General David Petraeus has issued new rules to troops in Afghanistan, telling them to "redouble" efforts to avoid civilian deaths -- seen as a crucial issue in winning the increasingly unpopular war.
The head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan told commanders he believed the counter-insurgency strategy was bearing fruit but warned that any civilian casualties risked losing the battle to win Afghan hearts and minds.
"We must continue -- indeed, redouble -- our efforts to reduce the loss of innocent civilian life to an absolute minimum. Every Afghan civilian death diminishes our cause," he said in the directive released by NATO on Wednesday.
"If we use excessive force or operate contrary to our counter-insurgency principles, tactical victories may prove to be strategic setbacks," he said in the directive, which replaces rules issued to troops in July 2009.
The four-star general, credited with turning around the Iraq war, emphasised the need to partner Afghan troops at all times and to make sure that no civilians are present before using force, except in cases of self-defence. "And for heavens' sake, DON'T HURT ANYBODY! This is a war, not a place where you can hurt people!"
#1
emphasised the need to partner Afghan troops at all times
Doubtless Petraeus meant that US troops need to stop Afghan troops killing civilians, but the journo has included the quote in way that implies Afghan troops will stop US troops killing civilians.
#2
but the journo has included the quote in way that implies Afghan troops will stop US troops killing civilians.
Makes sense, soon the war will end, this makes the Afghan Military (Who will remain there as the "Peacekeepers") the "Good Guy", I like it, it's devious.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/04/2010 12:14 Comments ||
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#3
having the ANA with them will prevent most encounters with isolated Taliban in civilian areas as the ANA will tip off the Taliban that we are coming and they will go hide.
the notable exception being when the taliwackers can gather enough forces for a successful ambush, at which time, we can respond with force provided the Taliban forget their human shields.
also, embedding more ANA in with our troops will make it easier for the 'rogue' elements of the ANA to shoot our friendlies in the back at close range as well as provide routes and methods intel to the Taliban so that they can be more effective in IED placement.
what is not to love?
Posted by: abu do you love ||
08/04/2010 12:59 Comments ||
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#4
Hell, just take this mentality to its logical conclusion: avoid all risk to civilians from coalition troops, and pull out.
On the other hand, NATO forces could IGNORE collateral damage and go hell for leather to wipe out the Taliban.
#7
"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
George W. Bush, Statement To Joint Session Of Congress September 20th 2001
"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."
George W. Bush, September 11th 2001
When Bush made these statements he spoke in his capacity as President, in the immediate aftermath of a mass fatality attack on the continental US.
At the time these statements were not controversial, this was political consensus in the US and NATO.
This is the political reason for US and NATO troops to be in Afghanistan in the first place.
But apparently these were just inconsequential rants worthy of a Comical Ali. Afghanistan is being refurbished and renovated by Western Countries and will soon be returned to the Taliban. The elimination of the Taliban isn't even the objective anymore, the goal is reconciliation, peace and power sharing.
Mullah Omar is at this time not one Karzai's cabinet minsters because he declined Karzai's offer after all.
#8
Pull out and nuke the he$$ out of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the point where no one from there could manage to bake a loaf of bread, much less carry out a long-distance asymmetrical war. The entire US military & civilian hierarchy has forgotten that the first, last, and only rule of warfare is to make your enemy quit. Everything else is tactics.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/04/2010 20:25 Comments ||
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[Dawn] A suicide bomber on foot detonated explosives outside the main foreign military base in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar on Tuesday, killing himself, but there were no reports of any other casualties, officials said.
A spokeswoman for NATO-led forces in Kabul, Lieutenant Commander Katie Kendrick, said there was small-arms fire outside the base and that the bomber had tried to gain access through one of the gates.
"The suicide bomber failed to gain access and then detonated his explosives, killing himself. This appears to be an unsuccesful and unorganised attack," said Kendrick. This appears to be a different kaboom than the attack that the Talibs claim killed 150 infidels.
Kendrick did not have any more details on the attack or how many people were involved and said there were no reports so far of any other casualties.
A Reuters witness inside the base said he heard what sounded like two rockets followed by gunfire.
Kandahar Air Field, 25 km outside Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, is the largest foreign military base in the country and home to tens of thousands of troops and civilian workers.
The airfield often comes under insurgent rocket attack but it is rare for militants to launch a ground assault on the sprawling and heavily fortified base. One in May, however, left a number of troops and civilian staff wounded.
Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban, is the main focus of Washington's strategy to try to turn the tide against the insurgency this year.
Thousands of US troops are engaged in operations in outlying districts while others have moved inside the city with Afghan police in a bid to bring better security.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Had front row seats for that one, things DID NOT go well for the Splodey-Dopes. The Bulgarian Boyz chewed them up rickey-tick, completely one sided. The boomers made quite a racket, kicked up a little dust, tidied up the Gene Pool a bit. None of our folks got Kilt, minor scratches and scrapes at worst. How do you get rid of an intact Suicide vest on a dead Evil-Doer? You blow it in place.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2010 8:12 Comments ||
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#5
Thanks for the on-the-scene report, Bodyguard. Stay safe.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/04/2010 11:14 Comments ||
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#6
How do you get rid of an intact Suicide vest on a dead Evil-Doer?
I hope you guys don't bother checking too close as to whether or not the accused is wearing a suicide vest or is even dead. Reduce them to very fine particles & THEN check all you want.
[Tolo News] Six Taliban militants have been killed in clashes with Afghan security forces after launching rockets on Kandahar airbase
Security forces killed two men who were carrying explosives, said a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar, Zalmai Ayubi.
An ISAF soldier was wounded and six Taliban insurgents were killed in the attack, he added.
Qari Yosuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman said one of the suicide attackers managed to enter the airbase.
He added that seven suicide attackers planned an attack on Kandahar airbase, of which one blew himself up.
Kandahar airbase has come under Taliban attacks several times before.
Taliban casualties have dramatically risen in the past few months, and only in July this year, 672 insurgents were killed, 76 were wounded and 127 others have been arrested in clashes with Afghan and foreign forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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[Tolo News] Gunmen slain 6 employees of Kabul Bank, a private Afghan bank in Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital of the northern province of Balkh on Monday night, officials said
These men have reportedly robbed $200,000 and more than 3 million Afg from the bank.
