Three Dutch soldiers from NATO-led forces in Afghanistan were hospitalized on Sunday after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device near the town of Tarin Kowt, the Defence Ministry said.
One soldier lost both his legs in the explosion and his condition was critical, the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site. "It is sad to conclude that terrorists, who intend to block a peaceful and energetic Afghanistan, use this kind of cowardly method," said Dutch Finance Minister Eimert van Middelkoop. "However our soldiers are determined to continue their hard job in Afghanistan," he said in the statement.
This article starring:
Eimert van Middelkoop
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The Dutch government may be spineless, but their troops - at least the ones in Afghanistan - aren't. God bless them and grant them an early recovery.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/31/2008 12:33 Comments ||
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#2
The elites who "lead" nations are usually the problem, not the folks who actually do things at the tip of the spear. And if the folks at the tip do fail, it's because they have been led by example too long.
Eight Taliban fighters were killed in an operation conducted by Afghan and Western troops after the rebels ambushed a civilian supply convoy in southern Afghanistan, police said on Sunday.
Taliban attacked a civilian convoy. After brief fighting with security guards, the rebels retreated into a nearby village, stealing a vehicle of the guards. Police, the army, and NATO forces chased them.
The rebels were killed late on Saturday in a raid launched after they had ambushed trucks ferrying supplies to foreign military bases in Zabul province, a police official said. [The] Taliban attacked a civilian convoy. After brief fighting with security guards, the rebels retreated into a nearby village, stealing a vehicle of the guards, provincial deputy police chief Faridullah Zadran said. Police, the army, and NATO forces chased them. In [the] fighting with the Taliban, eight of them were killed and four others were captured. The stolen car was also recovered, he told AFP.
The Taliban, who were in government between 1996 and 2001, are waging a bloody insurgency, which is particularly tense in southern provinces such as Zabul. The extremist regime was ousted in a US-led invasion in late 2001 after they refused to hand over Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Around 70,000 international troops are helping the Kabul government rebuild the country from the destruction caused by decades of conflict.
This article starring:
Faridullah Zadran
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Geesh, what's happened to the Pak Daily Times? That's the most even-handed, pure-news article I've read from them in years. Are the taliban in Pakistan making THAT much of a difference?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/31/2008 12:38 Comments ||
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(SomaliNet)At least 26 people have been killed and 68 others injured in renewed attacks by Aethiopian and Somali troops have in a Mogadishu market.
The chairman of the Bakara business community, Hagi Ali Mohamed Siyad, known as Ali Dheere, confirmed that many civilians were killed or injured in the course of fresh attacks staged by Somali forces stationed in the Presidential palace in collaboration with Aethiopian soldiers in their embassy near the palace, a Press TV's correspondent said Sunday.
This article starring:
Ali Dheere
Hagi Ali Mohamed Siyad
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) A massive explosion has destroyed an Aethiopian military convoy in South Mogadishu, killing at least nine soldiers and wounding many others.
A Press TV correspondent reported from South Mogadishu that the blast was triggered by a remote controlled device as the Ethiopian convoy passed along the Florenza Street, which connects the Presidential Palace, or Villa Somalia, with district of Hararyale. Eyewitnesses said also said a military vehicle was completely destroyed in the explosion, adding that at least nine Ethiopian soldiers were killed at the scene.
After the incident the soldiers opened fire on irregular combatants civilians present in the area.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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The US has charged a Guantanamo Bay detainee with war crimes for the 1998 al-Qaeda attack on the US embassy in Tanzania, which left 11 people dead. Charges against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani - who was captured in 2004 - include murder and attacking civilians.
Mr Ghailani, a Tanzanian is the 15th person to be charged at Guantanamo, where trials are expected to start later this year. The Pentagon said Mr Ghailani could receive the death penalty if convicted.
Mr Ghailani goes by dozens of aliases, including "Foopie" and "Ahmed the Tanzanian".
He is accused of buying the lorry that carried the bomb used in the Dar es Salaam attack.
