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Mustafa al-Yazid reported titzup
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Betty May Adams aka Julia Adams aka Julie Adams

Cantilever Demo


Do Not Open Til Christmas

Daily Gam Shot

Pile Driver

Help I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up

Lock n Load

Fred From The Rantburg Lagoon

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/22/2009 9:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Do Not Open Til Christmas

I suppose peeking is OK, thought.
Posted by: gorb || 10/22/2009 9:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Ah, yes. The babe from this classic:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/
Posted by: mojo || 10/22/2009 13:40 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Brit UN nuclear expert may have been murdered
A British nuclear energy expert who plunged 40 metres to his death at the United Nations' (UN) building in Vienna may have been murdered, police said today (Thurs).
Wait! Wait! I seen this movie!
Timothy Hampton died on the spot on Tuesday after falling from a 17th floor window at the Vienna International Centre (VIC) - one of the UN's three headquarters.

The UN confirmed the death of the 47-year-old -- who was involved in disarmament negotiations with Iran as a member of the UN's Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) -- but refused to give any further information on the circumstances of the fatality.
Guess those negotiations are getting a bit.....difficult
A police spokesman told the Austrian Times today that investigators had not ruled out murder as no suicide note has been found. "Whenever there is a case where others may have been involved we will investigate all the possible scenarios. Murder is one possibility, suicide another," the spokesman said. He added investigators were waiting for the result of an autopsy.
"Tell me Dr. Quincy, what would you say is the cause of death?"
"Gravity."

UN staff told the Austrian Times yesterday that there had been a similar case just recently in which an employee died when he fell from a similar height at the landmark buildings in Vienna-Donaustadt.
"Happens all the time, nothing to see here, move along."
Where's OHSA when you really need them?
Posted by: || 10/22/2009 15:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Didn't something similar happen to somebody's mother in Cyprus a few years ago, tied into an unrelated UN corruption scandal?

Is it possible that there's just some politically unmotivated UN-employed serial killer with a predilection for defenestration?
Posted by: Mitch H. || 10/22/2009 17:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Somebody call Brad Thor. He's got a new script.
Posted by: Maggie Ebbuter2991 || 10/22/2009 18:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Shades of the late David Kelly from the United Nations Special Commission.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/22/2009 18:47 Comments || Top||

#4  It is of course not illegal to throw someone out of a window on the designated territory of the United Nations, because the UN has no laws on this or any other matter.

So I don't see what all the fuss is about.
Posted by: phil_b || 10/22/2009 19:25 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought this sort of thing only happened in Prague.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 10/22/2009 22:24 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm just amazed the windows open on a skyscraper.
Posted by: gromky || 10/22/2009 23:20 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Brits in heavy contact with Taliban - F15 arrives and that's all there is to that.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/22/2009 11:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nice to see the bit at the end.

You did have a reputation since WW2 of bombing both sides (partly due to the fact you're the only one in that space).

It is disappointing that it takes 3 hours to call in an air-strike. Couldn't a UAV handle simple ground support?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 10/22/2009 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2  1. Prepare aircraft for mission
1A Check to see if mission is within new ROE
2. Transit time from Bagram to S. Afghanistan (300+ miles)
2A Check to see if mission is within new ROE
3. Identify target
3A Check to see if mission is within new ROE
4. Get final clearance to attack
4A Check to see if mission is within new ROE
5. Drop Bomb

Elapsed time 3 hours
Do Brits have armed UAVs?
Where are Brit air assets from Kandahar?
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/22/2009 13:44 Comments || Top||

#3  ...
5B. Hemming, hawing, legalistic backtracking and ass-covering
6. Show trials
Posted by: SteveS || 10/22/2009 13:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Blown to hell in a fine red mist.
Posted by: Icerigger || 10/22/2009 15:31 Comments || Top||

#5  GolfBravo,
You forgot to mention it takes 20 minutes to transit to the battlespace, 10 minutes to find and kill the enemy, and 2 1/2 hours for the lawyers to haggle over the ROE. (Don't forget they get paid by the hour!)

