#3
That is not a 'heap', that's just a geometric pattern that none of us recognize.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/21/2008 12:28 Comments ||
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#4
Busby's choreography was based on his WWI experience (drills, formations, etc.). Dancers, six wives, po'ed starlets (he got sued by one)... he led a pretty active life.
A Taliban ambush on a French platoon killed 10 soldiers in August. Now, a secret NATO review shows that the French did not have enough bullets, radios and other equipment. By contrast, the insurgents were dangerously well prepared.
#1
This was forwarded my Michael Yon as well. Interesting article, though and like some commenters at the link, this really irks me to have a newspaper publish a SECRET Nato memo, and score a propaganda victory for the taliban, especially with the "the sky is falling" tone.
But, then again, french msm have heavily indulged into the whole defeatist meme, much to the pleasure of all the "sovereignty guys" and all the anti-americans, left and right. Kinda funny, in a perverse way, to have the french army experiments the might of the "fighter-journalists" carrying water for ennemy propaganda against their own camp, out of sheer ideology.
As for the G&M article itself, well, this doesn't surprize me much if what I've understood about the shortages and general lack of viable equipment in the french Army are true - and they probably are, too many concording sources.
This reminds me of this Blackfive article from earlier this year, where two flaws of the french army are glaring, the lack of inter-operability with other allied forces (in this one, the rescue of the wounded french paratrooper is made more complicated as communication equipments are not compatible) and the lack of english fluency.
On the plus side, I'm glad one commenter from the Great white north noticed that despite being outgunned and pinned down in a killing zone, the paras still managed to kill 15 taliban, as opposed to their 9 KIA (the 10th was killed in an unrelated road accident on the way home).
#3
this really irks me to have a newspaper publish a SECRET Nato memo, and score a propaganda victory for the taliban, especially with the "the sky is falling" tone.
It should be starnadrd practice to carry journalist as human shilds on colaition vehicles.
in this one, the rescue of the wounded french paratrooper is made more complicated as communication equipments are not compatible
#4
Not just Taliban. This from the Globe and Mail:
"...the attackers cannot be described as purely Taliban; they likely included fighters from the Taliban movement, but also from Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami network, and perhaps from other groups.
Senior officials said they suspect the involvement of Hazrat Noor, an extremist leader from South Waziristan, in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan. A report in the French magazine Paris Match suggested a local commander named Farouki may be responsible. Yet another insurgent leader, Mullah Rahmatullah, has also taken credit for the ambush. Originally a commander for Hizb-i-Islami in the Uzbin valley, Mr. Rahmatullah now reputedly gets funding for his activities from both the Taliban and Mr. Hekmatyar. All reports may be correct, observers say, assuming that many groups co-operated on the attack."
#6
It was not the Hizb Izlami who provided the popel who were good: it basically draws from the same poll than the Taliban and the people of Masud beat them again and agsin. I suspect that they were Chechens or perhaps Pakistani Spacial Forces in the area. Notice: zero proof, juts educated guess on who on the area can provide well trained personel and reasonably good snipers.
Three international soldiers and two Afghan civilians were killed yesterday when bombs struck patrols in separate incidents in Afghanistan, the international military forces said. The forces did not release the nationalities of their casualties, leaving this to their home nations. The coalition also did not say who the Afghans were.
Two soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force were killed when a bomb hit their patrol in the east of the country, ISAF said.
And a trooper with the separate US-led coalition was killed in a similar blast in the south that also left two Afghan civilians dead, the force said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the insurgent Taliban militia has carried out a series of similar attacks in its drive to force out the international soldiers helping the Western-backed government.
At least 215 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year alone, most of them in insurgent attacks, according to an AFP tally. Around 220 died last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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(SomaliNet) Uganda's Lords Resistance Army (LRA) rebels early on Thursday attacked a border village in Sakure sub-county between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in a surprise attack on barracks of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). ''About 100 LRA rebels made a surprise attack Thursday morning on the SPLA military barracks in Sakure Payam,'' state information minister, Col. Joseph Ngere, told the press. ''One SPLA soldier was killed and a four-year-old child was killed too.''
The child, he said, was ''thrown into the fire of the burnt house of the area's chief, which is just three kilometers from the SPLA military barracks at the Sudan-DRC border. Neighbouring households were also burnt down, leaving the area dilapidated.'' The LRA are reported to have abducted and mutilated some inhabitants and four persons are reported wounded.
''The LRA rebels were quickly repulsed by the SPLA forces. On the roads where the LRA escaped, there were drops of blood. SPLA forces captured one rifle from the LRA rebels,'' Ngere added.
The attack was throwing into balance the planned signing of the peace deal this weekend. ''There is no reason for negotiation and wasting of resources for the LRA dead-locked peace deal,'' Ngere said. The SPLA have sent reinforcements to Sakure. This is the second major attack by the LRA since the Juba peace talks faltered.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The spokesman of the Hawiye clan has accused Ugandan forces of launching attacks on Somali civilians during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
During an exclusive interview with Press TV in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, Ahmed Dirie told our correspondent that Ugandan troops, sent to Somalia to help curb violence in the war-torn country, are responsible for the deaths of large numbers of civilians. Dirie, thought of as the Nelson Mandela of Somalia by many of its people, demanded that Uganda withdraw its forces and stop perpetuating violence by the country's Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
According to Dirie, at least 53 civilians, including women and children, have been taken to hospital in the last 12 hours suffering from serious injuries he says are caused by Ugandan violence in Mogadishu.