Two people have been killed and at least one more injured after a mosque was bombed in Nepal's second biggest city, Biratnagar. Reports say two men on a motorcycle hurled four bombs at the Choti mosque during evening prayers on Saturday. Three of the devices exploded, and two of the people who were seriously injured died on their way to hospital.
A shadowy Hindu extremist group - the Nepal Defence Army - said in a statement it carried out the attack. The group first emerged more than a year ago, saying it was fighting to preserve Nepal's old status as a Hindu state. An indefinite curfew has been imposed in the district.
Most of Nepal's small Muslim minority live in the southern plains, where Biratnagar is situated. For many months the region has seen ethnic tensions, with numerous antagonistic factions emerging. Violence grounded in religion is rare, but some Hindu nationalists have threatened that it will increase because, they say, there is widespread resentment over Nepal being declared a secular state. Nepal's monarchy is closely bound-up with Hinduism. But after King Gyanendra's royal government fell in 2006 the restored parliament declared the country secular.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Security forces have found fifty-eight bodies of people who died during six days of sectarian violence in Kohat district, as a temporary ceasefire between the Mishti and Kachai tribes was being observed, Online reported. Seven women and six children were among the dead. Hangu District Nazim Khan Afzal, who belongs to the Mishi tribe, told the BBC on Sunday that security forces, along with both the rival tribes, had started searching for dead bodies in trenches and fields two days ago.
The security forces found 28 bodies that belonged to the Mishi tribe, he said, adding that
15 out of 28 people had been killed during an attack on a jirga.
15 out of 28 people had been killed during an attack on a jirga. The nazim said that the Mishti tribe had handed Lotang trench over to security forces. This trench had belonged to the Kachai tribe. Around 17 people from the Kachai tribe had lost their lives in this trench.
Union Council Nazim Astarzai Syed Mehtab Khan told BBC that the security forces found the bodies of 30 people belonging to the Kachai tribe in damaged houses and trenches.
School attacked: Meanwhile, militants blew up the gate of a girls primary school in the semi-tribal Darra Adam Khel area late on Saturday, a Daily Times staff report quoted local sources as saying. They said that the explosives were planted at the schools gate and exploded at around 11pm on Saturday, damaging it. However, the school building remained safe and no causalities were reported.
Brave, brave Lions of Islam ...
Militants also blew up a checkpost near Tandi Kalai late on Saturday. The checkpost was unoccupied at the time. Security forces also defused two bombs in the Sherakai area, which appeared intended to blow up a bridge.
This article starring:
Astarzai Syed Mehtab Khan
Khan Afzal
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Wow...
My cat just ate an entire watermelon.
Why do I find this more unusual than
mass graves in a muslim country?
DERA BUGTI: Militants blew up a stretch of a 20-inch-diameter gas pipeline in the Sui area on Sunday. A source said that the explosion took place in the Loti area of Sui, suspending gas supply to Loti Gas Field. However, the supply was resumed through an alternative line.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Didn't know they had any left. Or was that pylons?
Local Taliban commander Mullah Nazir Wazirs office was blown up on Sunday in the Dog area of Wana in South Waziristan Agency.
No loss of life occurred as the office was vacant at the time, Geo News reported. The channel quoted local elders as saying that
A missile hit the office at about 12pm and completely destroyed the building.
a missile hit the office at about 12pm and completely destroyed the building.
An official of the political administration said a remote-controlled bomb planted near the office damaged only the building and confirmed that no loss of life had occurred. He said an investigation into the incident was underway, following the completion of which, the political administration would submit a report on the incident. This was the second such attack on local Taliban in the region in the past two weeks.
This article starring:
MULLAH NAZIR WAZIR
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I thought dogs were haram. BTW - what the hell's he doing with an office?
Someone said, Booo!
Gun-toting fighters of hardline cleric Moqtada al-Sadr melted from the streets on Monday after days of fierce clashes with security forces as a curfew in Baghdad was lifted and eased in Basra. AFP correspondents in Baghdad and Basra said the militants had disappeared on Monday and the fighting which had rocked the two cities since last Tuesday had died down.