Posted by: Frozen Al || 10/22/2009 16:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Yes we do have UAV but a laughable amount and limited availability - and well as regards air support its the same story , every year defence spending is cut making ground troop vunerability greater

Not too good for the nerves having 3 hour firefight, but im im honest the enemy didnt have 50 cal or the high ground, or were organised in a way anything close to us . They got penned in a screwed .
Posted by: Oscar || 10/22/2009 17:12 Comments || Top||

#7  Nice film.
Read Kipling's "Frontier Arithmetic"
Posted by: Richard Aubrey || 10/22/2009 19:12 Comments || Top||

#8  "They got penned in and screwed"

Without benefit of o***, I presume, Oscar. :-D

You write like you're in the British military - welcome!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/22/2009 20:08 Comments || Top||


Obama's New ROE: Lower Morale, Higher Casulties in Afghan War
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/22/2009 11:26 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any surprises on this?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 10/22/2009 12:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Now we just need a few self-immolating Buddhist monks and a moratorium on military action in Pakistan.
Posted by: Iblis || 10/22/2009 13:44 Comments || Top||

#3  What we really need is for 2 million Vietnam vets to march on Washington and demand that Barry either support the troops or resign. Then do the same thing for Slow Joe Biden, Hillary "snake-oil" Clinton, John "Surrender" Kerry, Jack "earmarks" Murtha, Chris "VIP" Dodd, Nancy "I'm so stupid I'm cute" Pelosi, Stenny "commerce clause" Hoyer, and another couple of dozen members of the not-so-exclusive group, Idiots in Congress.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 10/22/2009 16:30 Comments || Top||

#4  OP, I'm a Viet Nam era veteran (I was lucky and didn't go there). I will happily join any march on Washington.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 10/22/2009 18:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Obama can't be expected to concentrate on two wars at once. The war in Afghanistan will just have to take a back seat to the war on Fox News.
Posted by: DMFD || 10/22/2009 19:40 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Pirates hijack carrier with 26 crew
PIRATES have hijacked a Panamanian-flagged carrier in waters off Somalia, taking 26 crew hostage, almost all of them Indian, a NATO spokeswoman said.

"The MV Al Khaliq, a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier, has been hijacked early this morning off Somalia," said a spokeswoman for NATO's anti-piracy mission in London.

"There were 26 crew on board, 24 of whom are Indian and two Burmese."

A second carrier, the Italian-flagged Jolly Rosso, also came under fire from pirates north of the Seychelles, she said.
Posted by: Oztralian || 10/22/2009 07:12 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hoist the Jolly Roger and steal the Jolly Rosso?
Posted by: gromky || 10/22/2009 10:05 Comments || Top||

#2  There's a slight difference between "carrier" and "bulk carrier", guys.
Posted by: mojo || 10/22/2009 12:14 Comments || Top||

#3  The pirate problem is so easily fixed yet so embarrassingly unsolvable.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 10/22/2009 12:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Napalm their home ports and all within.
Problem solved.
Posted by: 3dc || 10/22/2009 14:13 Comments || Top||

#5  ARCLIGHT, 3dc, not napalm. Napalm only kills those in the immediate vicinity. If you're within three miles of a properly-organized ARCLIGHT strike, your brain turns to mush and leaks out your ruptured eardrums. Since the current BUFFS can't carry the load of the old "D" models, we'd need to use six instead of three. Fly 'em in a double-vee formation, and let 'em have at it. Go in with Marines later to make sure there's nothing left to haggle over, and no witnesses. Give the Puntland government 24 hours to surrender, or we'll do the same thing to their capital, Borasso. Then carry through if they don't. Threaten to do the same to any town where Al-Shabaab has even one member present, then stand back and watch the "fun".
Posted by: Old Patriot || 10/22/2009 16:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Talk about misleading titles...
Posted by: Bisa || 10/22/2009 19:01 Comments || Top||


Islamists order Somali radio stations to shut down
A powerful Islamist group linked to al-Qaida on Wednesday ordered two radio stations in southwestern Somalia to stop broadcasts indefinitely.

Al-Shabab delivered letters to Jubba and Warsan Radio stations early Wednesday ordering the shut down without giving any reasons, said Mohamed Adawe, a journalist with Jubba Radio.