Uganda has committed around 1600 troops as part of the African Union peacekeeping initiative AMISOM. The Hawiye clan is the dominant clan in Mogadishu and the largest clan in Somalia according to the Central Intelligence Agency and the Human Rights Watch.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Hey Ahmed, how's your support for islamic terrorists working out for you and your clan?
Posted by: ed ||
09/21/2008 7:10 Comments ||
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Well, ya have to be registered in order to qualify for retirement benefits.....
... was killed in an encounter between his accomplices and members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Purbo Shyampur in the city yesterday.
No clue where that is ...
The deceased was identified as Shayel Khan alias 'Killer Pandit,' 20. Son of Abul Kalam Khan in Barisal district, Killer Pandit was a close associate of Bara Miah and main killer of Shaheen group, RAB sources said.
Oh, a main killer. Just the kind of person the RAB wants to meet.
"Killer Pandit was wanted on twelve systems in a number of criminal cases, including murders," a RAB official said.
That's how he got the nickname, ya know ...
Being informed about the gathering of some illegal arms carrying miscreants at Purbo Shyampur, ...
shout-out to Mahmoud the Weasel ...
... a team of RAB-10 raided the area at about 2:30am, RAB sources said.
Just about the magic witching hour.
Sensing the presence of RAB men, ...
"Hark, my spider-sense is tingling!"
... the criminals started aimless firing on the elite force, forcing them to fire back that triggered a gun-battle.
Not a single bullet was embedded in a tree or wall so as to be recovered for ballistics.
"At one stage of the gunfight, Killer Pandit was caught in crossfire ...
... feets having failed him ...
Being stuffed into the trunk of the RAB squad car for hours will do that..
... and died instantly," ...
"rosebud!"
... said an eyewitness account of RAB.
And if you can't trust the account of an RAB eyewitness ...
Two RAB members were also injured in the encounter, ...
Hernia and a bruised ego ...
... said a RAB official unwilling to disclose their names.
But we know they were Herb and Roger.
However, the elite force recovered a loaded pistol from the spot.
So the crazed Killer Pandit couldn't be trusted with a shutter gun ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Still following the template I see.
Well, if it works why change?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/21/2008 7:15 Comments ||
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#2
I for one am reassured, a soothing (for me) ritual is always good on a Sunday. I would be near perfect if only we had a few nuggets.
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) yesterday threatened to bomb police stations and check-points in the city. In a fax to the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) headquarters at around 6:00pm, the banned Islamist outfit said it would launch attacks in retaliation for arrest and harassment of its cadres.
Confirming the threat from the militants, Mahfujur Rahman, assistant commissioner of RMP Detective Branch (DB), told reporters that they have beefed up security at police stations and other installations in the city. The fax said JMB has enough explosives to bomb the police stations.
Addressed to Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), superintendent of police, DB and National Security Intelligence, the fax did not carry any signature. It said the outfit has targeted police stations since the law enforcers are "creating obstacles to its operation".
Earlier on September 7, another fax purportedly sent by JMB threatened to bomb the residences and offices of caretaker government's advisers and police officials.
This article starring:
Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh
Mahfujur Rahman, assistant commissioner of RMP Detective Branch
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Pakistani military forces flew repeated helicopter missions into Afghanistan to resupply the Taliban during a fierce battle in June 2007, according to a U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel, who says his information is based on multiple U.S. and Afghan intelligence reports. The revelation by Lt. Col. Chris Nash, who commanded an embedded training team in eastern Afghanistan from June 2007 to March 2008, adds a new twist to the controversy over a U.S. special operations raid into Pakistan Sept. 3.
Pakistani officials strongly protested that raid, with a statement issued by the foreign ministry calling it a "gross violation of Pakistan's territory."
But fewer than 15 months earlier, Pakistani forces were flying cross-border missions in the other direction to resupply a "base camp" in Nangarhar Province occupied by fighters from the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Hezb-i-Islami faction led by Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Nash told Army Times in a Sept. 17 telephone interview.
He had previously alluded to the episode in a PowerPoint briefing he had prepared to help coalition forces headed to Afghanistan. The briefing, titled "Observations and Opinions IRT Operations in Afghanistan by a Former ETT OIC" and dated August 2008, has circulated widely in military circles. Military Times obtained a copy.
Nash said his embedded training team, ETT 2-5, and their allies from the Afghan Border Police's 1st Brigade fought "a significant fight" in late June 2007 in the Agam Tengay and Wazir Tengay valleys in the Tora Bora mountains of southern Nangarhar - the same region in which al-Qaida forces fought a retreat into Pakistan from prepared defenses in the winter of 2001-2002. "I had six [Marine] guys on a hill," Nash said. "They weren't surrounded, but in the traditional sense they might have been."
At a critical point in the battle, the Pakistanis flew several resupply missions to a Taliban base about 15 to 20 kilometers inside Afghanistan, Nash said. None of the Marines witnessed the helicopter flights during the four days they were there, he said in a Sept. 19 email. Rather, the supply flights had been reported to them by Afghan soldiers and local civilians in the village of Tangay Kholl.
Summarizing the reports, he said, "A helo flew in the valley, went over to where we knew there was a base camp, landed [and] 15 minutes later took off," adding that this happened "three different times."
The Afghan government's intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, had sources in the camp who confirmed that the helicopters were on a resupply mission, according to Nash. "From NDS sources that we had in the opposing camp, [we know] they were offloading supplies," he said.
