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Baitullah orders Talibs not to attack Pak forces
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Afghanistan
Dutch embassy in Kabul closed
(Xinhua) -- The Dutch embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul has remained closed since Monday for security reasons, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Wednesday. The embassy's staff members -- 15 Dutch and 35 local -- are working at a secret location, ANP said.

A spokesman of the Dutch Foreign Ministry refused to say if the closure was linked to the film released by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders last month. The film, which is critical of Islam, has set off an uproar in many Muslim countries, including Afghanistan.

Last week, the Dutch embassy in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad was closed and staff members were moved into a hotel. The move followed security threats associated with Wilders' film.
This article starring:
Geert Wilders
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Anyone else who is sick to the back teeth of our people being threatened by Dark Ages morons?
Posted by: Excalibur || 04/24/2008 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  yup. But ya know, if the West weren't bending over backwards to appease and enable these barbarians they'd stop pulling this crap.
Posted by: lotp || 04/24/2008 11:32 Comments || Top||

#3  It sure seems the ankle grabbers outnumber those of us that are fed up and sick of this crapola. until the numbers reverse themselves ain't nothin' gonna change.
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 04/24/2008 14:06 Comments || Top||

#4  but the dems keep telling us that if just appease them a little more they will decide to be nice... we don't want to 'offend' them and make them angry ya know..

do i really need a /sarc on this?
Posted by: Abu do you love || 04/24/2008 14:42 Comments || Top||


Afghan police arrest Mullah Assadullah
(Xinhua) -- Police in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province detained a Taliban commander who was in charge of facilitating and carrying out suicide bombings in the restive province, said a statement of the Interior Ministry released Wednesday. "Mullah Assadullah who served as the in-charge of organizing suicide attacks and terrorist activities in Kandahar province was nabbed on Monday," the statement said. Taliban militants have not made comment so far.

Over a dozen people including 10 Taliban insurgents and six police had been killed in Kandahar the former stronghold of Taliban since late weekend. Conflicts and Taliban-related violence have left over 400 people dead so far this year in war-torn Afghanistan, where Taliban militants recently have vowed to launch the "Spring offensive" to intensify their guerrilla-style attacks on national army and foreign troops.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Hmmm. Mullah Ass-a-dullah. Works for me.
Posted by: anymouse || 04/24/2008 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  when Mullah names were handed out, he was apparently last
Posted by: Frank G || 04/24/2008 10:16 Comments || Top||

#3  maybe it is a pet name.
Posted by: Abu do you love || 04/24/2008 14:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Yeah, the Mullah fraternity can be pretty mean at times...
Posted by: Pappy || 04/24/2008 16:11 Comments || Top||


Taliban Targets Afghan Police, Civilians
Police and witnesses say a suicide bomber detonated his explosives soon after Afghan security forces spotted him and chased him in a crowded part of the border town of Spin Boldak.

The second suicide bombing targeted a convoy carrying a district police chief in neighboring Helmand province. And authorities in the eastern Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, say insurgents attacked a border post there, killing five policemen. Several other security personnel were wounded while a number of militants were also reported killed in the clash.

Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks this month on Afghan and foreign forces following the traditional winter lull in Afghanistan. But Kabul-based spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, Brigadier General Carlos Branco, says there has been a change in the so-called spring offensive by the Taliban.

The spokesman told a news conference in Kabul that this month's attacks have mostly targeted power stations, road workers, de-miners, school teachers and humanitarian workers with an objective to undermine reconstruction and development in Afghanistan. "It is clear that insurgents are intending to destroy anything that relates to development and prosperity in this country," said General Branco. "They have torched schools and murdered teachers, trying through these actions to compromise the education and development of the young generation and by so doing attempting to damage the prospects of future success in Afghanistan."
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Exchange of fire at Pak-Afghan borders kills 10 miscreants, soldier
(KUNA) At least ten miscreants and a Pakistani soldier were killed in an exchange of fire between miscreants and Afghan forces Wednesday, said the Pakistani military in a statement. According to the press statement of Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), miscreants attacked check post at Daud Qilla on Afghan side of the border in the wee hours of Wednesday. Reportedly, eight to ten miscreants were killed in the exchange of fire, it said, adding that Pakistan's checkpost at Nawa pass on Afghan Border also came under fire. The Frontier Corps (FC) troops responded with fire. However due to misunderstanding some exchange of fire took place between Afghan National Army troops and FC troops on the border. One FC trooper was killed and another wounded, according to the military statement.

When the Afghan National Army troops also approached Pakistani check post in search of miscreants, "they were informed that neither the miscreants had come towards our check post nor they were firing from that location," it said. Till receipt of last information, a meeting was being held between the two local military commanders to resolve the issue, the ISPR statement added.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Lots of current pirate info at EagleSpeak today.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/24/2008 11:23 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
France hands over two ETA members to Spain
(Xinhua) -- France handed over two suspects to Spain on Tuesday who were allegedly involved in a bomb attack in Madrid in 2006 that caused two deaths and 19 injuries.

The pair, Josefa Iturbide and Mikel San Sebastian, are alleged members of the Basque separatist group ETA, which claimed responsibility for the attack on Dec. 30, 2006 in Madrid's Barajasairport. They were arrested on Feb. 15 in a joint operation at San Juan de Luz in France, Spanish officials said.

Spain's highest court, the Audiencia Nacional, had ordered the arrests of the pair after the attack, which broke the ceasefire ETA had announced in March 2006.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Mehsud orders Talibs not to attack Pak forces
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud has ordered his militants not to attack Pakistani security forces henceforth and warned that anyone violating his orders would be punished publicly, Geo News reported on Wednesday.

According to the channel, MehsudÂ’s announcement, advertised in distributed pamphlets, directed the Taliban to stop offensives in Waziristan, Tank, Gomal and Dera Ismail Khan.

The pamphlets read that the Taliban should stop provocative activities against the government in an effort to bring peace.

“Those failing to abide by the orders will be hanged upside down in bazaars,” the statement warned.

Ghani: NWFP Governor Owais Ghani on Wednesday confirmed talks were underway with Mehsud.

