KABUL, Afghanistan - ISAF Marines continue to experience success in Garmsir district, Helmand province, since they first launched their operation Apr. 28.
The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) has discovered and destroyed several fortified enemy positions and nine weapons caches containing variations of mines, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and IED-making materials. They have also identified and control-detonated four improvised explosive devices.
"The insurgents are finding that every time they engage with the Marines, they lose," Colonel Peter Petronzio, 24th MEU commander. "The Marines are gaining ground every day and securing more of the routes through the district. The support we have received from our allied partners has contributed to our many successes thus far."
#2
The Dutch and the Canadians are certainly pulling their weight, Procopius2k, and quite a few others, quietly, and limited by their small numbers. The Germans, on the other hand...
Afghan police backed by the U.S.-led Coalition forces have killed seven suspected Taliban insurgents in Afghan eastern Paktia province, a local official said Saturday.
Afghan national police backed by the Coalition on Friday night launched an anti-insurgents operation in Gardi Sira area, killing seven militants, spokesman of provincial administration Rohullah Samon told Xinhua.
Among the dead bodies were foreign fighters including Arab nationals, he said, adding that there were no casualties on the government forces.
Meantime, Zabihullah Mujahid, a purported spokesman for the Taliban insurgents predictably told compliant media from an undisclosed location that six police were killed in the firefight which lasted for hours.
A least two people were killed and seven wounded in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday in clashes between police and demonstrators protesting against civilian deaths at the hands of foreign troops, witnesses said. Several thousand protesters had blocked a highway through Nangarhar province linking the capital Kabul with Pakistan. They said they were demonstrating against the killing of three civilians in the area by foreign forces in an overnight raid.
"Two of the protestors have been killed, six more wounded and one policeman has also been hurt by a stone," said a witness named Mandozai, a retired army officer who was among the protesters. The protesters said five civilians had also been detained in the raid, in the Shinwar district of Nangarhar. Both NATO-led and troops under U.S. command are stationed in the province.
An official for NATO in Kabul said he was not aware of the raid. The U.S. military said all those killed were militants and the target of its raid was "a foreign fighter network". "During the operation, several militants were killed when they attacked coalition forces. Nine militants suspected of foreign fighter facilitation were detained," it said in a statement. "Additionally, coalition forces discovered several AK-47s, a bolt action rifle, ammunition and grenades on the compounds. These items were destroyed to prevent use."
Protestors hurled stones at police, who responded by firing in the air and into the ground, a Reuters reporter at the scene said. "We will start jihad if they (foreign troops) continue to carry on like this," Khairullah, a 35 year-old protestor chanted as others shouted "Allahu akbar", or God is greatest. The demonstrators ended the protest after the intervention of some top provincial officials and the highway reopened after being closed for several hours, residents said.
Insurgents attacked a Somali military base near the presidential palace in Mogadishu on Friday, and an ensuing gunbattle left at least six people dead and 13 wounded, witnesses said.
Mohamed Dini said he witnessed the fighting from a window in his house in the southern part of Somalia's capital and saw the bodies of two civilians and two government soldiers. The battle lasted about an hour. Other soldiers collected the bodies after the fighting ended, he said.
Another witness, Maryan Da'ud, said her two stepbrothers also were killed and her house was heavily damaged by soldiers shooting near the presidential palace.
An Associated Press reporter living in the neighborhood heard gunfire. Government officials were not immediately available for comment.
Dr. Dahir Dhere, the director of Medina Hospital, said 13 people wounded in the fighting were admitted to the hospital. At least 32 people have been killed in two days of militia attacks in Mogadishu and two rural areas of Somalia.
Islamist insurgents had vowed to avenge the death of Hashi Aden Ayro, the commander of the al-Shabab militia killed last week when U.S. fighter jets bombed his home, according to local elders. The al-Shabab commander had been leading the Islamist insurgency in Somalia and was allegedly an al-Qaida leader in the Horn of Africa country.
On Thursday, Islamist fighters briefly seized the police headquarters in Mogadishu in attack that left 11 dead, including two officers and five insurgents, according to police officer Dalmar Mohamed Hassan. He said three insurgents were captured. Witnesses said two government soldiers and two civilians also were killed in the fighting. "We are fortifying our defensive positions to be ready for other attacks," Hassan told The Associated Press on Friday.
The raid on the police headquarters came a day after insurgents attacked Ethiopian military convoys in two rural areas, and the soldiers responded by opening fire on civilians in both towns. Witnesses said at least 17 villagers were killed.
It was not known how many Ethiopians died in that fighting. Ethiopia, which sent troops into Somalia last year to back up soldiers fighting Islamic insurgents, does not make troop fatalities public, though insurgents said one of their regional commanders was killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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At least 19 Kurdish rebels and six soldiers were killed overnight in clashes and a bombing raid in southeastern Turkey, the Turkish military said Saturday.
Militants from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) attacked a military outpost in the province of Hakkari, which borders Iraq and Iran, killing two soldiers, the army said in a statement posted on its website.
Turkish warplanes bombed the area in response, killing at least 19 militants, it said, adding in a second statement that another four soldiers died in ensuing clashes as the army pursued the rebels on the ground.
The attack on the military outpost was carried out "to change the atmosphere of panic" among PKK ranks that followed Turkish air raids on rebel positions in neighbouring northern Iraq last week that "dealt the terrorist organisation a serious blow," it said.
Turkey has stepped up military action against the PKK since December, carrying out several air strikes and a week-long ground incursion into northern Iraq, where it says more than 2,000 PKK rebels take refuge.
Listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, the PKK has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.
The expanded authority for U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., was hammered through by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld well before he resigned in November 2006. The shift caused friction among leaders at other warfighting organizations who saw it an intrusion into their geographic domains.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/10/2008 06:54 ||
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#1
"I didn't awfully care too much for people from somewhere else to come in and tell me what they were going to do," Fridovich said.
So now each of our proconsuls is going to be able to conduct the war as they see fit without regard to what is happening elsewhere? Not a good way to fight a Global war. Sounds like we will fight this like we fought the war in the Pacific. I hope it turns out as well, but I doubt there will be a uranium bullet this time.
#2
Micro-management by someone too far up the chain is NOT good. If you are lucky they know their A## from a hole in the ground and don't get you killed. If you NOT lucky you wind up in that hole in the ground.