This was consistent with multiple other reports Nash and his Marines received during that period, he said in the email. "The officer that I had advising the [Afghan Border Police brigade] intelligence officer reported to me the presence of this support in south Nangarhar throughout late June and into August of '07," he said. "Both Maj. Razid - the ABP [Brigade] intelligence officer - and Lt. Col. Daoud ... then working in ABP intelligence separately and on numerous occasions reported this to the ETT."
He said these reports were confirmed by a separate set of Marine trainers advising the Afghan National Army battalion in the area, who checked out the reports "through their Afghan intelligence officer."
Two NDS lieutenant colonels, working separately, made further reports to the Marine ETTs about the Pakistani helicopter support to the Taliban. Nash set great store by the NDS reports. "In general, we do not rely on the Afghan human intelligence nearly enough," he said. "Everybody will always roll out the one time that somebody [in NDS] was working for the other side. But I can tell you that when bullets were flying, they were spot on for me, so I trusted them."
The Marine officer said he was not sure what model the helicopters were, but added: "My understanding is they were painted in military colors."
"In passing this information to other governmental agencies at the time, they confirmed the events via word of mouth to me and my intelligence adviser to the Afghans," Nash said. "Other governmental agencies," or "OGA," is a phrase U.S. military personnel often use to refer to the Central Intelligence Agency.
Few other U.S. forces were involved in the late June battle, because the major U.S. force in the area, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, was focused elsewhere at the time, Nash said. "[I] passed the information to the coalition, my reporting chain, OGA knew about it, Afghans knew about it," he said. "We didn't report or pursue any further. Just accepted [it] as a fact. There was nothing we were going to do about it anyway."
The U.S. military public affairs office at Bagram air base in Kandahar did not respond to emailed questions.
Nadeem Kiani, the press attaché at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, D.C., denied Nash's claims. "There is no truth to these sorts of reports," he said, adding that "120,000 Pakistani troops are fighting terrorism in the tribal areas" and that about 2,000 Pakistani troops had lost their lives to terrorists.
Nash's briefing included a slide titled "Outside Enemy Support," which mentions ISI support to "anti-coalition militias," or ACM: "Helo re-supply to ACM training camps inside Afghanistan."
When told of Nash's briefing, several U.S. military and civilian officials expressed surprise and said this was the first they had heard of such support. Retired Army Lt. Gen. David Barno, senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan from November 2003 to May 2005, said he "would have been absolutely astounded" had the Pakistanis attempted to resupply the Taliban by helicopter during his tenure in command, which ended in May 2005. "Nothing remotely like that occurred," he said.
A field-grade Army officer with recent experience in eastern Afghanistan was also surprised by Nash's claim. "I never saw or heard of an ISI helicopter resupplying the enemy inside Afghanistan," he said. "I just didn't. It doesn't match any of my knowledge of that area."
Another Army officer, currently stationed in eastern Afghanistan, also said he had never heard of any cross-border Pakistani helicopter flights to support the Taliban.
But according to Nash, the helicopter missions were just the tip of the iceberg of the support the Taliban and its allies in his area of operations received from Pakistani forces. That support included training and funding - he notes in his briefing that the average Taliban fighter makes four times the average monthly income of an Afghan - in addition to logistical help and, on numerous occasions, direct and indirect fire support, he said.
"What [the Pakistanis] bring to the fight is not only tactical expertise, but [because of] how they're arrayed along the border, they can easily provide support by fire positions that our enemies are able to maneuver under," Nash said. "We were on the receiving end of Pakistani military D-30." The D-30 is a towed 122mm howitzer.
"On numerous occasions, Afghan border police checkpoints and observation posts were attacked by Pakistani military forces," usually those belonging to the Frontier Corps, a locally recruited force in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas that abut the border with Afghanistan, he said.
In addition, he said, his Marines had definitely seen combat with Pakistani forces.
The introduction of al-Qaida and Pakistani military training teams into Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami units resulted in a "dramatic increase in capabilities" for those forces, Nash said. "The biggest thing is coordination between enemy units," he said, adding that the Taliban and its allies had evolved from "hit and run" attacks to "hit and maneuver."
"Their ability to pull something off like a pincer movement or a flanking movement wasn't necessarily present before," he said. But with the injection of "professional" expertise, he said, "You started to see attacks that weren't conducted by goat herders. These were people who knew what they were doing."
Shown a copy of Nash's briefing, a U.S. government official who closely tracks events in Afghanistan and Pakistan said he could confirm everything Nash said about Pakistani support to the Taliban with the exception of the line about "helo resupply."
"All of that's going on," the U.S. government official said. "They have [training] personnel in place ... I've heard the logistical supply is very much going on."
But despite the extensive military and paramilitary support Nash said Pakistani forces were providing the Taliban and their allies, the Marine officer stopped short of saying Pakistani forces fighting the coalition were carrying out Pakistani government policy. "I'm not saying that any of that is sanctioned by the government of Pakistan," he said. "What I'm saying is this is occurring," the officer said.
The U.S. government official who closely follows Afghanistan and Pakistan also said it was difficult to gauge exactly who in the Pakistani government was giving the go-ahead for such extensive support of the Taliban. "The question that's hard to answer is what level of senior leadership is that under," the official said. "The usual Pakistani M.O. is to say 'Those are rogue elements and we're trying to get them under control.' "
He noted that the Pakistanis used a similar defense when it came to the support its forces gave to the Afghan mujahideen in their fight against Soviet forces. "I think that's as much bulls---today as it was 20 years ago," he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/21/2008 15:19 ||
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#1
So is the proper terminology "Pakibans" or "Talipaks"? Just for future reference......