Another Jubba Radio journalist, Abdikarin Jakarta, said the letters threatened the stations with unspecified action if they disobeyed the closure orders.

"We do not know of anything that could have lead to the closure," Adawe said.

In recent months al-Shabab asked the stations to stop playing music, which they did, Adawe said. Then al-Shabab complained about programs the stations aired that were generated by Voice of America and the United Nation's Integrated Regional Information Networks that included music, he said.

The stations' managers had convinced al-Shabab they have no control over the programs and the Islamist group allowed them to continue airing them, he said.

Al-Shabab spokesman Sheik Hassan Yaqub Ali declined to comment on the closures.

The Somali Media Women Association condemned the shut down, asking al-Shabab to allow the radio stations to resume broadcasts.

Al-Shabab, which has foreign fighters in its ranks, is seeking to overthrow the fragile U.N.-backed government in the capital, Mogadishu. It controls much of southern Somalia where it imposes a strict form of Islam.

Somalia is one of the most dangerous places for the media to work in. At least five journalists have been gunned down by unknown assailants this year. The country's fledgling police force has little authority to investigate such attacks because the government only controls a few blocks of Mogadishu with the help of around 5,000 African Union peacekeepers.

The Horn of Africa nation has not had an effective central government since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The warlords then turned on each other, plunging Somalia into anarchy and chaos.

Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Testing of the Fairness Doctrine, perhaps??
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/22/2009 0:02 Comments || Top||

#2  The Mog Morning Zoo™ shut down? Oh noes!
Posted by: Frank G || 10/22/2009 6:51 Comments || Top||

#3  Somali Media Women Association, soon to be replaced by the Somali Funeral Service Association.
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 10/22/2009 18:40 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Algeria dismantles terrorist car-jacking group
[Maghrebia] Members of an alleged terrorist car-jacking ring were arraigned in an Algiers court on Tuesday (October 20th), Echorouk reported. Investigators say the cell members, including one woman, allegedly stole cars at gunpoint to support terrorists in mountain hideouts near Bordj Elkifane.
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Egypt foils attempt to hijack flight from Turkey
[Al Arabiya Latest] Air marshalls foiled an attempt by a Sudanese passenger to hijack an EgyptAir flight from Istanbul to Cairo on Wednesday and divert it to Jerusalem,
To Jerusalem?!? My boggle just broke.
an Egyptian security official said. Minutes after take-off, the passenger took hold of a knife provided with meals for first-class passengers and threatened crew, the official said.
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To Jerusalem?!? My boggle just broke.

No, think of the damage they could cause flying a jet into something very prominent AKA 9-11.

I hope the perp gets the death sentence.
Posted by: Redneck jim || 10/22/2009 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  we are all equal when first class will have to get plastic.

jk. Good work to those who prevented the attack!
Posted by: Jumbo Slinerong5015 || 10/22/2009 0:36 Comments || Top||

#3  I GOT A BUTTER KNIFE AND I KNOW HOW TO USE IT!
Posted by: ed || 10/22/2009 0:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Did they laugh at him as they disarmed and beat him?
Posted by: mojo || 10/22/2009 12:15 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemeni jets bomb residential areas: Houthis
[Iran Press TV Latest] Houthi fighters say Yemeni war planes have carried out attacks on a number of civilian areas in Saada province.

According to a statement by the Shia resistance movement, Yemeni fighter jets pounded Maran town and another village on Tuesday, as the Yemeni military continued its offensive against the Houthi fighters in the north for a tenth consecutive week.

A market in the city of Razeh was also hit by airstrikes. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from Tuesday's aerial attacks.

The fighters have repeatedly accused the army of disrespecting human values by attacking civilian areas. They have also accused the army of arresting and mistreating villagers who fail to cooperate with the government against the resistance movement.

The Houthis also claimed to have deterred a military attack in Malaheed district on Tuesday, and forced government troops to retreat after inflicting heavy losses on them.

The military offensive against the Houthi fighters in the north, launched on August 11, has so far left hundreds of people, mostly civilians, dead. It has also displaced tens of thousands of civilians, forcing them to live in refugee camps.
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The roads in Saada are lined with parched remains and body parts.

Appearantly the war on the Shia is about to become a big success.

