man recognizes who I am and wants all of us to enjoy some of my music.' The man's wife turns to him and asks, "Why do you want the piano, dear?" He replies, "Because our airline tickets are sitting on it."
And another:
"The people at Steinway have asked me to inform you that this is a Baldwin piano!"
Contrary to popular belief that Borge hammed it up on piano because he could not play a piece all the way through, he was in fact a superb concert pianist of international stature.
Many years before my grandmother's death, my sweetheart and I took her to see Victor Borge one more time. As an ardent fan of classical music, never have I enjoyed hearing it mutilated so skillfully. Truly, he was and forever shall be Denmark's "Clown Prince".
#10
Where is the outrage? These were just peaceful Danes going about their business. They were under surveillance, their rights being trampled. Next those evil Danes will open up a prison for enemy combatants and go to war with no justification whatsoever.
Eleven Islamist prison inmates, including two charged with participating in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, have launched a hunger strike in Spain, sources from the prison administration said Monday. The six Moroccans, four Algerians and one Turkish national were held in three prisons in the eastern Valencia region.
El-Haski earlier participated in another hunger strike by 14 Madrid bombings suspects. The strike ended after less than two weeks.
The strikers included Moroccans Hassan el-Haski and Otman el- Gnaoui, who face jail terms of up to 39,000 years each for involvement in the train bombings that killed 191 people. El-Haski earlier participated in another hunger strike by 14 Madrid bombings suspects. The strike ended after less than two weeks. Others taking part in the new hunger strike included Algerian Abdelkrim Bensmail, who is suspected of involvement in a plot to blow up Madrid's National Court. The strikers, who launched their protest on Saturday, said they were innocent.
"Ask anyone!"
Prison sources described hunger strikes as common attempts by inmates to attract attention, and said the strikers' health would be monitored.
#2
Anyone who has been in a European train station, would be well aware that they are totally blanketed with security cameras. The terrorists were nailed by video evidence.
#3
Nope. The terrorists were not nailed by video evidence. It was by tracking the phone card in a rucksack who was discovered unexploded in the trains. Or more exactly the rucksack popped up in a police station between the pieces of evidence who had been collected.
Now. Let's think about it: there have been bombs exploding and the police sees that most unusual object (a rucksack is not common in commuter trains), an unusually heavy one who also happens to be a potential bomb container and simply bring it to police station without inspecting it? Should we assume that Spanish policemen have a death wish.
And then there the many funny things in the investigation like the hatge in detroying th train, the fact that no analysis of the explosives was performed (and pieces of evidence were later found to have been washed with acetone) and policemen who have been charged with lying in the investigation.
Oh, and a few weeks later there was an attempt to derail the high speed train but teh terrorists (supposedly memebers of the same ring) used a differnet and much more primitive technique.
Plus the opportune deaths of the Lavapies rings were the Spanish swats stormed the appartment without the usual softening (a first in their history) and were after the terrorists had been firing to the policemen for hours no shelmls were found.
#4
So, JFM, are these particular Muslims actually innocent? If so, who did blow up the trains? The style is not Basque separatist. The only similarly vicious and callous attacks I can recall in Spain were during the Civil War - were these train attacks a return to Fascist or Stalinist groups?
#7
Ok, the words filter erased my comment. Sigh. Here I go again... and again... and again... sigh, 5th try (thank for Copy & Paste)... 6th... 7th... 8th
were these train attacks a return to Fascist or Stalinist groups?
I doubt there is any fascist group in Spain, and the commies are basically extinct, left-overs from the 70's (though it can be argued the basques are originally leftists with a racial streak).
#8
Suite... to try to isolate the forbidden word...
I'd like JFM to give us his opinion on that, but from what he's hinted, I might think it could be an AQ/eta (or eta fri*nges, at the very least) joint-venture...
#9
Ok, for some reason, it won't make it past the word filter, time to reword it; basically, the idea is that there either was some kind of support by the clandestine police apparatus of the PSE (cf. the GAL), or a conspiracy/cover up from the same to incriminate Aznar and make him lose power, much to the joy of the eurabians.
#15
I had the same problem trying to post a link to muslims cartoons about the Jews and the US. I tried fooling around with the word "anti-semitic" in the link, but never got the post accepted.
Posted by: ed ||
09/04/2007 13:07 Comments ||
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#16
Don't feel bad. The Filter Of Death (and annoying spam & pr0n) is evenhanded - it rejects a lot of moderator comments too.
Sorry for the delay but I had my post refused twice.
First I believe that some of the accused (at least those arrested before the elections) had no part in the bombings and weren't even part of an islamist cell. There are others who were islamists and up to no good (like the failed bombing of the high speed train) but did they perpetrate these bombings?
Now you are wrong about this not being ETA's style. In pre-democracy ETA this was true but in late years they have tried to sink a ferry (potentially 1400 victims), to destroy Madrid's highest bulding (5000 potential victims) and to bomb Madrid's two main railway stations on Christmas eve (hundreds or thousands victims had they succeeded). Every time they were thwarted so we don't know for sure if they would have phoned a warning or not. We do know for sure that one of its leaders said: "The day we will negotiate we must put 200 hundred dead on the table" and we doknow for sure that another admlires islamists for their ruthlessness and advocates alliance with them. Also some ETArras have converted to islam.
About the bombings. Do you think islamists just wanted to kill infidels and the choice of date was fortuitous? Or do you think the goal was to put Zapatero in power?
