Troops from the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment and their Afghan army allies "hit the jackpot" in a major combat operation that ended Sunday, discovering four factories used by the Taliban to make improvised explosive devices about 17 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.
"The quality of stuff we took was absolutely impressive. We have taken away their capacity to make thousands of IEDs," said the lead planner of the mission, Lt.-Col. Mike Patrick. He described the operation as the most successful carried out so far this year in Kandahar.
As well as seizing suicide bomber vests and large quantities of explosive nitrates and accelerants, the troops found three .50-calibre Russian heavy machine-guns, two rocket launchers, thousands of metres of commercial grade detonation cord and large quantities of ball bearings that can cause extreme injuries when packed into IEDs.
"It was one of those serendipitous moments when we thought we would find one thing and hoped for another and found it. Our success in this operation was a 10," the chief of operations for Canada's Task Force Afghanistan said.
"It was the difference between a mom and pop operation and the Mafia. It was a small assembly line. Mr. Ford would have been proud."
However, "regrettably," the four-day operation resulted in the 125th death of a Canadian soldier since the federal government first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002, Patrick said. Pte. Sébastien Courcy was killed Thursday morning when he stepped on an explosive that may have been an old Soviet anti-personnel mine while manning an observation post on a mountain overlooking the battlefield. The blast at the top of Salavat Ghar was probably not fatal, but it caused Courcy to fall to his death.
Another Canadian was injured later in the operation when he came upon "a booby trap," Patrick said. The soldier's wounds were not considered serious, he said.
The bomb factories that were found during the operation were as small as a tent and as large as a compound and were sophisticated enough to make a variety of explosives.
"It was like one-stop shopping for bombs," he said.
A number of insurgents were killed during the operation and some others were taken prisoner by Canadian troops, Patrick said.
The operation began late Wednesday with a feint toward the town of Salavat by a company of soldiers from the U.S. army's 2nd battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment operating under Canadian command and by Leopard tanks from the Alberta-based Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) which made a show of force and helped clear the way of IEDs.
The main attack a few kilometres away on Nakhoney followed the next day. It involved an air assault by about 250 Van Doos who were flown into battle by two waves of mostly Canadian helicopters. Other ground elements then moved in to complete the encirclement of the town which has about 2,000 residents.
Also Sunday, the commander of the 38,000 NATO troops in southern Afghanistan has emphatically denied claims by some residents of Shah Wali Kat that it was a coalition air strike that killed four civilians and injured 13 on Thursday in northern Kandahar province.
"The information that we get is that the wounds inflicted on the civilians were gunshot wounds," Maj.-Gen. Mart de Kruif, commander of NATO's Sector South told Afghan and foreign journalists.
"This excludes the fact that the civilians were killed by coalition helicopters or airborne weapons. I want to make that very clear."
Meanwhile, a civilian helicopter under contract for NATO forces in Afghanistan crashed at Kandahar Airfield on Sunday, killing 16 people and wounding five others, the alliance said.
Capt. Ruben Hoornveld, a Dutch NATO spokesman at the base, said there was no enemy involvement in the crash, which took place as the helicopter was taking off.
Russia's Interfax news agency described the helicopter as an Mi-8 transporter, operated by a Russian firm, which had 17 passengers and three crew on board at the time of the crash. It gave the death toll as 15.
#3
Troops from the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment and their Afghan army allies...a company of soldiers from the U.S. army's 2nd battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment operating under Canadian command ...a civilian helicopter under contract for NATO forces in Afghanistan crashed at Kandahar Airfield...Capt. Ruben Hoornveld, a Dutch NATO spokesman at the base...Russia's Interfax news agency described the helicopter as an Mi-8 transporter, operated by a Russian firm
The unprecedented cooperation is ironic. The desolate dustbin of Afghanistan has one thing Iraq and North Korea doesn't--poppies. How are they going to divvy up the spoils of war?
[ADN Kronos] The Taliban on Monday reportedly claimed they shot down a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) fighter jet that crashed on Monday in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province. The jet crashed at the Kandahar Air Field, NATO's main military base in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.
Afghan news agency, Pajhwok, said the Taliban claimed they had they shot down the aircraft whose two pilots were injured when they were forced to eject from the burning plane.
