Afghan police have killed three Taliban commanders allegedly involved in the abduction of the 23 South Koreans, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
It said the police operation took place on Friday in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, where the insurgents seized 23 South Koreans on July 19. The commanders who were killed during this operation were directly involved in the kidnapping case of the Korean hostages, the ministry said in a statement. It did not provide any further details or the identities of the slain Taliban.
Ghazni has seen several military operations since the captives release on August 29 and August 30, possibly reflecting a desire by the Afghan government to assert its authority on the rebellious region following the abductions. Another Taliban commander behind the kidnapping of South Korean church workers, Mullah Mateen, was killed in an operation early this month. In other violence on Friday, at least eight suspected Taliban were killed in separate Afghan army operations in Helmand province, while two Afghan soldiers lost their lives in insurgent violence in western Farah province, the Defense Ministry said.
More than 4,300 people mostly militants have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Damn. Takes all the fun out of kidnapping doesn't it?
Austrian authorities on Friday freed one of three people arrested on suspicion of posting a video message on the Internet threatening attacks on Austria and Germany, a judiciary spokesman said. A fourth person is in custody in Canada in connection with the same case of links to al Qaeda. In Austria, a Vienna judge released a 26-year-old man for lack of sufficient evidence that he committed a crime, judiciary spokesman Christian Gneist said.
The judge ruled that the other two suspects, a 22-year-old man and his 20-year-old wife, would remain in investigative custody as a criminal inquiry proceeded, he said. The man was suspected of trying to coerce Austrian government officials into withdrawing military personnel from Afghanistan by threatening attacks in the video, said Gneist. The man and his wife were suspected of being members of a terrorist organisation as well, he said. All three people were second-generation immigrants from Arab countries and held Austrian passports.
In Canada, a 35-year-old man was arrested in the French-speaking province of Quebec and charged with plotting to cause explosions in a foreign country. Austrian officials said earlier the man held in Canada, who they said was of African descent, had been in contact by email and online forums with those arrested in Vienna. The video message posted in March demanded German and Austrian soldiers leave Afghanistan, but in electronic surveillance over several months police found no concrete indications that attacks were in the offing. The arrests came a week after Germany said it foiled an Islamist militant plan to carry out massive bomb attacks on US installations in the country. Germany arrested three men.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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A chanting throng of more than 100,000 mourners chased away senior Pakistani officials from the funeral of a leading pro-Taliban cleric, police and witnesses said.
They hurled shoes at government officials who tried to enter the sprawling stadium where the prayers were being held for Maulana Hassan Jan, 69, who was killed Saturday in the northwestern city of Peshawar. "Get out!" they chanted when Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao arrived, and provincial chief minister Akram Durrani was given similar treatment.
Security officials hurriedly escorted Durrani out of the stadium to other chants directed against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and US President George W. Bush.
The crowd, mostly made up of students at religious schools, also smashed windows and gates at the stadium, witnesses said.
Provincial information minister Asif Iqbal said more than 100,000 people attended the prayers, and that Jan was buried at a graveyard on the outskirts of Peshawar. Jan, who preached a message of harmony among different Muslim sects, was a respected Islamic teacher who had pupils in Pakistan, Afghanistan and several other Arab and Islamic countries. He taught Sharia law in Saudi Arabia and was an influential figure among Taliban leaders, including the hardline militia's fugitive chief Mullah Omar, his friends said.
He was against suicide attacks and had issued fatwas (religious decrees), calling suicide bombings "un-Islamic."
A former lawmaker, Jan was among a group of officials and clerics who went to Afghanistan in late 2001 to convince Mullah Omar to expel Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the September 11 attacks in the United States.
He was shot dead by unidentified gunmen who fled in a car, in what senior police office Tahir Khan called a "terrorist act." "The murder was plotted to trigger unrest in the country," he said.
Jan was also a vice-president of the Pakistan madrassa federation, which looks after thousands of seminaries across the country.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/16/2007 08:48 ||
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#1
Some angry mourners chanted "Death to Musharraf" a reference to Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and "death to America." Some threw stones at enclosures in the stadium where senior government officials were present, shattering windows. No injuries were reported.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/16/2007 8:50 Comments ||
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#2
A Pakistani boy throws a stone towards a room where officials had gathered for the funeral ceremony for Maulana Hassan Jan in Peshawar. A chanting throng of more than 100,000 mourners chased away senior Pakistani officials from the funeral of a leading pro-Taliban cleric.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/16/2007 8:51 Comments ||
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#3
That's 100,000 terrorists - present or future - who will eventually bring down Pakistan (hard to believe there IS a 'down' but there is) or die trying.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/16/2007 11:09 Comments ||
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#5
Nah.. use the Russian version.. that is environmentally friendly...
Posted by: john frum ||
09/16/2007 11:18 Comments ||
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#6
A few canisters of napalm would have put a stop to these chanting "students". I hope the Pak police were videotaping the event, so they can identify future suicide bombers.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/16/2007 13:02 Comments ||
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#7
Looks like they need a few more days of ramadamadingdong to work on that introspection thingy.
#8
Well, I see I'm in good company here - my first thought was 'target rich environment', but hadn't really got to what device ought to be used.
I guess a MOAB in a stadium would pretty much kill everyone in it, wouldn't it? (from wikipaedia) It has 18400 lbs of H6 in it, which is 1.35 times more powerful than TNT, so that makes it 25245 lbs of TNT, so I guess the answer is probably, yes.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
09/16/2007 13:44 Comments ||
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#9
globalsecurity.org has the blast radius of the US MOAB at 150m (the russians say theirs was 300m :rolls eyes:), so unless that's a *very* big stadium, I'd say they would all have been smoked up like a kipper! ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
09/16/2007 13:49 Comments ||
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#10
If Pakistan weren't so busy pissing in this world's punchbowl it would be hilarious to watch these Taliban terrorists devour the politicians who spawned them in the first place. Musharraf has ridden the tiger for so long he's forgotten that you can only dismount onto the dinner plate.