“We are moving on all fronts and making progress,” the governor told Daily Times, responding to a question on whether the government was also negotiating a peace agreement with Baitullah Mehsud, the prime suspect in the murder of Pakistan People’s Party chairwoman Benazir Bhutto. NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti said he was receiving “satisfactory feedback” from Malakand region after the freeing of Maulana Sufi Muhammad. It was a milestone towards eradicating violence and terrorism, he said while talking to reporters on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Two militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir gunfights
(IANS) Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday shot dead two militant commanders in separate gunfights. The police killed Abu Umar, a commander of the militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). Reports said that police, acting on a tip-off, zeroed in on Umar in Narian area of Mendhar in the border district of Poonch, 230 km north of Jammu, Wednesday afternoon.

After a brief gunfight, he was killed. He was wanted in a number of cases of terror attacks in the area.

Meanwhile, defence spokesperson Lt. Col. S.D. Goswami said a top commander of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen was killed after a gun battle in Reasi district.

Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Jaish-e-Mohammad


Iraq
Al-Sadr Shift: Doom and Gloom Ahead for US Forces
He's pointing exactly where to put the red laser dot.
Now -- he's shifting away from politics and favoring fight.

Article written by HAMZA HENDAWI and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers (these two guys seemingly have their own picture of all that has happened the last few weeks. Must have had fun sitting down, writing this one.

Muqtada al-Sadr is considering setting aside his political ambitions and restarting a full-scale fight against U.S.-led forces — a worrisome shift that may reflect Iranian influence on the young cleric and could open the way for a shadow state protected by his powerful Mahdi Army.
Powerful, huh? This is the same Mahdi army that's being rolled up by the IA and our guys? The one with a deficit of logistics, strategy, communications, and leadership, but no shortage of hard boyz? That one?
A possible breakaway path — described to The Associated Press by Shiite lawmakers and politicians — would represent the ultimate backlash to the Iraqi government's pressure on al-Sadr to renounce and disband his Shiite militia.
Also a chance for Maliki to consolidate all the non-crazy Shiites and get them in line with the Kurds and reasonable Sunnis. I smell majority here. He could get this done before August, go to Denver and win the nomination.
By snubbing the give-and-take of politics, al-Sadr would have a freer hand to carve out a kind of parallel state with its own militia and social services along the lines of Hezbollah in Lebanon, a Shiite group founded with Iran's help in the 1980s.
Assuming he lived more than a day ...
It also would carry potentially disastrous security implications as the Pentagon trims its troops strength and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki finally shows progress on national reconciliation.

Last week, the main Sunni political bloc announced provisional plans to rejoin the Shiite-led coalition nine months after quitting the government. The Sunnis are pleased with the squeeze on al-Sadr's movement as well as an amnesty law that could free many detainees.
They've also figured out that al-Qaeda is not their friend, and that the quickest way to get the Americans out of Anbar is to settle down and get along.
"Muqtada has shown a great deal of patience not calling for an all-out war yet with so much pressure on him," said Mohan Abedin, director of research at London's Center for the Study of Terrorism and an expert on Shiite affairs. "The Mahdi Army is by far the most powerful Iraqi faction. It can cause damage on a massive scale if it goes to war."
Unless the leadership gets rolled up, which is happening now, and the more reasonable Mahdis decide to stay home and take care of their families. Who wants to be the last Sadrist to die for Mookie?
Al-Sadr's next move is still uncertain, but he clearly holds important cards.

The Mahdi Army is estimated to have about 60,000 fighters — with at least 5,000 thought to be highly trained commandos — and is emboldened by its strong resistance to an Iraqi-led crackdown launched last month in the southern city of Basra and elsewhere.
The one where the IA is now rolling up neighborhoods in Basra, Sadr City and 'elsewhere' ...
Al-Sadr's movement also holds sway over the densely populated Shiite parts of Baghdad and across the Shiite south by controlling vital needs such as fuel and running social services such as clinics.

A cease-fire declared last summer by al-Sadr has been credited with helping bring a steep drop violence.
Which Mookie needed to do because he couldn't start ops on his own.
But al-Sadr — who has been in the Iranian seminary city of Qom for the past year — is seriously considering getting himself martyred tearing up the truce and disassociating himself from his political bloc in parliament, according to loyalists and Shiite politicians interviewed by the AP over the past two weeks.
Mookie is hiding in Iran while his hard boyz slug it out with the IA. Still can't believe we're not using that fact to its full propaganda advantage ...
Then al-Sadr would be free to unleash Mahdi attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces, the political insiders said.

They include members of the 30-seat Sadrist faction in parliament and members of rival Shiite parties, including two who saw al-Sadr recently in Iran. All requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
30 seats is about 10% of the Iraqi parliament. Maliki can govern quite nicely with the rest. Mookie is in serious danger of forming a 'Rejectionist Front', and history teaches what happens shortly after that ...
"The emphasis is now on weapons and fighting, not politics," said one of the lawmakers in the Sadrist bloc. "(Al-Sadr) now only communicates with the Mahdi Army commanders."
By phone. Secure phone. From a secret location. Which changes daily.
Any Mahdi Army offensive could have serious repercussions. Mahdi fighters engaged in fierce battles with U.S. forces in 2004 and then were blamed for waves of roadside bombings that were once the chief killer of American troops. Mahdi militiamen also fought Iraqi security forces to a virtual standstill last month in Basra before an Iranian-supervised truce.
That's one version ...
It's unknown how much al-Sadr's Iranian hosts are shaping his views.

Al-Sadr, who is in his mid-30s, is hiding studying in Qom under the supervision of Ayatollah Kazim al-Haeri, a reclusive Iraqi cleric close to Iranian hard-liners.
Since the Iraqi clerics in Najaf have had a disinclination to let Mookie study with them. Wonder why ...
Washington accuses Iran of aiding Shiite militias in Iraq, including so-called "special groups" with murky ties to the Mahdi mainstream. Iran denies the allegations.

But Iran has obvious and well known connections to the main Shiite political groups in al-Maliki's government. During the recent battles in Basra, Iran supported al-Maliki's crackdown on so-called "criminals" but did not make a clear statement on the spillover confrontation with the Mahdi Army.

Backing a Mahdi Army uprising would allow Tehran to effectively play both sides in a Shiite showdown.
Until they caught, and a lot of hard boyz on both sides die, and the smarter ones who are still alive figure out that they've been had.
A flurry of recent statements by al-Sadr has emphasized his first public role: as a firebrand militia leader after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. In a statement posted Saturday on his Web site, al-Sadr gave a "final warning" to the government to halt its crackdown or face an "open war until liberation."