Taliban spokesman, Zabihulla Mujahed, said insurgents had shot down the military aircraft but did not explain how they had done so.
ISAF denied Taliban insurgents were involved in shooting down the fighter jet but said it would probe the incident. "The incident will be investigated, however, insurgent activity has been ruled out," ISAF said in a statement.
The aircraft came down shortly after take-off from the NATO military base and caught fire. The incident occurred only one day after 16 civilians were killed when a helicopter crashed at the same base, an ISAF spokesman said.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb exploded in western Afghanistan on Monday, killing 12 civilians. It is believed the bomb was aimed at Afghan or foreign troops. The bomb was planted on a main road in Farah province used by Afghan and foreign troops transiting the province, which has frequently been mined by Taliban insurgents.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't know, of course, but think their claim is unlikely to be true.
And who could have foreseen the Taliban making what is likely a false claim. These guys are born hucksters and marketing types.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
07/21/2009 11:16 Comments ||
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#2
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS > TALIBAN GET CHINESE WEAPONS + SWAT IS BEING SLAUGHTERED ["Mullah Brigades" = PRO-AQ, TALIB, etc. MILTERR Factions acting like Govt + enforcing SHARIA'. PAKI GOVT-TROOPS not around or too weak to stop 'em???
#3
SAME > POSTER OP-ED Thread > CEDE AFGHAISTAN TO STAELLITE STAUS UNDER PAKISTAN???
Also, TALIBAN VOW TO USE GUERILLA ATTACKS [agz main US Allies e.g. BRITAIN, EUROS; + Local Govt].
* CHINESE MIL FORUM > THE LONGER THE CONFLICT PERSISTS THE MORE ATTRITIONS WILL TAKE: THE BEST/ONLY WAY TO DISSOLVE NAO IS TO DEFEAT THEM IN AFGHANISTAN [NATO-Euro AFPAK mil casualties].
[Al Arabiya Latest] Somalia's hardline al-Shabab militia on Monday raided the offices of three United Nations organizations hours after they banned their operations on accusation that they were "enemies of Islam and Muslims."
"Thank you sir, may I have another?"
The armed group stormed the United Nations Development Program, U.N. Department of Safety and Security and the U.N. Political Office for Somalia in two southern Somalia towns and impounded office equipment. "The above foreign agencies have been found to be working against the benefit of the Somali Muslim population and against the establishment of an Islamic state in Somalia," al-Shabaab said in a statement.
The raid in Wajid and Baidoa towns which came hours after the statement was issued only singled out the three organizations, with other U.N. offices in the same compounds spared, a U.N. official in Baidoa told AFP. "They have taken away three U.N. cars from the compound but have not harmed several U.N. foreign staff," an officer, who declined to be named for security reasons, told Reuters. "They said the raid was only limited to the offices of the U.N. agencies whose activities they banned," he added.
In March, al-Shabab welcomed international aid groups to regions under their control to assist thousands of hunger-stricken people.
Their statement on Monday also announced the setting up of an office to oversee the activities of NGOs and foreign agencies to which they must report to be "informed of conditions and restrictions on their work."
The statement from al-Shabab's department of political affairs and regional administration said the decision was reached after "thorough research."
Other accusations against the organizations included "evidence of training and support for the apostate government and the training of its troops."
The U.N. does not have permanent foreign staff in the war-ravaged country and runs program from neighboring Kenya.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The beginnings of a crack between Tranzies and Muzies we're all been waiting for? (nah, wishful thinking).
[Mail and Globe] Ten people have been killed in clashes over control of a north Yemen mosque between Shiite Zaidi rebels and militants from the country's main Sunni opposition party, both groups said on Monday.
They said the violence erupted late on Saturday between Huthi rebels and the Islamist party Al-Islah (Reform).
"Huthis attacked the Zine al-Abidin mosque in Zahra to take it over, killing three members of Al-Islah," the Islamist party's chairman Abdel Hamid Ameur said.
He added that shortly afterwards, an attack on mourners for the three victims resulted in the deaths of another two Al-Islah members, sparking clashes in which five rebels were also killed.
Rebel spokesperson Mohammad Abdel-Salam confirmed the incident, but also expressed surprise at the incident: "We have good relations with Al-Islah," he said.