They are following Sadrs orders, said Asadi, 36. But we are ready, should the Americans come inside our district, to fight. We have enough IEDs (improvised explosive devices) for them. If they come, we will defend ourselves. Where does he think he is, Detroitistan?
Life is getting back to normal in Sadr City, said Ahmed Suhail, a resident of the sprawling district of some two million Shiites. Most shops are open and there are no militiamen in the streets, Suhail said. MSM coverage in 5, 4, 3, oh never mind
The US military said on Monday its troops had killed 41 criminals in Baghdad, including 25 who died when a suspected mortar team was bombed. Life's a bitch and then you die...
The fighting began on March 25 when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered his troops to attack Mahdi Army strongholds in Basra, the southern oil hub, which he said were infested by lawless gunmen. The fighting quickly spread across other Shiite areas and flared in particular in Sadr City. OK so maybe one of the excellent Burgers could explain that. Sadr didn't attack first?
Posted by: Icerigger ||
03/31/2008 09:04 ||
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#1
If SOCOM has been doing its job, we have already ID'ed the leadership and location of arms caches, and if SOCOM doesn't know, then SCIRI and the Badr group know. In other words, the tater tots are boned.
#2
It all depends on what the definition of "attack" is. Incidents had increased in the couple of days before the Basra offensive but the display of arms in the streets had not happened.
If you read the military reports, you will see that targeted raids have been very successful. Outside the raids, losses to Sadr's people are astounding, hundreds killed to 8 American troops and several dozen Iraqis.
I would suspect that aerial assets kept very close track of the "melting" and the buildings entered are now in a database in prep for future raids.
#4
Let me clarify. There was an increase in IED attacks in Baghdad and attacks on the Green Zone that immediately preceeded the move in Basra.
I'm not convinced that the Maliki assault was entirely planned. I have the impression from reading far too many reports that the kickoff may have been accidental. There were several raids underway and resistance mounted. Maliki then ordered the actual assault.
Cleaning out Basra had been in the works for months. The Iraqi security forces in the south had been reinforced and more raids were being conducted.
#5
Seems to me the move against Tater and the other elements in Basra is a sign of Maliki's (and the Iraqi Army's) strength. The objective all along has been to rid the country of independent militias. The purpose of the militias was to "protect" local citizens, but as the overall security situation improved, that protection morphed into extortion. The militiamen are mostly just criminals/opportunists. It is my hope that Maliki will keep the pressure on and continue to whack them.
#8
Isn't it interesting how delusional these radicals with their little tin foil hat militias are?
They get all revved up, they show em how to load an AK, they show them how to aim a RPG and then they take to the streets thinking they can defeat the US Army with its air support, artillery, tanks, Bradleys and other assorted weapons platforms.....and they get their butts kicked with huge casualties.
I wonder if they are told that Allah will give them a great victory? Or die today and receive a half off coupon on virgins in paradise? Or get half off on a splendid funeral complete with guys in green turbans waving swords?
All in all, I'd say that these guys like Sadr have no idea what kind of power the US can wield against these ragbags. Its as if Blackhawk Down is expected every time they go out into the streets?
The sum total of all of this is that Muqtad Al Sadr has even more egg on his face today than the last time he told his militia to take to the streets. Do you suppose any but the deranged and demented will follow his orders next time?
Do you suppose that Iran will ever get tired of watching us kill their Iraqi pawns?
#10
I'd say that these guys like Sadr have no idea what kind of power the US can wield against these ragbags. Its as if Blackhawk Down is expected every time they go out into the streets?
Yup. That or the first attempt at taking Fallujah, which was short-circuited by the Iraqi government.
#11
Wasn't it just yesterday we were speculating how many casualties Madhi Army would take before calling it quits? We now know.
Anyone read anything on whether Sadr has emerged from his coma or are his Iranian handlers reading his brain waves?
Posted by: ed ||
03/31/2008 16:51 Comments ||
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#12
There are only 2 possible outcomes to this kind of urban insurection. The 'insurgents' either 'win' by showing the government doesn't have the capacity or will to suppress them, or they get slaughtered.
The latter was pretty much a forgone conclusion. I'd say it's over bar the mopping up.