Senior Mahdi Army commanders said they have taken delivery of new Iranian weapons, including sophisticated roadside bombs, Grad rockets and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.
That should be reason enough to hunt down the 'senior commanders' and give them exactly one chance to get their mitts in da air ...
The militia's top field commanders, they said, were senior members of the special groups. One commander, who identified himself by his nickname Abu Dhara al-Sadri, said scores of militia fighters were prepared to carry out suicide bombings against U.S. forces. Suicide bombings are the signature attacks of Sunni militants in Iraq's conflict, but the tactic was introduced against Americans in Lebanon by Shiite militants in the 1980s.

Sadrist lawmakers and aides have sent compromise-seeking proposals to al-Sadr in Qom. The ideas seek to appease al-Maliki enough to forestall his threat: barring al-Sadr's followers from running in this fall's key provincial elections unless al-Sadr disbands the Mahdi Army.

But the proposals have gone unanswered, said al-Sadr's aides. One offer, they said, would allow for creation of a new political party with no formal links to the Mahdi Army. Another would permit candidates sympathetic to the Sadrists — but with no direct links — to run as independents in the fall election.

One of the authors of the proposals, moderate cleric Riyadh al-Nouri, was gunned down April 11 in Najaf, the spiritual center for Shiites in Iraq. The reason for the slaying was not clear.
Not clear to the authors of this piece, or so they say ...
Lawmakers and politicians told the AP that al-Sadr's more belligerent tone is motivated, in part, by his wish to secure a place for himself in history as a nationalist leader and anger over the recent arrests of hundreds of supporters despite his unilateral cease-fire.

At talks this month in Qom between al-Sadr and former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the young cleric vowed never to disband the Mahdi Army while U.S. and other foreign forces remain in Iraq, according to Shiite political figures familiar with the meetings. Al-Jaafari has said he was mediating an accommodation between al-Sadr and al-Maliki's government.

Salah al-Obeidi, al-Sadr's chief spokesman in Iraq, acknowledged that al-Sadr and the Iranians were at present bound by close ties and common goals. However, he was quick to add that while al-Sadr and the Iranians shared common interests — namely fighting the Americans in Iraq — the cleric was nobody's puppet.

Vali Nasr, an expert on Shiite politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, said the Iranians may want al-Sadr to stay in Qom to keep him in check for the moment. "Muqtada is forcing everyone's hand right now when they (the Iranians) may not be wanting their hand forced," said Nasr.
That much he can do, but as the IA and IP showed, they'll learn from their mistakes. And Mookie can only do it once.
Posted by: Sherry || 04/24/2008 16:39 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Muqtada al-Sadr is considering setting aside his political ambitions and restarting a full-scale fight against U.S.-led forces"

YAY!
Posted by: crosspatch || 04/24/2008 16:49 Comments || Top||

#2  "al-Sadr would have a freer hand to carve out a kind of parallel state with its own militia and social services along the lines of Hezbollah in Lebanon, a Shiite group founded with Iran's help in the 1980s."

Since the rest of the article seems to hang on that concept, I will focus my response here. Sadr already tried this. And unlike the Lebanese Army's reluctance to occupy the area South of the Litani River and Shhite areas of South Beiruit, the Iraqi Army went full scale into A: Basra, the Shiite holy cities between Baghdad and Basra and the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad.

If one is going to compare Sadr's Madhi Army to Hezbollah, then Sadr has already lost because the Iraq Army has already done what the Lebanese Army so far has refused to do.

This article's thesis was valid 6 months ago but has basically been overcome by recent events. There is nothing that Sadr can do unilaterally that would result in a Hezbollah-like situation unless the Iraqi Army pulls all the way back to Baghdad, which seems practically impossible at this point.
Posted by: crosspatch || 04/24/2008 16:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Uh Oh. We're all doomed now.
Posted by: DK70 the Scantily Clad7177 || 04/24/2008 17:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Can we get the people laughing graphic up here. The guys who wrote this are idiots, at least based on everything I've been reading. Sadr is getting his ass kicked all over the place. I serioulsy doubt he or his "army" are pulling punches. It is just that they are no longer in the same weight class as the IA, especially with the US behind them. No, this is a death sentence for the tater-tots. Typical Arab bluster when the sand is dissapearing beneath their feet.
Posted by: remoteman || 04/24/2008 17:39 Comments || Top||

#5  The failure to crush Hezbollah allows the illusion to persist that it is a successful model for emulation by other crazies elsewhere.
Posted by: Party of Dog || 04/24/2008 17:43 Comments || Top||

#6  "5,000 thought to be highly trained commandos"
LOL! So, he knows how to do the following:
Follow the dictates of muhamedism,
Scream "death to the USA",
Know how to please a handsome goat.
Spray-fire an AK-47, and possibly
Push a button on his vest.

Please, PUH-LEASE!

Posted by: Brett || 04/24/2008 18:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Mookie took on God and .... um.... Lost.
Posted by: newc || 04/24/2008 18:15 Comments || Top||

#8  Could someone forward this link to Mookie in Qom:

Best Teeth Whitening Product Reviews
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 18:22 Comments || Top||

#9  The standard MSM line is the guys we back are always inept, unmotivated, cowardly, and corrupt.

Ever occur to anyone that the Iranians may have the same trouble with Mookie? Look at that face! It's got prima dona written all over it.
Posted by: Chuckles Angomogum8802 || 04/24/2008 21:35 Comments || Top||

#10  Article written by HAMZA HENDAWI and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers (these two guys seemingly have their own picture of all that has happened the last few weeks. Must have had fun sitting down, writing this one.

"Associated Press" Hires Hard Core Ideologues who Hate America. .. and Israel and the West for that matter.
Posted by: RD || 04/24/2008 21:56 Comments || Top||


150 British Troops join 800 US Troops in Basra, 3,950 continue to "Overwatch"
The US military presence in Basra has grown to 800 troops as its soldiers provide increased support to an Iraqi government offensive against militias, according to coalition military officials.

Until Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, launched his “Charge of the Knights” offensive against Basra militias last month, the US had very few troops in the area, mainly because previously the UK had responsibility for the key southern port city.