The incident has happened in Chawke Kefayat area of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Primary investigations have revealed that the robbers were close friends of the Bank's security guards, said the Police Chief of Balkh, Abdul Rawoof Taaj.
Six security employees of Kabul Bank were slain by the thieves and some cash was also stolen, he added.
The manager of the bank said the guards were not legally allowed to have guests inside the bank.
Balkh Police Chief said investigations are being carried out, and said they will soon arrest the gang.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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The Taliban have claimed responsibility for killing 150 US-led troops in an attack on the main US base in southern Afghanistan.
A gun battle erupted after the Taliban attacked the military base in Afghan province of Kandahar, a Press TV correspondent reported Tuesday.
According to a statement by the provincial governor's office, only one foreign soldier was killed and several civilians were injured after two rockets struck inside the base.
Explosions had been reported in the vicinity of the air base before a fire-fight started between the militants and the US-led forces.
The fight lasted for more than two hours. NATO has confirmed the attack but offered no details on the possible casualties.
However, according to a statement by the provincial governor's office, only one foreign soldier was killed and several civilians were injured after two rockets struck inside the base.
Meanwhile, NATO-backed Afghan soldiers reported to have killed six militants that attacked the base.
A Taliban spokesman, however, insisted that the militants managed to infiltrate the largest US base in Kandahar and killing at least 150 foreign troops there.
If accurate, the latest casualties would bring to over 2,000 the number of US-led troops killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion of the war-ravaged country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Do they still have that crazy Canadian Jihad Unpsun chick? Looks like they put her to work. Or traded her to Press TV Iran for some silky haired goats.
#2
Re. above, no casualties on our side. Was about 200M from the festivities. All 10 or 11 of their away team are currently decomposing though... Im hoping the Garbage men did a good job of scraping them up, in this heat the remnants start to get stinky pretty quickly.
WELLINGTON New Zealand suffered its first combat death in Afghanistan since deploying troops there in 2003 when a soldier was killed on patrol, the government and defence officials said Wednesday.
The death was confirmed by Prime Minister John Key in a statement from Vanuatu, where he is attending the Pacific Forum. "This is New Zealand?s first combat loss in Afghanistan and reinforces the danger faced daily by our forces as they work tirelessly to restore stability to the province," Key said.
Two other soldiers were seriously wounded in the attack on Tuesday, but their injuries were not considered life threatening. A local interpreter was also injured.
Defence Force chief Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae said the attack took place in Bamiyan Province and the soldiers were members of the New Zealand military reconstruction team based there. "Three New Zealand vehicles which made up the patrol came under a complex attack by as yet unknown assailants," Mateparae said."We believe that an improvised explosive device or IED was detonated and then the patrol came under fire from two positions with rocket-propelled grenades and other small arms fire."
New Zealand has a contingent of 140 personnel carrying out reconstruction work in Bamiyan while a task force of 70 members of New Zealand's elite special forces are in Afghanistan and believed to be operating in Kabul.
#2
They were also in Vietnam but the legacy media, the academic history establishment, and various other VC propagandists and agitprop outlets would prefer that you not know that either.
#4
We had a handful of New Zealand intelligence people come to our compound at Tan Son Nhut for a week to become familiar with the Ho Chi Minh trail road network. Our unit also had a handful of Australians working in our building (ran into one of them online a couple of years ago - GOOD people!). MSgt Han would never forgive me if I left him (ROK Marine) out. Their compound was right next to ours. Only saw the Thais occasionally - they liked our BX. From what I've read at Rantburg, as many as 80 countries are represented in either Afghanistan or Iraq. Quite a "unilateral" effort on old George's part.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/04/2010 20:40 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Egypt has launched a wide security sweep of Sinai after rockets said to be fired from the peninsula landed in Israel and Jordan killing one person, an Egyptian security official said on Tuesday.
A senior Jordanian official said earlier that his country had proof the deadly rocket that landed in the port town of Aqaba, killing a taxi driver and wounding five other people, had been fired from Sinai.
"Following the Jordanian comments, Egypt has launched a wide security sweep of the Sinai peninsula," the Egyptian official said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
But he insisted "there are no organized groups operating in Sinai and security on the peninsula is extremely tight. Any suspicious activity would have been detected," he said.
The rocket that fell in a busy Aqaba street near a major hotel on Monday was one of several apparently fired at the nearby Israeli tourist resort of Eilat, in an attack condemned by Israel, Russia and the United States.
"We can now say without hesitation that the Grad rocket was launched from Sinai," said the official official close to the investigation of Monday's rocket attack, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We have strong suspicions about the identity of the group behind this attack," he added without elaborating.
At least five blasts were heard, with one rocket exploding in open ground outside Eilat, two crashing into the Red Sea and the rest hitting Jordan, Israeli police said.
"The fact that Aqaba was not the target and that the rocket fell there by mistake does not change the fact that it's still a terrorist act, which killed and wounded innocent people," the senior Jordanian official said.
"This is the second such incident in three months and Jordan will not tolerate that its territory becomes a target of rocket attacks," he added.
An Egyptian security official has denied the attack was launched from the Sinai peninsula, a mountainous desert region that flanks the Gulf of Aqaba.
"The rockets did not come from Sinai," which would need "a great deal of logistics and equipment, and that is impossible considering the heavy security presence in the Sinai Peninsula," the official told AFP.
"We have a heavy security presence in Sinai, particularly along the Egyptian Israeli border. No suspicious activity has been reported anywhere in Sinai."
On April 22, two military-grade rockets struck in and near Aqaba, one slamming into a warehouse and the other splashing into the Red Sea.
Aqaba and Eilat are the neighboring Red Sea ports of Jordan and Israel, who signed a peace agreement in October 1994 after decades of strained ties and conflict.
The two ports are nestled in the Gulf of Aqaba, a narrow stretch of water bordered on one side by Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the other by Saudi Arabia.
In August 2005, three Katyusha rockets were fired in Aqaba, missing two U.S. warships docked in the port. One of the projectiles hit a warehouse, killing a Jordanian soldier, while another landed across the border in Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] An Angolan court jailed four people Tuesday over links to a militant group which carried out a deadly gun attack on Togo's football team during the Africa Cup of Nations in January, local media said.