Police have found the head of a suspected suicide bomber who killed around 16 army commandoes at a base in Tarbela on Thursday, local TV channels reported.
Anybody for a quick soccer match?
Most of the victims were officers from an elite counter-terrorism force, the Special Services Group, who were having dinner when the bomber blew himself up in their dining hall. Local TV reported that the troops targeted at the barracks took part in the raid against Lal Masjid, which killed around 90 students and 11 soldiers. Geo television reported that police were allowed to enter the site of the blast for the first time on Saturday at 11am to participate in the investigation. A guard, Ismail, told police that he saw a bearded youth wearing white clothes and a white cap heading towards the soldiers mess on a bicycle. He said he thought the boy was taking food for the soldiers, but there was a huge blast that destroyed the main hall after the boy entered the mess. According to police, the body of the bomber was divided into two parts.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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Unidentified assailants shot dead Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader and Wafaqul Madaris Vice Chairman Maulana Hassan Jan in the jurisdiction of Yakatoot police station here on Saturday, police said.
He along with a group of Pakistani clerics traveled to Afghanistan in 2001 to convince Mullah Omar that he should expel Osama Bin Laden from Afghanistan to avoid American attacks.
SSP Tahir Khan said the assailants took Hassan from his house on some pretext during Iftari and later killed him at a deserted place in the Wazir Bagh area. Peshawar Nazim Haji Ghulam Ali quoted Hassans relatives as saying that some people came to his house on Friday and requested him to solemnise a marriage on Saturday. Hassan, a former MNA, also issued a fatwa against suicide attacks.
AP adds: He along with a group of Pakistani clerics traveled to Afghanistan in 2001 to convince Mullah Omar that he should expel Osama Bin Laden from Afghanistan to avoid American attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
I don't think it was really slow-motion, just buried too deep for the size of the charge.
Still....it coulda hurt somebody.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/16/2007 14:44 Comments ||
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#3
How do they get those things under the road? I didn't see any obvious signs that it was there. Do they go out and act like a construction crew? Tunnel sideways? Do they have road repair paraphernalia or equipment? Perhaps we ought to start regulating and tracking that kind of stuff if they do.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/16/2007 17:07 Comments ||
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#9
If it's culverts then the force of the blast ought to go out the sides more I would think, but I don't know much about this kind of thing. Maybe they are shaped charges or something. But if they are using culverts etc, then why not just plug them or put in sensors or something? Better yet, stick a claymore or ten in there!
#10
The IED was buried and small. It couldn't overome the weight and cohesiveness of the asphalt. Makes me wonder just how long the IED was buried since I couldn't see any asphalt patch on the video.
Posted by: ed ||
09/16/2007 17:57 Comments ||
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Coalition forces captured a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist linked to the assassination of Sheik Sattar during an operation Sept. 15 west of Balad.
The captured individual, Fallah Khalifa Hiyas Fayyas al-Jumayli, also known as Abu Khamis, is believed to be responsible for the death of Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Resha, founder of the Anbar Awakening, a coalition of tribes in Anbar Province committed to driving al-Qaeda in Iraq out of the area. Intelligence reports indicate al-Jumayli is involved in a plot to kill key leaders in the tribal awakening. He is also reportedly responsible for car bomb and suicide vest attacks in Anbar Province, and is closely allied with senior al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders in the region.
Coalition forces raided three buildings while targeting the individual. When the buildings were secure, one of the residents positively identified al-Jumayli. Coalition forces detained three additional suspected terrorists during the raid.
This article starring:
FALLAH KHALIFA HIYAS FAIYAS AL JUMAILI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Resha
Sheik Sattar
Posted by: Chuck Simmins ||
09/16/2007 06:14 ||
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#1
let the tribe have at him
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/16/2007 6:37 Comments ||
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#5
This piece of unflushed fecal matter needs to be tried by the central government, and if guilty, be hanged, drawn and quartered, and the pieces distributed among the tribes for their vengence. First and foremost, however, is his trial by the national government. We're trying to instill a sense of nationalism in Iraq that will supplant the tribalism. Handing him over to the tribes for vengence, while giving great satisfaction to the tribes, will hamper that effort.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/16/2007 13:10 Comments ||
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#6
Pull him apart with tweezers and a dull x-acto knife for all I care but FIRST wring this turd dry of what, where, when, how and who financed this operation. I'm past caring whether Iraq sinks or swims but I want the bastards who kill our soldiers mopped up stat.
#7
First and foremost, however, is his trial by the national government. We're trying to instill a sense of nationalism in Iraq that will supplant the tribalism.
When Army scouts in Iraq spotted two men planting a roadside bomb Sept. 1, they called in a nearby Hunter unmanned aircraft, which dropped a laser-guided bomb and killed the two men. We had the first confirmed use of an Army weaponized UAV, said Col. Don Hazelwood, project manager for Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
The Army is mounting precision-guided weapons on hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hazelwood said. The MQ-5B Hunter will carry the laser-guided GBU-44/B Viper Strike, a 42-pound glide bomb with a one-yard wingspan that can strike within one meter of its aim point.
The Army intends to increase the number of Viper Strike bombs it intends to buy, but declined to give specific numbers, said Tim Owings, the Armys deputy project manager for UAVs.
AGM-114 Hellfire missiles are going on the Warrior AlphaUAV, a prototype version of the MQ-1C Warrior Extended-Range Multi-purpose UAV to be ready by 2009. Eventually, the Warrior may also carry Viper Strikes. Both UAV types will carry laser designators that can be used to guide munitions dropped from UAVs or manned aircraft, said Owings.