An official in the mixed Sunni-Shiite population city of Zahra, in Al-Jawf province, said mediation by an opposition socialist official brought an end to the confrontation.
Al-Islah, led by Sadok Abdullah al-Ahmar, is the second largest grouping in the Yemeni parliament, with 62 MPs, just behind the ruling General People's Congress party of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Among Al-Islah's top members is Sheikh Abdel Majid al-Zendani, its second most senior official, who runs an Islamic university described by its critics as a hotbed of radicalism.
The festering Shiite Zaidi rebellion in mountainous north Yemen's Saada province is led by Abdel Malek al-Huthi.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Maulana Sheikh Abdus Salam, former chief of banned militant outfit Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) who was arrested in connection with the 2001 CPB rally blast case, was released on bail yesterday from Dhaka Central Jail.
Jail officials said they received an order for his release Sunday from the Sessions Judge's Court, Dhaka, which issued the bail order. "Receiving the bail order, we reported it to different intelligence agencies for checking as Salam allegedly has links with a banned militant organisation. On receiving clearance from the intelligence agencies we released him around 3:00pm," Deputy Jailer Kamrul Islam told The Daily Star yesterday.
Meanwhile, the home ministry yesterday ordered an intelligence agency to investigate the setting up of a charity called Faruqi Welfare Foundation by Huji. The foundation obtained a certificate from the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) on June 29 last year.
Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder told The Daily Star yesterday, "We have asked the Special Branch of police to investigate the matter and report to the home ministry in details about the foundation and its activities."
The instructions from the home ministry came a day after The Daily Star ran a report headlined "Huji managed even a charity licence" in its Sunday issue.
Huji, which operates in the country under different other names to hide itself from intelligence watch, formed a political party named Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) in May last year with approval from the caretaker government. Salam is the convener of IDP that had applied to the Election Commission for registration in November, 2008 but was rejected.
Two of Salam's party leaders, Abu Taher and Arif Hasan Sumon, are charge-sheeted accused in a case filed in connection with the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004. They are now in jail.
His two other party leaders Maulana Monir and Hafiz Idris, who were arrested for their involvement in various militant activities, have jumped bail.
Members of an intelligence agency had picked up Sheikh Salam on March 23 at his home in Bashundhara Residential Area in connection with the CPB rally blast that killed five people at Paltan Maidan on January 20, 2001.
The government outlawed Huji in October, 2005. The militant group carried out several bomb and grenade attacks between 1998 and 2004. It is also blacklisted by the US and the UK. Abdus Salam led a group of Afghan war returnees to launch Huji at a press conference at the National Press Club on April 30, 1992.
This article starring:
Abu Taher
Arif Hasan Sumon
Hafiz Idris
Maulana Abdul Hye
Maulana Monir
Maulana Sheikh Abdus Salam
Maulana Sheikh Farid
Mufti Shafiqur Rahman
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Security forces on Monday claimed to have killed around 100 Taliban militants in a massive military operation in a cluster of villages in the troubled Maidan area of Dir Lower district.
The colossal human loss to the militants was claimed the day the NWFP cabinet approved to fix a bounty of Rs 500,000 each on the heads of five top Taliban commanders operating in the Maidan area of Dir Lower.
The military sources said security forces launched action in five villages of Maidan to dislodge the militants from their hideouts as they were launching rocket attacks from there on the Scouts Fort in Timergara.
"We have inflicted huge human loss on them. According to the information we have received, the casualties of the militants must not be less than 100,î a military official stationed in the area said.
He said a large number of foot soldiers backed by tanks, artillery and mortars stormed the positions of the militants in Sherkhanay, Shedas, Misrikhanay, Sangolai and Saparay on Sunday. The official said security forces continued their operation for around 18 hours to eliminate the hideouts of the militants. "They had built bunkers and other hideouts in the area from where they used to launch rocket attacks on the (Scouts) Fort in Timergara,î he said. The militants in recent weeks fired rockets at the fort.
"Security forces wrested these areas, including the strategic Saparay Top and Point 1260 (a mountaintop),î the official said, adding the militants had been on the run in the area.