If you believe the later then considxer that it was not the bombings by themselves who toppled the Popular Party (Spain's conservative party) but the conjuction of three factors: the bombings, arrests the day before the elections and an agitprop campaign led by PRISA (Spain's biggest MSM group who owes a lot of favors to the PSOE like beiung allowed to break the law and being handled former state owned radio network at a ridiculous price). During the Friday Prisa began to give inforamtion avout the islamist possibility contradicting the governement (who was given the info only hours later by the police). In the afternoon of Saturday Prisa began telling that police had discovered the remains of a suicide bomber (a lie), then groups of leftists tried to storm and burn the sieges of the Popular Party while screaming "Aznar, assasin" and "That is for Irak". Prisa's radio network was brodacasting the demos live and every five minutes a femal off-voice repeated: Demonstrations are totally spontaneous" and "The police has found the reamins of a suicide bomber" That was what changed the result of the election.
Arrests the islamists could provide by purposefully planting evidence leading the police to them (but see previous posts about how much of this evidence just pops up from thin air). But they couldn't provide for the media campaign and for the retention of information by the police (who gave the impression Aznar was lying). So either the authors hoped the bombings would start the ball rolling and that PSOE's and PRISA's corruption would do the rest or... or instigators and PSOE/PRISA had coordinated in advance.
So if you believe choice of date was not fortuitous then the logical conclusion is that something smells rotten in the kingdom of Spain. (Just for showing that I have read Hamlet).
#19
Yeah, but how do you explain that it was exactly 911 days between the bombings of 9/11 and the Madrid train bombings? You think ETA is that mathematically jocular when it comes to timing their little to-dos?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/04/2007 15:56 Comments ||
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#20
Both ETA and islamists lack a sense of humour. But you could aslo think that smeone noticed tha the 911th day after 9/11 was close to the idela day so they decided for that day. Also I wouldn't swear it wasn't PRISA who began to point at the "coincidence" ikn tezh days of the conspiracy.
Listen I have only have dissected the possibilities and thre are only thre: date of bombings and elections are a coincidence or there are not. In the case where bombings aimed at altering elections then either it was a "blindman's blow" ie islamists just hoped, (pêrhaps because they had studied Spain's political class) that Zapatero's friends would do the rest or they knew in advance Zapatero and PRISA would act like they did. If they knew in advance then it implies concertation between PSOE and islamists.
ETA (and the moderate muslims nationalist of PNV) are inspired by Sabino Arana a Basque who only spoke Spanish :-) but who believed that the Basque were racially superior not only to the Spanish but to every other race in world. Of course when you only Basque country instead of Germany you can't dream of conquering the world but you get the idea.
Also when you look at the pro-ETA zones in Basque country they coincide with the strongholds of Carlism ( a XIXth century spanish movement who advocated a return to absolutism). Under a letftist barnish you find a deeply reactionary and racist ideology.
ETA (and the moderate muslims nationalist of PNV) are inspired by Sabino Arana a Basque who only spoke Spanish :-) but who believed that the Basque were racially superior not only to the Spanish but to every other race in world. Of course when you only Basque country instead of Germany you can't dream of conquering the world but you get the idea.
Also when you look at the pro-ETA zones in Basque country they coincide with the strongholds of Carlism ( a XIXth century spanish movement who advocated a return to absolutism). Under a letftist barnish you find a deeply reactionary and racist ideology.
A German-based Islamist who was detained for several weeks in Pakistan on suspicion of links with terrorism has been denied residency back home in Germany and sent to his country of citizenship, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a news magazine said Sunday.
Focus quoted German authorities as confirming that the 29-year-old man from the south-western city of Pforzheim was taken in the middle of last week to Bosnia and placed in custody there. Asked Sunday by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa for confirmation, a federal interior ministry spokesman declined to comment.
No other details were available. German officials had earlier suggested he was a threat and was not welcome to return, although charges could not be laid against him. The man, 28, was detained in June in Pakistan along with a 45- year-old German national and a stateless 23-year-old whose home had been in Germany. All were suspected of seeking contact with al-Qaeda.
French and Spanish police Saturday foiled a car bomb plot by Basque separatist group ETA, netting its alleged top bombmaker and three colleagues in what analysts termed a major blow for ETA.
Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba told reporters in Madrid the arrests in southwestern France, during which police also seized explosives and detonators, were of "enormous importance". They were the culmination of an operation begun when three other ETA suspects were arrested on the French side of the border in July in a vehicle carrying 165 kilos (360 pounds) of explosives, he said.
Rubalcaba added the suspects had played key roles in a bomb attack at Madrid's Barajas airport last December that killed two people. "To the question 'Were they preparing an attack?' the answer is yes, they were preparing a car bomb," Rubalcaba said.
The quartet arrested in the joint Spanish-French swoop on a house in the town of Cahors included Luis Ignacio Iruretagoyena, who French and Spanish officials said was ETA's chief explosives expert.
French deputy prosecutor Jean-Michel Bourles, said the house in Cahors, rented by the suspects, contained a workshop capable of making bombs "able to make enormous explosions." Bourles added some 30 detonators had also been unearthed along with an explosive device packed with some 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of pentrite, a powerful explosive, and other bomb-making equipment, including 200 kilograms of aluminium powder and 150 of ammonium nitrate. He added police also seized two cars stolen in France.
Bourles warned that despite the arrests "it is evident ETA has a habit of very rapidly preparing people for this kind of mission" in their place.
Rubalcaba said it was "highly probable" Iruretagoyena fashioned the explosives used in the Madrid airport and another foiled attack in the northeastern Spanish town of Castellon last week, when ETA operatives blew up a camper van full of explosives after abducting a Spanish family on holiday in southern France.
Also arrested was Ander Mugica Andonegi. He had been hunted since fleeing in a taxi in July when it was stopped by a police roadblock in Torreblanca, Spain, leaving behind two bags containing detonators and explosives.
A third man, identified as Ohian Barandalla Goni, was described as the second-in-charge of ETA's paramilitary wing. He was wanted for allegedly helping steal 350 firearms from a factory in southern France last October.
A woman also arrested was named as Alaitz Aramendi Jaunarena, who has been on the run for several years.