The British handed over security to Iraqi forces in December and pulled back 4,100 soldiers to Basra ­airport, where they are ­performing “overwatch”, as Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, described the mission last week during a visit to Washington.

British officials previously insisted that the drawdown in Iraq and relocation of the remaining 4,100 soldiers would not force the US to divert forces from other areas where they are tackling Sunni insurgents.

However, Mr Maliki’s campaign has resulted in US troops deploying to Basra and left the UK with no choice but to provide additional support to the operation. One person familiar with US military planning in Iraq said the “fiasco” started by Mr Maliki had “forced the hand of the British” to support the Iraqi government, in addition to the current core mission of training Iraqi forces.

While the US also has ­special forces operating in Basra, its military officials say, the 800 regular troops are engaged in a range of support missions, including providing air cover, military advice, liaison functions, communications and planning. They are also supporting civil-military operations and humanitarian projects.

While some critics have questioned the UK presence in Iraq, saying the soldiers are doing little more than protecting themselves, US and UK officials play down suggestions that the US presence in Basra is prompted by limited British capability. They point out, for example, that many of the US troops were already working elsewhere with the Iraqi units that deployed to Basra.

One senior US military official said British forces had “contributed enormously and in innumerable ways” and were working with US, Iraqi and other ­coalition forces to support the operation launched by Mr Maliki.

“We are providing the Mitt [military transition] teams for the divisions we train in Basra and this includes providing logistic support,” said a UK military official. “There is much more activity and much better situational awareness.”

Of the 4,100 UK troops in the vicinity of Basra, UK defence officials said, about 150 were complementing the 800 US troops working with the Iraqis.

Mr Maliki’s offensive also forced the UK to halt plans to reduce troop levels to about 2,500. British diplomats say their main concern has been that US forces would have had to “backfill” in southern Iraq as British forces left, a development they would consider a huge “loss of face”.

The British diplomats said the recent decision to “pause” the UK drawdown at 4,000 troops headed off pressure building within the US administration to send reinforcements. But both sides are exploring more creative and less visible ways to support efforts in Basra without undermining the British position, officials said.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 12:35 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Guess they want to make sure we don't mess up the wonderful results of how the British dealt with the local population.
Posted by: DK70 the Scantily Clad7177 || 04/24/2008 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2  What's the dictionary definition of "overwatch," and does it match what the British are doing?
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 04/24/2008 12:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, either way, welcome back to the fight blokes.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/24/2008 13:12 Comments || Top||

#4  "Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, launched his “Charge of the Knights” offensive against Basra militias last month...

If we called an operation that, the ME would errupt, claim we trully are Crusaders. But it's OK if Iraqis call operations that...
Posted by: Albemarle Clearong3941 || 04/24/2008 18:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Is this one of those hammer and anvil thingies?

We know how well the British troops can fight when they're properly led and something somewhat resembling properly equipped (although they've been known to do significant damage armed only with bayonettes when roused). Go Tommies!
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/24/2008 21:12 Comments || Top||


U.S.-Iraqi troops raid hospital in Baghdad
Baghdad, Apr 24, (VOI)- Iraqi-U.S. forces raided al-Rashad psychological hospital in eastern Baghdad and detained all its staffs and patients, the media director of the Baghdad health department said on Thursday.

“An Iraqi army force, backed by U.S. troops, raided al-Rashad psychological hospital and arrested all its staffs,” Qassem Abdul Hadi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI). “The forces also arrested the patients and caused material damage inside the hospital,” he also said.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 11:51 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This reeks of the kind of story that Bilal Hussein used to get published. It is based on the words of one person, there is no confirmation, it involves wrongdoing by troops.

Interestingly is says "Iraqi-US forces" .. so which was it? Iraqi or US? Most recently US troops wouldn't go inside, we would be outside providing moral support/cheerleading/calling in air if needed. Last time I looked there was no "Iraqi-US Army".
Posted by: crosspatch || 04/24/2008 12:46 Comments || Top||

#2  pure iraqi/paleo BS.
Posted by: RD || 04/24/2008 12:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Why not. Some months back there was suspicion the mentally retarded were being used as unwitting suicide bombers. Where better to find the mentally retarded than a mental hospital and what better way to select the victims than to have high level officials of the hospital do it.
Posted by: ed || 04/24/2008 13:16 Comments || Top||

#4  caused material damage inside the hospital

Prolly tracked sand all over the carpet and left fingerprints on the windows, the slobs.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/24/2008 13:49 Comments || Top||

#5  IIRC the Health Ministry is/was controlled by the Sadrists. They used ministy buildings as bases/supply dumps.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 04/24/2008 14:01 Comments || Top||

#6  "IIRC the Health Ministry is/was controlled by the Sadrists. "

Correctomundo. The Health Ministry was Sadr's bailiwick. this is from 2006 but is informative (if a puff piece designed to play Sadr up to be bigger than he apparently is):

His political group, for example, controls the Health Ministry and has used it to harbor death squads, infiltrate hospitals and punish al-Sadr's enemies, says Ayad al-Samarrai, the deputy chairman of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni group.

So any operations against Health Ministry operations would be seen as a move against Sadr. Again, this is probably part of the Iranian strategy to duplicate the blueprint used by Hezbollah and Hamas to provide services to the people to win their hearts. How can you hate the people who provided the doctor that delivered your child or saved a relative's life? It is an Iranian MO to control basic humanitarian services in their area of interest. It gives a secondary benefit of making their infrastructure immune to attack. An attacker looks bad hitting doctors and hospitals.
Posted by: crosspatch || 04/24/2008 20:56 Comments || Top||

#7  “An Iraqi army force, backed by U.S. troops, raided al-Rashad psychological hospital and arrested all its staffs,” Qassem Abdul Hadi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI). “The forces also arrested the patients and caused material damage inside the hospital,” he also said.

the pure BS that I was referring to:

No way would American Forces arrest ALL patients and Staff unless the 'Hospital' had only fugitive combatant patients AND al-Sadr Dr's, Nurses and techs(staff).

or ... "psychological hospital" lost somthin somthin in translation.