The court in the restive northern enclave of Cabinda found the four, described by Human Rights Watch as activists, guilty of crimes against state security, Catholic broadcaster Radio Ecclesia said.
The trial has been sharply criticised by rights groups that accused the government of using the attacks to justify a crackdown on critics.
University professor Belchior Lanso was sentenced to six years in prison, lawyer Francisco Luemba and Catholic priest Raul Tati to five years each, and former police officer Jose Benjamin Fuca to three years, the radio said.
The shooting attack during the Africa Cup of Nations, which killed two members of the Togolese national team, was claimed by the separatist guerrilla movement Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC).
The four men were arrested because they had documents about FLEC and had travelled to Paris for meetings with exiled leaders.
A total of nine people were arrested in connection with the Togo attack, but only two of them have any direct link to the shooting, according to Human Rights Watch.
One meeting had been requested by a government-backed mediator, according to Jose Marcos Mavungo, an independent human rights activist who monitored the trial.
Mavungo said the trial had been marked by contradictory evidence from the state about the nature of the charges, which initially appeared to centre on the shooting itself but later focussed on the meetings in Paris.
Radio Ecclesia said demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse Tuesday to protest the trial, as heavily armed riot police guarded the building.
FLEC separatists have been fighting for Cabinda's independence for more than three decades.
Despite a peace deal in 2006, FLEC factions continue to wage low-level attacks in the oil-rich province that is separated from the rest of Angola by a strip of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Tamaulipas news organizations are worthless in reporting criminal gang news so the government has to resort to Twitter to communicate with its citizens about ongoing gang violence.
UPDATED with video taken yesterday. Comments in the article which posted the video say as 1600 hrs. fighting is still going on.
The city government of Reynosa, Tamaulipas communicating through Twitter has advised its citizens to stay indoors because of a number of "narcobloques" in the city, according to the Mexican daily Milenio.
Blocks have been emplaced by criminal gangs at Calle 20th and Bulevar Morelos in the Puentes Gemelos district and on Bulevar Hidalgo. Blocks are a certain indicator of violence where they take place.
Street blocks are a tactic employed by criminal gangs as a counter to police and military authorities against movement and deployment. It is used extensively by Los Zetas.
Reynosa has been the scene of numerous encounters between the Mexican Army and Marines, and criminal gangs in the recent past the last of which was an armed confrontation between the Mexican Army and suspected drug criminals July 15th which killed two suspects.
In other news in Reynosa, the government in Reynosa advised citizens through Twitter to avoid the area around Bulevar Hidalgo because of an explosive device which detonated in front of the store Soriana Tianguis Hidalgo. No injuries were reported and only minor property damage was reported.
A total of 23 individuals were murdered in northern Mexican state since Sunday in ongoing drug and gang related violence, including numerous attacks on Mexican Federal agents in Juarez and a dead state police agency head in Sonora. For a map, click here.
A man was shot to death Monday afternoon in Juarez, according to Mexican news reports. Carlos Valdez Alvarez 41 was shot six times by armed suspects at his home near the intersection of calles Oso Polar and Santiago Troncoso in the Eco 2000 district.
Two unidentified men were shot to death in front of a residence in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Sunday night, say Mexican press reports. The attack took place near the intersection of calles Cordillera del Cóndor and Campo Agostadero in the Cordilleras district when a group of armed suspects riding a convoy of at least six late model trucks opened fire and killed the pair.
An unidentified Chihuahua city CIPOL agent was shot to death early Monday morning, accoridng to Mexican press accounts. The attack comes of the heel of the resignation of the Chihuahua city head of the CIPOL division because of threat from organized crime. CIPOL is similar to a detective squad. City and state police departments staff them.
Juan Lopez Lozano was shot near the intersection of Periferico de la Juventud and Paseos Universidad in the Paseos de Chihuahua district while in his official Dodge Ram pickup truck. Investigators found 51 spent shell casings at the scene from 9mm weapons and AK-47 assault rifles.
Two unidentified people were shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Monday afternoon, according to Mexican press accounts. The attack took place near the intersection of Avenida Universidad and Calle Escudero where armed suspects riding aboard Chevrolet Suburban shot and killed the driver of a Honda sedan. Stray bullets struck a couple walking together nearby, killing a man and wounding his wife. Stray bullets also struck and damaged nearby buildings in the area.
A bomb was reported at a bank in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Monday Morning, according to Mexican press reports. An employee at the Bancomer Santo Nino reported a cardboard box near the building which prompted authorities to fear a bomb. Employees and customers were evacuated for two hours. The bomb was not exploded and no determination has been made if the box in fact contained a bomb.
One Mexican Federal agent was shot to death and four others were hurt in four separate attacks in Juarez Sunday night, according to Mexican press reports. The attacks were centered around northern Juarez. One involved a hand grenade which injured two agents, a gun attack which killed one agent and wounded two others destroying a police vehicle by fire, plus a hand grenade attack at Mexican Federal police headquarters which did damage but harmed no one, and a fourth in which agents were shot at but not injured.
An unidentified man was found with his head nearly severed in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Monday night. The find was made near the intersection of calles Sierra de Pedernales and Hacienda del Real in the Sierra Azul district.
Two unidentified young men were killed, a third wounded and a young girl kidnapped Monday night in Juarez, according to Mexican press reports. The attacks took place near the intersection of calles Vid and Romero in the El Mezquital district where armed suspects aboard a van and a Jeep SUV chased two young men killing two and wounding a third. The girl, 15, was kidnapped by the suspects.
An unidentified newspaper vendor in his 30s was shot to death in Juarez Tuesday, according to Mexican press accounts. The attack took place near the intersection of Juarez-Porvenir highway and Libramiento Independencia where a lone gunman riding a vehicle shot the victim four times with a 9mm pistol.
A young girl reported kidnapped the night before was found shot to death in a residence in Juarez Tuesday, say Mexican press reports. Ana Karen Santana, 15, was found dead in a home near the intersection of calles Rincon del Valle and Luis Spota in the Chinconcuac district shot six times with a 9mm pistol.