He said during the action, some 100 militants had been killed. Some 250-300 Taliban militants were hiding in these five or six villages, according to the official. Responding to a query about the bodies of the militants, he said security forces never went for the militants" bodies. "Also, the militants do not leave behind the bodies or injured,î he said.
Some local sources and television channels reported the killing of 50 militants. However, the official insisted "the fatalities were not less than 100.î With their nerve-centre in Maidan, the Taliban militants in Dir Lower were led by Commander Hafizullah. The Army has claimed to have killed over 400 militants but their Commander Hafizullah is still alive. The militancy in Maidan area has not stopped fully.
NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain also said on Monday that the Taliban in Maidan were still active. He told media person after the cabinet meeting that the NWFP government has decided to fix a bounty of Rs 500,000 each on the heads of five top Taliban leaders of Maidan. They included Commander Hafizullah, Qari Shahid, Dr Wazir, Muftahuddin and Abdus Salam.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Applying the standard Pak casualty report inflation factor of 30 we come out with 3 Talibunnies killed.
[Geo News] Security forces carried out search and clearance operations in different areas of Swat and Malakand during the last 24 hours.
According to ISPR, security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Talgai near Madyan areas of Swat and apprehended 2 wanted terrorists Fazal -e- Haq and Khair ul Ghafoor.
Security forces conducted search operation at Mano Derai near Piochar and recovered 17 boxes of ammunition of various calibres and 2 walkie talkie sets.
Security forces confiscated 1 Potohar jeep fully prepared for suicidal attack, 2 prepared cylinder IEDs, 1 suicide jacket during clearance operation at Matta.
Search operation at village Gul Shah near Bar Durshkhela, Tatal and Mria Mai led to exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists. Two terrorists commanders Taj alias Zarqavi and Commander Zulqarnain were killed. A machine gun alongwith 3 magazines, one 30 bore Pistol, and a bandolier were recovered.
Clearance operations were conducted at Mira Banda, Dakku Banda, Kund Banda, Pir Patai Banda and Kamyari Banda, Pinorai Banda and Chur Banda in which commander Akbar's house was destroyed while terrorists commander Hamood was apprehended at Dardial alongwith 2 Parados.
Security forces conducted search and clearance operation at Kamyrai near Dardial. During exchange of fire with terrorists, Major Zahid embraced Shahadat. Reportedly 12 terrorists were killed in exchange of fire with Security Forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) Mangal Bagh and his 25 men were charged in an FIR after terrorists gunned down four policemen in an ambush on the Bara Road here early on Monday.
A party of the Sarband police was on a routine patrol when around 30 armed men attacked their van with automatic weapons at around 1:30 am. Two policemen were killed on the spot, while as many succumbed to their injuries on their way to a hospital.
The dead were identified as Sub-Inspector Riaz Khan, Constables Khudadad and Laiq Shah and driver Zahir Shah.A search operation was launched in the area immediately after the ambush. The attackers, however, fled to the tribal area before more police contingents could reach the spot. A case has been registered against Mangal Bagh and his 25 men, as the area comes under "his control". It is suspected that the attack might be a reaction to an operation clean-up launched against the LI in the area a couple of days ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Two volunteers of a tribal Lashkar were killed when their companions mistakenly opened fire on them at Ambar Tehsil in Mohmand Agency on Monday.
Sources said the two Lashkar men, identified as Khayal Shah and Yousuf, came under fire by their own colleagues, who mistook them for militants. As a result, both of them died on the spot.
Meanwhile, elders of a Jirga of different Tehsils handed over 29 suspects to the political administration. The elders in Ambar Tehsil handed over 18 suspects to the administration, eight suspects were handed over in Safi Tehsil and one suspect was handed over in the Halimzai subdivision. However, they were released after the Jirga furnished surety bonds that they would not indulge in criminal activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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The lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks pleaded guilty on Monday and gave a detailed account of the plot and his role in the rampage, AP reported.
Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters outside court that Kasab had realised "the cat was out of the bag" after 134 witnesses gave evidence against him since the trial began in April. Nikam linked the confession to the forthcoming trial in Pakistan of five men accused of involvement in the attacks, including key Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT) operatives Zarar Shah and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind.
In a verbal statement, Ajmal Kasab described his assault on a railway station and a hospital with a comrade he identified as Abu Ismail, according to Reuters.