#3
Trying to interpret what is really going on here is like squeezing water from a stone. Trying to get different capable military men on the same page is like trying to sweep ants into a pile.
And there is also the inherent dilemma that you can either pay attention to what it happening down the chain, or up the chain, seldom both.
SOCOM has two very different missions as well. Both observation and execution. They need to be balanced, but seldom are.
Then there are the different missions of conventional and unconventional operations. And boy howdy, do they bump heads.
#4
We've been so quick to make Rumsfeld the scapegoat for the fact that war sucks, IMHO, that I think they're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
#5
Sounds like we will fight this like we fought the war in the Pacific
I hope so.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/10/2008 18:01 Comments ||
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#6
Mr. Smiley, ok, except let's skip the Okinawa and Iwo Jima pages and go straight to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, since we CAN now, with our modern long-range delivery systems.
A police team in the disguise of bus passengers arrested Junaid, an expert in making improvised explosive devices and said to be behind dozens of attacks on security forces and civilians in the last ten years.
As part of the 'intelligence warfare' operation, a police party, posing as milkmen, killed another top LeT commander in Baramullah in the recent past, police sources said.
Psst! Got Milk?
Three Hizbul Mujahideen commanders have been killed in assassinations targeted killings similar surgical actions in Srinagar city and in Doda, they said, adding that 13 such operations have been carried out across the state.
The Indian government has decided to eradicate the HM
Junaid was trapped in a bus by police personnel who posed as passengers when the militant undertook a journey to travel to his area of operation. The police did not give out the name of the town in the outskirts of which he was nabbed. The militant, who was going to meet his militant colleagues and his family members, had a chat with his 'co-passengers' not knowing they were policemen.
The handcuffs and guns must have come as quite a surprise
As the bus stopped at a checkpost, Junaid offered no resistance as the police party handcuffed him and whisked him away to a nearby police station, the sources said.
In another planned operation, the police killed a top commander in a house in Baramullah district by sending personnel in the guise of milkmen.
Will that be one pint or two? .45 cal or higher?
Two Hizbul Mujahideen leaders were killed near Nishat Garden in Srinagar city in January by policemen who were dressed as civilians wearing 'pheran'.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/10/2008 12:09 ||
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Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/10/2008 15:01 Comments ||
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#6
IIRC a top HM man was captured and subjected to "narco-analysis and brain mapping" by the Indian police.
Looks like his giggle juice induced blathering was spot on. The police have been merrily killing HM activists regularly.
The jihadi clowns who made the mistake of targeting Mayawati, the Chief Minister of UP, are likewise being decimated. Th wrath of a powerful "untouchable" woman, one with ambitions to be PM of India itself, knows no bounds. Her state police are ruthlessly hunting the plotters.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/10/2008 15:51 Comments ||
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Shaukat Afridi, who supplies oil to NATO forces in Afghanistan, was abducted in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Friday by armed men believed to be linked to an al-Qaeda cell. Shaukat, originally a Pashtun from the Khyber Agency, was kidnapped after he left his home in an exclusive residential neighborhood, headed for his office situated in Clifton, a district in the southern port city.
Taj Muhammad Afridi, brother of Shaukat Afridi told Adnkronos International (AKI) that armed men detained his brother as he was getting out of his car.
Police suspect the possible involvement of a local al-Qaeda cell in the abduction which they believe is part of a strategy to choke NATOs supply line to Afghanistan.
NATO oil supplies come through the port of Karachi and are transported through the Khyber Agency in the North West Frontier Province across the Afghan border and then transferred to Kabul.
The Taliban initially set up their hide outs in the Khyber Agency and successfully blocked NATO' supply lines. But Pakistani security forces then began using a pro-Taliban local tribal leader Haji Namdar who helped them to wipe out the Taliban in the area.
Last week, a suicide attacker tried to kill Haji Namdar near Peshawar when he was collecting funds for the Taliban. Haji Namdar survived but another 10 people were killed.
Eighty percent of NATO's oil supplies go through the Khyber agency but Taliban attacks have disrupted transportation. The oil terminal is situated near Kemari which is populated by Pashtuns reportedly allied with the Taliban and Shaukat Afridi's office is close to where several Taliban activists have been arrested in the past.
NEW DELHI: In a significant revelation, a new book has said North Korea had got nuclear technology from Pakistan in 1993, with the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto personally carrying the sensitive material in her overcoat during a visit to Pyongyang.
Pakistan gave uranium enrichment technology to North Korea in return for missiles, says the biography of the slain PPP leader authored by her close friend Shyam Bhatia.
The 'enrichment for missiles' barter took place in 1993, says the book "Goodbye Shahzadi" whose author cites the information revealed by Bhutto herself during a conversation with him.
As secret services of India, Russia and some western countries were closely monitoring every move on Pakistan's military research, Bhutto had decided to herself carry the sensitive material to Pyongyang to avoid detection, the book says.
"As she (Bhutto) was due to visit North Korea at the end of 1993, she was asked and readily agreed to carry critical nuclear data on her person and hand it over on arrival in Pyongyang," the book claims.
"...before leaving Islamabad, she shopped for an overcoat with the 'deepest possible pockets' into which she transferred CDs containing the scientific data about uranium enrichment that the North Koreans wanted," it says.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/10/2008 06:11 ||
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#1
CD-ROMs?
In 1993?
Seems like I was just getting my first ZIP drive back then, don't remember too many CDs.
#9
perhaps she was wooed personally by Kimmy. What woman could resist?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2008 18:44 Comments ||
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#10
Are we sure it's anything approaching the truth?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/10/2008 20:25 Comments ||
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#11
Fond memories, Mr. Smiley. Tape the ends of the perf paper together into an 'endless' supply of data and write a little program to go get a bit of data just before the endless loop protection screen on the IBM 360/370 kicks your job off and you could lock up the computer all night long.
JAMMU: The border observation post of BSF in Sambha sector in this region came under heavy firing late on Thursday night from the Pakistani side following which the force on Friday lodged a strong protest with Pakistani Rangers.
Looks like the Pakistanis have resumed their old tactic of providing covering fire for jihadi infiltration across the LOC.
The incident took place at 2230 hours when a BoP of 112 battalion of the BSF came under intense fire from Pakistani side, official sources said.