Three unidentified individuals, including two parents, were shot to death in a home invasion attack in Juarez Tuesday, say Mexican press reports. The attack took place near the intersection of calles Desierto de Gila and Desierto de Sonora in the Las Dunas district when armed suspects burst into a home and shot three adults. Two toddlers were also in the home when the attack took place but were unharmed.
The head of the Sonoran state investigators bureau was shot and killed Monday during a family outing in Hermosillo, Sonora, according to press reports. Jesús Fernando de la Cruz Lugo, head of the Sonoran PolicÃa Estatal Investigadora(PEI) was shot in front of his family at a park only a short distance from his workplace. The attack took place near the intersection of Calle 1st and Avenida 5th in the Bugambilias district where responding police units found a Toyota Sienna minivan with its doors open and de la Cruz Lugo dead in the back. Witnesses say three men riding a Jeep Cherokee shot the victim. Investigators found Super .38 and 9mm spent shell casings at the scene.
A man was shot to death in Nogales, Sonora Monday, according to Mexican press accounts. Danacio Palacios Lopez, 55, was shot on Calle Sierra Madre Occidental in the Benito Juarez district while driving his Dodge Ran pickup with his wife when armed suspects shot him causing his vehicle to crash. His wife was unharmed in the attack.
Three Nogales, Sonora police officers were wounded in a shootout with armed suspects Monday afternoon. The attack took place when armed suspects riding aboard a Jeep Liberty shot at the officers near the intersection of calles Altar and Privada Arizpe in the La Granja district. The suspects escaped the ensuing firefight when assisting police arrived.
Three men were found shot to death in a club in Mazatlan, Sinaloa Monday, according to Mexican press reports. Jorge Omar Garzon Hernandez, 37, Francisco Javier Torres Lizarraga and Omar Isaias Valdez Romero, 34, were found shot dead at the Club Deportivo Chololo sports field with several spent cartridge casings at the scene.
Three unidentified individuals were found dead inside a luxury SUV in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon late Monday night, according to Mexican press accounts. The find was made near the intersection of calles Padua and Tlaquepaque in the Gonzalitos district aboard a BMW where the three victims were found in the back.
From the Oops-My-Bad Department
A Nogales police officer who was kidnapped Monday while on an outing was released unharmed the next day, according to Mexican press accounts.
Rosina Wilma Gonzolez Viay was on a personal outing with her son when she was kidnapped. The kidnappers told the officer they had taken her by mistake and released her unharmed.
A 26-year-old Chicago man was charged on Wednesday with attempting to provide material support to al Shabaab, an extremist Somalia-based group allied with al Qaeda, authorities said.
Shaker Masri, a U.S. citizen who worked for a company that translated the Koran into English, was arrested on Tuesday hours before he was due to board a flight for California, with Somalia intended as his ultimate destination, according to an FBI affidavit.
Masri was arraigned on charges of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and attempting to provide material support through the use of a weapon of mass destruction. A U.S. magistrate judge ordered him held without bond.
Based on weeks of conversations with a paid FBI informant and tape-recordings of telephone calls, Masri was intent on gaining weapons training in Mexico and then wanted to become a suicide bomber to participate in a "jihad" to kill people he termed "infidels," according to the affidavit.
The informant provided Masri money to buy plane tickets for both of them. They hatched elaborate plans on how to travel incognito to various countries en route to Somalia. Masri told the informant he wanted to strap on a suicide vest and keep it on until called upon to detonate it.
Masri said he wanted to keep a low profile, having known a recently arrested Virginia man, Zachary Adam Chesser, though the FBI said there was no evidence they had been in contact.
A subplot to Masri's case was the love-sick telephone calls he engaged in with an unnamed young woman in London identified in court documents as "Individual B."
"Do you know, like, how much this will affect me? Do you even realize?" the woman asks Masri in one conversation. According to affidavit, she complained of being misled by Masri. "It appeared to her that he never intended to build a life with her but, instead, at best, to marry her, get her pregnant and then 'emigrate for the sake of God,' 'to learn more about his (religion), and then disappear,' never to return," the document said.
[Dawn] Clashes that killed at least 40 people overnight in Karachi scared residents off its streets on Tuesday as Pakistan's largest city was on alert for more violence after the shooting of a leader in a dominant political party.
Police said more than 90 people were maimed and dozens of vehicles and shops torched as mobs who took to the streets after Raza Haider, a member of the provincial Sindh Assembly from the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), was bumped off on Monday along with his hired muscle while attending a funeral.
The government blamed the Pak Taliban and the banned militant group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) for the killing of the lawmaker. I'm not too sure what they mean by "banned." It doesn't seem to mean dissolved, its members arrested or dispersed.
Twenty people have been selectively jugged in connection with the violence, federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the Senate on Tuesday.
The violence once again raised fears of instability in Karachi, a city of 18 million and Pakistan's commercial hub, Instability in Pakistain? How could you tell?
and about the flight of Taliban militants to the city after army offensives against their bases in Pakistan's northwest.
Some analysts said the violence could ultimately affect the economy. Karachi is home to the country's main port, the central bank and the stock exchange, which has so far seen thin trade and will close an hour early because of the violence. "This obviously raises concern and anxiety, and if these things continue, Pakistan's economy gets undermined," said Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a political and security analyst. "It is a pathetic situation and exposes the helplessness of the government to perform its basic duty towards its citizens," said Rizvi. That's assuming the government doesn't see its basic duty as milking the citizenry...
The stock market was open on Tuesday but trade was dull and attendance thin due to security concerns. "Okay, honey! I'm about to leave for the stock exchange!"
[BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!]
"Y'know, I think I'll take the day off. We don't spend enough time together..."
The main index was flat by 1:00 pm (0800 GMT), but dealers said the violence could dampen investor sentiment.
Police and officials said that they also found evidence suggesting that militants had planned a suicide kaboom during Haider's funeral, scheduled for later on Tuesday.
"On the basis of evidence available at the moment, it (the killing of Haider) was carried out by the Tehrik-e-Taliban and Sipah-e-Sahaba," Malik told reporters in Islamabad. Two branches of the same organization...
