It's an A-Pee story, so here's the teaser. Full story at link.
So whatever happened to the "we don't eradicate poppies" idea? Does that mean they've switched from spraying roundup to spraying lead? Does the poppy field get left behind as a magnet for other bad guys and we wipe them out too? If you see those fields start rotting rather than being harvested then that would be a good sign indeed.
A U.S. military "kill or capture" list of 367 wanted insurgents in Afghanistan includes 50 major drug traffickers who give money to Taliban militants, U.S. military commanders told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Only 50?
U.S. and NATO troops are attacking drug warehouses and militant-linked narco dealers in Afghanistan for the first time this year, a new strategy to counter the country's booming opium poppy and heroin trade. NATO defense ministers approved the targeted drug raids late last year, saying the link between Taliban insurgents and the drug trade was clear. That only took eight years to figure out.
According to a report to be issued by the committee this week, U.S. commanders have no restrictions on the use of force against the targets, "which means they can be killed or captured on the battlefield," the report states. I vote captured. Then killed according to how much info they produce.
When the nexus between a drug trafficker and the insurgency is clear enough, the drug trafficker is put on a list of insurgent leaders wanted by U.S. forces, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan. For anything more than personal use: Kill him and let God sort it out. It's probably more humane because after only a few examples they'll figure it out and stop producing poppies.
"The list of targets are those that are contributing to the insurgency, so the key leadership, and part of that obviously is the link between the narco industry and the militants," Smith said Monday.
To be placed on this target list, formally called the "joint integrated prioritized target list," requires two verifiable human sources and "substantial additional evidence," the report says. How about if a satellite sees your soon-to-be sorry a$$ tending to more than a few square meters of poppies?
#1
The only reason this would matter would be if the US put out deal or alive wanted posters. Knowing how bad this can be for the health, about 50% would probably retire, or tell the Taliban to take a leap. The other 50% would kick down a lot more money to Afghan government insiders.
#2
They won't put a dent in opium production until they provide the Afghan farmers with a way to make more money growing something else. It's called, 'economics', and someone in Washington should study it sometime.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/10/2009 14:58 Comments ||
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#3
What crop would make more money than opium poppies?
#5
If the Afghans have land to grow poppies then they don't need any more US food aid. The aid is distorting the agricultural market.
Posted by: ed ||
08/10/2009 17:17 Comments ||
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#6
Opium poppies grown on very marginal land and are typically planted with primitive slash and burn techniques. Most other agricultural products won't grow there, or require significantly more water, fertilizer, tools and know-how ... not to mention access to markets before the products begin to spoil.
One alternative that's been proposed by a Euro group is to license poppy production and concentrate on harvesting the results. There's a shortage of morphine for medical uses IIUC.
#7
I disagree. The poppies get the best land and care. The center of poppy production is the Helmand river valley, nourished by a 50 year old US funded irrigation system and Pakistani fertilizer (when not used for bombs). That is prime land for high yields and would go a long way toward relieving Afghanistan's need to import food (actually US Aid).
In 2008, 157,000 hectares of opium were cultivated, down 19 percent from 193,000 hectares in 2007. Opium production only declined 6 percent to 7,700 tonnes because of record high yields. Helmand cultivated 103,000 hectares in 2008.
One more observation. Why is high concentration ammonium nitrate fertilizer allowed to be imported into Afghanistan? Do the government officials know there is a war going on? It would be better for us to subsidize non explosive fertilizer.
Posted by: ed ||
08/10/2009 21:16 Comments ||
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#1
The Taliban have advanced out of traditional strongholds in Afghanistan's south and east, gaining the upper hand as they moved into the north and west,
Which "We'll go as long as we don't have to fight" NATO Troops are in charge of those areas?
#2
My first thought upon seeing this is to wonder how much of this is related to the new ROEs imposed by McChrystal.
I appreciate the desire to limit collateral damage and the need to win hearts and minds but it's kind of tough to fight with one arm tied behind your back (and sometimes two).
#3
This is a message to Washington. However, it is unclear exactly what he is really saying, as it could mean many things.
The Taliban are no longer a serious threat. The Helmand offensive is cutting them off from much of their money, and the Paks are policing them up, or channeling them into Baluchistan.
#4
Hitler's Wermacht advanced 30 miles per day towards Moscow only to be encircled near the Soviet capital. From that point, reinforcement of front-line units and even the retreat were hampered by roadside bombs, ambushes and snipers.
That type of war is extremely easy to fight, and is both a proven morale killer and requires minimum use of resources.
I monitor "Winter Soldiers" rhetoric. Even admitting that that group is made of irresolute weasels, doesn't negate the fact that their ideas are the result of failure to affirm the following: the only thing that can defeat guerilla war is disproportionate retaliation. I have always advocated widespread use of Napalm in Afghanistan and Iraq. Cold War conditions frustrated Soviet military operations in Afghanistan; we are not frustrated, except by "hearts and minds" rubbish.