The arrests came barely a week after ETA carried out its first attack since officially ending a 15-month ceasefire on June 5 with operatives on August 26 blowing up a van outside a police barracks in Durango in the Basque region, slightly injuring two policemen.
Florencio Dominguez, chief editor of the Vasco Press news agency, describing the operation as "weakening" ETA through "the dismantling of the Barajas attack cell. "Active and experienced, (the cell) was preparing more sophisticated attacks," Dominguez added, describing Iruretagoyena, 50, as "the current bombmaker of ETA's military structure."
In the past three months, since ETA formally ended its truce in frustration at the lack of progress towards direct peace talks with the government, 22 group members have been detained, 19 of them in ETA's traditional haven, France.
#2
Yeah, it does seem that the pace is picking up. I would think the link that would connect these supposedly isolated cells would be financing and training. Hmm.
At least 12 people have died in a clash between two rival rebel groups in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur. The dead were fighters of the Kuki ethnic tribe who were killed in a gun battle with the Naga separatist insurgents, police said. They said nearly 20 rebels of the Kuki Liberation Army (KLA) were travelling in two jeeps when they were ambushed.
Naga and the Kuki tribes fought a bitter fratricidal feud in the 1990s in which hundreds were killed. The incident occurred late on Monday night when the Kukis were travelling towards Hundung village in Manipur's Ukhrul district, police said. They were ambushed by the rebels of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). Police say they suspect some top leaders of the KLA may have been among those killed.
Earlier, the Kuki Liberation Army had hijacked two passenger jeeps near the Maphou dam and officials say the Naga ambush may have been to avenge that as Ukhrul is a Naga-predominant district. The NSCN has been negotiating for a settlement with the Indian government for more than 10 years now but their leadership appears to be upset over the slow pace of talks .
Posted by: john frum ||
09/04/2007 07:45 ||
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#1
I love these tribe names - Naga and Kuki. It may be Kookie, but is this where Nagahide chair upholstery comes from?
At least 22 people have been killed in two bomb blasts in the Pakistani garrison town of Rawalpindi on Tuesday, adjoining the capital Islamabad.
The first blast at the Qasim market apparently targeted a bus carrying defence employees from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. The blast destroyed the vehicle, which was carrying 15 to 25 men completely.
Shortly afterwards there was a second explosion in a commercial area, the RA Bazar near Army headquarters. The bomb was placed on a motorcycle.
MIRANSHAH: A tribal woman was killed and two others injured after security forces used artillery fire to pound the hideouts of suspected Taliban militants who targeted a checkpost in North Waziristan Monday, officials said.
They said she died when an artillery shell hit her home in Qutabkhel village near Miranshah moments after the Taliban fired three rockets on Chashma checkpost. A girl and a woman were injured in the same incident, local officials said. The Taliban are using the local population as human shields. The security forces use artillery, mortar and helicopters instead of ground forces against the Taliban to avoid fatalities. The security forces also used artillery fire in the Dandi Darpakhel area late Sunday when a checkpost was attacked.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
The Taliban are using the local population as human shields. The security forces use artillery, mortar and helicopters instead of ground forces against the Taliban to avoid fatalities.
Perhaps somebody would be so good as to explain the logic of this to me.
The government on Monday freed more than a 100 arrested tribesmen and opened the main highway to meet some of the demands made by the Taliban for the release of around 200 kidnapped soldiers in South Waziristan, but the soldiers have not yet been freed, officials said.
... to meet some of the demands made by the Taliban for the release of around 200 kidnapped soldiers in South Waziristan, but the soldiers have not yet been freed, officials said
In Mohmand Agency, a government deadline for the release of 10 paramilitary soldiers held hostage by the militants passed without any significant response from the captors and a tribal jirga was still negotiating their safe return, Mohmand Agency Chief Administrator Dr Kazim Niaz told a news briefing in Ghalanai. We have no details whether the jirga has persuaded the Taliban militants to release the soldiers or not, a senior government official in Wana told Daily Times asking not to be named.
Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said there was no progress yet, but hoped that the Mehsud jirga would help secure the safe return of the soldiers who went missing on August 30. Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for their kidnapping.
A source told Daily Times that Baitullah had warned that he would behead five soldiers every day if his demands were not met.
A source told Daily Times that Baitullah had warned that he would behead five soldiers every day if his demands were not met.
The official in Wana said the release of the arrested tribesmen and opening of the highway had stopped Baitullah from carrying out the executions for the time being. Dr Kazim Niaz told journalists in Ghalanai that the government would take action if the tribal jirga failed to secure the release of the 10 paramilitary soldiers. Tribal sources said the Mohmand grand jirga experienced an internal rift with accusations against the Saafi tribe of non-cooperation.
Online adds: Mehsud has put forward four conditions for the release of the abducted security officials, Senator Saleh Shah told a TV channel. He said the condition are the release of 15 to 18 Mehsud people arrested by the security officials; ban on any military convoy movement on the Jandola-Wana road until an atmosphere of confidence is restored; the withdrawal of the army from Mehsud tribe area and the release of 300 men, women and children arrested by the army; and that there will be no future disturbance of Mahsud tribe areas.
Shah said the political administration and security officials had agreed that the arrested people of the Mehsud tribe would be released. The rest of the conditions will be considered after discussions with high officials, he said.
This article starring:
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
Taliban
Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad
Mohmand Agency Chief Administrator Dr Kazim Niaz
Senator Saleh Shah
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Senior leaders with the Multi-National Division - Baghdad reported that criminal militia have conducted 11 attacks in Baghdad since Aug. 30.
Among the 11 attacks attributed to criminal militia members are 107mm rocket attacks impacting Coalition outposts and residential Baghdad neighborhoods, small arms attacks, the use of the deadly explosively-formed projectiles and one complex attack requiring detailed coordination and planning.