He said the Army has a human in the loop who decides when to fire a UAVs weapons. The ground control stations are like a cockpit which does not need to be in the aircraft. The video goes into the brigade TOC [tactical operations center], so the same rules of engagement that any of our pilots would follow is followed by our pilots in the TOC, Owings said.
The number of UAVs in combat is rising, from about 1,000 last year to 1,350 expected by the end of this year. Flight hours have soared from 60,000 last year to 140,000 so far this year, Hazelwood said. The number of video terminals that display live imagery beamed from UAVs has jumped to 1,000, up from 200 six months ago, he said. They are installed in Stryker vehicles on their way to Iraq, and should be in Apache cockpits by next summer, said Kim Henry, a spokeswoman at the Armys Redstone Arsenal, Ala. These terminals receive video from any of our platforms. You can see where you are located and see what UAV operators are seeing as well. Now the Apache pilot is able to see before he gets to a target, Owings said.
The terminals allow soldiers to see around corners, over hills and buildings, and into neighboring areas during combat, said one senior Army leader who recently returned from Iraq.
He said more surveillance, communications and reconnaissance technologies are changing things. Now all of our [avionics and sensor] payloads are digital, and that has opened up a whole new bunch of capability, Hazelwood said. UAVs beam voice communications to convoys as far as 100 kilometers away, Hazelwood said.
The Hunter has been improved several times since it made the combat debut for Army UAVs in Kosovo in 1999. The latest model, the 1,940-pound, $2 million MQ-5B, has a bigger fuel tank so it can fly for 21 hours at altitudes up to 15,000 ft, diesel engines, and a modern avionics suite. Now we have an EOIR [electro-optical infrared] sensor on a ball sitting below the middle of the airplane, that allows soldiers to identify things with great clarity from a great distance away, said Northrop Grumman engineer Mike Howell.
Right now, they are at 53,000 hours of operation, 20,000 hours of combat in OIF [Operation Iraqi Freedom]. They are easy to maintain and they stay in the air, said David Apt, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Technical Services.
The Army is upgrading its A-model Hunters to the B specification, said Henry, who declined to say how many of each type the Army owns.
The Army plans to buy 132 MQ-1C Warriors in the first batch, taking delivery of the first prototype in December and beginning testing in May. Initial production is scheduled for July, with delivery of operational Warriors to the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, Ky., in August 2009, the senior Army official said. The Warrior, which will fly 36-hour missions at altitudes up to 25,000 feet, will carry an 800-pound payload, which includes four Hellfire missiles, Hazelwood said. We like the Hellfire, but we dont like using it downtown or in built-up areas. It can blow out windows. We are there to not disrupt the population and we are very sensitive to it, so we have to be very sensitive to the munitions we use, Hazelwood said. The Viper Strike can still take out the same type of targets but does not have the same explosive effects.
#4
First in Iraq, maybe, but didn't a UAV blow up a carload of terrorists in Yemen a few years back?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/16/2007 10:22 Comments ||
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#5
That was a CIA Predator UAV, this is it's baby brother. I heard from someone you saw the video, the viper strike set off the IED. Only thing they found were the guys tennis shoes.
Posted by: Steve ||
09/16/2007 10:31 Comments ||
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#6
The Hunter's the older UAV, first designed in the late 80s/early 90s. Built on an Israel air frame with some US electronics mods.
The Warrior is the updated Predator, more maneuverable and with longer air endurance, easier to fly than the Predator. (But I've heard pilots who are still not happy with the whole operator setup ....)
The Hunter can carry a couple Hellfires, but as one of our other esteemed commenters mentioned a while ago the Viper is better suited to the Hunter missions and it can carry more of them.
First, the UAVs can kill from the air without subjecting patrols to other attacks as they move to/through the IED location. So when you add up costs, include the cost of an uparmoured HMMWVs that might get blown up, fuel, medical care for the patrol members who might be hurt. Per mission.
Second, the UAVs can cross airspace where we might not have patrols close at hand or where we might not be able to move / kill fast enough to keep the enemy from fleeing.
Third, there is a huge deterrent effect from these things on the bomb placers who are doing it for money or are very low in the status chain for their insurgent group.
Fourth ... well, there are a lot of 'fourth's, but that gives the general idea.
Gotta say, the 03s - O5s and O6s I've talked to / heard talk who are back from theater rave about the impact of tactical UAVs for both recon and now for offensive use. These technologies are going to allow us to draw down troop strength a bit and rest some of our incredibly dedicated soldiers and marines who've been pulling 3, 4 or even 5 tours while their families try to keep things together at home.
#12
I'd think "death from the sky" unseen/unheard would put a twist in the Jihadis panties.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/16/2007 17:28 Comments ||
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#13
UAVs are very cost effective, even with their $50-70,000 munitions. Currently is cost about $5,000,000 for every kill in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's no way to win a war, but a good way to lose one via bankruptcy. We will win when goals and tactics change to drive the cost down to $5,000/kill. The muslims will no longer be able to sustain their losses.
Posted by: ed ||
09/16/2007 18:09 Comments ||
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#14
I think they are saying this is the first 'Army" kill - The USAF have been at it for a while ...
(don't now about you but I was confused at first ... doh!)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2007 20:50 Comments ||
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#16
RJ:
Back in WWII, the Germans and Russians did have a few diesel-engined airplanes. I don't remember the German, but the Russian was a variant of the Yer-2ACh long-range 2-engine bomber.