Giving details, they said that an ambush party of BSF detected a group of intruders trying to infiltrate into Benglard yesterday and they opened fire to foil the bid.
Another support party of the intruders resorted to firing on BOP to save the intruders and the exchange between two sides continued for about 15 minutes, they said.
The suspected militants fired nearly 1000 rounds and hurled 16 grenades at the BSF post, they said.
There were no immediate reports of causality from the Indian side, which retaliated, the sources said, adding there was no evidence so far of direct involvement of Pakistani rangers in the incident.
"BSF authorities met their counterparts at company commander level flag meeting at Bangalard border out post this morning and lodged a strong protest with them over heavy firing at the post," BSF sources said.
During the meeting which lasted for about fifteen minutes, BSF company commander gave details of the firing pattern from Pakistani side on its BOP while the Pakistan authorities denied their involvement and blamed the infiltrating militants for it, they said.
While BSF raised the point of violation of the Indo-Pak border truce, Pakistani rangers denied it, they added.
Another flag meeting at the DIG level is slated to be held this afternoon at Octerio BOP in R S Pura border belt of Jammu district, in which formal protest letter would be written to Pak rangers over the incident, they said.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/10/2008 06:04 ||
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The political administration of Bajaur Agency arrested 49 members of the Salarzai tribe and impounded 12 vehicles in a crackdown against the tribe on Friday, official sources said. The measure follows an ambush by local Taliban on a convoy of security personnel heading towards the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the Salarzai tehsil on Thursday. They released the men after mediation by a jirga of elders, but refused to return their weapons and ammunition. Assistant Political Agent for the sub division Iqbal Khattak said: The operation will continue until they return all the weapons and ammunition. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Umar told Daily Times by telephone that the security personnel had been captured because they were passing through a Taliban area without informing them about their movements.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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A bomb blast partially damaged the boundary wall of a girls college in Bannu on Friday morning, but there were no casualties, police and locals said. Unidentified militants planted a remote-controlled bomb near the wall of a partly constructed building at the Kaki Government Girls Inter-College, a police official, pleading anonymity, told Daily Times on the phone. The bomb exploded around 4am and partially damaged the outer wall of the college, which is located about 14 kilometres south of Bannu city, he said. This was the first incident of a girls educational institution being targeted in Bannu district. Attacks on girls schools are on the rise in NWFP, which witnessed relative clam after the Awami National Party-led coalition government took over about five weeks ago and announced that it would hold talks with militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Three policemen were injured after a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into Mingora Police Station in Swat on Friday, Dawn News reported. The channel said the policemen tried to stop the car from entering the police station when the bomber detonated the explosives. The power supply to Mingora city was suspended. Separately, a policeman was killed and three others injured in a bomb-and-rocket attack in Swats Kabal tehsil on Friday. Militants attacked security forces, which were conducting a search operation, with rockets and a remote-controlled bomb, killing Fazal Malik and injuring Sub-Inspector Mahir Khan and constables Abdul Bari and Muhammad Ali. The militants also torched a girls high school in Gulra, and the Dhairy Girls Primary School in the Kanju area of the Mata tehsil late on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- At least 12 persons were injured when a blast occurred in Quetta, capital of southwestern Pakistan's Balochistan province, on Friday evening, a private television reported. The blast took place outside a restaurant when the people were taking tea there, said Geo TV channel, adding the injured had been shifted to the hospital. The state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) quoted police as saying that an improvised explosive device was planted near the restaurant, which caused the blast. Police have cordoned off the area and started investigation. No group claimed responsibility for the blast.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Criminals Killed After Indiscriminate Rocket Attack Against Iraqi Citizens
Footage of a Multi-National Division Baghdad aerial weapons team that killed two criminals and wounded four who were hiding in a building in the Sadr City district of Baghdad at approximately 2 p.m. May 8, after the criminals had earlier launched a rocket attack.
The criminals launched an indiscriminant rocket attack at approximately 1:30 p.m. that killed two Iraqi citizens, injured eight more and damaged a house in central Baghdad.
An unmanned-aerial vehicle conducting a surveillance mission in the area of the point of origin observed the criminals moving rocket rails from the rocket site to an alley near a building. It then maintained positive identification as the criminals entered a building, where six criminals were observed on the rooftop. Provided by Multi-National Division Baghdad.
An aerial weapons team was dispatched to the area and engaged the criminals. The AWT fired three Hellfire missiles into the building, one at the first floor, one at the second floor and one at a shack on the roof, and killed and wounded the criminals.
The movement of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed with the Iraqi government to a ceasefire in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City, a Sadr spokesman said on Saturday. "Hudna time!"
"We have made an agreement between the Sadr movement and the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to cease fire," said Shiekh Salah al-Obiedi, spokesman of Sadr office in the Holy City of Najaf, 160 km south of Baghdad.
The agreement would include a ceasefire by Sadr followers, ending of all arms appearances in public and opening all the blocked entrances of Sadr City neighborhoods, Obiedi said.
The Hudna deal will be effective from Sunday, he said, adding that the agreement was reached after talks between Sadr bloc and a delegation representing the Shiite-dominated government.
The Iraqi government has no immediate comment about the deal.
Over 900 people were killed in Sadr City during more than month-long battles between Mahdi Army militia and U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces, when a U.S. and Iraqi military crackdown sparked an uprising by Sadr's Mahdi Army.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned that Sadr must disband his Mahdi Army militia or will be barred from taking part in the provincial elections slated for October.
Many Sadrists view Maliki's crackdown as a means to eliminate his Shiite rivals and to facilitate the political benchmarks set by the U.S. administration before the provincial elections.
#1
The Iraqi government has no immediate comment about the deal.
What if the government doesn't agree? Would that mean the Mahdi jihadis remain encircled, cut off from supplies with the noose continuing to tighten around their necks? Would that mean they all die instead of being allowed to keep pulling this hudna crap whenever the going gets tough? Hope so.
#2
Ah, but the hudna is only with legitimate members of young Master al-Sadr's political action group, not the gangsters and criminals who associate with Iranian provocateurs. Those still get arrested, with all that entails, I'm sure.
Whac-A-Mole Shiite, Whac-A-Sunni.
U.S-backed forces have launched an operation against al-Qaida in Iraq's last urban stronghold, an Iraqi army commander said on Saturday.
Maj. Gen. Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, the commander of military operations in Mosul, issued a statement announcing the beginning of the long-anticipated offensive in the northern city.