ISLAMABAD: Was there a top secret and mysterious operation of the US Marines going on inside the Marriott when it was attacked on Saturday evening? No one will confirm it but circumstantial evidence is in abundance.
Witnessed by many, including a PPP MNA and his friends, a US embassy truckload of steel boxes was unloaded and shifted inside the Marriott Hotel on the same night when Admiral Mike Mullen met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and others in Islamabad.
Both the main gates (the entrance and the exit) of the hotel were closed while no one except the US Marines were either allowed to go near the truck or get the steel boxes unloaded or shift them inside the hotel. These steel boxes were not passed through the scanners installed at the entrance of the hotel lobby and were reportedly shifted to the fourth and fifth floors of the Marriott.
Besides several others, PPP MNA Mumtaz Alam Gilani and his two friends, Sajjad Chaudhry, a PPP leader, and one Bashir Nadeem, witnessed this mysterious activity to which no one other than the PPP MNA objected and protested.
A source present there told The News that after entertaining them with refreshments at the Nadia restaurant at midnight when Mumtaz Alam, along with his friends, was to leave the hotel, he found a white US embassy truck standing right in front of the hotel's main entrance.
Both the In-gate and the Out-gate of the hotel were closed while almost a dozen well-built US Marines in their usual fatigues were unloading the steel boxes from the truck. No one, including the hotel security men, was either allowed to go near the truck or touch the steel boxes, which were being shifted inside the hotel but without passing through the scanners.
Upon inquiry, one of the three PPP friends who was waiting for the main gates of the hotel to open to get his car in, was informed that the suspicious boxes were shifted to the fourth and fifth floors of the hotel. Mumtaz Alam was furious both at the US Marines and the hotel security not only for the delay caused to them but also for the security lapse he was witnessing.
On his protest, there was absolutely no response from the Marines and the security men he approached were found helpless. Mumtaz Alam told the hotel security official that they were going to endanger the hotel and its security. He was also heard telling his friends that he would never visit the hotel again. He also threatened to raise the issue in parliament.
One does not know whether the PPP MNA revisited the hotel after that mysterious midnight but his brother Imtiaz Alam, who is a senior journalist, was in the same hotel when the truck exploded at the main gate of the hotel. Imtiaz Alam had a lucky escape and found his way out of the hotel with great difficulty in pitch darkness.
One of the lifts he was using fell to the ground floor just after he forced the door open on the 4th floor and got out of it.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/21/2008 09:22 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
The old saying goes: "Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear." How much of what a paki "witness" sez he "saw" should you believe?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/21/2008 10:07 Comments ||
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#4
Fox News is reporting two Embassy Marines dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 11:38 Comments ||
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#5
Sounds like someone was getting an earfull of facts gleaned by US embassy personnel, and the Talibunnies heard about it (probably from the ISI). Pakistan needs to get its act together, or the US needs to do some butt-kicking, or both.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/21/2008 15:12 Comments ||
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NEW DELHI: Barely a week after serial blasts rocked the national capital leaving 24 dead, the narrow bylanes of south Delhis Jamia Nagar locality were caught in terror crosshairs on Friday as the police shot dead two alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists but lost one its most decorated officers in the raid.
The police claimed to have killed Atif alias Bashir of Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), a key player of the IM which has claimed responsibility for all recent serial blasts, along with his associate Sajid. Two others, the police said, managed to escape. Another alleged terrorist, Saif, was, however, arrested even as two policemen, Mohan Chand Sharma, an inspector with the Delhi Police Special Cell, and head constable Balwant suffered bullet injuries. Sharma, a Presidents Gallantry Medal winner who led the raid, later succumbed to his injures.
Delhi police commissioner YS Dadwal told mediapersons that Atif was the main planner and bomb maker of the serial blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.
The encounter took place around 11 am and continued for at least 40 minutes in the predominantly Muslim locality amid voices of protest.
Local residents said it was impossible for two of the alleged terrorists to escape from the third-floor apartment with only one entry-exit point. Its the fourth encounter Jamia Nagar has seen in as many years.
Dadwal said they had received specific inputs that key leaders of the Indian Mujahideen who had organised the bomb blasts not only in Delhi but also in other places were hiding in Batla House (in Jamia Nagar).
Posted by: Seafarious ||
09/21/2008 01:13 ||
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A bad headline for an interesting story. This "DNA" source is new to the 'Burg (I think) but seems to have a lot of local reporting.
NEW DELHI: The emails sent before the serial blasts of Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Uttar Pradesh have been signed by three individuals, but one of them was only trying to copy the signature of the group leader just before Jaipur blasts, according to one of Indias leading graphologists.
The graphologist, who has helped the police in several investigations, believes that all the signatories are urban bred, English-speaking individuals, who may have had almost no madrassa education, if they are Muslims. "It is quite possible that the three persons who have signed the documents do not know Urdu language. And thats because the strokes in the signature of a person who knows how to write and read Urdu are distinctively different. There is no reason to conclude that all of them are Muslims," he said.
"These people are well educated men and have been born and brought up in metros. They have sound family backgrounds and have been brought up in families with a modern outlook," the handwriting expert said.
Continued on Page 49
(PTI)US military advisors in dozens may soon be heading for Pakistan to train its army in counter insurgency and the specialised warfare course could begin in matter of weeks, according to a top US military commander.