One thing I find odd is they never say where the refugees are going. Ponderous.
Posted by: newc || 10/22/2009 9:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Leave it to Iran Press TV to complain about the bombing of civilians when said civilians are Shiites.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/22/2009 12:21 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
AL lawmaker Taposh escapes bomb attack
Assailants hurled a bomb at ruling Awami League lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh's car in front of his law chamber at Motijheel last night leaving at least 13 people injured. MP Taposh survived the incident.

Nur-e-Alam, personal secretary to Taposh, said, "The lawmaker survived the incident with minor injuries. He managed to get away from the scene on the damaged car and went directly to the prime minister's Jamuna residence on Minto Road."

He said as the MP's car started, the bomb exploded with a deafening sound leaving at least 13, including security guards of the MP's chamber building, injured and several other cars damaged. Taposh's car was also severely damage with the windshield shattered.

Lawmaker Taposh is the eldest son of late Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni, cousin of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and founder of Juba League.

Witness and victim of the incident Salahuddin Panna, Gopalganj district Awami League leader, said as the car started around 8:30pm there was a huge explosion and smoke was all over. Later he found many lying injured.

Another witnesses said right after the explosion people surrounded the lawmaker while others attended the injured.

The injured were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) right away.

Md Ibrahim Khalil, medical officer of DMCH, said no splinter was found in the x-ray reports of the injured. But while dressing, small pinhead-size injuries from fragments of glass were found on the injured people.

Hospital sources said Rashud Al Mamun, Juba League activist of Gopalganj, had to be shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) as his injuries were serious. Condition of two other injured -- Kamal Hyder and Abdul Halim -- is also serious and may also be shifted to CMH.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion, Criminal Investigation Department and other law enforcement agencies rushed to the spot and blocked the Dainik Bangla intersection-Shapla Chattar road.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Khandaker Mahid Uddin of Motijheel zone told The Daily Star that though the lawmaker was safe some people were injured in the explosion.

The DC said they were yet to identify the criminals and ascertain the motive behind the attack.

Special Superintendent of Special Branch (SB) of Police Md Mahbubur Rahman after his preliminary investigation said the bomb was locally-made.

Inspector General of Police Nur Mohammad and Director General of Directorate General of Health Shah Monir Hossain, among others, visited the hospital and enquired about treatment of the injured.

Meanwhile, leaders and activists of different fronts of Awami League brought out precessions chanting anti-Jamaat-e-Islami slogans at Motijheel and Dhaka University and in the other parts of the city.

Bangladesh Chhatra League announced demonstrations in all educational institutions across the country at 11:00am while Juba League at Bangabandhu Avenue today at 3:00pm.
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Pakistan hits Taliban, urges NATO to seal border
[Al Arabiya Latest] Pakistani helicopter gunships attacked Taliban bases near the Afghan border on Wednesday as the army urged NATO forces to seal the frontier to stem cross-border movement of militants.

Pakistani forces launched an offensive to wrest control of the lawless South Waziristan region on Saturday after militants rocked the country with a string of bomb and suicide attacks in recent weeks, killing more than 150 people.

Six people were killed in two suicide bomb attacks at the International Islamic University in the capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, prompting authorities to order the closure of educational institutions across the country.

Remote and rugged South Waziristan, with its rocky mountains and patchy forests cut through by dry creeks and ravines, is a global hub for militants. The offensive is being closely followed by the United States and other powers embroiled in Afghanistan.

The government forces initially faced light resistance but fighting intensified as soldiers approached the militants' main sanctuaries in the mountains.

Government forces attacked the militant strongholds of Makeen and Ladha with helicopter gunships and artillery on Wednesday, security officials said. Eight soldiers wounded in overnight fighting were evacuated to the nearby town of Dera Ismail Khan.

Fighting for control of the lawless area is seen a major test of the government's ability to tackle increasingly brazen insurgents who have carried out daring attacks across Pakistan, including on the army headquarters.

As government forces pressed ahead with the Waziristan offensive, the military called on the NATO troops in Afghanistan to seal the border "to prevent cross-border movement and flow of weapons."

Pakistan Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) Chairman General Tariq Majid made the call during talks with Britain's Chief of Defense Staff, Sir Jock Stirrup.