The crackdown follows clashes in Baghdad between U.S. soldiers and Shiite extremists left 19 militants dead, and one American soldier died of non-combat injuries, the military said.
Posted by: tipper ||
05/10/2008 07:12 ||
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#1
These operations are "concurrent with", not "following" other operations but the press tends to report things as though US and Iraqi forces can handle only one thing at a time.
Clashes in Baghdad between U.S. soldiers and Shiite extremists left 19 militants dead, and one American soldier died of non-combat injuries, the military said Saturday.
The U.S. soldier, who was assigned to the Multi National DivisionCenter, died of non-combat related injuries Friday, the military said. The death raised the number of U.S. military fatalities in Iraq to at least 4,074 since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. "Quagmire!"
Iraqi health authorities said Saturday that 13 people were killed and 77 others woundedincluding women and childrenin clashes in the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City district since Friday. It was not clear whether any militants were among them. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Some residents in Sadr City huddled around half a dozen torched cars on Saturday morning, AP Television News footage showed. Two men held a blood-covered sheet and pillow outside a house, the footage showed. It's pallywood time!
During clashes on Friday, Shiite militants also launched rockets toward the fortified Green Zone, taking advantage of a sandstorm that gave cover from attacks by U.S. aircraft. Some rockets fell short, including one that damaged the British Broadcasting Corp. bureau.
U.S. authorities did not confirm any strikes inside the Green Zone, which includes the U.S. Embassy and much of the Iraqi government.
The rocket salvos from Sadr City came in response to a U.S.-led push into Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the powerful Mahdi Army led by anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. One of the American objectives is to push militants deeper into the district and put their rockets and mortars out of range for the Green Zone.
But that also has increased the chances of the shells falling short into civilian areas. One rocket hit the roof of the BBC bureau, damaging equipment but causing no injuries. Damn.
U.S. authorities plan to complete a barrier up to 12 feet tall in parts of Sadr City. It seeks to cut off militia movement and enable the military to exert more control over the most restive section of the districta vast slum of about 2.5 million people.
Eleven militants attacked U.S. forces, building the barrier in Sadr City on Friday, but all were killed in the ensuing clash, the military said. militants were also killed Friday in other Shiite-neighborhoods, including New Baghdad, it said.
Dozens of men held a framed picture of al-Sadr as they marched to the cemetery for a funeral in Sadr City on Saturday, chanting "there is no God, but Allan," the television footage showed.
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
05/10/2008 06:24 ||
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#1
A5089, did you change "allah" to "allan", or is someone at Breitbart finally getting a clue? 8^)
Iraqi health authorities said Saturday that 13 people were killed and 77 others woundedincluding women and childrenin clashes in the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City district since Friday. It was not clear whether any militants were among them. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Sadr is toast. His people are getting slaughtered, the Iraqi government is going to take over control of slum-city (and hopefully make some long-needed improvements), and he's lost face across the entire Arab world. He'll be lucky if dental treatment is the only thing he needs in the long run. As soon as utilities and jobs start showing up in (stoopid's) area, the people will drop him like a hot potato.
Whoever is making the statements from "hospitals" in Sadr city needs to be found, and strung up with a bright, shiny yellow rope - preferably right across the street from the hospital. He's an enemy of Iraq, the United States, and of peace in general. Having him swing back and forth in the wind within easy sight might remind others to watch what they say about whom, and to be a bit more truthful in what they report. If that doesn't work, hang the "reporters" that these POS report to next to them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/10/2008 13:28 Comments ||
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The battle for Sadr City continues as US and Iraqi forces continue to erect the concrete security barrier on Qods Street, the main thoroughfare that divides the southern third of Sadr City from the northern portion. US Special Operations Forces teams have entered the fray, and the specialized teams are fighting inside the Mahdi Army bastion for the second day in a row.
Twenty-three Mahdi Army fighters have been killed by US and Iraqi troops since the afternoon of May 8. US Special Operations teams operating inside Sadr City killed nine Mahdi Army fighters as they attacked Iraqi and US forces building the concrete barrier on Qods Street. The team also directed an airstrike that killed two more Mahdi Army fighters. Yesterday, US Special Forces killed two Mahdi Army fighters inside Sadr City.
US soldiers killed 12 more Mahdi Army fighters inside Sadr City from May 8-9. US troops used unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters, Abrams tanks, and small-arms fire in response to Mahdi Army attacks inside Sadr City. Mahdi Army fighters continue attempt to disrupt the building of the barrier. The US military said the construction should be completed in two weeks. Inside the secured area in southern Sadr City, the Iraqi Army is providing medical, humanitarian, and construction aid to civilians.
The US military has described the barrier as a "magnet" for Mahdi Army attacks as they seek to stop the construction effort. A total of 562 Mahdi Army fighters have been confirmed killed in and around Sadr City since March 25, according to numbers compiled by The Long War Journal.
Operations continue in the South
The Iraqi military continues to apply pressure on the Mahdi Army and the Sadrist movement in Basrah and the South.
More than 70 percent of Basrah has been cleared, Multinational Forces Iraq reported. Iraqi police arrested 45 "wanted persons" and three "suspects" in Basrah on May 8. A Mahdi Army rocket attack killed two civilian contractors and wounded four civilians and four Coalition soldiers at a forward operating base outside the city the same day.
In Karbala, police arrested the leader of a Mahdi Army "special brigades" and two of his lieutenants. In Amara, police captured two Mahdi Army fighters as they were transporting 25 "anti-tank landmines". In Diwaniyah, police captured two men behind the assassination of the provincial governor.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC ||
05/10/2008 00:41 ||
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#1
Special Forces conducting Urban warfare, and doing quite well at it so far. Lets hope non of these guys get captured, they normally work in small groups.
#3
With 'blank check' support, Special Forces, Task Force 121 and the 'Dark Sweepers' etc. will make the USA proud. Down with the Mahdi Army, and long live the CIA & Mossad! Take no prisoners...have no mercy!
#4
smn - why don't you go back to sleep, or go comment on the article about 'circling the wagons' around the Big O?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/10/2008 7:24 Comments ||
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#5
that concrete barrier is really pissing off the Mahdis, isn't it? We must have snipers just sitting ready to go for the ineveitable next group of walking dead to show up
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/10/2008 8:39 Comments ||
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#6
Somebody please tell me they are calling it "operation bugzapper" or something along those lines.