"The US and Pakistan have cleared remaining obstacles, so the long delayed team may arrive in Islamabad within weeks", Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff was quoted by Los Angeles Times on his return from a key visit to Pakistan.
Washington for months has urged the Pakistani to accept a training team. Pakistan resisted, asking for additional weaponary and equipment some US officials believe is best suited for its standoff with regional rival India, the Paper said.
But now, Mullen told the paper the primary stumbling block had been the fact that Pakistan could not build the proposed training site, near the western town of Peshawar, quickly enough. He said the two sides had now agreed to use an alternative site, north of Pakistani capital Islamabad. " We're still going through adminstrative delays, but I do see it happening", Mullen said adding " I think It's in the next few weeks".
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The US and Pakistan have cleared remaining obstacles
gorb's interpretation: Gov't officials are running scared.
#5
IIRC, US trainers always leave out one or two "tricks" when training non-US nationals in any top-of-the-line courses, John. Most of the time it's not critical, except when fighting US counter-insurgency forces.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/21/2008 15:17 Comments ||
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#6
US trainers always leave out one or two "tricks" I sure hope so, plus I hope they put RFID tags & GPS units in the equipment they sell them.
#8
Most likely you are going to have to work with the Pakis and keep tabs on them on an ongoing basis. Pakinstan ISI is a den of intrigue and full of Taliban and AQ and sympathizers.
It is difficult to invade a country of 180 million people. The next best thing is to work with Pakis and try to stem the Taliban/AQ problem in Pakistan. If Pakistan gets controlled, Afghanistan ought to quiet. There cannot be havens in Pakinstan for AQ. We will see another 911 and the Afghan was will continue without end if this problem continues to fester Pakistan.
#10
Hopefully these advisors will be language trained special forces. We will have to vet the Pakis like we did the Vietnamese when working with them in Vietnam or the Afghans that we work with. We won't always be right.
Thirty people were injured in fresh clashes in Kashmir during an anti-India protest strike that shut shops, schools and offices Saturday in the latest trouble to hit the scenic region.
Clashes erupted across summer capital Srinagar when Kashmiri protesters chanting "we want freedom" hurled stones at Indian police, who retaliated by firing teargas and rubber bullets. "Some 16 policemen and 14 protesters were injured during violent clashes," a police statement said.
The strike, called by a separatist committee spearheading recent anti-India demonstrations in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, emptied streets of all traffic. "Saturday's strike is to demand the right to self-determination for the people of Kashmir," leading separatist chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said.
Separatists have been demanding a UN-supervised referendum giving people the choice of independence, staying with India or joining Pakistan.
On Friday, 20 people were wounded in clashes during protests against New Delhi's rule in Kashmir, ending a week of calm in the restive region.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The military killed at least 16 Al Qaeda linked fighters in fierce gunbattles in Bajaur Agency, officials said on Saturday. Helicopter gunships and artillery were used in the fresh clashes that erupted late on Friday. Five fighters were killed in a gunbattle early on Saturday near Shakai village, a security official told AFP. The other deaths occurred overnight in nearby villages, he said. The casualty figure could not be independently verified. Residents said that reinforcements, including a large number of fresh troops and tanks had arrived in Bajaur.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Security forces continued shelling Taliban positions in various areas of Kabal and Matta tehsils in Swat on Saturday. However, there were no reports of casualties. Locals said security forces destroyed several houses owned by Taliban in Kooza Bandai area of Kabal. Taliban blew up a health centre in Odigram area. There were no casualties. Residents of Kabal, Matta and Khwazakhela are facing serious problems due to suspended power supply after transmission lines were damaged in the forces' shelling in Kooza Bandai.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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United States spy drones flew over different areas of North and South Waziristan on Saturday morning. According to a private TV channel, the drones flew over Ghulam Khan, Lowara Dattakhel, Madahkhel, Shawal, Razmak, Makeen, Laddah and different areas of Kurram Agency including Tarimangal, Maqbal. According to another media report, tribesmen opened fire on drones in Samazwani in South Waziristan, forcing them to return to Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't fear rhe Reaper...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/21/2008 8:24 Comments ||
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#2
According to another media report, tribesmen opened fire on drones in Samazwani in South Waziristan, forcing them to return to Afghanistan.
I'm not sure the drones were "forced" to return to Afghanistan, and I don't believe people firing AK-47s at a drone would be very effective. I do believe that firing on the drone does an excellent job of pinpointing "hostiles" active in Pakistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/21/2008 15:21 Comments ||
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#3
could the isi supply the taliban with equipment capable off shooting down drones?
Posted by: Paul ||
09/21/2008 17:10 Comments ||
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Hangu police on Saturday announced the arrest of two would-be suicide bombers. Police said that the two wanted to target lawmakers from the FATA, particularly Munir Khan Aurakzai, and senior officials of Hangu police. The two arrested men were identified as Ghaffarullah and Ahmed Ali. Ghaffarullah told reporters that he was educated in Waziristan and in madrassas in Khushab and Lahore. He said he was trained in Chargap area of Waziristan, and was tasked to attack Munir Aurakzai and police officials, adding that he belonged to Baitullah Mehsud's group.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The driver of a truck carrying a United States consignment was killed and his brother injured when unidentified men opened fire on the truck in Tedi Bazzar area of Jamrud on Saturday.