#14
so was there a deal or wasnt there? Is Maliki now going to STOP going after the tater tots? Did Maliki LOSE? Or will the sadrists being "off the streets" mean they will be wiped in the provincial elections? Do they intend to wait things out for a few more months, and then come back?
#16
LH, you miss the point. Simply put, whoever patrols the street collects the taxes. Sadr's goons no longer patrol the streets and hence their economic base has (in large part) gone.
Which is not to say they won't continue as say Iranian funded terrorists, but that is a very different beast.
What Maliki and/or Sadr has or hasn't agreed to is irrelevant.
'Off the streets' implies they have gone somewhere and can come back on to the streets at will. It's just not like that, and barring a new power vacuum, it just won't happen.
#17
they have enough ieds too destroy the am,erican forces , yeaha i bet since you just got your as whoped and sadr city hell yasll keep on fighting so we can finally get rid of this scourge
#20
NYT spins this as a loss for Maliki and the US. I guess there is no surprise there. It doesn't seem that long ago that I used to respect that paper. It only took 46 years to sort that out.
#21
NEWSMAX > AUTHOR [Wahlid Phares]:JIHAD AGZ THE WEST IS WELL-ENTRENCHED. JIHAD IS NEITHER RANDOM NOR UN/DISORGANIZED - US-West may broadly recognize the external parameters of an organization = organized network/efforts, but fail to see the inner core = true Jihad within + highly disciplined CENTRAL-GLOBAL VISION.
* OSAMA + RADICAL ISLAM NEED TO ATTACK/STRIKE WHERE THE US = US-COALITION IS NOT - NOW, NOT LATER - AND THAT MEANS AGZ RUSSIA-CENTRAL ASIA [Cold War/Russ Nuctechs + Nuke-WMD Caches].
#1
Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin's mother took a call from President Bush tonight extending his condolences after the Army identified the missing soldier's remains in Iraq.
Bush has met several times with the Maupins during the past four years and pledged to them that everything would be done to find out what had happened to their son after he was captured by insurgents on April 9, 2004.
Carolyn Maupin took the President's call on a cell phone at 9:45 p.m. behind the Yellow Ribbon Support Center in Batavia.
Carolyn Maupin's friend, June Izzi Bailey, said she was told the White House had just found out about the DNA match and called the family as quickly as possible.
Maupin's parents were notified earlier Sunday when a three-star general visited them and gave them the news, they said.
"Matt is coming home. He's completed his mission," his father, Keith Maupin, said.
pretty well written article. My heart goes out to the family and Matt. God bless them all
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/31/2008 9:44 Comments ||
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#2
He's gone to a far better place. May God bless and comfort his family, who have made such a tremendous sacrifice. I hope that we as a nation will be more deserving of such sacrifices as Matt Maupin made.
Followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will not hand over their weapons as part of a move to end a week of fighting in Iraq, a top Sadr aide said.
"The weapons of the resistance will not be delivered to the Iraqi government," he told journalists at Sadr's office in the holy city of Najaf.
The aide, Hazem al-Araji, also said that Sadr's followers had received a guarantee from the government that it would end "random arrests" of Sadr followers. "The weapons of the resistance will not be delivered to the Iraqi government," he told journalists at Sadr's office in the holy city of Najaf after distributing a statement from Sadr calling on followers to stop fighting.
Notice they're referring to themselves in the same terms as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Sadr's statement also called for the government to halt arrests of his followers and implement an amnesty law to free prisoners. "We confirm that there were guarantees taken from the Iraqi government to fulfill all the points in this statement. Thus, no more random arrests," he said. Sounds like a claim of victory to me. Don't let it stand unless you enjoy paying high interest credit cards.
The Iraqi government launched a crackdown on Sadr followers in the southern city of Basra last week. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered them to surrender and has offered cash in return for heavy and medium weapons handed over by April 8.
#1
Followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will not hand over their weapons
It's perfectly OK to pry them from their cold, dead hands.
