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Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Libya bans religious, tribal or ethnic parties
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 4: Opinion
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 10:10 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Jordana Brewster aka Mia in "Fast & Furious (The Movie)(2009) & The Fast and the Furious (2001)" aka Mia Toretto in "Fast Five (2011)" aka Delilah Profitt in "The Faculty (1998)" aka Chrissie in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)" aka Ali in "Annapolis (2006)" (age 32)




Surf's Up!

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/26/2012 11:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Xavier Cugat's Ex
Posted by: mojo || 04/26/2012 15:04 Comments || Top||


--Tech & Moderator Notes
Troll notice: 67.253.219.244
To the person who uses the IP 67.253.219.244: go away.

You are a troll. You are nym-hopping, writing stupid comments, and are generally a nuisance.

If you can't obey the rules then go back to the Daily Kos.

AoS
Posted by: || 04/26/2012 13:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Allocations for this OrgID serve Road Runner residential customers out of the
New York City, NY and Syracuse, NY RDCs.
Posted by: mojo || 04/26/2012 14:53 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Heartwarming A-10 strike on Taliban patrol
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/26/2012 09:13 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This has got to be chopper footage. Can't see how you keep the camera covering the same spot for a couple of minutes without some kind of hovering capability.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 04/26/2012 13:15 Comments || Top||

#2  my guess is the footage is from a predator.
Posted by: abu do you love || 04/26/2012 13:23 Comments || Top||

#3  You fly, gun cam runs itself until you vector it elsewhere ie, pick new target.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/26/2012 13:37 Comments || Top||

#4  UAV took that footage - the stabilization they have in the cameras is pretty remarkable. Definitely not footage from the A-10, line of attack is nearly perpendicular to the observation point.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/26/2012 14:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Second look: You're right, definately not a gun cam. Could be a Tiger Shark. Very low and slow. They oftentimes work in tandem.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/26/2012 14:09 Comments || Top||

#6  luv the flying jihadi bits
Posted by: Frank G || 04/26/2012 14:12 Comments || Top||

#7  OS is spot on. Stabilization almost looks like it came from a nearby ridge or hilltop post. If it's aerial, it's probably not the cam so much as the software.
Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division || 04/26/2012 14:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Why do those guys keep moving after the initial hit? Wouldn't they have a better chance of avoiding the second and third hits if they'd play dead?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/26/2012 15:14 Comments || Top||

#9  One way to solve the recidivism with the o'Gitmo tag and release program (re:US Mulls Handing Taliban Guantanamo Detainee to Afghan Govt).
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/26/2012 15:46 Comments || Top||

#10  Be still my heart. :-D
Posted by: Barbara || 04/26/2012 18:41 Comments || Top||

#11  Why do those guys keep moving after the initial hit? Wouldn't they have a better chance of avoiding the second and third hits if they'd play dead?

These were not well disciplined Taliban.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/26/2012 19:07 Comments || Top||

#12  (FYI that was a reference us old people will get. For you young'uns, cf. Full Metal Jacket )
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/26/2012 19:11 Comments || Top||

#13  Why do those guys keep moving after the initial hit? Wouldn't they have a better chance of avoiding the second and third hits if they'd play dead?

They may not know it was an air attack. They may also think there's a nearby ground presence that will head down there to police up the area.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 04/26/2012 19:29 Comments || Top||

#14  They do crazy shit because they are dead men running. It doesn't matter what they do at that point. They could break out in a nice chorus of Y-M-C-A, goats are our babes, ... and still wouldn't get a chance to start the next verse.
Posted by: rammer || 04/26/2012 22:58 Comments || Top||


Five Afghan soldiers killed in Ghazni blast
[Tolo News] Five Afghan soldiers have been killed and another two injured after improvised bomb blew up in Ghazni province, according to the Ministry of Defence Wednesday.

The blast happened in a village called Shahghasi of Ghazni province, the MoD said in a statement.

No further information was given.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact...
the Ministry of Interior released a statement that 20 armed faceless myrmidons have been killed, four have been maimed and 11 others tossed in the clink in the past day.

Fifteen joint clearance operations conducted by Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, NDS and Isaf forces were launched in Kabul, Kapisa, Kandahar, Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
, Pashtun-infested Logar, Ghazni, and Paktiya provinces.

The casualties and arrests happened as a result of these clearance maneuvers.