Posted by: Gary and the Samoyeds ||
09/16/2007 21:11 Comments ||
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#17
Currently is cost about $5,000,000 for every kill in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's no way to win a war, but a good way to lose one via bankruptcy. We will win when goals and tactics change to drive the cost down to $5,000/kill. The muslims will no longer be able to sustain their losses.
The way I read this is that either we reduce the cost-per-kill by three orders of magnitude or find a way to kill one thousand terrorists at a time. I prefer the second alternative.
Ten people were killed and 15 hurt when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a market place in southwest Baghdad Saturday evening as Muslims were preparing to break the Ramazan fast, officials said.
The blast occurred in front of a bakery in the mainly Shiite Amil neighbourhood around 6.30pm, half an hour before the start of iftar, Interior Ministry and medical officials said. People were queuing for bread at the time, an Interior Ministry official said, adding that 15 people had also been wounded. We received the bodies of 10 people, all of them men, a hospital official said. We also admitted seven people suffering shrapnel wounds.
Meanwhile,
US and Iraqi troops killed 14 suspected Al Qaeda fighters in northern and eastern Iraq on Saturday, a day after Osama Bin Ladens group claimed the killing of a prominent Sunni tribal leader.
US and Iraqi troops killed 14 suspected Al Qaeda fighters in northern and eastern Iraq on Saturday, a day after Osama Bin Ladens group claimed the killing of a prominent Sunni tribal leader. The US military said in a statement that separate operations in Tamim and Diyala provinces had targeted senior leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq and their facilitation networks. Seventeen suspected members of Al Qaedas Iraqi affiliate were detained during these two operations as well as in a series of raids in other parts of the country, the military said.
During an operation near the northern oil-refining town of Baiji on Saturday, it said, several enemy elements moved into tactical position. Iraqi and US forces called for close air support which engaged and killed nine terrorists, the statement said, adding that one suspected militant was arrested. Four suspected Al Qaeda operatives were killed when they lobbed grenades and opened fire on coalition forces during a separate raid north of Muqdadiyah in restive Diyala province, the military said.
Responding in self-defence, coalition forces returned fire and killed them, it said, adding that two suspected militants were arrested in the operation. Another raid in the main northern city of Mosul left one militant killed, while a similar operation around Baghdad netted another 14 suspected Al Qaeda members.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement on Friday that it killed Abdul Sattar Abu Reesha, a key US ally who was killed in a bomb attack in western Anbar province on Thursday. It called Abu Reesha one of the dogs and standard bearers of the crusade of [US President George W] Bush.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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American commanders in southern Iraq say Shiite sheiks are showing interest in joining forces with the U.S. military against extremists, in much the same way that Sunni clansmen in the western part of the country have worked with American forces against al-Qaida.
Can't be. We're not sophisticated enough for a move like this - just ask the British senior generals.
Sheik Majid Tahir al-Magsousi, the leader of the Migasees tribe here in Wasit province, acknowledged tribal leaders have discussed creating a brigade of young men trained by the Americans to bolster local security as well as help patrol the border with Iran.
He also said last week's assassination of Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, who spearheaded the Sunni uprising against al-Qaida in Anbar province, only made the Shiite tribal leaders more resolute.
"The death of Sheik Abu Risha will not thwart us," he said. "What matters to us is Iraq and its safety."
The movement by Shiite clan leaders offers the potential to give U.S. and Iraqi forces another tactical advantage in curbing lawlessness in Shiite areas. It also would give the Americans another resource as they beef up their presence on the border with Iran, which the military accuses of arming and training Shiite extremists.
Similar alliances with Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province helped break the grip of groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq and were widely cited in the Washington hearings as a major military success this year.
Such pacts to fill the vacuum left by Iraqi police and soldiers unable or unwilling to act against Shiite militias carry even greater potential spinoffs for Iraq's U.S.-backed leadership but also higher risks.
Shiites represent about 60 percent of Iraq's population and the bulk of the security forces and parliament. Worsening the current Shiite-on-Shiite battles could ripple to the highest levels.
But U.S. officials at the heart of the effort hope to tap a wellspring of public frustration with militias and criminal gangs to recruit the tribal volunteers, although they stress it is still in the early stages.
"It's an anti-militia movement ... Shiite extremists of all stripes," said Wade Weems, head of a Provincial Reconstruction Team leading the dialogue in the Wasit province southeast of Baghdad.
"We see consistently expressed deep frustration or anger with the activities of militia that appear to be untethered to any sort of guiding authority, appear to be really criminal in nature," he added.
But while the military has made inroads with Sunni leaders in some Baghdad neighborhoods and areas surrounding the capital, including Diyala province, officials stressed it's too early to know if efforts to extend the strategy to Shiite leaders will take root.
"This is a very different province and a very different dynamic and we're not going to just adopt lock, stock and barrel another province's model and impose it here," Weems said. "This will take some time for us to understand exactly what it is these tribes want to do."
In Anbar, the goal of the Sunnis was to drive al-Qaida in Iraq away from towns and villages because of the terror movement's attempt to impose a rigorous Islamic lifestyle.
In Wasit, which borders Iran, the goal is to rein in armed Shiite groups, some of them probably armed by Iran, which are locked in a power struggle that is making life intolerable for ordinary people.
U.S. officers believe last month's fighting among rival Shiite militias during a religious festival in Karbala may have been the last straw. Up to 52 people died in the clashes, which marred what was supposed to be a joyous celebration.
Anger also rose after the assassinations of two southern provincial governors that were seen as part of a brutal contest among rival Shiite militias to control parts of Iraq's main oil regions.
Fearing a backlash, Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of Iraq's biggest militia, ordered a six-month freeze on his Mahdi Army's activities and began reorganizing the force to purge unruly elements.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the militias appeared to be alienating the Shiite community with internal violence in the same way al-Qaida in Iraq caused Sunni leaders to turn against it.