The MQM, a coalition partner in the federal as well as the provincial Sindh government, renewed calls for a crackdown on militants after the killing of its lawmaker. "For the past 3 to 4 years we have been pointing out and giving evidence about the presence of Taliban and extremists in Karachi," said Wasay Jalil, a spokesman for the MQM. "We were ridiculed at that time. But now everyone is admitting that the Taliban and the SSP are here."
POLITICAL FORCES AND ARMED GROUPS
On Tuesday, a day after the killing, Karachi was tense as police and paramilitary troops patrolled deserted streets. Hyderabad, the second largest city of the province, was also largely deserted as were other towns after the MQM called for three days of mourning. "This could be the last nail in the coffin and could be disastrous for the stock market because as it is, volume has been below average and this may lead to foreign investors exiting the market," said Sajid Bhanji, a director at brokerage Arif Habib Ltd, of Haider's killing and the ensuring violence.
Karachi has a long history of mindless ethnic, religious and sectarian violence. It was a main target of al Qaeda-linked militants after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, when Pakistan joined the US-led campaign against militancy, and foreigners were attacked in the city several times. "All political forces in Karachi have their armed groups," Rizvi said. "And then there are a lot of other groups - criminal, sectarian, drug mafia." "Most of the city's inhabitants are murderous lunatics, y'know..."
Including last night's death toll, officials say at least 193 people have been killed in hits since the start of the year, although analysts and political parties say the number is likely much higher.
Mohajirs, the descendants of Urdu-speakers who migrated from India after the creation of Pakistan in 1947, are the biggest community and dominate the city's administration through the MQM. It is also home to the largest concentration of ethnic Pashtun primitives outside the northwest.
Government officials also say criminals, including drug lords competing for turf in the city's teeming neighbourhoods, take advantage of the tension, complicating the police's difficulties.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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THI-QAR / Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces on Tuesday defused two bombs in southern and northern Nassiriya and found a weapons cache, according to a security source.
The forces removed a 10 kg anti-shields bomb in Saba field in southern Nassiriya on the road between Thi-Qar and Basra, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The other bomb was defused on the road in al-Refaie district, northern Nassiriya, between Thi-Qar and Diwaniya, he added.
The forces found a weapons cache in a deserted house in Abada region, he said, noting it contains hand grenades and mortar shell.
Nassiriya, the capital of Thi-Qar, lies 380 km south of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Al-Qaeda fighters killed five policemen at a Baghdad checkpoint on Tuesday and planted the black flag of the terror network's front group in Iraq, an interior ministry official said.
A traffic policeman and three soldiers were also killed in the capital, raising concerns that Iraq's security may be deteriorating after the government said more people died in violence in July than in any month since May 2008.
The flag-planting incident was the second such act in less than a week.
"Around 5:30 am (0230 GMT), men with silenced pistols shot dead five policemen at a checkpoint in Mansur neighbourhood before planting the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)," the ministry official said.
He said the traffic policeman was killed by a homemade bomb while a statement from Baghdad security forces said a soldier was killed by a second bomb and two other troops perished when they tried to disarm a third device.
The shootings and bomb deaths follow a brazen series of attacks in the Iraqi capital on Thursday that killed 16 people, after which insurgents also hoisted the Al-Qaeda front group's black flag.
Those incidents, which occurred in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Adhamiyah within 15 minutes of each other, began with the killing of three soldiers. The fighters then burned their bodies and planted the flag.
Three homemade bomb attacks on different routes to the scene of Thursday's shooting killed 13 more people, including three soldiers and three policemen, and wounded 14.
In a statement on the Honein jihadist website on Tuesday, ISI claimed last week's attacks which it said "targeted the heart of the failed security plan of the Green Zone government," using its standard term for the Iraqi government to allege that it only controls the heavily-fortified centre of Baghdad.
Tuesday's violence comes after Iraqi figures compiled by the ministries of health, interior and defence showed 535 people were killed by violence in July, the highest monthly figure in more than two years.
The US military, however, has disputed those figures, saying they were "grossly overstated."US and Iraqi officials have warned of the dangers of an upsurge in violence if negotiations on forming a new government drag on, only one month before a major US troop pullout, giving insurgent groups an opportunity to further destabilise the country.
Nearly five months since the March 7 general election which gave no single bloc an overall parliamentary majority, the two lists which won the most seats are still bickering over who should be the next prime minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Twin car bomb explosions have killed at least 30 people and wounded 80 others, including women and children, in the southern Iraqi city of Kut, security officials say.
"We have so far received 30 corpses and 80 people have been wounded," the head of the emergency services at Kut hospital told AFP.
"Two cars, parked 10 meters from each other, exploded at the same time at al-Amel crossing," said police Lieutenant Ismail Hussein.
The explosions at the commercial center of Kut city also damaged several nearby shops badly and destroyed multiple cars.
Earlier in the day, at least five policemen were killed in Mansur neighborhood in the capital city of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the government in the Gaza Strip to investigate the circumstances of an explosion that occurred in Deir al-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, which left 58 injuries, including 13 children and 9 women, 7 houses uninhabitable and 30 others damaged. PCHR calls further for publishing the results of such investigations.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, and testimonies of eyewitnesses, at approximately 01:20 on Monday, 02 August 2010, a heavy explosion rocked Deir al-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. The explosion occurred in a 100-square-meter, uninhabited house. As a result of the explosion, 58 Palestinians living in the surroundings, including 13 children and 9 women, were injured, and a pregnant woman miscarried.
Additionally, 7 houses were destroyed and rendered uninhabitable, and another 30 ones were damaged. According to eyewitnesses, a red glow came from the house before an explosion rocked the area. Mahmoud, what's that red glow?
I don't kn...
After the explosion, activists of the Palestinian resistance arrived in the area and surrounded the affected house. The Palestinian police also arrived in the area and prevented people from reaching the house. Resistance activists collected from the house shrapnel of the explosive devices and transported them in a car. Move it along, nuthin to see here...
The 'Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas) issued a press release on Tuesday morning, 03 August 2010, stating that: "We confirm that what happened resulted from a Zionist security operation intended to assassinate field leaders in the 'Izziddin al-Qassam Brigades." It further stated that "such ground targeting is part of Zionist operations." Must've beamed that Zionist Idiot Ray at them...