"Many citizens are concerned with their criminal activities," Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the deputy commanding general for support of MND-B and the 1st Cavalry Division told a gathering of Iraqi media in the International Zone Sept. 1. "We have not seen a change in behavior and we continue to hold the obligation to protect the population and uphold the law."
#1
That's about 2 a day. We have 1 or 2 gang assaults a day here with only 1/10th the population. Admittedly, our gangs don't use mortars or EFPs, though. Yet.
Seated between his police chief and a U.S. Marine battalion commander, the Iraqi mayor opened his weekly security meeting by explaining how he had authorized one of the local tribes to carry out a summary execution. The police had caught two men who had killed another policeman.
Look at the bright side: the Iraqi coppers didn't blast the two guys on the spot in a 'suicide-by-cop' incident.
"As you all know, the Iraqi court system is still weak," said Mayor Farhan Ftehkhan, while an interpreter translated for the benefit of the Americans. "Yesterday I met the sheikhs, and they decided to kill them as soon as possible. So the tribes took their decision and they killed those criminals."
The sheikhs carried out their summary execution in the district of al Qaim in Iraq's vast western desert province of Anbar, where Sunni Arab tribes once hostile to U.S. forces have now joined the Americans to drive out al Qaeda militants. The area, once one of the most dangerous in Iraq, is now one of the quietest. Rows of houses reduced to rubble by heavy fighting are being rebuilt.
But none of that matters in our narrative.
The U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is expected to cite the changes in Anbar when he testifies to Congress on September 10 about the impact of U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to send more troops to Baghdad and Anbar. Bush himself made a surprise visit to the province on Monday, showcasing what he said was one of the main success stories of his military strategy.
But the summary execution is a sign of the compromises that U.S. forces still have to make.
Yup, life isn't yet perfect in Anbar. Anbar is not yet a secular liberalist province in a progressive liberal secular Iraqi state. We done failed; might as well go home. Blend a puppy on our way out.
"We are working hard to get the rule of law stood up here," said the Marine battalion commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Jason Bohm, speaking after the security meeting at a border outpost overlooking the Euphrates river as it pours in from Syria. "We still have a way to go."
It's okay, Colonel Bohm, it isn't that unusual on that continent.
Across the street from Mayor Ftehkhan's office is a courthouse, newly reconstructed with American aid, gleaming with fresh yellow paint. The Americans have helped train judges. They recruited and trained bodyguards to protect them. They have put in place a brand new team of investigative policemen.
But the new court is authorized to hear criminal cases only if the maximum sentence is five years or less. Murder cases must be tried in the provincial capital Ramadi, where the court is not yet fully functioning, Bohm said.
'not yet' functioning. Meaning there is some hope that it will if we just stick with it.
According to Bohm, the two killers had lured a policeman to a meeting after they learned he was engaged to marry one of their relatives, and bludgeoned him to death. The victim and the killers were from the same tribe. The tribe's elders feared that if they waited for Iraqi justice to reach its verdict, there would be tit-for-tat revenge killings and many more tribesmen would die.
They do seem to know their brethern tribesmen, don't they.
The mayor and police agreed to turn the suspects over. The elders had them shot.
"Thanks, yer Honor."
"Don't mention it, monsignor."
The execution of the two suspects without a proper trial would clearly be a crime, Iraqi legal experts said.
Iraq does have capital punishment for murder, but executions may only be carried out legally by the Maximum Crimes Office in Baghdad after a proper trial, said criminal law expert Ahmed Abid in Baghdad. "We live in a country with courts, and the actions of this mayor and the sheikhs send the wrong message to the world," he said.
Bless you Ahmed for wanting to make your country better. Now let's get the security situation under control, and you can then spend the rest of your lifetime educating the tribal chiefs. Good luck.
U.S. forces said they learned about the summary execution only after it had taken place. Bohm said they did what they could to make clear that they did not approve.
"I met with the mayor. I met with the judges. I met with the Iraqi police. I told them we did not condone this," he said. "In their mind they had done nothing wrong. That's the way it was done for centuries."
And it's going to take more than six months to change that.
The sheikhs made no effort to deny they had carried out the summary execution. In fact, they provided Bohm with meticulous documentation of their "verdict," bearing their signatures and stamps, as well as a video showing the killers' confessions.
"Here you go, Colonel, nice and tidy-like."
"Umm, thanks."
"Forgive us. You need more stamps?" [clap-clap] "Mahmoud, bring me my special signet ring!"
In an interview later in his office, Mayor Ftehkhan acknowledged the execution might cause difficulty for his American guests but said he had no choice but to ensure the men were executed before a vendetta could erupt. "Yes, it is embarrassing for the Americans. But if we did not resolve this issue this way, there would be more bloodshed in the town," he said.
Tough decision to make. Glad we don't have that here. Maybe one day they won't have that in Iraq.
#3
Actually, the meticulousness of the sheikhs is impressive, and quite unlike what I understand to be historical practice. This suggests they are predisposed to submitting to the rule of law once the courts are running properly.
#5
Yep, my dead horse all along. Let the tribes run the show so long as no Americans are being physically injured by it. Slow, incremental tweaks over time will work best. Not going to change the thought process over night.
#8
Notice the general disapproving tone of the article. However, if the jihadis got together and murdered a dozen kids for playing music or some other heinous offense, that would just be "part of their culture". No outrage, no condemnation from the MSM.
#9
I nominate Matt for the coveted Rantburg 'Understated Snark of the Week' award!
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/04/2007 17:53 Comments ||
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#10
I've always thought that given the starting place of institutions in the MME if we could move them to a democracy equivalent to the US in 1870 (law west of the Pecos) and then make incremental modernizations we would have the most success.
We should have gone in and taken over central government and run it like a regency and give the locals the responsibility to build up their institutions. After a few years start working them up the ladder.