I recommend it to a weapons turn-in, then you know they won't just turn around and get more guns.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/31/2008 14:36 Comments ||
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#2
Arms, heads, feet...we'll take whatever ya got.
So I guess this means we'll see Mr. Tooth Decay's boys in, what, about six months, for their biannual ass kicking? And he can watch it all over again on Tehran Action News...
#3
Notice they're referring to themselves in the same terms as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Resistance seems to be a big meme, for the arabs' collective self image, perhaps because, deep down they see themselves are besieged by outside forces (modernity, the Real World, plus, they're big on victimology coupled with delusions of grandeur and a marked tendancy to predation, see quradawi explaing the 72 or so military campaings of old mo' as "self defense", the usual excuse).
So, it's a big buzzword for all the movements rallied against those outside forces, starting with Israel seen as a refutation of the natural islamic order (the dhimmi by nature kicking the living sh*t out of the Master Race & Master Religion over and over, especially in the warfare department, a big no-no for people who have a perception of manhood based on how much you can hurt the "other").
Anyway, it's like a code-word which loses all significance over being abused (like racism or fascism in the West), just like when suicide-bombing civilians is "Resistance". Gibberish, really.
#4
Given the escalating strength and competence of the Iraqi Army, Security Forces and the Police, in a few weeks, they might not have a choice in the matter.
I would say that the odds are less than 5-1 that Maliki will order a veratable house to house sweep of Sadr City for weapons and other party favors.
As for Moqtada, he might just find himself invited to a blanket party in Baghdad.
I'll leave it up to greater and more knowledgable minds than mine, but I would say that we can expect a coordinated forced disarmament of the Mahdi tin hat brigade.
#5
Sadr City can wait. This is about destroying the gangs in Basra and reclaiming stolen oil revenue. That's where the house to house searches and arrests will happen
Posted by: ed ||
03/31/2008 16:40 Comments ||
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#7
well are we gonna let them regroup again thne have too do the same shit gain in afew months and fuck theses guysd up gould fuck al sadr he has no power anymore and i think he is dead and somone put out a ataement for him
#8
FOX NEWS AM > Guest Analyst - argues that SADR has actually emerged the BETTER/STRONGER? from this incident, as he only need show that HE REMAINS A POTENT POWER BROKER/PLAYER INSIDE IRAQ VV THE IRAQI GOVT. A DE FACTO MIL VICTORY FOR SADR WOULD BE GREAT, BUT NOT REQUIRED AT THIS TIME.
#9
I'm also in agreement wid #5 ED - Radical Islam including SADR + IRAN still needs to revitalize + regroup while also stopping local US entrenchment. THEY NEED NEW SOURCES OF $$$ AS WELL AS MORE OF THE OLD.
Also on FOX NEWS AM > IRAN is suffering from SERIOUS NATIONAL ECONOMIC DISTRESS/DURESS.
Violence continues in Iraq even though anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his Shiite militiamen off the streets. There was fighting in the Basra area after the announcement. Seven people were killed when a mortar struck a residential district in Baghdad, one of two reported clashes today in the capital.
In his statement, al-Sadr called on the government to stop its raids against his followers. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the statement is "a step in the right direction." Iraqi authorities say a curfew in Baghdad would be lifted tomorrow morning.
Also today, a U.S. airstrike has killed 25 suspected militants after American ground forces came under heavy fire in predominantly Shiite eastern Baghdad. And the U.S. military reports an American soldier and a Marine were killed in separate roadside bombings in Baghdad and in Anbar province west of the capital.
This article starring:
MUQTADA AL SADR
Mahdi Army
Nouri al-Maliki
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
OK, twenty-five dead doesn't sound like "back to normal" to me. Why does this sound like Tater's armistice is more declared than observed?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/31/2008 14:41 Comments ||
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#2
They were all in one place. Unit was taking fire, including mortar. Air sees tube on roof. Asks for permission. Zam... Boom... 25 dead terrs.
(KUNA) -- The Iraqi government decided to lift the curfew in Baghdad as of Monday morning, the operations command of Baghdad Law Enforcement Plan said this evening.