In light of information available to PCHR through field investigations, and according to testimonies of eyewitnesses that saw transportation of bombs from the house, there are reasons to suspect that the explosion was coming from inside the house and occurred for no apparent reason, similar to some incidents in the past. It's a mystery, I tells ya. Like it always is...
Internal explosion occurred in the past in houses amidst densely populated areas, because of mistakes in manufacturing, bad storage of bombs or other reasons, which caused many fatalities among civilians and destroyed houses. Really?
Accordingly:
1) PCHR calls for conducting a serious and comprehensive investigation into this incident and publishing the results. Yeah, that'll happen...
2) PCHR is concerned over continued storage of explosive devices by Palestinian resistance groups in civilian populated areas, which threatens the lives of Palestinian civilians, and constitutes a violation of international human rights law and humanitarian law. Such acts must be stopped, as they become more serious in light of threats declared by the Israeli military forces. Ah, hell. Let's blame the Joooos anyways...
#1
PCHR is concerned over continued storage of explosive devices by Palestinian resistance groups in civilian populatedshield areas
FTFY.
Lives are cheap there, and they make for great protection of their most valuable assests. Nothing will substantially change. Mosques will continue to be munitions dumps and meeting halls, and basements will continue to be storage areas and workshops.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has ruled out any unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.
"There is not going to be a unilateral declaration of statehood," Fayyad told The Media Line during a private meeting in his office. "What's the point? We did that in 1988, and what did it get us?"
I didn't remember the Paleos had done that. Didn't make much of a difference when they did, huh ...
The statement was a public rejection of increasing calls from minority Palestinian factions to recalibrate the Palestinian struggle away from a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and towards a shared, bi-national, secular and democratic state.
"The Palestinians have used this as a sort of whip to say if we do not move ahead towards the two-state solution, then we will move ahead towards a one-state solution and everything will be lost for Israel by sheer force of democracy," Dr. Shmuel Bar, Director of Studies at the Institute of Policy and Strategy at IDC Herzliya told The Media Line.
"The narrative of 'Palestine from the river to the sea' has always been popular among Palestinians, so when you have a public opinion poll as to whether they would prefer a one-state solution or a two-state solution, you will see a lot prefer a one-state solution. But it's just part of the old vision of liberating all of Palestine and doesn't have an effect on actual political decision-making."
That's a long-winded way of saying that the Paleos are delusional ...
Fayyad has been championing a plan to build national Palestinian institutions so as to create a de facto state over a period of two years, which comes to a close in August 2011. The initiative is known as the 'Fayyad Plan'.
"[Statehood] is not something that is going to happen to the Israelis, nor something that is going to happen to the Palestinians," Fayyad said. "It is something that will grow on both sides as a reality... creating a belief that this was inevitable through the process, a convergence of two paths, the political and the process, from the bottom up and the top down."
"When we started there was skepticism, but I am most encouraged by the growing number of people who now believe it," Fayyad said, referring to the "necessity" to "build a state based on universal principles" and "support the shift and mindset away from violence."
I've said this before: if the Paleos had followed Gandhi instead of Hitler and Arafat, they would have had a country in the 1980s. The Israelis are susceptible to exactly the same social pressure the Brits were susceptible to after World War II: guilt. Peaceful, non-violent protest is the only path the Paleos have to statehood.
Gandhi used that because, in the end, he was by education a Westerner. He had been educated in English law, so he understood Western ideals and mores. The Paleos don't have and don't respect a Western tradition, so the idea of non-violent protest is apparently beyond their comprehension. The Islamic world, and the eastern pre-Islamic world that underpins Islamic thought, has always used violence to gain control, so that's what the Paleos have bought into.
If Fayyad recognizes this and has decided to plough ahead to build a state by non-violent means, he'll be the smartest Paleo in his, and preceding, generations.
The Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said that a one-state solution is not on the table, arguing that any negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel would be based on "the terms of reference of two states and 1967 [borders] with agreed swaps."
"I am against a one-state solution, my option is a two-state solution -- that is the only option for Palestinians and Israelis," he told The Media Line. "We want to reach the end game, we want to end the conflict."
Hillel Frisch, a professor at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, pointed out that senior Palestinian diplomats would lose out with a one-state solution.
"Fayyad is the prime minister of a quasi-state right now," he told The Media Line. "So he and most of the bureaucrats in the Palestinian Authority have a vested interest in promoting a two-state solution as they would personally only stand to lose if they were to become the leaders of a minority section of a new bi-national state."
That might be true, and it isn't clear to me how much indigenous support Fayyad has. He might have been made PM just to get him out of the way, though usually when the Paleos want to do that they shoot the target in the feet.
"Fayyad gets to Obama and travel[s] in the highest circles, and that's even before a Palestinian state," said Dr. Frisch. "Under a bi-national state he'd become a nobody."
"Fayyad also realizes that a bi-national state is basically a code-word for a continuation of violence," he continued. "Because the only way Israel would ever be compelled into accepting a bi-national state, which Israeli Jews see as their demise, would be through violence."
Most certainly true. Only the hard-core Israeli left would buy into a binational state without being coerced.
Dr. Frisch argued that despite day-to-day diplomacy, the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the US have agreed on the need to delay the formalization of a Palestinian state.
"I think that all sides to the conflict, including the US, are trying to buy time," he said. "That's essential to making sure that Hamas cannot take over."
"The Israelis still incarcerate about 5,000 Palestinians, a high percentage of whom are Hamas members, meaning there is a tremendous swamp that has to be dried before a Palestinian state, and basically, the Israelis are drying it," Dr. Frisch said. "So there is no rush."
Fayyad denied using delay tactics, but has stressed that the state-building process would be long and arduous.
"Our process is predicated upon a shift away from violence towards a positive agenda of state-building," he concluded. "A solid majority of Palestinians support a two-state solution, but only a minority believe it will actually happen. Our plan is to create the sense that a Palestinian state is inevitable."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/04/2010 09:14 ||
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#1
The Paleos will do whatever is necessary to keep the violence alive, because seething, killing Joooos and dying as martyrs is a lot easier than actually creating and successfully governing a productive state. That's hard work.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2010 18:47 Comments ||
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[Ma'an] The Popular Resistance Committee in Gazoo denied reports Tuesday that it launched at least five rockets which struck the southern coastal cities of Eilat in Israel and Aqaba in Jordan.