#11
I wonder if the tribes could serve in Iraq as the states served in the US. Give each tribe proportional representation in one elected body and equal representation in another...
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/04/2007 19:18 Comments ||
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#12
Great story (even relatively non-outrageous, by Reuters standards), great annotations, great comments.
#13
The scenario sounds a lot like the Western US circa 1880. Even with the US history of "rule of law" inherited from our forefathers it took a long time before "liberty and justice for all" was common.
#14
Jeez, Bob, that is a brilliant idea! Iraqi tribes = proto-states! Applicable throughout this cultural template.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/04/2007 21:06 Comments ||
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#15
I wonder if the tribes could serve in Iraq as the states served in the US.
Unfortunately not. I think the biggest F'up was allowing the Iraqis to write a constitution where the legislature is elected by party slate, not territory based jurisdictions. That means the legislators are loyal only to the party bosses, not local constituencies. So instead of having several hundred competing centers of power, there will only be a few party bosses who run the show. For the Shiites, that means those beholden to the mullahs in Iran who provided them shelter and outmaneuvered naive western leadership (that's Bush and Co.) when they flooded Iraq and eliminated opposition following the invasion. Over time one of the cliques will eliminate the others and dictatorship will form.
Posted by: ed ||
09/04/2007 21:14 Comments ||
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#16
Judge Abu-Roy Bean?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/04/2007 22:05 Comments ||
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I guess not all the Sunni/Baathists got the memo that they're on our side now.
TAJI, Iraq - Iraqi Army Scouts, with U.S. Special Forces as advisers, detained the suspected al Qaeda in Iraq leader of the Old Za'ab Village during a driven raid Sept. 3 near Kirkuk.
The suspected leader's cell includes former Ba'ath Party, 1920th Revolutionary Brigade, Islamic State of Iraq, New Ba'ath Party and El-Huk Brigade members. Additionally, his group is suspected of orchestrating attacks in Ninewa, Salah ah Din and At' Tamim provinces.
During an earlier operation Sept. 1 in Za'ab, Scouts were able to detain the leader's deputy, a wanted member of the former Ba'ath Party. In addition, the village is believed to be a safe haven and planning node for synchronization of al Qaeda in Iraq forces.
More than a half dozen propane tanks and wires, 125,000 Iraqi Dinar, and assorted documents were seized during these operations.
No Iraqi or U.S. Forces were injured during this operation.
Posted by: Glenmore ||
09/04/2007 10:35 ||
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#3
They're prolly savin' up for the payoff to the next 10 year old splodydope.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/04/2007 11:22 Comments ||
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#4
I think only a moron laps up the "they were bad guys but they're on our side now" stuff wholesale. Some people see the light, smell the coffee, get the memo, what have you. Many more do not...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/04/2007 12:19 Comments ||
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IRAQI ARMY STOPS CAR BOMBER FROM ATTACKING BRIDGE NORTH OF BAGHDAD
CAMP TAJI, Iraq - One Iraqi Army soldier was killed and two other Iraqi Army troops and two civilians were wounded by an exploding vehicle-borne improvised explosive device near a checkpoint in Taji, Iraq Sept. 2.
The suicide bomber detonated the VBIED at the checkpoint, after two unsuccessful attempts to gain access to the bridge guarded by the troops.
The checkpoint was manned both by Iraqi Army troops from the 2nd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division (Mechanized) in conjunction with members of the new Critical Infrastructure Security (CIS) unit. The CIS is made up of local volunteers that were contracted by Coalition Forces and have been vetted by the local Sheiks in the area.
The vehicle was carrying chicken waste to hide the munitions in the truck. On the first approach to the checkpoint, the driver was stopped by the Iraqi soldiers who did not allow his entry because he was not following proper procedures.
In his effort to breach security of the checkpoint that allows access to a key bridge, the driver claimed to be the cousin of a local area sheik-a reconciliation leader that the Iraqi Army coordinates with for vetting legitimate associates - but the Iraqi Army troops made the man take a U-turn and leave the area.
On a subsequent attempt, the Iraqi troops once again forced the man to turn his vehicle around and leave the area.
On the third and final attempt, the truck attempted to pull over and intermingle with an Iraqi Army convoy. Iraqi Army troops suspected a car bomb and engaged the vehicle with small arms fire by the checkpoint after noticing the driver was acting very erratically. The truck detonated.
Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment and the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment both of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, rushed to the scene and assisted with securing the site and treating the wounded.
According to Lt. Col. Peter Andrysiak, deputy commanding officer, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div., the attack is the work of Al Qaeda operatives.
"This attack is just another example of Al Qaeda's total disregard for innocent lives whether it's women and children or Iraqi Security Forces who have chosen to selflessly defend their nation." said Andrysiak.
"Due to the local populace's recent successes in regard to reconciliation efforts that are uniting the people here against insurgents and extremists, the attack proves that Al Qaeda is becoming desperate. They have lost support and are seeking any avenue they can to disrupt the efforts here that are fostering peace and will eventually mean the end for organizations like Al Qaeda."
Andrysiak added that the incident shows the increasing effectiveness of the Iraqi Army and the benefits of working with local volunteers.
"Together they devised a system of checks and balances to prevent AQI access to key areas and it worked," he said.
"These brave Iraqis saved critical infrastructure and lives."
Posted by: Glenmore ||
09/04/2007 10:35 ||
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#1
Yeah, about the third time the bomber drove around I would have shot him, too.
Think about it. A truck load of chicken shit. And it blew up. Nasty.