Or shutting down the entrance & exits of the Hospital for a period during an inspection is translated as everyone was "arrested" meaning "not free to leave or enter the Hospital during the inspection"

But no way are American Forces, a 'Hospital Rampaging and Damaging Org'.
Posted by: RD || 04/24/2008 21:43 Comments || Top||


Jihadi training accident - Sweeeeet!
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 11:20 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Those aren't Jihadi's. Iraqi guys trying to dig out a 155 round. It was here a few weeks ago...
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/24/2008 11:30 Comments || Top||

#2  ????? YouTube heading:
Added: April 15, 2008 (Less info)
Those stupid terrorists got what they deserved
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 11:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Those are Iraqi army volunteers who were trying to dig UP an IED, not emplacing one. The full version of the video includes the US guys in their HMMWV's sitting back about 150-200m and maintaining overwatch waiting for the EOD guys to get there while wondering what the Iraqis are trying to do digging it up themselves. Ask yourselves this: why would they be calling for a MEDEVAC on an IED strike for a bunch of jihadis?

--youtube commenter
Posted by: gromky || 04/24/2008 11:37 Comments || Top||

#4  New title: "Sad but Dumb". I had the sound off so as not to wake up Mrs. USMC. Didn't want colateral damage here at home.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 11:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Longer version here.

Sad they wasted their lives for a few cubic yards of dirt when they could have let trained EOD blow it.
Posted by: ed || 04/24/2008 12:08 Comments || Top||

#6  BTW, when I first saw the video, it stated 2 were killed but 3 escaped unhurt. The definition of unhurt in this case may be somewhat flexible.
Posted by: ed || 04/24/2008 12:15 Comments || Top||

#7  The definition of unhurt in this case may be somewhat flexible.

persons who haven't lost more than 15% of their body weight. LOL~!
Posted by: RD || 04/24/2008 12:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Ignorance is bliss, but war is hell.
Bliss, meet hell.
Posted by: wxjames || 04/24/2008 12:57 Comments || Top||

#9  You have to wonder what in hell were they thinking trying to dig up an IED. But at least they went quickly.
Posted by: eltoroverde || 04/24/2008 13:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Digging up an IED

with handtools?

while crowding each other?

while wearing minimal protection?

there is a lot here that doesn't add up

Posted by: mhw || 04/24/2008 13:59 Comments || Top||

#11  I think some people need a bit more basic training.

1/ Don't go near it.
2/ Make sure no one else goes near it.
3/ Get someone who knows what they're doing to get rid of it.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/24/2008 15:33 Comments || Top||

#12  either way it's funny as hell at the pilots reaction
Posted by: sinse || 04/24/2008 18:06 Comments || Top||

#13  They were friendlies. Enthusiastic. UNtrained. And unfortunate. May lack sense, but no lack of bravery in trying to rid their neighborhood of a danger.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/24/2008 18:21 Comments || Top||

#14  They were friendlies. Enthusiastic. UNtrained. And unfortunate. May lack sense, but no lack of bravery in trying to rid their neighborhood of a danger.

I agree, very fool hardy but brave.

Maybe all those months/years of being terrorized from death squads and al-Qaeda have gotten them overcompensating now.

Then as always, Training and Discipline will save lives.
Posted by: RD || 04/24/2008 21:50 Comments || Top||


Box Score: 9 hits, 4 runs, no errors
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Coalition forces killed four Iranian-trained Special Groups criminals and detained five other suspected criminals Thursday during operations in Rashidiyah, north of Baghdad.

Intelligence sources led Coalition forces to the location of an Iranian-trained Special Groups criminal suspected of receiving weapons and finances from Iran in order to lead attacks against Coalition forces. He is also suspected of directing and conducting kidnappings and sectarian violence against Iraqi citizens.

Despite receiving sporadic small arms fire attacks, Coalition forces apprehended the suspected criminal and three other suspects. Coalition forces continued to another location to capture an additional suspected criminal wanted for hostile acts against Iraqi forces.

As Coalition forces approached the second location, they came under small arms fire from both sides of the road and returned fire, killing one criminal.

After arriving at the targeted individualÂ’s location, Coalition forces again came under small arms fire from three criminals atop a local residence. Coalition forces followed the three individuals to a home in the neighborhood, where the criminals gained entry. Coalition forces came under attack from the criminals inside the house and engaged the hostile threat, killing the three criminals. The engagement ignited a fire in the house, but Coalition forces were able to evacuate the residents from the building unharmed.

“Coalition forces will continue to seek out these criminal elements supported by Iran who threaten the security of Iraqi citizens and who undermine the sovereignty of Iraq,” said Cmdr. Scott Rye, MNF-I spokesman.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 11:07 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wanted for hostile acts against Iraqi forces.
we won't need the water board today, just the nail gun and jumper cables.
Posted by: wxjames || 04/24/2008 13:02 Comments || Top||


UK troop withdrawals from Iraq on hold
LONDON - Britain's defense secretary says a freeze on British troop withdrawals from Iraq will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Defense Secretary Des Browne says in a statement to lawmakers Thursday that reductions in the number of British troops in Iraq will only be made "if conditions allow." Britain has 4,000 troops in Iraq.

Earlier this month Browne postponed a plan to withdraw around 1,500 troops from Britain's base outside the oil-rich southern city of Basra following a surge in militia violence.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 10:55 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oops.

They couldn't retreat draw down troops fast enough and the Iraqi Army started winning, and now the Brits have to save face stay.

Bummer.

(Please note that my insulting sarcasm is aimed at the limp-d*ck politicians, not the British troops.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/24/2008 19:22 Comments || Top||


81 people, including senior leaders of the Mahdi militia have 24 hours to give up.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/24/2008 09:46 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


People of Basra "optimistic" as Iraqi Army take control in the city
The UK military spokesman in southern Iraq has been speaking about the mood of optimism he believes is growing in Basra following operations carried out by the Iraqi Security Forces in the city, with help from UK and other coalition troops, in recent days.

The Iraqi Army have been involved in an effort to wrestle control from armed militias in the city since the end of March. And according to Major Tom Holloway from the Headquarters Multi-National Division South East, based at the Contingency Operating Base near Basra Airport, signs of progress are beginning to become visible.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Wednesday 23 April 2008, Maj Holloway gave an assessment of what he believes to be the current situation:

"It's looking like much of the city is under the control of the government of Iraq. Obviously it's been a deliberate operation for the last four weeks, cordoning and searching large areas of town, and it's not just kinetic operations against criminal militias but the Iraqi government has been involved in humanitarian aid and low level improvements in the city.