[Quqnoos] Three Afghan soldiers and two intelligent agents were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Zabul province on Sunday, officials said The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blew up as the Afghan forces were trying to neutralise it in Shahjoy, a remote district in the restive Afghan province, deputy to provincial Police Chief, Ghulam Jilani Farahi, told Quqnoos. The incident occurred at about 9:00am on Sunday in Qara Bagho, a village of Zabul, where Taliban militant are present at large groups.
Zabul province is neighboring Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban, in the volatile southern region. No groups, including the Taliban, have claimed responsibility for planting the roadside bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Either the bomb disposal training of the Afghan Army is extremely poor, or the Taliban have begun to booby-trap their IEDs to explode when anyone attempts to defuse them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2009 13:42 Comments ||
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#2
Could be both, OP.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/10/2009 13:49 Comments ||
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#3
I watched the movie, "The Hurt Locker" on anti-bomb operations in Iraq. If the film is accurate, then field practises are insane. Depicted soldiers are shown exposing the bombs while protective units eye-ball the area to see if someone in the open (!) has a cell phone detonator. My logic reads: where locals are doing nothing to stop bomb planting, suspected bomb plant sites should be destroyed by remote counter-bombing. As for local damage, there won't be any if the public reports same.
#4
My logic reads: where locals are doing nothing to stop bomb planting
There's this little thing called 'retaliation'. Perhaps you've heard of it.
Say a local calls in an IED planting. That night, or the night after, he disappears or he and his family are found mutilated and hanging from the rafters of their hut. If they're lucky, the rest of the village is spared.
Until the Afghanis start providing protection, you aren't gonna see local involvement.
[Bangla Daily Star] Sylhet District and Sessions Judge Md Momin Ullah yesterday fixed August 30 for framing charges against the accused Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji) chief and his men for December 2005 grenade attack on the city mayor Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran.
Police produced the Huji chief Mufti Abdul Hannan and four of his accomplices before the court yesterday, but failed to produce the other accused--Humayun Kabir Himu as he was still at large.
The judge fixed the date as the prosecution lawyers urged for charge framing against them. The judge also ordered for publishing court notification with the new date in the newspapers declaring Himu absconding.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted charge sheet on November 6 last year against six Huji men for the grenade attack.
Investigation officer (IO) of the case Inspector Shamim Ur Rashid Pir of CID filed the charge sheet with the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court of Sylhet acquitting seven in the case (dropping seven of them).
The six charge-sheeted accused in the case are Mufti Abdul Hannan, his brother Muhibullah alias Mofizul Islam alias Ovi, Mufti Main Uddin alias Abu Zandal, Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul, Delwar Hossain Ripon and Humayun Kabir Himu.
The people who were dropped from the charge sheet are Fokhrul Islam Fahim, Badol Miah, Kabir Hossain, Abdul Quaiyum, Badrul Alam Mizan, Hafij Nayeem Ahmed Arif and Ahsan Ullah Kajol. Meantime, Kajol had died. All the charge sheeted had been in the jail hajat except Himu. Another accused Fakhrul Islam Fahim was not charged since his whereabouts could not be ascertained, the IO mentioned in the charge sheet.
He said on receiving information about his whereabouts Fahim would be charged through a supplementary charge sheet.
On December 2, 2005, criminals hurled a grenade at the mayor around 10:00pm as he was inaugurating a badminton tournament in Sylhet's Tilagarh area. The grenade fell five feet short of the mayor and failed to explode.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Another Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) member died of cardiac arrest yesterday at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), raising the number of deaths to 36 since the BDR mutiny.
They simply must alter the hospital menu to dishes higher in fruits and vegetables, and lower in red meat and saturated fats. The health of the condemned men is at stake!
Lance Nayek Nawab Ali, 41, of Madaripur, who served at the Kushtia sector headquarters, died of cardiac arrest in the afternoon, said BDR Public Relations Officer Muhammad Muhsin Reza. He said Nawab Ali fell sick on July 28 at the Kushtia sector headquarters. He was taken to the BDR hospital at Pilkhana in the capital on August 6. As his condition deteriorated on Saturday night, he was shifted to DMCH, said the BDR official.
A total of 35 BDR men have died of various causes since the mutiny at the BDR headquarters. Some of them died of heart attack while a few others committed suicide.
But none of a superfluity of broken bones and damaged internal organs, thank goodness, because that would be a Bad Thing.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
BDR members must not be dues paying empowered minority, otherwise UN sponsered NGO's would be wailing and gnashing their collective teeth over the alledged human rights violations.
#2
I think a lot of this is related to stress - wondering whether you're going to be the next one hustled off to jail for participating in the mutiny, or of knowing about it and saying nothing. Of course, poor diet and over-work probably contribute. Most third-world militaries treat their members more like slaves than soldiers.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2009 13:49 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] A mugger was killed and two people including a woman sustained bullet wounds in a shootout between police and the muggers yesterday in the capital's Pallabi area.