Also, during the operations, Afghan National Police discovered and confiscated 17 different types of weapons, one rocket launcher, one PKM machine gun, 177 light and heavy rounds, 20 kilograms of kabooms, 11 anti-vehicle mines, one hand grenade, one vehicle and five cycles of violence.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Ethiopian forces in Baidoa town detain two Somali MPs
(Sh.M.Network)- The reliable news sources from the southern Somali town ofBaidoasaid on Wednesday that Ethiopian forces have locked away two Somali politicians after allegedly accused of opposing for making a regional state.

Sheik Aden Mohammed Nur known as Aden Madobe and Mohammed Ibrahim Habsade, the two politicians were jugged by the Ethiopian troops from their houses in the town and then they were airlifted to a jail at the border betweenSomaliaandEthiopia.

Sheik Aden Mohammed Nur, former Somali parliament speaker, Mohammed Ibrahim Habsade, former Minster of transport for TFG have been on tour in Bay and Bakol regions of Somalia after both Somali and Ethiopian forces captured that regions from Al shabab bad turbans.

Some reports confirm that the MPs have been transferred to another prison in Addis Abbaba, the capital of Ethiopian. A politician close to the speaker whom Shabelle Media contacted on the phone to know more the issue of the MPs denied the arrest report.

Ethiopian has sent again its troops and tanks into Somali last year to help TFG war on Al shabab fighters, capturing several strategic areas in south and central regions ofSomalia.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Libya bans religious, tribal or ethnic parties
[Emirates 24/7] Libya, preparing for elections in June, has banned political parties based on religion, tribe or ethnicity, a government front man said on Wednesday.

National Transitional Council front man Mohammed Al Harizy said the council passed the law governing the formation of political parties on Tuesday evening.

"Parties are not allowed to be based on religion or ethnicity or tribe," he told Rooters.

He did not make clear how this would affect a political party formed in March by Libya's Moslem Brüderbund and other Islamists. The new party is viewed as a leading contender in the June polls.

Islamist parties had been expected to vie with secular ones for seats in a national assembly that will draft a new constitution for the North African country.

Political analysts say the Moslem Brüderbund is likely to emerge as the most organised political force and an influential player in the oil-exporting country.

Islamists have performed strongly in post-uprising elections in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco since October and they are also likely to do well in Libya.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  I guess birthday parties are OK.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 04/26/2012 19:17 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Nigeria double attack in Plateau state
[Bangla Daily Star] Five people have been killed and 10 injured in two separate attacks in central Nigeria - one targeting football fans, officials have said.

Unknown gunnies rubbed out five villagers in an overnight attack on Rim, 50km (30 miles) south of Jos in Plateau state.

Earlier, in Jos city nine people were maimed after a blast outside a venue where fans had been watching the Chelsea-Barcelona football match.

Jos has seen a wave of inter-communal conflict and Islamist jihad boy attacks.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Nigerian troops raid Boko Haram bomb factory
[Emirates 24/7] Nigerian troops raided an alleged hideout on Tuesday in the northern city of Kano suspected to have been used by group Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or Big Louie...
to manufacture bombs, a military front man said.

A military task force stormed the hideout in the city and recovered six assembled bombs and another one under construction, Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told news hounds.

"You can see the IEDs (improvised bombs) we recovered in this operation which were intended for attacks on this city by the Boko Haram terrorists," Ikedichi said, showing the bombs to news hounds after the operation.

The bombs were made with drink cans and a drum of around 50 litres.

He said several suspects were tossed in the clink during the raid, but refused to give further information.

According to authorities, Boko Haram has in recent weeks resorted to drive-by shootings in the city following a clampdown by security agents on their hideouts and arrests of its members.

A soldier, a retired police officer and the son of a police officer were among around a dozen people killed in targeted attacks blamed on the Islamists in the past two weeks.

"We have put the sect under intense pressure due to security operations that have led to successful raids of their hideouts, which is why they resorted to assassinations," a senior security source told AFP.

However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
previous raids and high-profile arrests have failed to stop Boko Haram attacks despite claims from authorities. The group has long carried out a range of attacks, including bombings and shootings.

Boko Haram's insurgency, mainly in Nigeria's predominantly Moslem north, has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Lahj: Security alert after Al-Qaeda threats
[Yemen Post] Public committees that were formed from rustics in some districts of Lahj governorate tossed in the calaboose on Monday eight Al-Qaeda suspects after receiving threats of a surprise attack by Al-Qaeda hard boyz against Lahj, local sources said.