Pakistani newspapers have in recent days reported that NATO forces had abandoned border posts opposite South Waziristan, raising the possibility of Afghan Taliban coming to help their Pakistani comrades, or of Pakistani Taliban fleeing.

Majid called for "synchronization of effort on both sides and sharing of real-time intelligence with reference to the ongoing operations," an army statement issued late on Tuesday said.

The army says 90 militants and 13 soldiers have been killed since the offensive was launched on Saturday but there was no independent confirmation of those tolls.

About 28,000 soldiers are battling an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban, including about 1,000 tough Uzbek fighters and some Arab al-Qaeda members. More than 100,000 civilians have fled from South Waziristan, with about 32,000 of them leaving since Oct. 13, the United Nations said. Up to 200,000 people could flee, the army says.
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  ION TOPIX > PHILIPPINES > ESTRADA WANTS ALL-OUT WAR AGZ INSURGENTS IN PHILIPPINES. Any MilTerr, any Group, includ but not limited to MILF.

SAME > NEW LEADERS READY TO TAKE OVER MILF STRUGGLE + PHILIPPINE REBELS WARN OF ALL-OUT ANARCHY/WAR IFF PEACE TALKS FAIL + REBELS ASK FOR US HELP IN PEACE TALKS WITH MANILA GOVT.

IIUC, Estrada believes its the only way MANILA = PHILIPPINES can decisively end any and all of its insurgencies [Muslim, Commie, ethnic] quickly and move forward in national affairs.

COMPARE WID WMF/ CHIN MIL FORUMS-BLOGS = Many CHIN Netters believe that, REGARDLESS OF WHERE CHINA FINDS ITSELF IN CONFLICT, CHINA should prepare to MILITARILY FIGHT SEVERAL REGIONAL WARS OR CONFLICTS AT SAME TIME [Taiwan, North-SOuth Korea, UIghurs, INDIA, JAPAN, RUSSIAN FAR EAST, CHINA SEAS ISLANDS.....@etc. getting the US-NATO out of CENTRAL-EAST ASIA], while CHINA is still strong and has the MANPOWER + NUCWEAPS TO DO IT, + while BULK OF [non-US] ENEMIES ARE STILL RELATIVELY WEAK VEE CHINA. TIME + TECHS + ONGOING NATION(S), REGIONAL MODERNIZATION, etc, in not on China's side???

YEAR 2020-AND-AFTERWARDS > SUPERPOWER-WANNABE CHINA may find it increasingly difficult to protect or assert its geopol interests-influence, espec given NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION TO THE THIRD WORLD, NON-ALIGNED NATIONS, + espec NUCLEAR ISLAMISM/MILITANCY(S)???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/22/2009 0:34 Comments || Top||

#2  About 28,000 soldiers are battling an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban

Say *what*? That's a rotten force ratio for an assault into ugly terrain. The Pakistani military supposedly has 600k active-duty, with another 500k reserves. Why the hell aren't they calling up reserves & concentrating more formations on this crap? They can secure their *own* goddamn border with that sort of theoretical manpower. NATO has its own hot war in the actual heartland of Afghanistan, and needs to concentrate its resources on securing the Helmand River and other population centers.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 10/22/2009 8:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Pakistani helicopter gunships attacked Taliban bases near the Afghan border on Wednesday as the army urged NATO forces to seal the frontier to stem cross-border movement of militants.

What goes around comes around. Gee, who's been asking the Paks for the last seven plus years to do the same? /rhet question.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/22/2009 9:01 Comments || Top||

#4  It's good to see that the army is hitting them hard enough that it's attracting forces from across the border. I'd say that's good news. Anytime the Taliban goes up against any kind of regular troops they get smashed. Things are going swimmingly.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 10/22/2009 12:24 Comments || Top||


Top Kashmiri militant killed: Indian army
[Dawn] Indian soldiers shot dead three suspected militants, including a wanted commander, on Wednesday during a clash in revolt-hit Indian-administered Kashmir, the army said.

The militants were killed in the mountainous Mahore area, about 180 kilometres south of Srinagar, army spokesman Biplab Nath told AFP.