The truck was loaded with a US consignment bound for the US Bagram airbase when it was targeted by unidentified men on the Pak-Afghan Highway, sources said. The driver, Bacha Zada, died and his brother Lal Agha, was critically injured in the firing. The gunmen reportedly stole Rs 20,000 from the truck, the sources added.
Meanwhile, four passengers of a van were abducted from the Pak-Afghan Highway in Wali Khel on Saturday. The passengers, whose names could not be ascertained, were on their way to Peshawar from Torkham when a double cabin pickup intercepted their vehicle. The unidentified men forcibly took the four passengers with them, sources said. Witnesses said that the kidnappers had taken them to Tehrah valley via Ali Masjid.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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(PTI) At least 10 Pakistani soldiers were killed and a dozen injured today when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into an army convoy in the country's restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The convoy of over 30 vehicles was going from Bannu in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan tribal agency, when the attack occurred.
Citing official sources, Dawn News channel said that at least 10 soldiers were killed and a dozen others injured in the attack, which occurred at a spot 12 kilometres from Miranshah.
The Bannu-Miranshah road was closed to traffic after the attack and troops cordoned off the site of the blast. The Waziristan area is a stronghold of the followers of Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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A suicide car bomber attacked the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Saturday, killing at least 60 people and turning the hotel into an inferno, police said. As flames engulfed the hotel, which is popular with foreigners, police said there were still people trapped inside.
Latest reports say 80 dead, and that might not be all.
Hours before the blast President Asif Ali Zardari, making his first address to parliament, a few hundred meters to the east of the hotel, said terrorism had to be rooted out.
Al-Qaeda-linked militants based in hideouts in the Afghan border have launched a bloody campaign of bomb attacks in retaliation for offensives by the security forces. The hotel has been bombed twice before but the Saturday evening blast was the most serious in the Pakistani capital since the country joined the U.S.-led campaign against militancy in late 2001. Fire began in at least two places in the building and spread to other parts of the 290-room hotel, located at the foot of the Margalla hills in the city centre.
Brought the ceiling down
The explosion brought down the ceiling in a banquet room where there were about 200 to 300 people at a meal to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
The owner of the hotel said the vehicle carrying the bomb was stopped at the front barrier and was being checked by guards after a bomb-sniffing dog raised the alarm.
Zardari, the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is close to the United States and had earlier vowed to maintain nuclear-armed Pakistan's commitment to the U.S.-led campaign against militancy, even though it is deeply unpopular. In his address to parliament, he said Pakistan must stop militants from using its territory for attacks on other countries.
Interior ministry official Rehman Malik told reporters the government had received word of a possible attack near the parliamentary offices. "We had intelligence reports two days ago that some incident might take place," Malik said.
Pakistan, the world's only Islamic nuclear power, has faced a wave of bombings and other attacks for more than a year. Tribal areas along the Afghan border are believed to be a new stronghold for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"As flames engulfed the hotel, which is popular with foreigners."
Other than the media and Chicoms on business, you have to wonder who vacations in Islamabad.
#2
"Hours before the blast President Asif Ali Zardari, making his first address to parliament, a few hundred meters to the east of the hotel, said terrorism had to be rooted out."
Put up or shut up, Z.
Mehbee you'd better practice announcing how our aircraft and drones on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan are really part of a joint taskforce with the Pak army to root out and kill the terrorists. Use a mirror until you can say it with a straight face.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/21/2008 0:47 Comments ||
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#3
I am interested in the reaction of the Pakistan "street." Do they like being bombed? I know this is an infidel hotel, but methinks when stuff is blowing up in your own capital would not be a reason to hand out candy to the neighborhood kids.
Posted by: regular joe ||
09/21/2008 7:39 Comments ||
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#4
After she blew, I saw not one fire hose. Did you ?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/21/2008 19:46 Comments ||
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#6
I knew of a couple of field grades who had a tough time with weight issues. They were built like, possibly had been, pulling guards a small college football team. Sort of like, as one guy said, a beer barrel walking on two fire plugs. But little fat. Very little.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
09/21/2008 23:42 Comments ||
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It's a quamire out there! I especially like the part about sporting injuries being more common than combat injuries.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/21/2008 15:07 ||
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#1
Ever since WWI, there have been elements that have craved to create "God's army" out of the US Army, soldiers who are chaste and do not smoke, drink, or even curse.
In serious combat operations this is understandable, except for the cursing part; but then they want to keep these rules when the fighting has died down, and that is when the serious problems begin.
To start with, soldiers just plain don't want to be denied the pleasures of life. Just because they are willing to do the job of fighting doesn't mean they have joined a new religion.
Then there is the sort-of-racism-tinged element of not wanting soldiers making babies with local girls, and bringing them and their kids home.
Even MacArthur (PBUH) tried to ban sex for moral reasons. He did this by denying the soldiers condoms, resulting in an explosion of VD in Korea.
In the 1980s, the US Army was full of morality programs to end smoking and cut down on the fatty foods, but it crashed and burned trying to restrict alcohol.
But the bottom line is that the vast majority of soldiers now serving are done with combat for good, even if they stay in the ranks. Their experience is worth vastly more than their morality, even if the "nasty Nellies" crave to make them pure again "for their own good."
Combat vets are far less malleable than peacetime soldiers, and if ordered to quit smoking, drinking and having sex, they will succinctly tell whoever to go pound sand in a rat hole.
#3
In the 1980s, the US Army was full of morality programs to end smoking and cut down on the fatty foods, but it crashed and burned trying to restrict alcohol.