An Iraqi judge sentenced 10 people to death and 390 others to between 15 years and life in jail over clashes near the city of Najaf early this year that killed hundreds, local officials and a lawyer said on Monday. They said the verdicts were handed down on Sunday in the holy Shiite city, making it one of the biggest mass sentencings in Iraq since US forces ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003. Ahmed Duaibil, spokesman for the local government in Najaf, told Reuters the trials took place over three months at the Najaf police academy where the defendants were being held. A criminal judge was sent to the academy and tried the defendants in groups given the large numbers, he said. They were tried on charges related to terrorism, he added. Witnesses were called, the defendants had lawyers and court officials attended the hearings, Duaibil added.
This article starring:
Ahmed Duaibil, spokesman for the local government in Najaf
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Gosh, at 50 released per day during ramadan, all 400 will be out within a week.
They finally catching on?
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon on Tuesday threatened to cut electricity, water and fuel supplies into Gaza if militants in the Hamas-ruled territory continued to fire rockets into Israel.
On the eve of a meeting of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet to discuss the situation in Gaza, other senior ministers also called for stepping up pressure on Gaza residents in a bid to stop the fire.
"It is unthinkable to continue to furnish Gaza with electricity, water and fuel while Israeli citizens are live targets of these rockets," Ramon, a close ally of Olmert, told the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot daily. "We have to draw a line for the Palestinians. We have to make it be known that for any rocket fire, we will cut for two or three hours the supplies of water, electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip," he said.
Environment Minister Gideon Ezra told public radio that he was also in favour of such a measure.
Israel, which withdrew settlers and troops from Gaza in 2005 after a 38-year occupation, continues to provide nearly all utilities for the impoverished territory. Militants in Gaza regularly fire rockets and mortar shells into Israel, with most of the projectiles falling in open spaces. On Monday, seven rockets were fired from Gaza, with one exploding near a nursery school in the southern town of Sderot, which has borne the brunt of the fire.
Trade and Industry Eli Yishai said Israel should exert growing pressure on Gaza's impoverished population in order for them to hamper the rocket launchers. "We should make it clear to the population that firing rockets against Sderot in fact damages the Palestinians. If the rocket launchers are not bothered by pressure from the outside, they should worry about inside pressure," Yishai told AFP.
The ultra-Orthodox minister said Israel should use "an orderly and gradual plan" to stop the rocket fire and weapon smuggling into Gaza, but nevertheless rejected an extensive military operation.
Gaza has been ruled since mid-June by the Islamist Hamas movement, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, after its fighters overran security forces loyal to moderate president Mahmud Abbas. Israel has been unable to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza, despite regular military operations in the overcrowded coastal strip.
#5
This is the first particle of sense I've heard from this government.
Posted by: Titus Hayes4699 ||
09/04/2007 15:41 Comments ||
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#6
Sounds like somebody's taking them seriously. And quite seethily, I must say...
Gaza Ma'an The "Buraq army" unit of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah warned on Tuesday that if Israel deprives the Gaza Strip of water and electricity, the Israeli power generating station at Ashkelon will be bombarded.
Announcing the start of operation "roaring sea waves" in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, they said they would respond to Israeli threats to assassinate Palestinian resistance fighters. They threatened to undertake "qualitative operations" and to continue launching home made projectiles against Israeli targets.
Also on Tuesday the Al-Mujahideen Brigades, another of the units of the Al-Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility for launching a home made projectile at the Israeli town of Sderot. However, there have been no reports from the Israelis that a projectile hit Sderot.
#7
While it is a baby step in the right direction, it will not work. This is because electricity, water and fuel supplies mean far less to Arabs than land.
That is, if Israel wants them to stop their attacks, it must first take a small slice of Gaza, extend the wall around it as "no man's land", then tell Hamas and the Gazans that for each subsequent attack, Israel will take another small piece of land.
If they cannot abide just taking it, then they should pay fair market value to its owner for it.
However, more than anything else, they must make it clear that the land will NEVER be returned, and that NEVER is non-negotiable. No matter if the Paleos become peaceful, or offer anything else, that land is gone for good.
Unless the Israelis do this, then there will never be peace.
And the Arabs make it abundantly clear that land is the only thing they care about. They harp on it continually. They want MORE land. But their weakness is that they are terrified of having LESS land. For them, to LOSE land means that they have failed their god in the only thing that matters.
Allah really doesn't care about anything, compared to land.
And knowing this, Israel can take land for peace, HAS to take land for peace, because it is the ONLY way they will ever get peace, other than killing every single Arab.
#8
You've been sayin' this for a long time now, 'moose and you were one of the very first to do so. Keep hammering on it. Short of flat-out expulsion, this is one of the only things that will ever inspire peace or bring a conclusion to hostilities through eviction. Either way, there must be an end to this tedious farce.
#11
Peace, as the west defines it, is not possible with muslims. Either you become a muslim or you are the target of perpetual jihad, with intermittent truces when muslims are weak. Once that sinks in, it becomes pointless to do tit for tat retaliation. The only productive solution is to take land and drive any muslims off of it, to use it for our benefit and power, then rinse and repeat. When this Administration stated this is a generation long conflict, they were being optimistic.
Posted by: ed ||
09/04/2007 21:35 Comments ||
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#12
NETANYAHU > Israel may need to send in sizable ground units to control Gaza-based/induced violence, i.e. a "ground invasion".
Public schools in several districts of Pattani which were closed temporarily following Sunday's killing of a chief education official, are expected to reopen Tuesday, but security measures need not be stepped up for the time being.
Prasit Nookung, acting chief of Education Office Zone 3 in Pattani, said 30 out of a total of 71 schools in Sai Buri and Mai Kaen districts of the southernmost province would reopen Tuesday after the chief education official attached to Education Zone 3, identified as Chalong Aphakorn, was shot dead by terrorists insurgents, sending many teachers in panic regarding their own safety.
A royal funeral for the remains of the slain education official is scheduled for Thursday at a local temple in Mai Kaen district. The manslaughter committed by terrorists insurgents in such a predominantly Buddhist area was considered an unprecedented event. The local police had obtained tips leading to the imminent arrest of the assailants.