'One of the slain militants was a senior commander of Hizbul Mujahideen,' the spokesman said, referring to the region's most powerful group fighting to merge Indian-administered Kashmir with Pakistan.

He identified the slain commander as Maqsood Bhat, who had headed a list of 'most wanted' militants in the area.

Militants have been waging an insurgency since 1989 against India's rule of the region in a conflict that has left more than 47,000 people dead.

Despite the latest deaths, violence in the region has declined sharply since India and Pakistan, whose territorial dispute over Kashmir has triggered two wars, embarked on a peace process in 2004.

Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin


WFP offices closed, bikes banned in Swat
[Geo News] The offices of World Food Program have once again been shut down in view of security apprehensions, Geo News reported Wednesday. The people are facing hardships owing to the closure of WFP offices across the Swat area. Several suspected people have been arrested during the ongoing search operation in Swat. An important militant leader Iqbal alias Islam was killed in clash in Chaarbagh area of Paligram. According to Swat Media Centre, the motorcycling has been banned in the entire district. Also the educational institutions have been closed down in Swat like other cities in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


18 Imams among 600 Afghanis detained in Mardan
[Geo News] Police has apprehended 18 Imams (prayer leaders) among 600 illegal Afghani immigrants residing in Mardan. Deputy inspector police Mardan region, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah told journalists on Wednesday that detained illegal Afghanis have been sent to jail. He also said that a grand operation against criminal elements in Mardan and Swabi will start from October 25. Twenty police teams have been specially formed for this operation. He said that fool-proof security arrangements have been made to prevent terrorism in Mardan.
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Bomb blast kills 5 terrorists in SWA
[Geo News] An explosion killed five terrorists in a house located at Spalga locality in South Waziristan. According to intelligence agencies, suicide bombers were preparing a vehicle with explosives for carrying out suicide attack in a house owned by a man named Gharib Nawaz. A powerful blast suddenly went off, bringing down the house where five foreigners were present, sources said. In post explosion scenario, terrorist's associates removed bodies of 5 deceased terrorists to an unknown place.
This is the kaboom that might have dispatched Mustafa al-Yazdi if the dronezap didn't get him.
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  One can hope this was an application of a new 'detonation ray' weapon and not a case of simple ineptitude.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/22/2009 6:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Goat Chili?
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/22/2009 6:57 Comments || Top||


Militants recapture strategic town in S Waziristan
Pro-Taliban militants have hit back at the Pakistani army and recaptured a strategic town as the battle between insurgents and government troops intensifies in South Waziristan.

On Monday, the army captured the small town of Kotkai, the birthplace of Pakistani militant chief Hakimullah Mehsud, who has attacked high-profile targets across the country over the past few weeks.

But security officials told the Reuters news agency that militants had struck back on Tuesday and retaken Kotkai. However, the Pakistani army still controlls the hills surrounding the town.

The town is also the hometown of Qari Hussain Mehsud, a senior militant commander who also trains teenagers to become suicide bombers.

Military sources say 90 insurgents and 13 troops have been killed since the long-awaited risky offensive began on Saturday.

Nearly 30,000 army soldiers have been deployed to fight against the militants based in the northwestern tribal area of South Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan.

A United Nations report said the prospect of the attacks in Waziristan had prompted 80,000 people to flee the area while the raids are expected to make another 170,000 homeless,

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the insurgents had long campaigned to destabilize the South Asian country. "We are in a state of war. They will make every effort to destabilize the country."
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  This is when the Pakis bring in the gunships, right? That's what John Wayne did.
Posted by: ed || 10/22/2009 0:39 Comments || Top||

#2  With the surrounding hills held by the army it sounds like they may be trapped, but then I'm always hopeful.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 10/22/2009 12:15 Comments || Top||


Abu al-Masri reported dronezapped
[Dawn] In the first drone strikes since the Pakistan military began its operation in South Waziristan a top al-Qaeda operative Abu Al-Masri is reported to have been killed in a strike from a US unmanned aircraft. However, conflicting reports earlier suggested that Al-Masri may have been killed preparing suicide jackets in the village of Spalga.
"You can't kill me, I'm already dead!"
Known as Mustafa Al-Yazid, he was urported to have links with Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi, whom US authorities arrested in an alleged plot to use homemade backpack bombs, he served three years in an Egyptian prison, in the 1980s, for supposed links to the group responsible for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. After his release, he was also known as Sheik Said and Abu Saeed al-Masri and became a founding member of the terrorist group.