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces have killed 14 militants in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City, a stronghold of gunmen loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the military said on Friday.
The gunmen were killed in several clashes on Thursday, the military said in a statement. It said air strikes and tanks were used to attack militiamen attempting to launch rockets from the slum or shoot at U.S. troops on patrol. Hospitals in Sadr City said they had received four bodies and 51 wounded. Among the wounded were children.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
i like how they always throw in the children count.And i'm sure the US is the one who hurt or killed them. but at least it seems the militants are dying at a steady pace and they are not capturing a 100 a day just too be let go by the iraqis
#2
I know that the birth rate there is cockroach like, but using kids as human shields has to be cutting down on the number of future militandsfighters terrorist douchbags in the field in the future...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/10/2008 15:11 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD Followers of rebel cleric Muqtada al Sadr agreed late Friday to allow Iraqi security forces to enter all of Baghdad's Sadr City and to arrest anyone found with heavy weapons in a surprising capitulation that seemed likely to be hailed as a major victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki.
In return, Sadr's Mahdi Army supporters won the Iraqi government's agreement not to arrest Mahdi Army members without warrants, unless they were in possession of "medium and heavy weaponry."
Which means in turn that the Sadrists have now agreed to the rule of law. This is a two-fer for Maliki.
The agreement would end six weeks of fighting in the vast Shiite Muslim area that's home to more than 2 million residents and would mark the first time that the area would be under government control since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. It also would be a startling turnaround in fortunes for Maliki, who'd been widely criticized by McClatchy and other NYT clones for picking a fight with Sadr's forces, first in the southern port city of Basra and then in Sadr City.
Members of Maliki's Dawa Party and the powerful Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq met with Sadr officials on Thursday and Friday to come up with a 14-point agreement to end the weeks of fighting, which has hindered the flow of food and water into Sadr City other than by coalition and IA forces. The agreement was then passed to Sadr and Maliki for final approval, said Baha al Araji, a Sadrist legislator.
A government supporter said the Sadrists were brought to the table by the anger of Sadr City residents. On Thursday, the Iraqi military ordered Sadr City residents to evacuate in apparent preparation for a major offensive push. "It is not the government who pressured the Sadrists into entering this agreement," said Ali al Adeeb, a leading member of the Dawa party. "It is the pressure from the people inside Sadr City and from their own people that will make them act more responsibly."
Even better. The people now support the government over Mookie.
Like many things in Iraq, the precise effect of the agreement won't be known immediately. Sadr officials long have claimed that their militia has no heavy weaponry, and Sadr has condemned those with such munitions.
Sadr supporter Araji, however, said the agreement specifically barred American forces from entering Sadr City. "The Iraqi forces, not the American forces, can come into Sadr City and search for weapons," Araji said. "We don't have big weapons, and we want this to stop."
Araji is welcome to try and stop us.
The Mahdi Army, and the Sadr movement in general, has been losing support in the past two months in the face of a government offensive intended to force the militia from its controlling positions in Basra and Sadr City. In Basra, a city known for culture and music, Shiite extremists had taken control in late 2005 and began shutting down music stories and forcing women to cover themselves.
As in Anbar, we were fortunate in the end in our choice of enemies: they made many, many more mistakes, and more grevious mistakes, than we did.
But after initially resisting Maliki's offensive, the Sadrists ceded their areas, and the change in atmosphere has been palpable. An annual poetry festival, al Mirbed, resumed for the first time in three years, with male and female folk dancers performing in public and poets spouting their verses.
The city isn't free of Sadr influences, however, though the Iraqi army seems ready to quell any resurgence. Sadrists resumed prayer services on Friday for the first time since late March, but as the imam spouted anti-government rhetoric, Iraqi soldiers converged on the mosque and the Sadrists fled ran, witnesses said.
Most excellent! Make sure the uppity imans understand just how is in charge.
Iraqi officials, including Adeeb, said that Iran, which U.S. officials have accused of supporting the Shiite militias, was "aware" and "supportive" of the agreement. Adeeb made two trips to Iran to meet with Iranian officials to stem the militia violence in Iraq.
Since Iran can't do much about it right now, given that their boys are the ones getting whacked.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Aren't light weapons sufficient for Sadr's goons to terrorize the locals?
And I'd throw in a provision that if good people start mysteriously dying or corners of the agreement start getting cut that the whole thing is off. From my point of view, the idiot imam who was already spouting hate would result in warning number one unless he died of "natural causes" before the Iraqi Army could show up to arrest him the next day.
#4
Gromky: then the news coming out of Beirut ought to just make your head explode. The government is being treated as "one side" by its own army. When the military in a country can't be trusted to take the side of the elected government, you know it's end days.
I love how this article manages to describe events as "seem[s] likely to be hailed as a major victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki", rather than cowboying up and actually crediting the man with a success.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
05/10/2008 13:49 Comments ||
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A mortar round fired from the Gaza Strip killed one Israeli civilian and was followed by Israeli air strikes which killed five Hamas members.
The Israeli was hit in the kibbutz of Kfar Aza, near the border with Gaza, and three other people were wounded.
The five Hamas members were killed and four injured when Israeli aircraft launched attacks on police stations. Israel's army said the air strikes were retaliation for the mortar attack, which was claimed by Hamas.
Israeli officials said the victim in the Kfar Aza attack was a middle-aged man. He died following unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him, reports say.
David Baker, a spokesman for the Israeli government, said Hamas was responsible for all hostile fire into Israel. "We hold it accountable for today's attack and the murder of our civilians," he said.
Air strikes were launched at Hamas police stations in Rafah and Khan Younis.
(Xinhua) -- Two Palestinian militants opened fire at five Israelis near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Israeli and Palestinian sources reported Friday. Israeli Radio quoted Israeli army sources as saying that two Palestinian gunmen opened fire at five Israelis who were going for a picnic in the mountain area near the village of Ein Yabrod east of Ramallah. The sources added that some of the five Israelis had guns and responded to the shooting, adding that one of the two Palestinians was killed and the other was arrested. The Palestinian sources didn't clearly say if the two were armed or not.
However, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah movement's armed wing claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, adding that those who opened fire at the group of Israeli settlers were not hurt. The brigades' statements said that the one killed and the other detained were not members of the brigades, but "just ordinary bystanders who were in the area during the shooting attack."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
IRNA > RAFSANJANI: ISRAEL WILL EXPLODE/IMPLODE FROM WITHIN, AS JUSTICE IS NOT OBSERVED THERE [multiple dimenions].
(Xinhua) -- An Israeli woman was killed and three wounded on Friday afternoon by a mortar shell fired by Gaza militants at an Israeli kibbutz near the border between Gaza Strip and Israel. An Israeli army spokesman told Israeli Radio Arabic service that Palestinian militants fired in the afternoon a mortar shell from Gaza at Kibbutz Kfar Azza, adding that a woman there was killed and three men wounded. Al-Quds Brigades, Islamic Jihad's armed wing claimed responsibility for the attack in a leaflet sent to reporters, saying "the attack is a response to the daily Zionist crimes against our people."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So they respond to "crimes" by murdering a random person. Makes sense, in a Muslim sort of way.
I guess.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/10/2008 2:52 Comments ||
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#3
Meeh, just the usual tit-for-tat: Hamass fires at Israel, Israel attacks Hamass. It's time for Israel to take it one step further: to reassert the right of the Jews to ALL of Canaan, as per the word of G-d, and clear the rabble the same way Joshua did Jerico. Until then, this constant sniping is just going to result in more Israeli deaths.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/10/2008 20:51 Comments ||
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A bombing in Sri Lanka has killed at least 11 people and wounded another 29, the military has said. The blast in a café in Ampara, about 350km from Colombo, the capital, came a day before the first local elections in the region in two decades. The government has blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for Friday's explosion, saying that it was an attempt to sabotage the elections and general development activities in the area.
Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said: "There has been an explosion in Ampara town a little while ago. Eleven civilians were killed and 29 injured. It is definitely by the LTTE." The LTTE did not immediately comment on the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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Lebanon's army has overturned two key government measures in an attempt to defuse tensions between the pro-western government and Shia group Hezbollah.
The army said the Hezbollah-allied head of security at Beirut airport should remain in his post and the group's phone network be maintained. A row over the two issues sparked violence which left at least 24 dead. Both sides have agreed to an army call to withdraw gunmen, but Hezbollah says it will continue "civil disobedience".
Army blinked. I think they realized they were no match for the Hezbies.
A Hezbollah statement said: "The Lebanese opposition will end all armed presence in Beirut so that the capital will be in the hands of the army." But the statement added that the opposition's campaign of "civil disobedience" would continue until its political demands were met. Reuters news agency says the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters has already started. The agreement followed an appeal by the army amid renewed violence in the north of the country in which at least 10 militants died.
Lebanon's army is perceived as the country's only neutral arbiter, and analysts predicted it would be key to defusing the current crisis. Earlier, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called on the army to restore law and order, saying the country would not fall to Hezbollah after four days of street battles which saw the Shia movement drive supporters of the government out of western Beirut.
In his first response to Hezbollah's de facto takeover of the west of the capital, Mr Siniora said his government would never declare war against the Shia group.
Also on Saturday, at least two people were killed after gunfire broke out during a funeral in a Sunni area of Beirut when unidentified gunmen targeted the funeral procession of a Sunni civilian killed during clashes on Friday. Rioting broke out on Saturday after gunmen targeted a funeral
The spiral of unrest has sparked memories of Lebanon's bitter, 15-year civil war. Leaders of Lebanon's rival political factions were due to meet on Saturday and the Arab League will hold talks about the crisis on Sunday.
Hezbollah militants had earlier withdrawn from the streets of Beirut having crushed resistance by Sunni gunmen loyal to Mr Siniora's government. In the areas of Beirut worst affected by battles between Hezbollah and pro-government loyalists, barricades that had been set up were abandoned early on Saturday, said the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut. But the TV station run by Sunni leader Saad Hariri is still off the air after gunmen forced its closure on Friday, he added.
In northern Lebanon, at least 10 gunmen were killed when pro-government activists stormed the office of a Hezbollah-allied party in northern Lebanon, reports said. Gunmen loyal to Mr Hariri set ablaze the office of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in the village of Halba, after the gun battle.
Lebanon was plunged into civil war from 1975-90, drawing in Syria and Israel, the two regional powers. The latest violence amounts to a humiliating blow to the government, which appears to have badly overplayed its hand in moving to close Hezbollah's telecoms network on Tuesday, our correspondent says.
Six people were killed and at least 35 injured in a gunfight during a funeral ceremony in a Sunni neighborhood west of Beirut on Saturday, bringing the death toll of Lebanese riots to 24, local LBC TV reported.
The gunbattle erupted when some supporters of majority leader MP Saad Hariri were holding a funeral for a member of Hariri's Future Movement in Tarik Jedideh neighborhood of western Beirut, said the report.
The pan-Arabic Al-Arabia TV reported that eyewitnesses saw gunmen of the Lebanese Parliament speaker's Amal Movement shooting at the funeral crowds, which was immediately denied by the Shiite group.
Local NBN TV, mouthpiece of the opposition Amal Movement, said Al-Arabia office in Dubai reported dummy news for provocation and stirring up the already tense situation in Beirut.
The deadly clashes ignited Wednesday one day after the Lebanese cabinet decided to cease the private communication network of Hezbollah, and remove the only international airport's security chief Gen. Wafik Shqaier for alleged links to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah considered such decisions as "a declaration of war against the Resistance."
Lebanon is currently facing the most serious political deadlock since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. For the first time in its history, the presidential seat has been vacant for months since Nov. 24 of 2007 when former President Emile Lahoud stepped down.
A Shiite Muslim shop owner opened fire on a funeral procession Saturday, killing two people and wounding six others in a Sunni neighborhood, police and witnesses said.
The attack came a day after Shiite Hezbollah gunmen seized most of the capital's Muslim sector in the worst sectarian strife since a 15-year civil war ended nearly two decades ago.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Hezbollah had carried out "armed coup" against Lebanese democracy, and called on the army to restore law and order and remove gunmen from the streets.
A total of 25 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the recent violencethe worst sectarian bloodshed since the 1978-90 civil war that killed 150,000 people and left Beirut divided along religious lines.
Though most of Beirut was calmer Saturday, the shooting underlined the lawlessness that has engulfed the seaside city since Sunni-Shiite violence first erupted four days ago.