The decision takes effect as of 6:00 am Monday, a senior police officer told KUNA here. However, the curfew will remain in place as per vehicles only in Al-Shu'la and Al-Kadhemiya districts of Baghdad and the eastern city of Al-Sadr, the source pointed out. The Iraqi authorities imposed a total curfew across the capital city Thursday evening in an attempt to contain the unrest coinciding with the clashes between the security forces and the Sadrist trend in southern Iraq areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- An Iraqi police officer and a policeman were killed in clashes with armed insurgents in Mousal Sunday whilst another policeman survived another attack in Karkuk. Clashes between policemen in a patrol vehicle and armed insurgents in Al-Sahaji area west of Mosul left the officer and policeman dead and injured a number of the insurgents, a source in the Iraqi police said. In Karkuk, Iraqi police said that an explosive device was detonated targeting the police car of the chief of police patrol division as he was passing through Tis'een road in Karkuk. The explosion didn't cause any damage to the vehicle, but led to the injury of three civilians amongst them two women.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Seven Al-Qaeda militants were killed in clashes with the Iraqi police in western Mosul, police said on Sunday. Police forces stormed, based on information, one of the hideouts of the so-called Iraqi Islamic State in western Mosul and clashed with the people inside and killed seven. The police forces found three booby-trapped cars, two belts packed with explosives and weapons, said the police.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If true this is great. The IP are thought to be one of the weak links in the stabilization plan. If they can independently handle ALQ cells, this would be great.
#2
Addition by subtraction? We've heard that the IP were turning in their guns and switching to Mookie's team (openly) - maybe without them the remaining IP are actually somewhat competent?
#3
Mookie (Sadr) is in south Iraq. The reported IP defections took place there.
Mosul is in northern Iraq. It is majority Kurd, with a significant Sunni population (imported by Saddam's government). AFAIK, Sadr has neither forces nor influence in Mosul.
#6
Pappy: I always got the impression that Mosul was majority Arab Sunni, although things have churned so much that I could be wrong now... There used to be a significant Kurdish minority in Mosul, though if I were a Kurd from Mosul, I'd have resettled grandma & the kids in Erbil or Sulaimaniya a couple of years ago.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/31/2008 14:47 Comments ||
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#7
Mosul was originally Kurdish with a Turkeman minority. Saddam forceably seized many Kurdish properties and gave them to Sunni Arabs he moved in, often from Tikrit or tribes affiliated with his family.
The Kurds have started pushing them back out. And the central govt is concerned because Mosul is a major oil center for the north.
(KUNA) -- The Iraqi government welcomed Sunday the orders issued by Shiite religious cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr to his followers in the Mahdi Army and the Sadrist bloc to put down their arms. Spokesman for the Iraqi government Ali Al-Dabbag, in a press release, said the government welcomed this call which would serve to avoid bloodshed, adding that this reflected Al-Sadr's keenness for maintaining the safety of civilians. Security is the responsibility of the government, and the government does not target a certain movement or faction, he stressed, hoping that the Sadrist bloc would support the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
INTELLIBRIEFS > GADAFFI CALLS FOR STRONG ARAB ALLIANCE WITH IRAN; + SE ASIA ANALYSIS GROUP: THE SUNNI A-BOMB VERSUS THE SHIA A-BOMB...
(KUNA) Fierce armed clashes raged for sixth day in a row on Sunday between Iraqi regular forces and gunmen of the Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr in and around the southern city of Basra. The clashes with automatic guns, mortars and rockets were reported in the districts of Al-Maaqal, Khamsa Meel, Al-Tamimah, Al-Hakimiah and Al-Jumhouriah.
Witnesses said Al-Sadri gunmen were seen in control of several districts in the southern city and that they had planted mines and booby traps at road intersections to impede advance and movement of the regulars. They added that the local troops were backed by American and British foces. The government forces, in the campaign against the militiamen, have dislodged the gunmen from several areas, including the district of Al-Shatt Al-Arab, Al-Tanoumah, the city complex, the oil complex, Al-Kafaat and Al-Arousa public square. Late on Saturday, three persons were killed and seven others were wounded in air strike by the Multi-National Forces north of Basra, the witnesses said. Aircraft bombed a house after spotting three gunmen on its top and killed two others who were close to a rocket launcher in Husainiyat Al-Zahraa region.