How so? I say several careers end with a DUI. I saw 'happy hour' disappear from the clubs. In fact without the booze, I saw the clubs disappear as well [which put my 'voluntary' monthly dues back into my wallet]. I saw the number of Art 15s due to 'alcohol' related incidents significantly drop. I saw the youngin's going to Canada to get their fix, but it was damn quiet around the post in comparison to the 70's.
#5
In 1998 the common area of my hooch in Yongson (Seoul) had a stripper pole and fully equipped bar. We never had any problems with our command.
And I'll say no more to protect the guilty.
#6
That was when they first introduced the fat man program, which kicked out a lot of high quality NCOs who were fat, and then kicked out a bunch of high quality NCOs who were so muscular that the MET Life civilian standard fat tables assumed they were fat.
Almost any physically fit female would fail, because the MET Life table assumed all females were blobs.
They also instituted the first of the anti-smoking policies that cost a hell of a lot of talent. I remember how they purged most of the smoking, fat accountants from one division and put the whole division out of action. Nobody could figure out how to do payroll, personnel actions, ration cards or budgeting. But they could do push-ups.
The had to hire expensive, smoking and fat civilians to get their house back in order.
The USN had to discontinue its fat man program because they needed raw strength, and it took 5 skinny guys to pull a rope as well as 1 fat guy. Having forgotten that lesson, they are trying to do it again.
Seriously, what is more important in a Finance Corps guy, the ability to run two miles in under 18 minutes, or the ability to multiply two five digit numbers in his head?
The stupid concept was "every soldier an infantryman", which sounds great, until you realize that 14 out of 15 military jobs are not fighters, but support.
Fat, smoking soldiers were the first guys to learn computing in the army. I saw one who saved a major training exercise, because he was the only guy who could figure out the logistics. They gave him a big commendation for it, then kicked him out, two years short of retirement.
And, of course, when they tried to take liquor away from soldiers, as always, they made their own. This ends up putting soldiers in the hospital. Even in Gulf War I.
These are grown-ups. If they want to smoke, drink, fornicate, and eat fatty food, and they still kick the enemies' ass in battle, they should be allowed to do so.
#7
That was when they first introduced the fat man program, which kicked out a lot of high quality NCOs who were fat,
And a lot that weren't quality either.
Seriously, what is more important in a Finance Corps guy, the ability to run two miles in under 18 minutes, or the ability to multiply two five digit numbers in his head?...The stupid concept was "every soldier an infantryman", which sounds great, until you realize that 14 out of 15 military jobs are not fighters, but support
Except a lot of those jobs have gone to contractors. As they have reorganized since 2000 they shifted many jobs to civilians.
And everyone is a fighter as the troops of 507th found out trying to transit Nasiriyah and got destroyed. The clerks and mechanics couldn't fight. Somehow the increase in combat training in basic since then reflects that.
And, of course, when they tried to take liquor away from soldiers, as always, they made their own. This ends up putting soldiers in the hospital. Even in Gulf War I.
And it also becomes the basis for Hollyweird movies broadbrushing all the troops because a few make their own distill stuff and then go off to hideous commit crimes. It's just another Abu Ghrab waiting to happen because it reflects poor command and control.
These are grown-ups. If they want to smoke, drink, fornicate, and eat fatty food, and they still kick the enemies' ass in battle, they should be allowed to do so.
(VOI) -- Deaths from Saturday evening's earlier suicide car bombing attack in a football pitch Talafar district rose to three and the wounded to 25, according to a local police source. "The death toll rose to three and the wounded to 25. The ages of the bombing victims range between 15 and 25 years," the source, who refused to have his name published, told Aswat al-Iraq -- Voices of Iraq -- (VOI).
Earlier in the day, a security source said that a suicide bomber blew up his explosive vehicle in a football pitch inside Talafar, killing two people and wounding 17 others, including six in serious condition. "The blast occurred in a football playground that was crammed with young men from al-Mualimeen neighborhood, central Talafar, killing two and injuring 17 others," the source, who asked for anonymity, told VOI.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) -- A policeman was killed and seven others wounded in two separate blasts that targeted two Iraqi police patrols in al-Anbar, a police source in the province said on Saturday. "An improvised explosive device went off today near an Iraqi police patrol very close to the H3 refinery west of Haditha city, (250 km) west of Baghdad, killing one policeman and injuring three others," the source told Aswat al-Iraq -- Voices of Iraq -- (VOI) on customary condition of anonymity out of security concerns.
Meanwhile, the same source said that a hand grenade today targeted a police patrol in al-Debes area, central Hit city, wounding four men, including an officer in the city police. Anbar, whose capital is Ramadi, lies 110 km west of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The head of the main journalists' association in Iraq survived an assassination attempt on Saturday when a bomb exploded outside his office in the capital Baghdad, his colleague said. Muayad al-Lami, the chief of the Iraqi Journalists' Union, was rushed to hospital after he was wounded in the blast at the gates of the union building in the northern Waziriyah neighborhood. "He was seeing off three guests when an IED (improvised explosive device) exploded in front of the gate," colleague Hassan al-Abudi said. "He was wounded and taken to hospital along with his guests who were also wounded."
"Some vehicles outside caught fire and it shattered all the glass in the building," union member Hassan al-Aboudi, who was in the building at the time, said. Police said six people had been wounded in the blast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Lami's predecessor, Shihab al-Timimi, died four days after being shot in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad in February. Lami was elected as the head of the union at July elections.