The deceased was identified as Taiyab, 35, while the injured were Kaniz Fatema Munni, 23, wife of expatriate Helal Uddin of Tejkunipara of Tejgaon and CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver Hafizur Rahman. Munni was rushed to Samarita Hosptial with two bullets in the lower part of her body while Hafizur was taken to Pangu Hospital for treatment.
Officer-in-charge (OC) Abdul Malek of Pallabi Police Station said the gunfight ensued around 1:30pm when a team of police led by him chased the gang in front of SKAMCO CNG filling station at Pallabi. Witnesses said five muggers on two motorbikes reached the spot and shot Munni as she tried to resist them snatching her bag containing around Tk 2.2 lakh.
OC Malek said when locals and police team chased the fleeing muggers they opened fire prompting the police to retaliate. After the shootout police recovered Taiyab's bullet-hit body from the spot and a pistol in his hand while his accomplices managed to escape the scene with the money.
Mohammad Elias Sharif, Additional Deputy Commissioner of DMP of Mirpur zone, said Munni drew the amount from a bank and was taking it home.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Two Russian policemen and a militant were killed in a shootout in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Monday, Itar-Tass news agency reported. Three gunmen opened fire on policemen who stopped their car in a rural area to check documents, the agency quoted a police source as saying.
As security in the neighbouring republic of Chechnya has improved, instability has worsened elsewhere in the mainly Muslim North Caucasus and attacks against authorities by Islamic insurgents have increased.
#1
ION TOPIX > MEDVEDEV: NEW GEOPOLITICAL SITUATION DEVELOPING IN TRANSCAUSASIA [Georgia, SOuth Ossetia, + Abkhazia should form a binding regional security venture or alliance to promote peace and mutual trust].
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] The police arrested two men during raids in Totalai area of Buner district on Sunday, claiming that they were important militant commanders.
Sources said a police party raided the house of Mufti Asim in Bagh Khadokhel and arrested him. They also recovered a Kalashnikov rifle, a pistol and ammunition. Mufti Asim, 36, was wanted to the police in different cases.
Another militant commander identified as Ghazan, resident of Zaga village, was arrested from Inayatabad in Totalai. District Police Officer Rashid Khan said Ghazan was wanted to the police in the murder of a cop on April 23, 2009 and snatching official weapons from the Chengalai Police besides torching a police post on April 27, 2009. He added that a Kalashnikov rifle, three magazines and 60 rounds were recovered from Ghazan.
Meanwhile, seven suspected militants were injured and seven vehicles destroyed as gunship helicopters shelled Sikandarkhel area of Tirah Valley on Sunday.The Frontier Corps officials said the shelling also destroyed an ammunition depot and a training centre of militants along with two posts. Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) spokesman Zar Khan Afridi condemned the shelling. Talking to media by phone from an undisclosed location, he said the LI was not in favour of sabotaging peace in Tirah Valley and its activists were not challenging the security forces.
No clash was, however, reported on Sunday between the two tribal militias, Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansarul Islam, which have been fighting for the last five years. The clashes between the two groups have so far claimed around 600 lives besides injuries to hundreds of people and destruction of houses.
This article starring:
GHAZAN, RESIDENT OF ZAGA VILLAGE
TTP
MUFTI ASIM
TTP
ZAR KHAN AFRIDI
Lashkar-e-Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] At least nine militants and three peace committee members have been killed in exchange of fire between militants and peace committee members in Mohmand Agency.
As dear JosephM says, "I got nuthin."
Accoding to sources armed militants attacked the house of peace commitee chief Malik Ajmal in Uchajawara village in khaqwezi area of baizai tehsil and killed two peace committee members along with peace committee chief. Ajmal was a pro-government tribal elder who had captured 12 militants and handed them over to security forces last week. The clash erupted between peace committee members and militants resulted in the death of nine militants, according to a DawnNews report.
In a separate incident, two civilians and a policeman were killed when militants ambushed a police convoy in the restive northwestern Bannu town on Sunday. 'Three policemen were on a routine patrol in Meryan village of Bannu when they were attacked by a group of 10 militants,' senior local official Iqbal Marwat told AFP. He said one policeman and two farmers in nearby fields were killed in the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Baitullah Mehsud and 40 of his aides were killed in the US drone strike last Wednesday, and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief was buried in his house, a rival group's leader claimed on Sunday.
Abdullah Mehsud Group commander Haji Turkistan Bhitani told several private TV channels that suicide attack trainer, Qari Hussain, was also seriously injured in the attack, APP reported. He claimed that Waliur Rehman and Hakeemullah, two contenders for Baitullah's position, had also been killed, along with several aides, during a clash over the leadership during a Taliban shura meeting. Bhitani claimed that differences between TTP members were intensifying, predicting the organisation would cease to exist within a month, Online reported. Haji Turkestan is also the guy who said Baitullah was a Zionist agent bought and paid for by the CIA. I think his lips fell off many years ago.