"There are some signs that the Shia are perhaps beginning to have the same get the same kind of wake-up call with respect to their extremists that the Sunnis in Anbar did," he said.
Since Karbala, Weems said he has attended a "flurry of meetings" with sheiks interested in ways they can use their formidable influence to help restore order.
"They are well aware of what's happened in Anbar province, the role that the tribes played in securing some of the less secure areas in that province," he said. "There has been a good deal of success with those, not just in Anbar but in other areas."
Army Capt. Majid al-Imara, who said he has been charged with establishing the new force, said each battalion will be made up of 350 men chosen by tribal leaders, and they will be armed and equipped by the Iraqi government and paid $300 monthly, he said.
Col. Peter Baker, the commander of the 214th Fires Brigade that took over Forward Operating Base Delta near Kut in June, also said the idea was for the tribal volunteers to act as an "auxiliary police force" that could provide security in an organized fashion but let the sheiks maintain control of tribal members.
One of the obstacles is the lack of a single enemy, such as al-Qaida in Iraq, which alienated Sunni tribal leaders and even other insurgents by killing sheiks and trying to impose a strict interpretation of Islam.
Shiites are getting increasingly fed up, however, with the fighting among rival militia groups, as well as the criminal nature of gangs engaging in extortion and setting up illegal checkpoints.
Weems acknowledged fears that the tribal leaders could abuse their authority and said he expected the movement to start with small groups that would receive mandatory training in when and how to use force, with careful monitoring.
"As with any group that is taking on a security function where the police seem to be failing, there are concerns," he said. "We'll probably adopt a model of growing these from smaller groups and measuring their success before we broaden it."
But, he said, the ultimate goal was to quickly "integrate those tribal volunteers into one branch of the Iraqi security forces, be it the army, the police or here in Wasit the border patrol."
Glad to see that we have figured out the Brits leaving means the Iranians moving in.....Good move and if it works with Shia as well as Sunni we may have something going real strong for reconciliation and political union.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/16/2007 9:12 Comments ||
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Two Palestinians were wounded in what appeared too be an internal Hamas gunfight in the Gazan town of in Deir el-Balah on Saturday night, Israel Radio reported. One of the wounded is a member of the group's special forces.
According to Fatah media outlets, one of the men is a confidant of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the other is an associate of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar. Zahar denied reports last week that he had threatened Haniyeh after he announced that he was ready to renew talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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A small Israeli ground force pushed into the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, clashing with militants and bulldozing areas of farmland, the army and residents said. Local medics said a 17-year-old Palestinian male was in serious condition after being shot in the stomach in northern Gaza. The army said it had no reports of injuries. An army spokesman said Israeli forces conducted routine activity against what it called terror threats in the north of the coastal enclave, and said troops arrested nine Palestinians.
Militants in northern Gaza fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Israelis and exchanged fire with soldiers, he said. Local residents said a small group of armoured vehicles bulldozed farmland in northern Gaza. A small force also entered southern Gaza, according to residents, but the army said there was no activity in the area. Tensions between the Jewish state and Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June, have increased sharply after a makeshift rocket fired into Israel by militants wounded at least 35 Israeli army conscripts this week.
The army frequently carries out operations in border areas to try to curb rocket attacks by militants in Gaza. Israel has so far opted against a major offensive in the territory but this weeks rocket attack rekindled calls for tougher reprisals. Separately, the Israeli army arrested 12 protesters at a rally near the West Bank city of Nablus after they hurled rocks at soldiers and tried to force their way through a checkpoint, an army spokesman said.
Two of the protesters were Palestinian and the rest were Israelis and foreigners. One protester was lightly injured and taken to hospital, the spokesman said, adding that about 40 people attended the rally. An Israeli newspaper website said the protesters were demonstrating against a planned roadblock in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
D-9z to the Rescue!
D-9z to the Rescue!
Yes, I am hooked on oldies
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
09/16/2007 4:57 Comments ||
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#2
Watch ir, I resemble that remark.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/16/2007 20:55 Comments ||
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A Hamas-led security force said on Sunday it found a bomb outside the parliament building in the Gaza Strip, a development that could fuel tensions between governing Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. "We have thwarted a bombing attack against the parliament headquarters," said Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for Hamas's Executive Force that polices the territory.
He said the bomb contained 15 kg (33 lb) of explosives and was placed at the parliamentary compound's gate. "The engineering unit of the Executive Force defused the device. The Executive force is searching for the perpetrators," Shahwan said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in fighting against Fatah three months ago. Tensions between the two groups continue to be high and have erupted in violence in the Gaza Strip in a series of Fatah-organized open-air prayer meetings, banned by Hamas, over the past several weeks.
A roadside bomb blast and clashes between soldiers and secessionist Tamil Tiger guerrillas across Sri Lankas volatile north have killed 29 people, the military said on Saturday.
A bus with soldiers was hit by a bomb planted by the rebels Friday night in the northern Jaffna peninsula, killing two soldiers and wounding seven others, an official at the Defense Ministrys information center said. Hours earlier, six Tamil Tigers and three soldiers were killed in a clash in the Vavuniya district south of Jaffna, and eight guerrillas were killed in two separate battles reported there, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing government policy.
Also Friday, the military reported that they killed 10 guerrillas who tried to attack a defense line in Muhamalai, in Jaffna district. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not immediately be reached for comment. Fighting has escalated in Sri Lankas Northern Province in recent weeks, with the military capturing a key coastal territory that served as a rebel supply point.
In July the government celebrated taking full control of the Eastern Province from Tamil Tigers after 13 years. The Tigers, who want to carve out an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils in the islands north and east, are still holding a vast area in the north where they run a de facto state.