"It was the other guys."
Abu Al-Atayah, who speaks on behalf of the PRC's Salah Ad-Din Brigades, told Ma'an radio that the rockets, which killed one Jordanian civilian on Monday, were launched by "private" groups with "goals not related to any Paleostinian faction."
"See? Splitters!"
"We only battle in the West Bank, the Gazoo Strip, and over our occupied lands. We never attack the Israeli occupation in any other place," Abu Al-Atayah said.
"Don't hurt us for it!"
The front man described his movement and the Gazoo government as inexorable "and both encourage Jihad," adding that Israel has been trying to solicit information on the PRC "in order to push for a new battle."
"The resistance has its secrets and hides its plans and new tactics, which the enemy will only discover on the battlefield. If the enemy tries to enter a new war with Gazoo, they will see new measures. We ... have our private vision regarding rocket attacks," Abu Atayah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] AN INDONESIAN court on Tuesday jailed three men for harbouring terrorists involved in suicide bomb attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta last year that killed seven people.
Afham Ramadhan, 23, Fajar Firdaus, 26, and Sonny Jayadi, 24, were each sentenced to four-and-a-half years' jail in separate trials at the South Jakarta district court.
The men sheltered Syaifudin Jaelani, who recruited the suicide bombers, and a florist called Ibrohim who helped the bombers get into the hotels ahead of the attacks.
Police killed Jaelani and Ibrohim after the July 17 bombings, as well as the suspected mastermind of the blasts, Malaysian terror leader Noordin Mohammed Top. Noordin led a splinter faction of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional extremist network, which is blamed for multiple attacks in Indonesia.
'Afham Ramadhan was the one who picked up Syaifudin and provided his rented room on the second floor for two days,' judge Didik Setyo Handono said.
Prosecutors said the three suspects, including Jaelani's nephew Firdaus, took turns bringing food to Jaelani until anti-terror police raided the hideout. The prosecutors had demanded a seven-year jail term.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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[Straits Times] INDONESIA is letting radical Islamists trample the constitutional rights of minorities, leading to inter-communal violence, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
The New York-based watchdog called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to repeal laws that it says have given extremists from the dominant religious group the legal space to launch violent attacks on people of other faiths.
'When the Indonesian authorities sacrifice the rights of religious minorities to appease hardline Islamist groups this simply causes more violence,' the group's Asia director, Elaine Pearson, said in a statement.
Hundreds of Muslim extremists tried to attack a mosque belonging to the minority Ahmadiyah Islamic sect in Kuningan district of West Java province last week, resulting in clashes with police and the sect's followers.
A government decree adopted in 2008 under pressure from Islamic conservatives bans the sect from spreading its faith, which includes the belief that its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the final Muslim prophet.
Orthodox Islam holds that Mohammed was the final prophet, leaving the Ahmadis open to charges of heresy and blasphemy, which are punishable by up to five years in jail under a controversial 1965 law.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was unhurt on Wednesday after an explosive device, officially described as a firecracker, went off near his motorcade.
Ahmadinejad was on his way to a sports arena to make a speech in Hamedan, south of the capital, when the explosion occurred.
Conservative website Khabaronline, the first source to report the incident initially said a hand grenade was thrown at the hardliner's motorcade but later in the day dropped "grenade" in its report and used the word "firecracker" instead.
"This morning a hand grenade exploded next to a vehicle carrying reporters accompanying the president" the website, close to parliament speaker Ali Larijani, said first.
"Ahmadinejad's car was 100 metres (yards) away and he was not hurt," it said, adding that the alleged attacker was detained.
Iran's Mehr news agency quoting witnesses as saying a "hand-made noise bomb exploded a far distance from the president's car."
"Nobody was hurt and several people have been arrested," the agency said.
Ahmadinejad later delivered his speech and made no reference to the incident.
An official in the president's media office told AFP the explosion was from a "firecracker."
The ISNA and ILNA news agencies also said the blast was caused by a "firecracker," while Fars news agency said a "hand-made grenade" had been thrown at the motorcade.
"After the president's motorcade passed someone threw a hand-made grenade at the vehicles behind it," Fars said.
The agency used the Farsi word "narenjak," which means both a hand grenade of the military sort and a noisy home-made firecracker, the size of a tennis ball, that Iranians set off at festive events such as the New Year fire festival.
"Security agents arrested the person who threw it," Fars said, adding that the incident had "irritated" well-wishers, but not saying if anyone had been hurt.
The incident came only two days after Ahmadinejad repeated his claim that Iran's archfoe Israel wants him dead.
"Stupid Zionists have hired mercenaries to assassinate me," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to expatriate Iranians on Monday.
On Tuesday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman also insisted that the hardliner is on Israel's hit list.
"It is quite evident that the Zionist forces are under state orders to assassinate different figures in the Islamic world," Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.
"They may dare in their mind to assassinate Islamic world figures as soon as they have access to them and one of the greatest enemies of this regime is Dr Ahmadinejad."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 10:30 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
bet the little coward left a short round in his shorts, though....
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/04/2010 11:43 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Too bad. Better luck next time, boyz....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/04/2010 19:03 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Bummer!
Posted by: Jefferson ||
08/04/2010 19:18 Comments ||
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#4
Iran is claiming that it was a FIRECRACKER, + NOT A DEDICATED MIL GRENADE OR OTHER.
AFAIK SUPREME CLERIC AYATOLLAH KHAMENI is the true EL SUPREMO/HEFE of the entire Islamist Republic of Iran [includ IRGC] under that country's post-Shah Constitution, NOT MOUD.
* ION WAFF > [Telgraph.UK] IRAN CLAIMS TO HAD SMUGGLED ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSLES [AAMS/ADS] INTO THEIR COUNTRY.
The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday accused Israel of assassinating the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying he would present "elements" in the sense that will help the investigation led by a UN court. Anybody not see this coming?
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 09:54 ||
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Iranian officials have denied that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was targeted in an assassination attempt.