This article starring:
BAITULLAH MEHSUD
TTP
HAJI TURKISTAN BHITANI
Abdullah Mehsud Group
HAKIMULLAH
TTP
QARI HUSEIN
TTP
WALIUR REHMAN
TTP
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Mehsud made himself an irresistible target being surrounded by that many supporters. I guess it could be said that he "died of Aides".
#5
And the leader for the coveted Snark O' the Day™ Award is....
'Moose! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/10/2009 13:48 Comments ||
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#6
Thanks, TW, I needed a laugh today.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/10/2009 13:56 Comments ||
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#7
Ala PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > seems MEHSUD was struck at the family residence of his second wife wid whom he was trying to have a male heir [four daughters only from first wife]. He was also a DIABETIC and may had been getting a leg massage andor insulin shots for same when attacked???
#8
If Baitullah was the only one with the force of personality and organizational skills to hold the various tribes together, his death could lead to the collapse of the Pakistani Taliban, and a return to inter-tribal skirmishes and banditry.
#9
Diabetes can have secondary effects in blood flow to the extremities, JosephM. Perhaps there was a reason he thought Emir Mehsud of the beautiful hair needed to try for that conception with a pretty, new wife.
Troops arrested at least 12 Taliban, including one trained as a suicide bomber, in Swat on Monday, said the ISPR as security forces found the bodies of nine Taliban from various areas of the valley. "Troops conducted a search operation in Kalakot near Fatehpur, and arrested Habibullah, who admitted that he had been trained to be a suicide bomber," said the ISPR. Troops also conducted a search operation in Bartana, arresting five suspects. Meanwhile, sources said bullet-riddled bodies of six Taliban were found from Angaro Dharaiy on the outskirts of Mingora. Another body was found from Amankot area and two from Alam Gunj area.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Three rockets were fired in yet another attack on the most vulnerable Arbab Tapu post of Matani Police Station on Kohat Road here on Sunday. There was, however, no casualty or damage.
The attack on the post, located on the boundary between Peshawar and Darra Adamkhel tribal region, occurred late Sunday evening. The projectiles landed close to the police post but did not cause any casualty or damage.
Two days earlier, two rockets landed near the PAF Camp Badaber while another hit a house in Gulberg No 2, causing no damage or casualty. The Matani Police Station was also attacked with two rockets a couple of days back. The volatile police station is facing frequent attacks from Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency. Last month, three policemen were killed in mortar shelling at the Arbab Tapu police post. One of the deceased, Nooran Shah, was the expert of heavy weapons.
Eleven people were killed in a suicide attack on the FC camp near the Arbab Tapu post while two cops were killed in another suicide hit on Sra Khawra post of the Matani Police Station during the past two months. Numerous rocket attacks on police and FC establishments in the jurisdiction of the police station have been reported as terrorists fire rockets and mortars, targeting Matani police establishments almost thrice a week.
Meanwhile, a woman was killed and five minors sustained injuries when mortar shells fired by security forces hit a house in Noraq area in North Waziristan on Sunday. The sources said the shells hit the house of Shawal in the Noraq area, killing a woman and injuring five children.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] A would-be suicide bomber was arrested in the limits of Totalai Police Station on Saturday, official sources said. The sources said 16-year-old Khair Hussain was held in Kangalai Chengalai area. He is reported to be a resident of Shahpur area in district Shangla and had entered Buner. Khair Hussain, who was presented to reporters by the police, said he was trained in Qambar in Swat.
"We fled the area along our trainers after the military entered Qambar," the would-be bomber told police.
Brave, brave Lions of Islam!
He said he and his two other colleagues were trained for suicide mission. Police sources said the bomber would be handed over to the security forces for further investigation.
Meanwhile, gunship helicopters pounded various hideouts of the militants in Chagharzai area bordering Shangla district. However, there was no word on the human and material losses due to the bombing.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Two security personnel were martyred and four others severely injured when a remote detonated bomb went off in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, sources told Geo News Sunday. A convoy of security forces heading toward Miranshah from Bannu came under bomb attack at Mir Ali area. The security forces retaliated by attacking the hideouts of the assailants at Miranshah Road. Meanwhile, curfew has been imposed in different areas of North Waziristan including its headquarter Miranshah from Sunday morning for two days. No relaxation in curfew will be allowed during 48 hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Pakistan's Taliban appeared in turmoil yesterday after reports of a deadly shootout between contenders to replace the shadowy movement's leader, who is believed to have been killed in a US drone attack.
Intelligence officials said Friday that Baitullah Mehsud, who had a five-million-dollar bounty on his head, was killed in the US missile attack. Pakistan's government says it is still seeking confirmation.
There were then unconfirmed reports of a deadly shooting at a meeting of top Taliban commanders who convened to discuss the choice of a successor to Mehsud.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the reports from the meeting in the lawless region of South Waziristan were being investigated.
The commanders were reportedly Hakimullah Mehsud, a deputy to Baitullah Mehsud and the warlord's main spokesman, and Wali-ur Rehman, a senior commander in Mehsud's umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) movement.