Sri Lankas civil war flared up in 1983, and witnessed a brief lull after a Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in 2002. A new wave of fighting, however, including assassinations and airstrikes over the past 22 months, has killed more than 5,000 people. The two sides continue to violate the cease-fire, which exists only on paper, but neither is willing to officially withdraw from the agreement, fearing international isolation. The rebels, who want an independent state for the Tamil minority in the north and the east of the country, were not immediately available for comment. An estimated 5,000 people have died since last year in renewed fighting after a peace process collapsed.
About 70,000 people have been killed, including thousands of civilians, since 1983 when the civil war erupted.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Israeli forces within Syria -- on the far side from Israel? And clearly will have got out again safely, or nobody would be speaking... if it is indeed more than fabulous rumour. The entire Arab world must be rethinking their romantic ideas of open warfare against the hated Zionist entity.
This must be as mentally devastating as the Six Day War, at significantly lower cost.
#3
This must be as mentally devastating as the Six Day War, at significantly lower cost.
One can only hope. Even if not, the clear message has been sent that Israel owns its neighborhood in the Middle East whenever it so chooses. Yet one more tremendous humiliation for the lot of incompetent bullies and gangsters that pass themselves off as regional leadership.
Online databases tracking a ship reportedly flying a North Korean flag that docked in Syria have changed their records following a report in The Washington Post linking the alleged Israeli air strike in Syria to a North Korean shipment.
Did a little cleanup, did they?
Ronen Solomon, who searches information in the public domain for companies, told Haaretz he found references to a ship called Al Hamad on three different Web sites after the initial reports of the Israeli raid in Syria on September 6. These included the official sites of Syria's Tartous Port and the Egyptian Transportation Ministry. Two of the three sites said the ship was flying a North Korean flag, and the third site reported it was flying a South Korean flag. Haaretz confirmed Solomon's report.
Saturday, the Washington Post published an article citing an American Mideast expert, who said a shipment that arrived in Syria three days before the alleged Israel Air Forces strike was labeled as cement, but that Israel believed it carried nuclear equipment.
Because the Norks are famous for their cement exports.
According to the site, the ship had passed through Tripoli port in Lebanon, Solomon said. He then found a site, www.e-ships.net, that said Al Hamad was registered as a 1,700-ton ship intended for general cargo and flying a North Korean flag.
Following the Washington Post report, Solomon returned to the three sites, and discovered that all mentions of the North Korean flag on Al Hamad had been deleted, and that the ship's flag was now registered as 'unknown.'
The official site of Syria's Tartous Port had reported that Al Hamad, flying a North Korean flag and carrying cement, entered the port on September 3. Syria said IAF planes entered its airspace on September 5.
Sorry, I don't see the Syrians having their precious nuclear materials coming through a Lebanese port. They have less control and then they have the transportation issue. Latakia is just a bit further north and it's a Syrian port.
According to the site, the ship had passed through Tripoli port in Lebanon, Solomon said. He then found a site that said Al Hamad was registered as a 1,700-ton ship intended for general cargo and flying a North Korean flag. The ship had been built in 1965 and had had several owners, according to the site.
In addition, Solomon found on the Web site of Egypt's Transportation Ministry a record that Al Hamad had docked in Damietta Port Said in the Nile Delta about a month earlier, on July 28. However, this site registered the ship as flying a South Korean flag.
Haaretz was able to access the Tartous Port Internet site until Saturday afternoon, after which it went offline for several hours.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
09/16/2007 00:27 ||
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#1
Not surprising; the vessel was detained for a short while, then released. The vessel will be electronically 'tagged' by the US and or Mossad; the Norks knowing this will probable recall the ship once it reaches home port or mysteriously sunk at some point in International waters, to bury the 'evidence and 'tagging''!
It was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syrias formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.
At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.
Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.
The Israeli government was not saying. The security sources and IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers are demonstrating unusual courage, said Ehud Olmert, the prime minister. We naturally cannot always show the public our cards.
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The Syrians were also keeping mum. I cannot reveal the details, said Farouk al-Sharaa, the vice-president. All I can say is the military and political echelon is looking into a series of responses as we speak. Results are forthcoming. The official story that the target comprised weapons destined for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite group, appeared to be crumbling in the face of widespread scepticism.
Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official, said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from secret suppliers, and added that there were a number of foreign technicians in the country.
Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied: There are North Korean people there. Theres no question about that. He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistans nuclear weapons, could be involved.
But why would nuclear material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?
Alternatively, could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America suggest?
According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.
The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.
This was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel, said an Israeli source. Weve known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel cant live with a nuclear warhead.
An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli participants in the raid, told yesterdays Washington Post that the timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment.
The target was identified as a northern Syrian facility that purported to be an agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river. Israel had been monitoring it for some time, concerned that it was being used to extract uranium from phosphates.
According to an Israeli air force source, the Israeli satellite Ofek 7, launched in June, was diverted from Iran to Syria. It sent out high-quality images of a northeastern area every 90 minutes, making it easy for air force specialists to spot the facility.
Early in the summer Ehud Barak, the defence minister, had given the order to double Israeli forces on its Golan Heights border with Syria in anticipation of possible retaliation by Damascus in the event of air strikes.
Sergei Kirpichenko, the Russian ambassador to Syria, warned President Bashar al-Assad last month that Israel was planning an attack, but suggested the target was the Golan Heights.
Israeli military intelligence sources claim Syrian special forces moved towards the Israeli outpost of Mount Hermon on the Golan Heights. Tension rose, but nobody knew why.
At this point, Barak feared events could spiral out of control. The decision was taken to reduce the number of Israeli troops on the Golan Heights and tell Damascus the tension was over. Syria relaxed its guard shortly before the Israeli Defence Forces struck.