In a show of raw force, Iranian-backed Hezbollah gunmen took over large swaths of western Beirut Friday from Sunnis loyal to Lebanon's U.S.-backed government. Many later pulled back, but tensions remained high between supporters of the Shiite militant Hezbollah and the country's Sunni Muslims.
But Hezbollah's show of military power was certain to both strengthen its own political position in Lebanon and deeply worry a Middle East and Western world that are nervous about Iran's growing influence and its intentions in the region.
An Associated Press photographer who witnessed Saturday's shooting said the attack came as a procession of 200 people marched toward a cemetery to bury a 24-year-old man killed by a sniper's bullet earlier this week. Two people were killed and six wounded in the shooting, police said.
The shooting occurred even though the Lebanese army had positioned armored personnel carriers and jeeps at every intersection. The neighborhood, Tarik Jadideh, was one of the few Sunni areas Shiite militants had not seized Friday because the army had deployed in large numbers.
Neighborhood residents identified him as a Shiite shop owner, who opened fire after the procession passed his store. After the attack, angry residents stormed the shop and set it on fire.
Police said troops later captured the gunman. Neighborhood residents identified him as a Shiite shop owner, who opened fire after the procession passed his store. After the attack, angry residents stormed the shop and set it on fire.
Though the capital was quiet overnight, violence spread to other areas of Lebanon. Police said Saturday that seven people were killed in the mountain town of Aley east of Beirut on Friday. Another civilian died in the clashes in the southern city of Sidon, police said.
In Beirut's western Muslim sector, most of the Hezbollah gunmen had pulled out of Sunni-dominated neighborhoods by Saturday morning, leaving just small bands of Shiite allies carrying assault rifles to patrol the streets.
The army, which has stayed on the sidelines of the political crisis that has paralyzed Lebanon for more than a year, deployed heavy armor and troops to seal off neighborhoods after Hezbollah militants pulled back.
Hezbollah seized the Sunni neighborhoods of Beirut after its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Thursday accused the U.S.-backed government of "declaring war" on the militant group.
Lebanon's Cabinet had sought to rein in Hezbollah by ordering the removal of an airport security chief over alleged ties to militants and demanding the dismantling of the movement's private phone network.
Along with seizing neighborhoods, militants also have shut Lebanon's airport by barricading the road leading to it. The seaport also was closed.
The Shiite fighters' swift success dramatically empowered the hand of the Hezbollah-led opposition in the bitter political struggle with pro-Western factions over who will guide the country.
The rout of government supporters also was a blow for Washington, which has long considered Hezbollah a terrorist group and condemns its ties to Syria and Iran. The Bush administration has been a strong supporter of Saniora's government and its army the last three years.
Lebanon's Iranian-backed Shi'ite movement Hezbollah tightened its control of the capital Beirut on Saturday in a show of force after it routed gunmen loyal to the Western-backed government.
Hezbollah's successes in three days of fighting has left the government of Fouad Siniora reeling and made clear that a more powerful Hezbollah is now calling the shots in Lebanon after a 17-month power struggle with the government.
In further violence on Saturday, at least four gunmen died in clashes to the east of Beirut and in north Lebanon, while two people were killed in the capital when shots were fired at the funeral of a government supporter.
The killings raised the casualty toll to 24 dead and at least 55 wounded since the fighting began.
The United States, which considers Hezbollah a terrorist group, a threat to Israel, and a weapon in the hands of Iran in Lebanon, said it was talking with other powers about taking measures against "those responsible for the violence".
On the streets of Beirut, fighters from the Iranian- and Syrian-backed group continued to man checkpoints on main thoroughfares, although in smaller numbers than a day earlier.
Traffic was thin as many residents stayed at home and Beirut's international airport remained closed.
A few shops reopened after the army deployed in several areas but did not interfere with Hezbollah guerrillas, who in turn stayed away from main government installations in Beirut.
Hezbollah took control of Muslim west Beirut on Friday in what the government and its allies described as "an armed and bloody coup".
The United States said it was "very troubled" by Hezbollah's actions in Beirut and criticized the group's links to Damascus and Tehran. A U.S. State Department spokesman said Hezbollah's actions were illegal.
Christian districts in east Beirut have been spared the fighting after Hezbollah defeated forces loyal to parliamentary majority leader Saad al-Hariri. Hariri's supporters still controlled areas in the north of the country and kept a key crossing point with Syria in the Bekaa Valley shut.
Hariri is a son of the late Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, whose assassination three years ago began the worst turmoil in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war, which split Beirut into eastern Christian and western Muslim parts.
HIGH STAKES
Hezbollah's show of military might is likely to alarm the West and its Sunni Arab allies who fear Iran's growing influence in the region and see Hezbollah as a proxy for Shi'ite Iran.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which back Lebanon's government, called for an Arab foreign ministers meeting as early as Sunday.
"The meeting is an important step because Arab states have to assume responsibility regarding the situation in Lebanon. There are regional repercussions at stake and the situation must be saved," Arab League chief Amr Moussa told al-Jazeera television.
The fighting erupted after the government said it was taking legal action against Hezbollah's military communications network on grounds it was illegal.
Hezbollah, its prestige enhanced in the region after it stood its ground against Israel's 2006 onslaught, said the government had declared war.
Sounding a conciliatory note, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a key figure in the ruling coalition, said the government was only inquiring about Hezbollah's communication network, the main issue that ignited the latest crisis.
"Dialogue is the only way out," Jumblatt said, adding that the crisis was unlikely to deteriorate unless Hezbollah chooses to "liquidate" the pro-Western government.
The anti-Syria ruling coalition said the "armed and bloody coup" was aimed at increasing Iran's influence and restoring that of Syria, forced to withdraw troops from Lebanon in 2005 following Hariri's assassination.
Syria said the issue was an internal Lebanese affair while Iran blamed "the adventurist interferences" of the United States and Israel for the violence.
The crisis has paralyzed political decisions, left Lebanon without a president and shaken the image it rebuilt as the business and entertainment centre of the Middle East in the aftermath of its civil war, although the sectarian political system that contributed to the war has remained mostly intact.
#1
I feel sorry for the Lebanese - they have some cute chicks - but it seems like they have too many sheep and not enough sheepdogs relative to the Hezbo-wolf population.