Abu Masri went into hiding after the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, but resurfaced in May 2007 during a 45-minute interview posted on the web by Al-Sabah.

In August 2008, Pakistani military officials claimed Abu Masri had been killed in fighting in the Bajaur tribal area along the Afghan border. However, he turned up in subsequent al-Qaida videos, all of which had clearly been made after the Bajaur fighting. Abu Masri appeared on an al-Qaida video posted this month, vowing to avenge the death of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a CIA missile strike Aug, 6.
This article starring:
Abu Al-Masrial-Qaeda
Abu Saeed al-Masrial-Qaeda
Baitullah Mehsudal-Qaeda
Mustafa Al-Yazidal-Qaeda
Najibullah Zazial-Qaeda
Sheik Saidal-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Good work agent Zazi. Another #3 tits up thanks to you.
Posted by: ed || 10/22/2009 0:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Another Al Masri? There are more Al Masri's than there were Dread Pirate Roberts.
Posted by: Black Bart Ebberens7700 || 10/22/2009 10:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Someone is ratting them out, from local sources. That means they lost tribal opinion.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Grerelet4852 || 10/22/2009 19:15 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli media: Gaza projectile hits western Negev
Ma'an - A projectile was reported to have landed in an agricultural zone near the Gaza border fence, Israeli media said Wednesday.

The Israeli military said local police had identified the projectile site, but no Palestinian group in Gaza claimed the launch.

No injuries or damages were reported, but media sources quoted farmers saying they had heard a loud explosion, and noting that the "Color Red alert system was not activated because the Qassam blew up near the Gaza border fence."

Earlier in the day the An-Nasser Salah Ad-Din Brigades said that it shelled Israeli military vehicles on Palestinian territory in the southern Gaza Strip. The armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees said that it fired three mortar shells at Israeli vehicles near the Kerem Shalom crossing point.

Posted by: Fred || 10/22/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Southeast Asia
Six civilians gunned down in southern Thailand
Suspected Islamic terrorists militants have shot dead six civilians over a two-day period in a series of attacks across Thailand's restive south, police said Thursday.

A Muslim member of the local council in the Than To district of Yala province was killed at his home early Thursday morning, police said. The previous night a 46-year-old former member of the Rangae district council in neighbouring Narathiwat province was also shot dead. A 54-year-old Muslim man, who police said was a military informant, was killed in a drive-by shooting a few hours earlier as he returned from a market in the same district.

Three Thai construction workers were also targeted on Wednesday afternoon. Two of them, men aged 46 and 42, were shot dead in the Si Sakhon district of Narathiwat, while a female worker shot in Pattani province later died of her injuries.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/22/2009 02:27 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2009-10-22
  Mustafa al-Yazid reported titzup
Wed 2009-10-21
  20 deaders in battle for Kotkai
Tue 2009-10-20
  Algerian forces kill AQIM communications chief
Mon 2009-10-19
  South Waziristan clashes kill 60 militants
Sun 2009-10-18
  Battle for South Waziristan begins
Sat 2009-10-17
  Pakistan imposes indefinite curfew in S. Waziristan
Fri 2009-10-16
  Turkish police detain 50 Qaeda suspects
Thu 2009-10-15
  Pakistani Police Attacked in Two Cities; 15 Killed
Wed 2009-10-14
  Italy: Attempted terror attack against army barracks injures soldier
Tue 2009-10-13
  Charges against Hafiz Saeed dismissed by Lahore High Court
Mon 2009-10-12
  Pakistain says 41 killed in market bombing
Sun 2009-10-11
  Pak army frees 30 at army HQ, ending siege
Sat 2009-10-10
  'Al-Qaeda-linked' Cern worker held
Fri 2009-10-09
  B.O. gets Nobel Peace Prize, just like Arafat
Thu 2009-10-08
  Car bomb at India's Kabul embassy

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