Only three Israeli cabinet ministers are said to have been in the know Olmert, Barak and Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister. America was also consulted. According to Israeli sources, American air force codes were given to the Israeli air force attaché in Washington to ensure Israels F15Is would not mistakenly attack their US counterparts.
Once the mission was under way, Israel imposed draconian military censorship and no news of the operation emerged until Syria complained that Israeli aircraft had violated its airspace. Syria claimed its air defences had engaged the planes, forcing them to drop fuel tanks to lighten their loads as they fled.
But intelligence sources suggested it was a highly successful Israeli raid on nuclear material supplied by North Korea.
Washington was rife with speculation last week about the precise nature of the operation. One source said the air strikes were a diversion for a daring Israeli commando raid, in which nuclear materials were intercepted en route to Iran and hauled to Israel. Others claimed they were destroyed in the attack.
There is no doubt, however, that North Korea is accused of nuclear cooperation with Syria, helped by AQ Khans network. John Bolton, who was undersecretary for arms control at the State Department, told the United Nations in 2004 the Pakistani nuclear scientist had several other customers besides Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Some of his evidence came from the CIA, which had reported to Congress that it viewed Syrian nuclear intentions with growing concern.
Ive been worried for some time about North Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programmes, Bolton said last week. Syria, he added, was a member of a junior axis of evil, with a well-established ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The links between Syria and North Korea date back to the rule of Kim Il-sung and President Hafez al-Assad in the last century. In recent months, their sons have quietly ordered an increase in military and technical cooperation.
Foreign diplomats who follow North Korean affairs are taking note. There were reports of Syrian passengers on flights from Beijing to Pyongyang and sightings of Middle Eastern businessmen from sources who watch the trains from North Korea to China.
On August 14, Rim Kyong Man, the North Korean foreign trade minister, was in Syria to sign a protocol on cooperation in trade and science and technology. No details were released, but it caught Israels attention.
Syria possesses between 60 and 120 Scud-C missiles, which it has bought from North Korea over the past 15 years. Diplomats believe North Korean engineers have been working on extending their 300-mile range. It means they can be used in the deserts of northeastern Syria the area of the Israeli strike.
The triangular relationship between North Korea, Syria and Iran continues to perplex intelligence analysts. Syria served as a conduit for the transport to Iran of an estimated £50m of missile components and technology sent by sea from North Korea. The same route may be in use for nuclear equipment.
But North Korea is at a sensitive stage of negotiations to end its nuclear programme in exchange for security guarantees and aid, leading some diplomats to cast doubt on the likelihood that Kim would cross Americas red line forbidding the proliferation of nuclear materials.
Christopher Hill, the State Department official representing America in the talks, said on Friday he could not confirm intelligence-type things, but the reports underscored the need to make sure the North Koreans get out of the nuclear business.
By its actions, Israel showed it is not interested in waiting for diplomacy to work where nuclear weapons are at stake.
As a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian nuclear sites.
This weekend President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran sent Ali Akbar Mehrabian, his nephew, to Syria to assess the damage. The new axis of evil may have lost one of its spokes.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Looks like there could be some fallout from this.
(rimshot)
#2
And you've got to wonder, that if Syria's border with Iraq is that wide open to infiltration from west to east, if they made it just as open from east to west. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
#6
If this was an effort of the Norks to secrete equipment and material, it would be confirmed if they huffily announce that they are breaking off talks and are going to go back into the nuclear business.
#8
'Moose', that makes it clear why US Intelligence allowed the Nork's shipment to reach Syria; that would allow the Norks 'room' for plausible deniability preventing a pullout from the 6 party talks! Israel scored it's second successful attack against a potential nuclear face off, and the long arm of The Mossad lead the way. The Key lied with Israel waiting patiently for three criteria to come to a focal point for the operation; namely; 1) placement of ground assets 2) nesting of the nuclear material to sufficient position for destuction, 3) adequate diversion for fighter interception and extraction w/ enemy communications failure! I'm just waiting for the leak on whether a mini tactical nuke buster was used, for that "Big Hole In The Desert", however this might be suppressed by those concerned by reaction of the 'arab street'! In any event, it would be prudent for Israel to vamp up security (even more so) around Dimona to ward off that 'eye for an eye' Syria is threatening.
#10
I would just like to take this chance to thank the liberals in the US government who have voted to stifle an anti-missile defense. We can't tell you how much we appreciate it.
If true, I'd sure like to know how the NorKs intended to explain away the disappearance of whatever nuclear material this was. Uranium? Test equipment? A bomb chassis that had proven itself next to worthless but might be great material to learn from?
North Korea commented on the incident Tuesday, calling it a "dangerous provocation", Chinese News Agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.
"This is a very dangerous provocation little short of wantonly violating the sovereignty of Syria and seriously harassing the regional peace and security," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea strongly denounces the above-said intrusion and extends full support and solidarity to the Syrian people in their just cause to defend the national security and the regional peace."
Why would the NorKs even feel the need to comment on this operation?
Could it be that they are miffed that their shipments were destroyed?
#14
Why would the NorKs even feel the need to comment on this operation?
Well, if someone blew up one or our cement shipments wouldn't you expect our State Department to react?
Posted by: Captain Lewis ||
09/16/2007 8:19 Comments ||
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#15
On the ground, Syrias formidable air defences went dead.
This is what peaks my interest. Went dead? How? Inside mole? EMP device? Took out one radar that tied miles of anti-air network? Whatever it was worked to perfection and didn't alarm the Syrians to scramble their fighters.
As everyone else is saying; assuming this is true, its pretty damned amazing. The thing that gets me is Israels seeming ability to shut down the Syrian air defenses.