Iraq is regarded as the one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists. According to the Iraqi Journalism Freedom Observatory, an organization for the defense of media workers' rights in Iraq, at least 243 media workers have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003. In one of the worst attacks, gunmen kidnapped and shot dead three Iraqi reporters from Iraq's Sharqiya TV station and their driver in the volatile northern city of Mosul a week ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Israel Defense Forces and Border Police troops on Saturday killed a Palestinian teenager trying to infiltrate the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar while carrying a Molotov cocktail and a knife. He was later identified by his parents, who said he was 14. In that case he should have been home doing his homework instead of skulking around with a Molotov cocktail.
The Palestinian approached the area by car. He then got out of the car and advanced toward Yitzhar by foot, intending to throw a Molotov cocktail at the West Bank settlement. Soldiers manning an IDF observation post saw him in action and directed ground troops to the area. When the Palestinian noticed the Israeli forces he lit the Molotov cocktail and aimed it at them. In response, the soldiers shot and killed him. A subsequent search of his body revealed a knife.
The boy, Suhayeb Saleh, was from the village of Assira al-Kubliyeh, near Yitzhar. His parents identified his body at a nearby hospital. An IDF spokesman said it did not know how far the boy was from the soldiers or the settlement.
Suhayeb's parents said his older brother was killed by IDF troops in 2002, after he opened fire on an army patrol near Yitzhar and wounded four soldiers.
No further casualties or damage were reported in the incident. IDF troops in the area have been on high alert since last week's infiltration of Yitzhar by a Palestinian militant, an incident which sparked a settler rampage in the nearby Palestinian village of Assira al-Kubliyeh. During the infiltration last Saturday, a 9-year-old boy was lightly wounded when he was stabbed in the hand.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared after the incident last week that Israel's government will not allow settlers to carry out "pogroms against non-Jews in the State of Israel."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
nice - self-wiping that Saleh family line from the gene pool
fooking idjits.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/21/2008 8:23 Comments ||
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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said on Sunday more fighting would most likely happen at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan if the military were to continue punitive operations against its forces in Mindanao.
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone that religious leaders in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur in sermons on Saturday called on the Bangsamoro people to unite and wage a jihad -- holy war -- against enemies of Islam. Iqbal said MILF chair Ebrahim Murad also stated that if the military operation would not stop, more fighting should be expected in the future. The possible declaration of Jihad by religious leaders is part of their personal views. In the MILF, we have been launching Jihad since we started our organization but we are now negotiating with the government, Iqbal said. Right now, the military operations in Central Mindanao and Lanao areas continue. If they will not stop, we expect fighting will erupt again after Ramadan, he said.
The call for unity and Jihad among Muslims came out after soldiers attacked MILF rebels in Calanugas, Lanao del Sur, while doing their Iftar (breaking of fast) on Thursday. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has mounted an operation against MILF commanders Ameril Ombra Kato and Abdulla Macapaar, also known as Bravo. The two are facing multiple criminal charges for allegedly leading rebel attacks on civilian communities in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte last month.
The government has doubled the reward for information leading to the capture of Kato and Bravo from P5 million each to P10 million. Another P5 million has been put up for the capture of another MILF commander, Aleem Sulayman Pangalian. We will not surrender them because we have no agreement with government to turn them over, Iqbal said.
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.
A Taliban ambush on a French platoon killed 10 soldiers in August. Now, a secret NATO review shows that the French did not have enough bullets, radios and other equipment. By contrast, the insurgents were dangerously well prepared.
A listed terrorist ...
Hangu police on Saturday announced the arrest of two would-be suicide bombers. Police said that the two wanted to target lawmakers from the FATA, particularly Munir Khan Aurakzai, and senior officials of Hangu police. The two arrested men were identified as Ghaffarullah and Ahmed Ali. Ghaffarullah told reporters that he was educated in Waziristan and in madrassas in Khushab and Lahore. He said he was trained in Chargap area of Waziristan, and was tasked to attack Munir Aurakzai and police officials, adding that he belonged to Baitullah Mehsud's group.
The driver of a truck carrying a United States consignment was killed and his brother injured when unidentified men opened fire on the truck in Tedi Bazzar area of Jamrud on Saturday.
(PTI) At least 10 Pakistani soldiers were killed and a dozen injured today when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into an army convoy in the country's restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan. The convoy of over 30 vehicles was going from Bannu in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan tribal agency, when the attack occurred.
A suicide car bomber attacked the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Saturday, killing at least 60 people and turning the hotel into an inferno, police said. As flames engulfed the hotel, which is popular with foreigners, police said there were still people trapped inside.
The head of the main journalists' association in Iraq survived an assassination attempt on Saturday when a bomb exploded outside his office in the capital Baghdad, his colleague said. Muayad al-Lami, the chief of the Iraqi Journalists' Union, was rushed to hospital after he was wounded in the blast at the gates of the union building in the northern Waziriyah neighborhood. "He was seeing off three guests when an IED (improvised explosive device) exploded in front of the gate," colleague Hassan al-Abudi said. "He was wounded and taken to hospital along with his guests who were also wounded." 
Israel Defense Forces and Border Police troops on Saturday killed a Palestinian teenager trying to infiltrate the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar while carrying a Molotov cocktail and a knife. He was later identified by his parents, who said he was 14. 
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said on Sunday more fighting would most likely happen at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan if the military were to continue punitive operations against its forces in Mindanao.