The other gunmen attacked a Jewish centre and two five-star hotels. "I was firing and Abu Ismail was hurling hand grenades (at the railway station)," Kasab told the court. Before coming to India, Kasab said he lived in a house in Karachi for a month and a half with 10 other young men. They were taken to another house and then to sea where they met four handlers. One of them was an Indian named Abu Zundal, he said. Last month, the special court also issued arrest warrants for 22 Pakistanis accused of masterminding the attacks. Before the trial, Kasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi told AFP in an interview that he faced a "nearly impossible task" defending his client.
To be continued: Judge ML Tahiliyani said no immediate judgement would be issued and the trial will resume today (Tuesday). Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit declined to comment on Kasab's confession.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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[ADN Kronos] A car bomb in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Monday killed three people, including two policemen, security and medical officials said. It was the second attack in Ramadi in a week. The city is the capital of Al-Anbar province, formerly one of the centres of the Sunni insurgency.
Four other people including two policemen were wounded in Monday's bombing, which struck near the provincial government headquarters in the centre of Ramadi, 110 km west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
"A car rigged with explosives went off on Monday near an Iraqi police patrol on al-Kass street, central Ramadi, leaving two policemen killed and four others wounded," Raheem Zebin, the Anbar police information department chief, was quoted as telling the Voice of Iraq news agency.
Last week, six people were killed in a suicide car bombing near a mosque in Ramadi.
On Saturday, four people were killed and 10 others wounded in a series of bombing attacks in different areas of Al-Anbar.
The leader of a local anti-Al-Qaeda tribal awakening council, Naeem Saleh al-Halbusim, was wounded and his son died in an attack in the city of Fallujah - a former Sunni insurgent stronghold.
The Sunni tribal awakening councils have over the past few years been supporting American troops. They are are credited with helping to reduce insurgent activity dramatically over the past 18 months.
In other developments over the weekend, Iraqi police said they had arrested a member of an Iranian-backed militia suspected of involvement in the killing of three US soldiers in a rocket attack near Basra airport last Thursday.
Pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq-al-Awsat quoted unnamed sources in the Iraqi ministry of defence as saying an Al-Qaeda linked cleric, Khalad Abed, was arrested on Saturday in the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, together with the alleged head of a local suicide bombing cell, Jamil Ibrahim Muhammad.
Monday's attack in Ramadi came just three weeks after US troops withdrew from urban centres as part of a controversial security pact signed last August between Baghdad and Washington. Under the pact, US troops are due to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
Violence decreased markedly throughout the country in recent months but attacks increased in the run-up to the US military pullback. A total 437 Iraqis were killed in June - the highest death toll in 11 months.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2009 00:00 ||
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Indonesian police have questioned teachers of an Islamic boarding school in Central Java, following the suicide bombings in Jakarta last week, a cleric said on Tuesday.
As coordinator of Islamic activity in the area, cleric Mudzakir confirmed the probe in the Al-Mukmin Ngruki boarding school. "Three policemen came to the Ngruki boarding school asking teachers and staff members," he told Xinhua over phone from the area.
One of the suspect of the bombing at the JW Marriot Hotel is Nurhasbi alias, who had been studying in the school along with suicide bombers of the hotel in August 2003, which killed 12 people and wounded dozens others, according to local television. "The police come to match up information that they got," said cleric Mudzakir.
The Ngruki boarding school was founded by militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah who has been jailed for a conspiracy on terrorism.
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.
Troops from the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment and their Afghan army allies "hit the jackpot" in a major combat operation that ended Sunday, discovering four factories used by the Taliban to make improvised explosive devices about 17 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City.
[Mail and Globe] Ten people have been killed in clashes over control of a north Yemen mosque between Shiite Zaidi rebels and militants from the country's main Sunni opposition party, both groups said on Monday. 
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Security forces on Monday claimed to have killed around 100 Taliban militants in a massive military operation in a cluster of villages in the troubled Maidan area of Dir Lower district.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) Mangal Bagh and his 25 men were charged in an FIR after terrorists gunned down four policemen in an ambush on the Bara Road here early on Monday.
The lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks pleaded guilty on Monday and gave a detailed account of the plot and his role in the rampage, AP reported.