#2
Not easy being sheepdogs when the wolves have a lively demography and you haven't (I'm speaking of the christians, who have an european-like below replacement level birthrate and an high expatriation rate, compared to the explosive natality of the chiites), and when after an endless and dirty civil war, you've laid down your weapons, and the wolves not only didn't, but got more and bigger ones.
#3
Sorta the Rhodesia of the ME. Ya gotta wonder why any decent person remains. Heck, I wondered that 20 years ago. Another example of hope's triumph over experience.
Gunmen from the militant Shiite Hezbollah and its allies took control of west Beirut Friday, crushing fighters from the Sunni Future Movement and opening an uncertain new chapter in Lebanon's tortured history.
The success of Hezbollah's offensive cast doubt over the government's ability to survive in its current configuration, despite an air of resolve by cabinet ministers.
Ahmad Fatfat, the minister of sports, said that Hezbollah had taken advantage of the government's decisions "as a pretext to declare war."
"Hezbollah has gained control over Beirut and has caused a Sunni-Shiite conflict that will be extended for years," he said. "We are trying to reduce its severity and contain possible repercussions."
The west Beirut residences of Saad Hariri, who heads the Future Movement, and Walid Jumblatt, leader of Lebanon's Druze community, were besieged by heavily armed fighters from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement. By noon Friday, fighting had mostly petered out after Future Movement fighters laid down their weapons and allowed themselves to be escorted away under the protection of Lebanese troops. "It was a one-side civil war," says Hani Hammoud, senior adviser to Mr. Hariri, speaking by telephone from Hariri's besieged residence in the Koreitem district of west Beirut. "The end result is that Iran has taken over the country."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 40 wounded during three days of sectarian fighting in Beirut, Lebanese security sources said on Friday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that among the 40 injured, two were badly injured and their lives could suffer menace.
The sectarian fighting between Hezbollah and pro-government supporters in Beirut entered the third day on Friday, with crackle of gunfire and sporadic bursts of rocket-propelled grenade echoing in Beirut overnight. Lebanese Al Mustaqbal (Future) TV, mouthpiece of majority leader MP Saad Hariri's Future Movement, stopped local and cable broadcasting Friday morning, after opposition gunmen sieged the station and turned it over to the Lebanese army.
Meanwhile, local Naharnet news website reported that Al Mustaqbal newspaper building in Ramlet al-Baida, southwestern Beirut, was attacked by rockets and automatic gunfire at dawn Friday. Hezbollah gunmen heavily deployed in Beirut, particularly in districts of Hamra, Karakol Druze, Raouche, Mulla, Talet el-Khayat, Zaidaniyeh, Ras Nabaa, Basta Zoqaq Blat and Nweiri, said the report.
Lebanon is currently facing the most serious political deadlock since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. For the first time in its history, the presidential seat has been vacant since Nov. 24 of 2007 when former President Emile Lahoud stepped down. While the rival factions have agreed on the election of army chief Michel Suleiman as the successor, they disagreed on the shake-up of a new cabinet and 18 attempts of parliament to choose a president have been cancelled so far.
The presidency deadlock deepened the Lebanese political crisis as fears are mounting that failure in reaching a deal on the presidential candidate could result in more violence in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Friday began evacuating their nationals from Lebanon, where riots sweeping the country have left at least eight dead over the past three days , local New TV reported.
Kuwaiti Embassy in Lebanon evacuated the first batch of Kuwaiti nationals residing or studying in troubled Lebanon by land to neighboring Syria on Friday, said the report. Up to 150 Kuwaiti citizens including 30 students boarded large buses heading toward the Lebanese-Syrian border, it added.
On Thursday, a total of 70 Saudis were evacuated by Saudi Embassy via Syria too, the report said, adding that more Saudi nationals were leaving Friday through the arrangement of the embassy. The Saudi embassy has sent SMS messages to Saudi citizens, telling them to contact the embassy for evacuation, it said.
The evacuation came as clashes between the government supporters and the opposition Hezbollah entered a third day after Lebanese government decided to probe a communications network Hezbollah has set up and to reassign the head of airport security over his alleged links to the group. At least eight people were reported dead and 40 others injured during the violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/10/2008 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KABUL, Afghanistan - ISAF Marines continue to experience success in Garmsir district, Helmand province, since they first launched their operation Apr. 28.
Afghan police backed by the U.S.-led Coalition forces have killed seven suspected Taliban insurgents in Afghan eastern Paktia province, a local official said Saturday. 
The expanded authority for U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., was hammered through by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld well before he resigned in November 2006. The shift caused friction among leaders at other warfighting organizations who saw it an intrusion into their geographic domains.
Shaukat Afridi, who supplies oil to NATO forces in Afghanistan, was abducted in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Friday by armed men believed to be linked to an al-Qaeda cell. Shaukat, originally a Pashtun from the Khyber Agency, was kidnapped after he left his home in an exclusive residential neighborhood, headed for his office situated in Clifton, a district in the southern port city.
Whats in a name, Camp Cropper = jail, stir, hoosegow, big house, iron bar motel, pen, pokey, slammer, joint, cooler, can, jug.
I love the sound of Mini-guns in the night, the sound of Victory!
Footage of a Multi-National Division Baghdad aerial weapons team that killed two criminals and wounded four who were hiding in a building in the Sadr City district of Baghdad at approximately 2 p.m. May 8, after the criminals had earlier launched a rocket attack.
The movement of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agreed with the Iraqi government to a ceasefire in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City, a Sadr spokesman said on Saturday.
The battle for Sadr City continues as US and Iraqi forces continue to erect the concrete security barrier on Qods Street, the main thoroughfare that divides the southern third of Sadr City from the northern portion. US Special Operations Forces teams have entered the fray, and the specialized teams are fighting inside the Mahdi Army bastion for the second day in a row. 
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces have killed 14 militants in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City, a stronghold of gunmen loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the military said on Friday.
Lebanon's army has overturned two key government measures in an attempt to defuse tensions between the pro-western government and Shia group Hezbollah. 
A Shiite Muslim shop owner opened fire on a funeral procession Saturday, killing two people and wounding six others in a Sunni neighborhood, police and witnesses said. 
(Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 40 wounded during three days of sectarian fighting in Beirut, Lebanese security sources said on Friday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that among the 40 injured, two were badly injured and their lives could suffer menace. 