"We have reports that there was fighting between Wali-ur Rehman and Hakimullah.... I said earlier that one of them is dead. I will not disclose the name. I am seeking verification," Malik told private Pakistani TV channel Geo.
"The (shooting) incident took place on Friday and I said in the National Assembly the same day that there was internal fighting between Wali-ur Rehman and Hakimullah," he said.
However, someone claiming to be Hakimullah Mehsud called up media outlets on Saturday to claim that Baitullah Mehsud was still alive. The two men are part of the same tribe.
Despite the apparent internal turmoil among the Taliban, security analyst Hasan Askari warned the threat was not over and said Pakistani authorities would have to re-establish control in the tribal areas.
"The current situation practically shows that the government also does not really have access to the area, which makes it difficult to verify the information that is coming through diverse sources," Askari said.
However, he said he believed that the TTP had "entered an uncertain phase due to a leadership crisis which may heighten internal conflict".
Baitullah Mehsud, branded by Washington as "a key al-Qaeda facilitator", had reportedly narrowly escaped previous attacks.
He was at the top of the Pakistani government's most-wanted list, having been implicated in the 2007 assassination of prime minister Benazir Bhutto, whose husband is now president.
He went on to lead a campaign of suicide bombings, assassinations and insurgent attacks that swept out of the border tribal areas into the Swat valley, threatening Islamabad.
The US Central Intelligence Agency, with the tacit cooperation of Islamabad, has carried out dozens of attacks in Pakistan using unmanned Predator and Reaper drones over the past year, but declines to discuss the strikes publicly.
Asked what would be the impact of Mehsud's death on the TTP, Askari said: "This can reduce its terrorist activities for the time being.
"But the overall threat of extremism and terrorism based in the tribal areas will continue to haunt the Pakistani state and society for some time."
Northwest Pakistan's anarchic tribal areas have been beset by violence since neighbouring Afghanistan's Taliban regime was toppled by the 2001 US-led invasion, prompting hundreds of fighters to flood the region.
The confusion of recent days betrayed the Pakistani government's lack of information about the region, according to another security analyst, Imtiaz Gul.
"The remoteness of the area and the absence of a government presence has resulted in controversy, both on whether Baitullah Mehsud has been killed and whether his commanders pulled out guns on each other," he told AFP.
At least 11 people have been killed in the latest violence in Taliban hotspots of northwest Pakistan, officials said.
A gunfight late Saturday between militants and supporters of a pro-government tribal elder killed six militants and two tribesmen in the Mohmand tribal region near the Afghan border, they said.
Separately, two civilians and a policeman were killed when militants ambushed a police convoy in the northwestern town of Bannu on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan's Taliban appeared in turmoil yesterday after reports of a deadly shootout between contenders to replace the shadowy movement's leader, who is believed to have been killed in a US drone attack.
The Animal Planet Channel had an interesting program on a pride of African lions. The females were being harassed by a pack of hyenas. Whenever a female made a kill, the pack would hound the lioness resulting in her chasing several of the hyenas, but allowing others to steal her kill. They kept this up with all the lionesses since the female lions were not strong or fast enough to run the hyenas down. Finally, the old man returned from his territorial jaunt and surveyed the situation as it unfolded. He identified the matriarch of the hyena clan and took right after it, swiftly running it down and breaking its neck. The effect was to throw the entire pack into pandemonium since it then had to sort out its hierarchical pecking order. This gave the female of the pride the time to hunt and provide for their cubs.
A Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander on Sunday denied reports of a shootout with a rival, saying the group had not held any meeting to decide on new leadership.
"Shoot-outs are not meetings, dood."
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday that Waliur Rehman had been involved in a shootout with a rival for the TTP leadership, Hakeemullah Mehsud, and that one of them had died. "There are no differences. There was no fighting. We both are alive, and there was no special shura meeting (to decide on a successor to Baitullah)," Waliur Rehman said by telephone. Hakeemullah would call journalists soon to prove he too was alive, Wali added.
Oh, goody! My telephone number is in the phone book. I shall await your call.
However, an intelligence officer claimed Wali was lying, saying some wounded had been shifted to North Waziristan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] A bloody feud that followed Baitullah Mehsud's death involving about three-dozen best-trained Taliban fighters early on Wednesday morning was actually a battle among various Taliban warlords to control Rs 2 billion Taliban funds and ownership of arms and ammunition worth about Rs 1 billion by grabbing the 'Emarat' (the leadership) of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to senior security officials and knowledgeable Taliban sources.
Such was the charisma and awe of 35-year-old, five feet two inches tall Baitullah Mehsud that none of his associates ever dared to challenge his leadership till an American missile strike blew his body apart on the first floor of the house of his second wife in South Waziristan last week.
An intelligence official said: "For about four years, some 3,500 trained fighters and dozens of suicide bombers blindly followed Baitullah as he was the centre of gravity of terrorism in Pakistan." The battle for the control of the Rs 3 billion Taliban treasure erupted within two days of Baitullah's death, when two of his most trusted lieutenants, Hakimullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman, claimed succession in an emergency meeting in Sararogha, where an armed clash left Hakimullah Mehsud dead, along with 40 Taliban fighters, on Saturday evening, a security official said.