The other thing that gets me is that even Ehud Olmert gets it. Chinless ophthalmologists and short, apocalyptic Islamist religious fanatics should not be allowed to play with nukes.
Again, assuming this is true, its real nice to see that Israel still has the biggest balls on the block.
#18
I'd sure like to know how the NorKs intended to explain away the disappearance of whatever nuclear material this was. Uranium? Test equipment? A bomb chassis that had proven itself next to worthless but might be great material to learn from?
Why would the NORKS or the Syrians, for that matter, explain anything? Deny, deny, deny.
Which is fine, if we bomb, bomb, bomb when we have actionable intel about sufficiently threatening targets. Or if we facilitate work accidents at the site - tragic, but these things happen ....
In this case, whatever the target held, it was deemed critical to take out and either the Israelis couldn't do so more surreptitiously or they wanted to make a very public point. Or both.
#19
1- Would/could the Israelis have done this if Iraq's western desert were still available as a SCUD launching platform?
2- Where's Islamic Rage Boy when you really need him?
Posted by: Matt ||
09/16/2007 11:36 Comments ||
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#20
Carrying on in the illustrious tradition of Soviet/Russian weapons/defense systems in the hands of Arab/Muslim idiots. Russia got the money and Syria got the shaft. After so many years you'd think they'd learn. It's like Lucy and Charlie Brown with the football. Every single autumn Lucy assures Charlie Brown that she will hold it steady so this year he really is going to kick that ball. But somehow it just never works out that way. Achmadinutjob, are you listening?
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 ||
09/16/2007 17:55 Comments ||
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#22
I wish we coulda pinned the intel on the lovable dwarf Kucinich while he was there
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/16/2007 18:12 Comments ||
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#23
#21 Nancy Pelosi is going to be pissed.
Posted by: JohnQC 2007-09-16 17:57
She needs to send Murtha over to asses whether to replace the damage with Clinton (Missile Technology supplied to China by Bill) assistance or to send Harry Reid over to build a Syrian Las Vegas in that desert.
#26
OK!...OK!...I gotta say it... Any of Sadams junk in that ditch? You know...WMD's?
Posted by: Herb Sheans7082 ||
09/16/2007 19:39 Comments ||
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#27
Given its land area and population densities, Israel gener cannot tolerate the detonation(s) any high-yield WMD warhead, thus their need to preempt.
#28
Probably a good amount of Saddam's old WMD were taken out : lots of intel says that Saddam handed over a bunch of his WMD program to his fellow Baathists in Syria, just before we invaded. It was supposedly hidden in special bunkers in the Bekka Valley, but then, the Lebanese starting pushing against the Syrians, and the Hezb'allah dustup with Israel made that untenable. There were reports at the time of special Syrian convoys picking up "items" from the Bekka and heading home to Syria.
#29
SYRIA > may be in possible violation of NPT Treaty. *Vari Israeli Posters > Syrian incident shows time growing short for Israel or World to do something about Iran.
The Lebanese security forces and the army arrested today Abu Saleem Taha the spokesman of Fatah al-Islam terrorist organization in the village of Terbel in north Lebanon. He was accompanied by 3 members of Fatah al-Islam. A Palestinian , a Tunisian and a Yemeni. All four are now in the custody of the Lebanese army. Just like in the case of Fatah al Islam leader Shaker el Absi, many reported that Abu Saleem Taha was killed in action.
This article starring:
ABU SALIM TAHA
Fatah al-Islam
SHAKER EL ABSI
Fatah al-Islam
Fatah al-Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
09/16/2007 00:00 ||
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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.
It said the police operation took place on Friday in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, where the insurgents seized 23 South Koreans on July 19. The commanders who were killed during this operation were directly involved in the kidnapping case of the Korean hostages, the ministry said in a statement. It did not provide any further details or the identities of the slain Taliban. 
Austrian authorities on Friday freed one of three people arrested on suspicion of posting a video message on the Internet threatening attacks on Austria and Germany, a judiciary spokesman said. A fourth person is in custody in Canada in connection with the same case of links to al Qaeda. In Austria, a Vienna judge released a 26-year-old man for lack of sufficient evidence that he committed a crime, judiciary spokesman Christian Gneist said. 
A chanting throng of more than 100,000 mourners chased away senior Pakistani officials from the funeral of a leading pro-Taliban cleric, police and witnesses said.
When Army scouts in Iraq spotted two men planting a roadside bomb Sept. 1, they called in a nearby Hunter unmanned aircraft, which dropped a laser-guided bomb and killed the two men. We had the first confirmed use of an Army weaponized UAV, said Col. Don Hazelwood, project manager for Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
Ten people were killed and 15 hurt when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a market place in southwest Baghdad Saturday evening as Muslims were preparing to break the Ramazan fast, officials said.
Two Palestinians were wounded in what appeared too be an internal Hamas gunfight in the Gazan town of in Deir el-Balah on Saturday night, Israel Radio reported. One of the wounded is a member of the group's special forces. 
A small Israeli ground force pushed into the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, clashing with militants and bulldozing areas of farmland, the army and residents said. Local medics said a 17-year-old Palestinian male was in serious condition after being shot in the stomach in northern Gaza. The army said it had no reports of injuries. An army spokesman said Israeli forces conducted routine activity against what it called terror threats in the north of the coastal enclave, and said troops arrested nine Palestinians. 
A Hamas-led security force said on Sunday it found a bomb outside the parliament building in the Gaza Strip, a development that could fuel tensions between governing Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. "We have thwarted a bombing attack against the parliament headquarters," said Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for Hamas's Executive Force that polices the territory.
A roadside bomb blast and clashes between soldiers and secessionist Tamil Tiger guerrillas across Sri Lankas volatile north have killed 29 people, the military said on Saturday. 
The Lebanese security forces and the army arrested today 