"And if I can just say a couple of words on the mood in town. There is a real sense of optimism amongst the people in the city, a confidence in the ability of the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) that they've seen demonstrated on the streets of their city over the course of the last month now that rule of the law is imposed."


When asked to shed some light on media reports pointing at incompetence in elements of the Iraqi Army and the suggested thousand or so desertions by Iraqi soldiers which have also been reported, Maj Holloway explained the background to what had happened:

"IÂ’m not quite sure it's as many as a thousand but let's just take that as a ball park figure. I think what we've got to realise is that it was 14 Division and members of the police who were reported to have those sort of levels of desertion. Now, they're recruited from this area and there's a difficulty when people are asked to conduct operations in towns and areas that they know, and that's been recognised since by the Iraqi government. They are conducting military discipline, courts martial etc, against those deserters. So it will go through due process.

"It didn't fall apart. There are 18 battalions of Iraqi army alone in the city, there's over two divisions worth of troops, so for a thousand police and army to desert is not a significant dent in the numbers and it did not deflate the efforts of the government of Iraq in imposing security on Basra."

"There is a real sense of optimism amongst the people in the city, a confidence in the ability of the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) that they've seen demonstrated on the streets of their city over the course of the last month now that rule of the law is imposed."


Maj Holloway was also asked about reports suggesting the Iraqi Army were under-equipped and that Iraqi troops had forced coalition troops to give them food and water at gunpoint:

"I'm not familiar with reports of them coming at us at gunpoint," said Maj Holloway. "We provided limited assistance in the very early days. This operation was noted by the government of Iraq's ability to get significant numbers of troops down here at very short notice, and that in itself is a major achievement; that we had to provide some assistance with some logistic support was part of our provision of support under the agreements with the government of Iraq and so weÂ’re just fulfilling our part of the deal."


The issue of why US troops had been sent down to Basra to support Operation Charge of the Knights was also raised during the interview, specifically whether the British should be embarrassed that the Americans sent so many combat troops to assist:

"No we shouldn't, because we work as part of an American-led coalition, and it's right that when the coalition's focus comes to Basra and brings with it resources, that we do see an increase in their numbers and levels of equipment down here.

"And if I can just say, yes there are American troops in the city and they'e doing, as we are, providing military transition teams, or 'MITTs' as they are called by us, with Iraqi units, but those American 'MITTs' were already embedded with Iraqi army units elsewhere in the country, and they came here with those Iraqi units. So we should not be embarrassed that the Americans have come down, we work within their organisation."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/24/2008 04:32 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Article translation: It was a royal cock-up when the wogs were doing an own-show. It was still a cock-up when the Yanks joined in. Now that we Brits have been asked to show up and lend our expertise, it's alright.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/24/2008 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  i dont see him saying that at all
Posted by: liberalhawk || 04/24/2008 13:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Maj Holloway was probably thinking,

"And if I can just say a couple of words on the mood among our troops. There is a real sense amongst our troops that lose-at-any-cost journalists will lie about our ability and the ability of the ISF and the way we are imposing the rule of the law here."
Posted by: mhw || 04/24/2008 14:05 Comments || Top||

#4  i dont see him saying that at all

Subtlety, LH. Subtlety. It went from days of British army experts tut-tutting about how the operation was such a screw-up (all the questions the Fleet-Streeters brought up) to, now that the UK forces are involved, 'Things don't seem to be as bad, what?".

I'd almost say Katrina-Redux, except the Brits clarified in a couple of weeks, rather than months after the fact...
Posted by: Pappy || 04/24/2008 16:28 Comments || Top||


Turkish planes bomb Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Turkish warplanes bombed several rear bases of Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Wednesday, a spokesman for the guerillas told AFP. "The bombing began at 4:30 pm (1330 GMT) and continued for an hour. The bombardment targeted old rear bases in the district of Kharkurk near the Turkish border," said Ahmed Danis, spokesman for the terrorist communist rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Posted by: Steve White || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Mosul blasts kill, injure 18 people
(KUNA) -- Three Iraqi people were killed including a police officer and 15 others were injured in two separate explosions in the city of Mosul, northern Iraq, on Wednesday, police sources said. Sources told KUNA that a car rigged with explosives went off as a police patrol was passing in central Mosul. The explosion killed two civilians and injured 11 others, material damage to nearby stores was also reported. Meanwhile, a suicide bomber blew up an explosive belt he was wearing in a money exchange office in central Mosul. Two people were killed, including one Iraqi Army officer in civilian dress, and six others were wounded.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Death toll rises as fighting spreads in Baghdad
Another 19 people were killed in fighting between militiamen and security forces in Shiite areas of Baghdad, officials said on Wednesday, as the death toll from weeks of street battles passed 360.

The US military said troops had killed 15 people in overnight clashes in areas of east Baghdad controlled by Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to radical anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. American forces used ground troops and air strikes during the clashes which began in the late afternoon, a US military statement said. In one incident, soldiers were attacked with a roadside bomb and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) while on patrol in east Baghdad around 9:45 pm (1845 GMT), the statement said. Six militiamen were killed in the ensuing gunbattle.

In a separate incident at about the same time, US troops were attacked with RPGs, also in east Baghdad, the statement said. "Soldiers identified two separate RPG teams and returned fire, killing five criminals."

Iraqi officials, said that the fighting which has been focused in Sadr City, a sprawling Mahdi Army bastion, has spread to the adjoining district of Hussainiyah. An interior ministry official said at least four people were killed there on Tuesday. The defence ministry put the toll in the fighting at seven dead, including two women, and 20 wounded, among them women and children.

The latest deaths have pushed the toll from fighting in east Baghdad since late March to more than 360, according to an AFP tally based on reports from Iraqi and US military officials.

In the northern city of Mosul, two people were killed and nine wounded on Wednesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a money exchange outlet in an attack that was followed minutes later by a car bomb blast in the street outside, police said.

Meanwhile the death toll from an attack by a female suicide bomber who blew herself up near a police station in Diyala province on Tuesday has risen to 18, the US military said. It said seven Iraqi policemen and 11 civilians were killed in the attack in the town of Jalawla, 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of the provincial capital Baquba.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army

#1  Death toll rose in Chicago over the weekend too. Big deal.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/24/2008 8:59 Comments || Top||

#2  The Mahdis are in a bad way. The US and Iraqi forces are now strong enough to be methodical, taking territory a foot at a time, and never giving anything back.