An official account of this incident said Waliur Rehman got seriously wounded, while Qari Hussain, who ran the Taliban's suicide operations directly under Baitullah Mehsud, was also wounded with bullet injuries on both legs in the same incident.
Hakimullah Mehsud, Waliur Rehman and Qari Hussain were claimant to the 'Emarat' of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, that comes with a grip on funds of billions of rupees, huge cache of weapons and thousands of trained fighters and a close affinity with al-Qaeda and its leader Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who had chosen Baitullah Mehsud to lead the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
"There is a constant flow of tens of millions of dollars from foreign enemy sources that keeps the Taliban machine rolling," a senior security official said, adding: "Over the years Baitullah had built a cash reserve of about Rs 2 billion in addition to large cache of sophisticated weapons, ammunition and latest communication equipment."
Intelligence officials believe money for the Pakistani Taliban was either buried in various caves in the tribal areas or it was stashed in various bank accounts in Pakistan and in some Gulf states.
Baitullah Mehsud's coffers expanded so much last year that he sent one of his cousins to Dubai for cash investment in various real estate projects; subsequently millions of dollars were remitted for adventurous business proposals in Gulf states.
"It was not theft, Baitullah just wanted to bolster Taliban reserves because of growing expenses," said a Karachi-based Mehsud tribesman, who had associated with Baitullah in the past. Narrating another incident, the same source said when a renowned Taliban commander informed Baitullah about huge monetary offers he was receiving from Pakistani officials to surrender, Baitullah's answer to this man was: "Money is not with the government of Pakistan. Money is with me, tell me how much you want." Officials concede Baitullah's money power was such that it was difficult for them to buy his key commanders, as he conveniently outbid them in case of a couple of important commanders.
A senior police official in Peshawar said Baitullah was convinced by al-Qaeda and Pakistan's foreign enemies that South Waziristan would soon emerge as an independent "Islamic Emirate" and he would be declared as its first Amir.
Intelligence accounts speak of smooth flow of cash to Baitullah from enemy agents, posing as wealthy and highly motivated Arab Muslims, who had established direct connection with the reclusive Taliban commander.
The Taliban sources close to Baitullah Mehsud say a strong cash flow was his most crucial need because his top priority remained an uninterrupted payment of monthly salaries to the families of each of his fighters. Baitullah was supervising a smooth system of cash deliveries ranging from Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 at the doorsteps of his fighters all across Pakistan. Sustenance allowance reached the families of those killed in action.
"Cash pipelines emanating from RAW and Afghan secret services headquarters were terminating in Baitullah-ran accounts, besides cash and weapons infusion," intelligence officials believed. They estimate Baitullah was paying about Rs600 million in salaries for his fighters every year.
While intelligence agencies see a direct hand of Indian and Afghan secret agencies in financing terror outfits in Pakistan, US officials have consistently accused wealthy individuals in unnamed Gulf countries of providing finances to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistani and Taliban sources say Maulana Ikramuddin, the man who gave his young daughter to Baitullah Mehsud in marriage last year, was the custodian of some of the key financial secrets of Baitullah Mehsud. Ikramuddin was not at home when the US missile struck his residence, killing Baitullah and about 40 of his bodyguards.
Intelligence officials watched with keen interest that when Hakimullah Mehsud and Waliur Rehman groups clashed in Sararogha, each one of them tried to kidnap Ikramuddin, who was there to arrange a negotiated succession agreement under his umbrella. Ikramuddin, an official source said, was taken away by injured Waliur Rehman.
While foreign cash inflows remained an important source of the Taliban funding, irrefutable evidence showed that Baitullah also ran strong syndicate of select Mehsud tribesmen in Karachi and some Jihadi elements of southern Punjab who were assigned to provide cash injection through bank robberies and kidnappings for ransom.
In one incident two years ago, two private security guards, both Mehsud tribesmen and close associates of Baitullah Mehsud, looted Rs140 million from a foreign exchange company in Karachi. The investigation led the trail to Baitullah Mehsud, who was later approached by a delegation of top Islamic scholars of Karachi for the return of the money. Baitullah obliged the Ulema by returning Rs16.5 million from the looted Rs140 million. The matter is in full knowledge of JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who had organised the Scholars' meeting with Baitullah Mehsud.
Several important cases of kidnappings for ransom in Karachi and Lahore over the last two years and a majority of kidnappings for ransom cases reported in Peshawar in the past two years were settled when the Taliban or their contacts were paid huge ransoms.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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TWO truck bombs targeting a tiny sect in a village in northern Iraq and a spate of bloody bombings in Baghdad killed at least 47 people today and wounded more than 250, officials said.
In the deadliest single attack, two booby-trapped lorries exploded before dawn in the village of Khaznah, east of the restive northern Iraqi city of Mosul, leaving 28 people dead and 155 wounded. The massive blasts levelled 35 houses and gouged deep craters into the ground of the prosperous village of 3000, home to members of the small Shabak community, a sect of Kurdish origin.