A conservative Iranian website had said an explosive device was thrown at his convoy in the western city of Hamedan, where he was to deliver a speech.
But state-run Press TV said "no such attack had happened", and officials said the confusion was caused by an exploding firework.
Mr Ahmadinejad went ahead with his speech at a football stadium.
"It was a firecracker, and a statement will be released soon," an official in the president's media office told the Agence France-Presse news agency. Something bigger than an M-80, I'm guessing ...
Iranian Al-Alam TV reported that the firecracker was set off to cheer the president.
Earlier, a source in his office told the Reuters news agency that Mr Ahmadinejad's convoy was targeted as he was travelling from the airport.
Dubai-based Al Arabiya television said the attacker threw an explosive device at a car carrying journalists. The attacker was detained, it said.
Other Arab TV reports had said a number of people were wounded in the attack.
Posted by: tipper ||
08/04/2010 06:17 ||
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#1
Iranian Al-Alam TV reported that the firecracker was set off to cheer the president
I hope his countrymen continue to try to cheer him in similar, but perhaps more massive style.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israel warned Leb on Tuesday it would face "consequences" if there were further disturbances along the northern border, just hours after a deadly exchange of fire.
"Israel sees the government of Leb as responsible for this grave incident and warns of consequences in the event that disturbances of this kind continue," a statement from office of Foreign Minister Avigdor "You lunatics better quit messing with us!" Lieberman said.
The rare cross-border exchange of fire, which killed two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer, was the most serious violence along the frontier since a 2006 war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbullyhard boys.
There were also Lebanese reports of an undetermined number of Israeli soldiers wounded.
"It started when the Israelis wanted to cut a tree down inside Leb. Except that it was on the Israeli side and had been coordinated with the UN...
The Lebanese army fired warning shots at them ... killing the officer in charge...
and they responded by shelling," said a security source in Leb.
The Israeli foreign ministry said Lieberman had instructed Israel's delegation to the United Nations to lodge formal complaints with the evanescent Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council.
It said Israeli troops had been operating on the Israeli side of the border, in coordination with U.N. peacekeepers in Leb, when they came under fire.
Hezbullies will not respond Hezbullies chief Hassan Nasrallah said his hard boys had been ordered not to react following the clashes but that his group would not stand silent if Israel attacked the Lebanese army in the future. Did anybody but me notice that this little incident comes as the UN's Hariri investigation is about to name Hezbollah? It's just so coincidental, though I'm sure it's all perfectly innocent, could happen to anybody...
"We told our hard boys to hold back, not to do anything," Nasrallah said in a speech transmitted via video link to thousands of supporters massed in Hezbullies's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs. ... which are due to be leveled next time the balloon goes up...
However Nasrallah added that "I say honestly, that in any place where the Lebanese army will be assaulted and there's a presence for the resistance, and it is capable, the resistance will not stand silent, or quiet or restrained. The Israeli hand that targets the Lebanese army will be cut off." "Give us a little while longer to listen to our own propaganda and as soon as our Persian satraps give the word we're gonna roll. I'll be out of the line of fire well before the festivities start, naturally, but we'll have the old video link fired up quick enough!" In breach of the resolution
The Israeli foregin ministry statement said the Lebanese attack was a "clear breach" of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a devastating 2006 war between Lebanese Shiite Hezbullies and Israel and beefed up the U.N. Interim Force in Leb (UNIFIL), charged with overseeing a ceasefire between the two enemies.
For its part, the Israeli military blamed the Lebanese army for the clashes that occurred along the border, saying it bore "full responsibility" for the incident.
Lebanese Officials, however, said it was Israel which was in breach of the resolution. "The president denounces the new Israeli violation of Resolution 1701, which includes ... the bombing of a Lebanese army checkpoint and attacks on Lebanese property," a statement released by President Michel Suleiman's office said.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Saad Hariri condemned the "violation of Lebanese sovereignty and demands ... the United Nations and the international community bear their responsibilities and pressure Israel to stop its aggression," a statement from his office said.
And the Lebanese military said: "We hold Israel's arrogance responsible" for the clashes.
The fatalities were the first suffered by either side since the 2006 war in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Leb, along with 158 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
UN and US reactions
President Suleiman met top defence officials and decided to file a complaint with the U.N. Security council, whose members met for private consultations on the incident.
Afterwards, the council expressed "deep concern" and urged the parties to show "utmost restraint ... observe the cessation of hostilities and prevent any further escalation."
The United States said it was in touch with both governments to try to get facts behind a cross-border skirmish.
"We deeply regret the loss of life; we urge both sides to exercise maximum restraint to avoid an escalation and maintain the ceasefire that is now in place,", State Department front man P.J. Crowley said.
"We are trying to understand what happened ... Our greatest concern is that whatever did happen not be repeated. The region has enough tension as it is. The last thing that we want to see is that this incident expand into something more significant," Crowley said.
He said the United States had been in touch with both governments in Washington and in Israel and Leb. He also said there might be a formal meeting, supervised by the United Nations on Wednesday, in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/04/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The un ought to get their butts out of dodge right now.
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.
[Dawn] A suicide bomber on foot detonated explosives outside the main foreign military base in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar on Tuesday, killing himself, but there were no reports of any other casualties, officials said.
[Tolo News] Six Taliban militants have been killed in clashes with Afghan security forces after launching rockets on Kandahar airbase
[Tolo News] Gunmen slain 6 employees of Kabul Bank, a private Afghan bank in Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital of the northern province of Balkh on Monday night, officials said
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for killing 150 US-led troops in an attack on the main US base in southern Afghanistan. 
A 26-year-old Chicago man was charged on Wednesday with attempting to provide material support to al Shabaab, an extremist Somalia-based group allied with al Qaeda, authorities said.
[Dawn] Clashes that killed at least 40 people overnight in Karachi scared residents off its streets on Tuesday as Pakistan's largest city was on alert for more violence after the shooting of a leader in a dominant political party.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) calls upon the government in the Gaza Strip to investigate the circumstances of an explosion that occurred in Deir al-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, which left 58 injuries, including 13 children and 9 women, 7 houses uninhabitable and 30 others damaged. PCHR calls further for publishing the results of such investigations. 