This really matters when space is the only asset the Mahdis have left. And they're running low on it.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/24/2008 9:09 Comments || Top||

#3  Agreed. My take on things is, I know, optomistic, but Sadr's position seems to be weakening by the day. The IA is getting stronger by the day. Their NCO and junior officer corps becomes more effective by the day. They are getting new material and training. The country of Iraq continues to pile up the oil revenues. Sadr, on the other hand, is being driven out of Basrah and most of the other southern towns, he is being marginalized politically and even his home enclave is being dismantled piece by piece. That there is more activity (mostly deaths/captures of mahdi gunnies & leaders) is only a good thing.
Posted by: remoteman || 04/24/2008 16:02 Comments || Top||


US army denies knowledge of Izzat Ibrahim arrest
(KUNA) -- The US army has no operational reports on the arrest of former Iraqi vice-president Ezzat al-Douri, US army media advisor Abdellatif al-Rayan said here Wednesday. Speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), al-Rayan said the arrest report was now under investigation.

Earlier in the day, Hassan al-Sanid, an Iraqi member of parliament, said US forces had handed over a captured suspect to Iraqi forces, who was believed to be al-Douri due to resemblance. The suspect is now undergoing DNA tests in a bid to make sure if he is really the former Iraqi official, he told KUNA. Iraqi security sources had told KUNA that joint US and Iraqi forces had picked up Ezzat al-Douri in a snatch manhunt.

Al-Douri was Vice-Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) and Northern Region Commander. He also served as Deputy Secretary General of the Baath Party Regional Command and Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces. After the 1991 Gulf War, he was frequently sent abroad to represent Iraqi interests. He vanished following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, with the US having announced a bounty of 10 million US dollars on his head. On 5 September 2003 it was reported that Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri had been captured in the town of Tikrit. However, within hours, the US-led coalition denied they had him in custody.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party

#1  Izzy or ain't he?
Posted by: doc || 04/24/2008 10:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Very interesting. He disappears into Syria and is reportedly kicked out the day Congress is briefed over photos of a bombed out facility with NK agents inside, which also was speculated to contain Saddam's missing WMD's. I hope it is Iraqis who have him, as they are sovereign over their own interrogation methods!!!
Posted by: Thealing Borgia6122 || 04/24/2008 11:10 Comments || Top||

#3  to follow up on #1

Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri? Or Izznt it?
Posted by: liberalhawk || 04/24/2008 13:26 Comments || Top||


Izzat Ibrahim reported captured in Iraq: TV
A man suspected to be Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, who tops the Iraqi government's list of most-wanted fugitives, has been captured in Iraq, Al-Arabiya television reported Wednesday.
I'll be oiling my ululator for the rest of the evening on the off chance it's true...
The man suspected to be Duri, who was number two under Saddam Hussein, was captured by Iraqi forces and handed over to the US military, it said, citing Iraqi security sources. The US military in Baghdad denied it was holding Duri.
Okay. Guess I'll toss the ululator back in the drawer...
"We are aware of media reports that Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri has been captured," the military told AFP in an email. "At this point, we can say that he is not in coalition custody and we have no reports that he was captured by Iraqi security forces either."

Al-Arabiya said the man was caught in Hamrin between the provinces of Salaheddin and Kirkuk and was being moved to Baghdad. DNA tests are being conducted to confirm his identity, the Dubai-based Saudi-owned news channel added. Abu Mohammad, described as Duri's representative in Syria, told Al-Arabiya the report is fabricated.
Since that's likely where Izzy is, too.
Duri is free and secure and "leading the resistance and jihad in Iraq," Abu Mohammad said by telephone.

Al-Arabiya quoted "US forces" as saying the person captured "looks like" Duri but confirmation of his identity awaits DNA testing. Duri, the most senior official in the ousted Saddam Hussein regime to be still on the run, heads a 41 most-wanted list released by the Iraqi government in 2006 with a 10-million-dollar bounty. He was Saddam's number two under the former Baath regime and is considered an operational leader with close ties to anti-US insurgents.

In remarks to the Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat published on Wednesday, Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said Duri was in Syria from where he led the insurgency in Iraq. Questioned by Al-Arabiya about Duri's alleged capture, Rubaie said the Iraqi army "arrested some terrorists and armed people" during an operation near Hamrin and brought them to Baghdad. "We will conduct DNA tests to ascertain their identities. I can't confirm or deny until the tests have been conducted," he said.

Duri was number six and the king of clubs on a 55 most-wanted "deck of cards" distributed by the Pentagon at the outset of the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
This article starring:
Abu MohammadIraqi Baath Party
Izzat Ibrahim al-DuriIraqi Baath Party
Muwaffaq al-Rubaie
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party

#1  We used to joke "they've killed/captured/made a deal with al-Duri, again" when I was at the palace. Reports like this used to happen with regularity.

Meanwhile, al-Rubaie was a somewhat dubious and even comical figure at times back then, achieving a sort of amazing status as pontificating Beltway-type personality in a country without security, much less a Beltway mentality (which requires several generations of security and comfort with which to dream up ridiculous ideas of how the world works). He wasn't taken too seriously (his title is a thigh-slapper), but he's a workhorse for the wire services and al-Arabiya ...
Posted by: Verlaine || 04/24/2008 2:32 Comments || Top||

#2  ION PAYVAND > CAN THE US AND IRAN SHARE THE MIDDLE EAST?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/24/2008 2:54 Comments || Top||

#3  As Iran is currently constituted they can't, JosephM. Next question?
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/24/2008 4:03 Comments || Top||

#4  If they did catch him, I am guessing at least two weeks before we say word one about it.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/24/2008 9:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Then again, think about what else went over the border from Iraq to Syria and may yet be lurking there.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/24/2008 12:11 Comments || Top||

#6  OS, are you implying that the CIA is lying to us when they said that whatever that was wasn't important enough for them to look into?

Okay. Guess I'll toss the ululator back in the drawer...

Yours fits in a drawer? Mine fits on a trailer, alongside the diesel engine and hydraulic unit...
Posted by: Abdominal Snowman || 04/24/2008 12:50 Comments || Top||

#7  The CIA distort and lie to make Bush look bad? Nah. Never happen.

heh. heheh. hehehehehehehh. BWAHHHHAHAHAH!