Falah Ridha, a 23-year-old nurse wounded in the attack, said he was the only survivor of 12 people in his family home.
"Eleven people in my family were killed when their house collapsed. All of them woke up after the first bomb, but the second bomb was very close to my house, it was like an earthquake,'' he said. "No one else escaped, just me.''
Mohammed Kadhem said: "I was sleeping on the roof and I woke up as if there was an earthquake. After that I saw a plume of smoke and dust spreading everywhere. A minute later another bomb went off, knocking me off the roof onto the ground. I was struck unconscious by shrapnel and stones,'' he said.
In Baghdad, two bombs went off as day labourers were gathering in the early morning looking for jobs, police and the interior ministry said. The first bomb, hidden inside a bag of cement, exploded at Hay al-Amel in the west of the capital, killing seven people and injuring 46.
The second attack, a car bomb in Shurta Arbaa in the north of the city, killed nine people and wounded 36 others.
A third bombing at a market in the southern suburb of Saidiyah killed three people and wounded 14.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki at a meeting with army commanders praised efforts in fighting insurgents but said the struggle was ongoing.
Posted by: tipper ||
08/10/2009 12:56 ||
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#1
trying very hard to stir up a civil war again. Mosul seems like the hornet's nest
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/10/2009 15:17 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Muslim v Muslim violence has a 1400 year life. That is an Iraqi problem, and both Shiites and Sunnis have settled that ethnic cleansing is the solution. We can't police that.
Iraqi authorities arrested a British contractor Sunday over the shooting deaths of two co-workers in Baghdad's protected Green Zone. The suspected gunman could be the first Westerner to face an Iraqi trial on murder charges since a security pact lifted the immunity that had been enjoyed by foreign contractors for most of the war.
The gunman shot his colleagues -- one British and one Australian -- during a quarrel, then he wounded an Iraqi while trying to flee their compound inside the vast area that is sealed off from the rest of the capital, Iraqi officials said. "It started as a squabble," Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi told the Associated Press. "The suspect is facing a premeditated murder charge. The matter is now in the hands of Iraqi justice." He said the suspect was being held at an Iraqi police station in the Green Zone.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The matter is now in the hands of Iraqi justice
Two mortar shells fired by Gaza gunmen landed Sunday evening near the Erez Crossing just yards away from ambulances that were transferring a Palestinian heart patient to Israel for treatment. No one was injured in the attack. The ambulances were parked back-to-back inside the crossing as the mortars landed. Sick Palestinians cross almost daily into Israel for treatment in Israeli and overseas hospitals.
Earlier in the day, a Kassam rocket struck an open field near Sedot Negev. "We are again witness to the way terror groups misuse the humanitarian services Israel offers the residents of the Gaza Strip," said Col. Moshe Levy, head of the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration, based near the Erez Crossing. "This type of attack, against a crossing that is used by the Palestinian civilian population, is first and foremost an attack on the weakest Palestinians - those who require medical treatments outside of Gaza."
Following Sunday morning's Kassam attack, opposition leader Tzipi Livni said that Israel must respond to every rocket. Speaking on a tour of Beersheba with Kadima faction members on Sunday afternoon, Livni said Israel must not "collect Kassams" before embarking on a military operation.
The last Kassam attack was in mid-July, when a rocket also struck the Sdot Negev region. Since Operation Cast Lead, around 180 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed to respond to any rocket fire from the Strip, saying in late July, "Our policy is that we are not prepared to accept rocket and missile fire on Israeli territory. For every rocket, before the elections [in February] there may not have been a response, but that has not been the case since the elections. This was and will remain our policy."
Israel has recently conducted successful tests of the Iron Dome missile defense system. The system, under development by Rafael Defense Systems, is slated to become operational sometime in 2010 and is reportedly capable of intercepting short-range Kassam and Katyusha rockets fired by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hizbullah in southern Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Sick Palestinians cross almost daily into Israel for treatment in Israeli and overseas hospitals.
So they can become well and fire mortars themselves.
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Forensic tests including on DNA, finger prints and hair of a man shot dead by Indonesian police during a raid targeting Noordin Mohammad Top do not match the militant, a source close to the investigation said on Monday. Bummer.
Malaysian-born Top is a prime suspect in last month's near simultaneous suicide attacks on Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels that killed nine people and wounded 53. Police shot dead a man thought to be Top after an 18-hour siege on a farmhouse in rice fields in Central Java on Saturday, but initial confidence it was Top appears to be fading.
"Sure, today at 10 o'clock the tests were already completed," said the source from police headquarters, who spoke on condition he was not named. "Twelve criteria for supporting evidence have been checked including DNA, finger prints, hair and so on," "According to my friends, they don't match," said the source, adding that blood samples were taken from Top's son in Riau province.
The source said police could officially announce the results in two to three days.