In the region of Al-Maaqal north of Basra, the witnesses said three persons were killed in MNF air raids last night. Medical sources in basra told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the number of people who have been killed in Basra since flare-up of the fighting last Tuesday reached 195, and that 500 others were wounded. The death toll of the fighting in the city and other parts of Iraq has soared to more than 300, according to sources in the health ministry.
Meanwhile, Staffan di Mistura, the UN Special Envoy to Iraq, in remarks to KUNA, called for lifting the curfew temporarily to allow UN teams send necessary supplies to the residential areas where civilians were running out of necessities. The UN agencies have prepared supplies for up to 70,000 families affected with the ongoing fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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[..]
Sadrâs call for an end to fighting by his followers comes as his Mahdi Army has taken high casualties over the past six days. Since the fighting began on Tuesday, 358 Mahdi Army fighters were killed, 531 were wounded, 343 were captured, and 30 surrendered. The US and Iraqi security forces have killed 125 Mahdi Army fighters in Baghdad alone, while Iraqi security forces have killed 140 Mahdi fighters in Basrah.
From March 25-29 the Mahdi Army had an average of 71 of its fighters killed per day. Sixty-nine fighters have been captured per day, and another 160 have been reported wounded per day during the fighting. The US and Iraqi military never came close to inflicting casualties at such a high rate during the height of major combat operations against al Qaeda in Iraq during the summer and fall of 2007.
US and Iraqi forces are maintaining the high pace of operations against the Mahdi Army and the Special Groups. While the daily reporting from Iraq is far from over, initial reports indicate at least 18 Mahdi Army fighters have been killed and another 30 captured.
US soldiers killed 14 Mahdi fighters in Baghdad during a series of separate engagements. Iraqi security forces killed four Mahdi Army fighters and captured another 30 in Babil province, where a major offensive led by the police has been underway.
[..]
#4
Sadr's fighters don't seem to have improved their combat skills much since 2004. I presume the Iranians (or maybe Hizbollah)tried to help them but it evidently do much good.
#7
mhw, the Iranians have been training the Syrians, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Mahdi. The American have been training the Iraqi. You be the judge of how that is working out.
Not only that, but the Iraqi Army is taking the lead in this battle.
Want to guess the panic/concern in Tehran at this hour?
If this was a dress rehearsal for future mid east activity, expect the verbal rhetoric to increase to cover for the lack of military capability.
#9
...the UN Special Envoy to Iraq, in remarks to KUNA, called for lifting the curfew temporarily to allow UN teams send necessary supplies to the residential areas where civilians were running out of necessities.
The UN: The Pizza Delivery Boys of the War on Terror.
#10
Appears the Iranians are teaching the Mahdi/Special Groups only certain things - obviously not the same schtuff Hesb'allah is getting.
Then again, given the proximity to Iran, the Iranians might not want to train the Mahdi et al to a level that they could cause problems later for their masters....
#11
Follow up to my last: Appears Sadr is publicly condemning the Iranians because a) his forces are taking a beating and the Iranians aren't helping him, b)the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq has joined in beating up the Mahdi,c) the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq are/were getting more funding from Iran than the Mahdis.
In English: Mookie thinks the Iranians back-stabbed him by letting other Iranian-backed forces and an 'Iranian-tool' Maliki (who heads a Kurdish/Sunni Arab/Shiite Arab Iraqi government) attack his forces to determine who'll control the Shiites, which in any case will still be Iranian-backed...
#14
From March 25-29 the Mahdi Army had an average of 71 of its fighters killed per day. Sixty-nine fighters have been captured per day, and another 160 have been reported wounded per day during the fighting.
Jeebus, that's an average of 300 killed/captured/wounded per day! Way to go IA! No wonder Sadr's screaming "Uncle" like a lil' girl so quickly. Mehopes that because it's the Iraqis doin' bidness the MSM won't pay as much attention and that the IA will go in for the kill. Now is NO time to let up because he's screaming "uncle," it's time to put him down for good.