Sorry. Lost control.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/24/2008 18:22 Comments || Top||

#8  That picture's perfect, reminds me of the old saying "Face like a Map,of Ireland" certainly applies here.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 04/24/2008 18:46 Comments || Top||


Izzat Ibrahim kicked out of Syria, picked up in Iraq
Exclusive: Former Iraqi VP Izzat Ibrahim expelled from Syria
No separate link at debka yet
See the companion piece above.
DEBKAfile's exclusive counter-terror sources report that Izzat Ibrahim, who led the Iraqi Sunni Baath underground campaign against the US Army after Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003, was thrown out of Syria. He was picked up by Iraqi security forces in Salahuddin north of Baghdad.
More details soon.
This article starring:
IZZAT IBRAHIMIraqi Baath Party
Posted by: Omusosh the Scantily Clad7177 || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli troops search for wanted activist in Qabatiya
(KUNA) -- Israeli Army forces stormed on Wednesday Qabatiya town, south of Jenin in the northern part of the West Bank, searching for wanted activists, said Islamic Jihad sources. Local radio in Gaza quoted unidentified sources as saying, "Israeli troops were backed with 30 military machinery and stormed the city, besieging and searching several houses, and searching for wanted activist belonging to Al-Quds Brigades." The Israeli military operation was basically carried out in the eastern district, however the troops failed to find any of the wanted operatives, the radio added.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad


Missiles hit Israeli settlements, Palestinian activists survive attack
(KUNA) -- Fatah's Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility of firing five local-made missiles at the Israeli settlement of Sderot, early Wednesday. In a press release, the brigades said the missiles hit "right on target" and that sounds of explosions were heard from afar. It also said the group that launched the missiles returned safely, stressing that the attack was to avenge the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and resistance activists in Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Meanwhile, a joint press release by Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, announced that the two groups bombarded Nahal Oz Israeli site, east of Gaza, Wednesday morning. The release said a joint team fired five missiles which hit their targets, precisely. It emphasized that the attack reflects the unity of resistance activists, and called all the Palestinian military groups to join hands. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades had fired three "Aqsa 103" rockets at Sderot, Tuesday evening.

In the meantime, eyewitnesses said members of Hamas's Izzidin Al-Qassam Brigades survived an Israeli bombardment that targeted their vehicle near Asfour fuel station in Bani Suhaila town, east of Khan Younis city, south Gaza Strip. They added that the activists got out of the car moments before Israeli Apache helicopters hit it with three missiles. The missiles hit the car directly, destroying it completely and setting it into flames, they pointed out. According to the witnesses, the attack led to the injury of a person who was passing in the area of the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Aqsa Martyrs

#1  Remind me again why Israel is sending fuel to these pukes? I like the idea somebody floated here yesterday: deliver fuel one day's worth at a time. If there is any attack on Israel, there are no fuel deliveries for a week. If after a week, there are no attacks, Gaza gets another day's fuel. Rinse, repeat.
Of course, people, Palestinians and Jimmy Carter will whine that this is collective punishment. What are the rocket attacks on Sderot? Targeted?
Posted by: Rambler in California || 04/24/2008 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  RIC, the time for such measures is long past---and not just in Arab-Israeli conflict, but in the general Muzzi-Human conflict. So sorry, but (IMO) nothing short of the complete eradication of the Islamic meme will work.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/24/2008 6:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Aqsa may have fired rockets but Israel isn't reporting any hits

Israel does report killing at least one Jihadi about mid afternoon local time today.
Posted by: mhw || 04/24/2008 14:10 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Terrorists kill five construction workers in southern Thailand
Southern terrorists insurgents shot dead five construction workers and wounded one other when they were on a pick-up truck on their way to construction site in Yarang district of Pattani province on Thursday morning. "About half past nine, a pick up truck was carrying the workers to build a fence of a school. Two motorcycles came and opened fire on to the truck," said army spokesman Acra Tiproch. The wounded person was rushed to hospital, he said. Police are now tracking down the suspects by closing the areas and investigated the crime scene.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/24/2008 05:59 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Sri Lanka
Scores killed in SLanka's bloodiest battle
COLOMBO - The bloodiest offensive in 18 months in Sri Lanka on Wednesday left between 90 and 116 troops and rebels dead, and scores wounded, according to the warring sides.

Tamil Tiger rebels claim they killed at least 100 government soldiers and lost 16 fighters themselves, while Colombo claims just 38 troops were killed compared with 52 guerrillas. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they resisted a two-pronged military advance into territory held by them and pushed backed the soldiers in the latest battle in the northern peninsula of Jaffna. 'The Sri Lanka army suffered more than 100 killed in action and about 400 wounded in action,' an LTTE statement said. 'Sixteen valiant LTTE soldiers sacrificed their lives in this confrontation.'

Wednesday's battle inflicted the military's heaviest loss in a single offensive since October 2006.

'Monitored radio communications and ground sources have confirmed that 52 LTTE terrorists have been killed and many injured in the latest skirmishes in Jaffna,' the defence ministry said.

There was no independent verification of the conflicting tolls.

But a Sri Lankan military source confirmed that troops mounted a two-pronged assault on the forward fence lines of the LTTE under the cover of darkness and were forced to retreat after encountering stiff resistance. He said initially the resistance was limited and the LTTE's first line of defence was captured, but the guerrillas then brought down heavy artillery fire forcing a retreat.

Security forces have been trying to dismantle a de facto rebel mini-state in the north of the island after successfully driving the guerrillas out of the adjoining Eastern province in July last year. Defence sources said Wednesday's setback was a repeat of the October 2006 debacle when the security forces were pushed back by a major counter offensive of the Tigers, with 129 government soldiers killed and 515 wounded.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I thought the rebels' heavy artillery was neutered due to interdiction of ammo supplies. I suppose the Tigers have found an alternate route.
Posted by: gromky || 04/24/2008 1:28 Comments || Top||


Good morning...
Posted by: Fred || 04/24/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hello my friends :)
;)
Posted by: Shoottesabbam || 04/24/2008 4:31 Comments || Top||

#2  She can be the nose art on my airplane any time!
Posted by: Mike || 04/24/2008 6:15 Comments || Top||



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