Police will also check on a scar on Top's left eye brow and particular tooth pattern based on information from him Malaysian family, the source said. A police spokesman could not immediately be reached, but a number of analysts and other sources quoted in the media have also denied that the dead man is Top.
"From the photos of the head of the body that was circulating in the Internet as well as some other information I can't quote the sources, we have no idea who it was," Sidney Jones, an expert on Islamic militants at the International Crisis Group, said on Sunday. Fingerprints, facial features and the body posture of the man also did not match, the Jakarta Globe newspaper quoted an unnamed source from the anti-terrorism unit Detachment 88 as saying.
Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert based in Singapore, also said he did not believe Top is dead and said it was "was a mistaken identity". "There are people in detention who can surely identify Noordin Mohammad Top," he said.
Top, who formed a violent wing of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant network, is blamed for a series of attacks including on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and in Bali in 2005.
Andi Widjajanto, a security expert at the University of Indonesia, said he believed the man killed in Central Java had been part of Noordin's group. "I don't know who it was, but I'm sure the man was someone close to (Top's) group, and he had the loyalty to deviate attention by shouting from inside that he identified himself as Noordin Top," he said, referring to a media report that the man in the house had shouted out during the siege claiming to be Top.
The weekend raids in Central Java and Bekasi near Jakarta resulted in three suspects being killed, five arrested and half-a-tonne of explosives seized, which police said was supposed to be used in a suicide car bomb attack on the home of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Not a total failure, there's always next time.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/10/2009 12:14 ||
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The Kahrizak prison controversy lingers on as a senior lawmaker blames the Iranian Police Chief for the sordid treatment of election protestors.
Hamid-Reza Katouzian, a member of the Principlist faction that holds the majority of seats in the Parliament (Majlis), said Wednesday that Iran's Police Chief, Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, is responsible for the death and abuse of detained opposition demonstrators in Kahrizak.
"Unfortunately, the gross misconduct of Kahrizak officials have resulted in the murder of scores of young people," said Katouzian. "The Iranian Police Chief is duty bound to provide a clear explanation in this regard."
Katouzian was referring to the mysterious death case of Mohammad Kamrani and Mohsen Ruholamini -- both of whom were arrested during post-election protests and died while in detention.
The death of Ruholamini, whose father Abdul-Hossein is a prominent Iranian scientist close to the country's political elite, has sparked an outcry within the Parliament.
Ahmadi-Moqaddam said Sunday that Ruholamini was not murdered, but died of "a deadly virus infection".
Katouzian was quick to reject the statement out of hand, and said there was indisputable evidence that suggested the 25-year-old was beaten to death.
"Mr. Ruholamini would like to see the murderer of his son to face justice. Whoever killed Mohsen has committed first-degree murder and should be punished accordingly," he said.
Katouzian said the Police Chief's response to the murder case is not enough, and added, "Police officials should take necessary measures towards the gross prisoner abuse in Kahrizak."
Located south of Tehran, Kahrizak became a scene of nagging controversy after grim reports surfaced about the mysterious death of some of the inmates.
According to eyewitness accounts, Kahrizak was a 'substandard detention center' where inmates were physically abused by their wardens.
The prison was subsequently ordered shut by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei two weeks ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/10/2009 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.
[Quqnoos] Three Afghan soldiers and two intelligent agents were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Zabul province on Sunday, officials said The Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blew up as the Afghan forces were trying to neutralise it in Shahjoy, a remote district in the restive Afghan province, deputy to provincial Police Chief, Ghulam Jilani Farahi, told Quqnoos. The incident occurred at about 9:00am on Sunday in Qara Bagho, a village of Zabul, where Taliban militant are present at large groups. 
[Bangla Daily Star] A mugger was killed and two people including a woman sustained bullet wounds in a shootout between police and the muggers yesterday in the capital's Pallabi area.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] The police arrested two men during raids in Totalai area of Buner district on Sunday, claiming that they were important militant commanders.
[Dawn] At least nine militants and three peace committee members have been killed in exchange of fire between militants and peace committee members in Mohmand Agency. 
TWO truck bombs targeting a tiny sect in a village in northern Iraq and a spate of bloody bombings in Baghdad killed at least 47 people today and wounded more than 250, officials said.
Iraqi authorities arrested a British contractor Sunday over the shooting deaths of two co-workers in Baghdad's protected Green Zone. The suspected gunman could be the first Westerner to face an Iraqi trial on murder charges since a security pact lifted the immunity that had been enjoyed by foreign contractors for most of the war. 
Two mortar shells fired by Gaza gunmen landed Sunday evening near the Erez Crossing just yards away from ambulances that were transferring a Palestinian heart patient to Israel for treatment. No one was injured in the attack. The ambulances were parked back-to-back inside the crossing as the mortars landed. Sick Palestinians cross almost daily into Israel for treatment in Israeli and overseas hospitals. 
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Forensic tests including on DNA, finger prints and hair of a man shot dead by Indonesian police during a raid targeting Noordin Mohammad Top do not match the militant, a source close to the investigation said on Monday.