In a related report, another teacher was killed in a drive-by shooting in Pattani Monday afternoon. 35-year-old Suvit Wongsanit, a teacher at Pattani's Technical College, was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle while he rode his motorbyke home in Nong Chik district. However, no additional security measures will be necessary, even during the Muslim Ramadan fasting season, according to government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp.
Prime Minister Gen. Surayud Chulanont held a video conference with the authorities in the southernmost provinces, including the Fourth Army Region's Internal Security Operations Command, which is helping the military and police combat the terrorists insurgents. The prime minister urged government personnel to concentrate on the current project to lead a total of 368 terrorist insurgent suspects, who had earlier surrendered to the authorities, back into law-abiding citizenship and send them to skill development and vocational training programmes. In addition, villagers from the southernmost provinces will be led on a visit to their relatives who are currently practicing as nursing students in other regions of the country.
The authorities and terrorists insurgents clashed four times last month, resulting in the deaths of 12 police officers and government officials and eight insurgents. A total of 201 terrorist insurgent suspects were arrested and 61 rifles as well as ammunition were seized. That's nothing. You should see how bad it has to get before additional security measures become necessary.
#1
However, no additional security measures will be necessary, even during the Muslim Ramadan fasting season, according to government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp.
I take it Yongyuth has a nice plush office in Bangkok?
Maybe the teachers can have the kids make themselves some nice bulletproof origami to hide behind...
Troops in Sri Lanka have blocked a key supply route used by the Tamil Tigers in possible preparation for a delayed major assault on the rebels northern heartland, military experts said Monday.
The military has been trying to break into the stronghold, the Wanni, for weeks but took some nearby areas on Saturday, including the coastal village of Silavattura, officials aid This was not the big push. What the army has captured is a key transit point of the Tigers, a top military official said, declining to be named. They used this location to smuggle in supplies from India.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) indirectly admitted that the military had taken the coastal village when they accused security forces of killing nine civilians fleeing the military onslaught. Aid officials said at least a dozen civilians were killed in weekend fighting in the district of Mannar. Both the rebels and government forces blamed each other for the civilian deaths.
Retired army brigadier general Vipul Boteju said the weekend clashes could be a warm up for a bigger offensive aimed at dismantling the mini-state run by the rebels in Wanni. This may have a psychological impact. It can also block a supply line, but it does not signal the start of the big push to Wanni, Boteju told AFP. He argued that the military lacked men and firepower to undertake a bigger drive in terrain that favoured the guerrillas.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon said on Tuesday its army killed at least 222 Islamist militants from an al Qaeda-linked group in a 15-week battle at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. The army finally took control of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp on Sunday after more than three months of fierce battles, including air, sea and land bombardment against the entrenched Fatah al-Islam militants.
Defense Minister Elias al-Murr also said 202 militants were captured in the battles and an unknown number were buried in mass graves inside the largely destroyed camp. "This victory uprooted the biggest threat that faced the Lebanese people because Fatah al-Islam was spreading like cancer cells to target each part of the nation," Murr told a news briefing. "The organization was aiming to isolate the north from Lebanon to create a terrorist emirate," he said.
At least 42 civilians and 163 soldiers were killed, bringing the death toll to 427 -- Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
But the result is much better: much of the Lebanese population currently adores their army for what they did.
The army's head of intelligence said Fatah al-Islam was directly linked to al Qaeda. The group has said it has no organizational ties to Osama bin Laden's network and that its aims were to spread its hardline interpretation of Islam among Palestinians and to fight Israel. But Brigadier General George Khoury told the same briefing: "All the investigations have confirmed that the Fatah al-Islam organization is linked to al Qaeda and is in continuous link and contact with it."
"This was revealed through all the investigations that were carried out of captured elements, communications that occurred between al Qaeda cells outside Lebanon and confessions of captured people," he said. Most of the militants were foreign Arab fighters and some had fought in Iraq.
That's not going to help the 'narrative' at all.
Lebanese soldiers who participated in the battles began returning to their bases on Tuesday as thousands of flag-waving Lebanese cheered them on the roads of northern Lebanon.
The army also said it had no information that linked the group to Syrian intelligence -- a charge maintained by the anti-Syrian cabinet but denied by Fatah al-Islam and Damascus."In this issue specifically, we have no information that indicates this group's link to Syrian intelligence. I want to affirm that the investigation on those captured has not ended ... and these investigations will reveal the truth in this matter," army Chief of Staff Major General Shawki al-Masri said. Nope. Nuthin to see here...
Masri also said the army's entry to Nahr al-Bared did not mean it would go into other Palestinian camps in Lebanon ...
... though the Paleos ought to have had the fear of Allan put into them ...
... but that the army would prevent "terrorist acts" wherever they happen, either inside or outside Palestinian camps. Under a 1969 Arab agreement, the Lebanese army is banned from entering Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps. While the agreement was later annulled, it remained largely in place until the Nahr al-Bared battle began. "Of course it will not be allowed for Nahr al-Bared to return to the way it was. The responsibility of security will only be that of the Lebanese security forces," Masri said.
The government has said four Syrian members of Fatah al-Islam confessed to bombing two buses in February in a Christian area near Beirut. Preliminary investigations also link the group with an assassination attack on a Christian minister in November.
#2
If it weren't for the 200 or so captured, it basically cost Lebanon one human life for each terrorist claimed to be killed. What happened? Were the civilians unable to get out of the way and the soldiers had to be too careful?
#3
There are still lots of bodies to be dug up. You don't drop 1000 pound bombs in enclosed areas with killing people.