Posted by: BA ||
03/31/2008 21:50 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- The American Army in Iraq has announced the killing of 55 armed militiamen in separate incidents in middle and southern Iraq in the past 24 hours, as government regular forces pressed on with military action against the militants throughout the country. The army said in a statement troops from the eighth Iraqi task military force and special US forces have killed 13 armed men and destroyed two of their vehicles in Suwayrah, northern Al-Koot town, southern Baghdad.
Government Iraqi forces killed six armed persons in Basra during the ongoing military operation, "the onslaught of the cavalrymen (in Arabic Saolat el Forsan), west of the city, while American planes bombed positions of the militants killing 16 of them, the statement said, with no mention of the attack's exact places. In Baghdad, the statement said the American soldiers from the Multi-National Forces participated in supporting the local security forces in action against the gunmen, killing 11 armed men during a number of operations east of the capital where clashes with Al-Mahdi Army militants took place.
In a separate incident, the American Army mentioned killing nine militants in the Baghdad suburban region of Al-Sadr city, when some armed men attempted to attack an American security position. Fighting between the regulars against the militants has been raging for five days in the suburbs of Baghdad, the southern city of Basra and other towns and locations.
A curfew imposed by the government in the capital has resulted in shortage of food and other basic materials including medicines. Prices of the major commodities have also risen. More than 200 people have been killed since the fighting broke out.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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Sri Lankan troops killed four Tamil Tiger rebels in weekend clashes in the embattled north, where soldiers were battling tropical illnesses brought on by heavy rains, the defence ministry said Sunday.
Security forces clashed with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northern district of Vavuniya on Saturday, killing four rebels, the ministry said, adding that no soldiers were lost. Government troops have killed at least 2,422 rebels since the beginning of January, while only 147 government soldiers have died in action, according to defence ministry figures. Casualty numbers given by both sides cannot be independently confirmed as Colombo bars journalists and rights groups from frontline areas.
There was no immediate comment from the LTTE. However, a pro-rebel website said the guerrillas had beaten back an army offensive on Saturday in Vavuniya district. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troops have been hit by tropical illnesses as a result of heavy rains and floods in the north. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said urgent measures had been taken to check the epidemic. The Sunday Times newspaper said that about 500 troops affected by dengue fever and the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus were being treated at hospitals in the islands northeast.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, American gymnast Auriole Craven performed her floor routine while simultaneously playing the violin solo from "The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughn Williams. While her gymnastic routine was neither complex nor notably well performed, the degree-of-difficulty multiplier to her score insured a gold medal. A protest filed by the Italian and Swiss delegations was denied, but a subsequent rules change banned musical instruments from the gymnastics competition in future Olympiads.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/31/2008 7:47 Comments ||
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#5
Isn't that Rafe Vaughn Williams?
And I want to know what Lark was it and where it was ascending.
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.
(SomaliNet) A massive explosion has destroyed an Aethiopian military convoy in South Mogadishu, killing at least nine soldiers and wounding many others. 
The US has charged a Guantanamo Bay detainee with war crimes for the 1998 al-Qaeda attack on the US embassy in Tanzania, which left 11 people dead. Charges against 
Security forces have found fifty-eight bodies of people who died during six days of sectarian violence in Kohat district, as a temporary ceasefire between the Mishti and Kachai tribes was being observed, Online reported. Seven women and six children were among the dead. Hangu District Nazim 
School attacked: Meanwhile, militants blew up the gate of a girls primary school in the semi-tribal Darra Adam Khel area late on Saturday, a Daily Times staff report quoted local sources as saying. They said that the explosives were planted at the schools gate and exploded at around 11pm on Saturday, damaging it. However, the school building remained safe and no causalities were reported.
DERA BUGTI: Militants blew up a stretch of a 20-inch-diameter gas pipeline in the Sui area on Sunday. A source said that the explosion took place in the Loti area of Sui, suspending gas supply to Loti Gas Field. However, the supply was resumed through an alternative line.