Posted by: ed ||
09/04/2007 14:02 Comments ||
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#4
House to house fighting is nasty by historical standards. The proverbial meat grinder. It appears the American forces have been the only ones so far to get an exponential leap on the usual casualty trade off by exploiting their training and technology advantages. So don't use the American experience as the standard, but as the exception.
The army yesterday killed 39 militants and arrested 24 outside the Nahr el Bared refugee camp in north Lebanon as they were trying to escape according to Dar el -Hayat daily sources Inside the camp the army found 6 bodies and arrested 5 wounded militants. The army identified the nationalities of the militants as : Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni, Saudi, Serbian and Palestinian.
There were many conflicting reports yesterday about the number of militants killed . The highest number reported yesterday was 45, a number that could have perhaps included the six bodies found inside the camp. The Lebanese army has added more road blocks in north Lebanon to capture fleeing militants. Lebanon yesterday declared victory over the Fatah al-Islam terrorists . PM Fouad Siniora called the event " the greatest national victory for Lebanon over the terrorists ".
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The wife of Fatah al-Islam's terrorist mastermind Shaker al-Absi identified his corpse at the public hospital in Lebanons northern city of Tripoli Monday. The body of Shaker al-Absi was among at least 37 recovered from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp on Sunday after Lebanese troops seized full control of the settlement, ending more than three months of conflict with the Sunni Muslim extremist group Fatah al-Islam.
Hospital manager Nasser Adra told reporters Absi's wife and a "young girl believed to be his daughter were brought into the hospital morgue early Monday amidst stringent security measures." The wife identified the corpse as that of her husband Shaker Absi," Adra added. He did not disclose further details.
This article starring:
Hospital manager Nasser Adra
SHAKER AL ABSI
Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"terrorist mastermind Shaker"
When that caught my eye I was truly thrown - I was envisioning something like a Quaker with an AK.
Irans Revolutionary Guards killed and seized the equipment of three Kurdish rebels who had entered Iran, state television reported late on Sunday.
It said the rebels were members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist movement that is fighting Turkey and which has an Iranian offshoot called the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). The terrorists of the PKK group who had entered our country were trapped in the net of the Revolutionary Guards soldiers and were killed, state television said, adding that the Guards seized cameras used at night, satellite phones and weapons.
It did not give further details. Clashes between Iranian forces and PJAK militants were reported earlier this year in the region where the borders of Iran, Turkey and Iraq meet. Analysts say PJAK rebels have bases in the remote mountains of northeastern Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
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NAHR Al BARED, Lebanon - Lebanese soldiers hunted down fugitive militants on Monday after crushing an Islamist group in fighting that ended a deadly 15-week standoff at a battered Palestinian refugee camp. As troops swept the devastated shantytown in northern Lebanon for explosives and hunted for any surviving members of Fatah Al Islam, the bodies of two of the Sunni extremist groups leaders were identified, an army spokesman said.
We have identified the bodies of Fatah Al Islam chief Shaker Al Abssi and his spokesman Abu Salim Taha, the spokesman told AFP. We also believe that we have the body of Nasser Ismail, another of the top commanders. He said soldiers had also captured four militants in the camp on Monday, including one hiding in an attic.
An army officer here added that four Islamists hiding in the sewers were killed after they fired at an army patrol in the camp, wounding two soldiers. Gunshots could still be heard inside the camp, and an army official there said troops were trying to kill all smoke out remaining militants.
Bulldozers cleared sandbags from around Nahr Al Bared, which remained off-limits to civilians on Monday, while troops in armoured carriers cordoned off an area south of the camp and traffic on the main coastal highway to neighbouring Syria was diverted. Another military source said soldiers found weapons and rockets in underground shelters where the militants, who were said to take their inspiration from Osama bin Ladens Al Qaeda network, had been holed up.
This article starring:
ABU SALIM TAHA
Fatah al-Islam
NASER ISMAIL
Fatah al-Islam
SHAKER AL ABSI
Fatah al-Islam
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/04/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan police killed a Taliban 
Twin roadside bombs killed seven Afghan security personnel in the east of the country, while insurgents destroyed a convoy of trucks ferrying supplies for NATO-led troops, officials said Monday. According to AP, the blasts in Kunar province on Sunday destroyed two vehicles, killing four intelligence officers, one policeman and two private security guards, said 
Danish police have arrested eight people with alleged links to al-Qaeda on suspicion of planning a bomb attack. The eight suspects arrested late on Monday in Copenhagen form part of a terror cell with links to a senior al-Qaeda figure, police said. 
Eleven Islamist prison inmates, including two charged with participating in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, have launched a hunger strike in Spain, sources from the prison administration said Monday. The six Moroccans, four Algerians and one Turkish national were held in three prisons in the eastern Valencia region. 
MIRANSHAH: A tribal woman was killed and two others injured after security forces used artillery fire to pound the hideouts of suspected Taliban militants who targeted a checkpost in North Waziristan Monday, officials said.
The government on Monday freed more than a 100 arrested tribesmen and opened the main highway to meet some of the demands made by the Taliban for the release of around 200 kidnapped soldiers in South Waziristan, but the soldiers have not yet been freed, officials said. 
An Iraqi judge sentenced 10 people to death and 390 others to between 15 years and life in jail over clashes near the city of Najaf early this year that killed hundreds, local officials and a lawyer said on Monday. They said the verdicts were handed down on Sunday in the holy Shiite city, making it one of the biggest mass sentencings in Iraq since US forces ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003. 
The wife of 
NAHR Al BARED, Lebanon - Lebanese soldiers hunted down fugitive militants on Monday after crushing an Islamist group in fighting that ended a deadly 15-week standoff at a battered Palestinian refugee camp. As troops swept the devastated shantytown in northern Lebanon for explosives and hunted for any surviving members of Fatah Al Islam, the bodies of two of the Sunni extremist groups leaders were identified, an army spokesman said.
We have identified the bodies of Fatah Al Islam chief 