The sources said that tow of the arrestees are Syrian nationals, two are Saudi nationals and the four others are Yemenis.

They said thon the lam amounts of foreign currencies modern weapons and ammunitions were found on the vehicle the hard boyz had, reaffirming that the rustics handed over the hard boyz to the military services there and they were later transferred to Al-Anad camp.

Local sources confirmed that Ansar Al-Shariah repeatedly threatened to storm Yafa'a and take control on the town.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact...
Military sources had cited that the Yemeni army made progress against Ansar Al-Shariah in Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
and could reach to the heart of Zinjibar after air-fighters launched strikes on the town.

According to Yemen's Defense Ministry, most veteran leaders of Al-Qaeda were killed and some others could escape outside the governorate of Abyan.

It stated that it will expand it operations to purge Abyan of Al-Qaeda, ensure the return of the displaced persons, and resume security and stability to the city.

The U.S. ambassador to Yemen, Gerald Feierstein, has attributed the army's progress to changes made by President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi in the military's leadership.

Meanwhile,
...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin...
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations Ropert Muleler arrived in Sana'a on Tuesday and discussed with Hadi efforts of counterterrorism, in particular fighting against Al-Qaeda.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Esquimeau village our hero was receiving a quick lesson in aeronautics......
Ansar Al-Sharia threaten to behead more than seventy soldiers who were captured last month as the hard boyz surprisingly attacked military positions.

Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


FBI chief in Yemen as drone kills Aqap leader
[Emirates 24/7] FBI director Robert Mueller visited Yemen on Tuesday, pledging to help quell an Islamist insurgency, as security and government sources said a drone had killed a prominent Al Qaeda leader linked to an attack on a French oil tanker.

In a meeting with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who took office earlier this year, Mueller promised the United States would support Yemen "with full force" in all respects.

"Mueller visits Yemen on an annual basis so this is not a special or secret occasion," said Mohammed Al Basha, Yemen's embassy front man in Washington. "President Hadi emphasised that he is strongly committed to combatting extremism and working with the U.S. to counter the mutual threat of terrorism."

Yemen's embassy in Washington said on Tuesday that Mohammed Saeed Al Umda, convicted in 2005 of involvement in the 2002 attack on the Limburg oil tanker, had been killed in an air strike on his convoy in the oil-producing province of Maarib on Sunday. It did not specify whether it was a U.S. strike.

Umda, described by the embassy as Yemen's fourth most-wanted man, had received military training under the late Osama bin Laden
... who has made the transition back to dust...
in Afghanistan and was in charge of the group's finances, a security source said.

In Washington, U.S. officials indicated that there had been other similar air attacks recently against cut-thoat targets in Yemen. U.S. cooperation with Yemeni authorities on counter-terrorism issues appears to have improved somewhat since Hadi took over from long-time president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
earlier this year.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were aware of reports of Al Umda's death in such an attack but did not have final confirmation. U.S. sources indicated that the Arclight airstrike in which the Yemenis say he was killed was carried out by a missile fired from a CIA-operated drone aircraft.

The United States has repeatedly used drones to target suspected al Qaeda cut-thoats, who have been emboldened by a year of political upheaval in the impoverished state.

Exploiting mass protests against former president Saleh's 33 years in office, forces of Evil linked to Al Qaeda last year seized large swathes of territory in southern Yemen, including at least two towns.

Yemen's army, which split into two factions during the uprising that eventually unseated Saleh, has been battling to get the upper hand against the cut-thoats.

On Tuesday, the Defence Ministry put the number of forces of Evil killed in the southern Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
province in the past two days at 52. It said the army had seized some government offices from forces of Evil as they pushed deep inside the quiet provincial capital of Zinjibar.

In a statement, Ansar al Sharia, an Al Qaeda-affiliated group, said its fighters had blocked the army's advance and challenged the authorities to issue "just one recent photograph showing troops inside the city (Zinjibar)".

The statement did not refer to the drone attack.

Tribal sources in Abyan said up to 21 forces of Evil were killed in three separate festivities with pro-government rustics on Tuesday. Two tribal fighters died in the fighting, they said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Islamist Cousin of Ras al-Khaimah Ruler Arrested
[An Nahar] A member of the ruling family of Ras al-Khaimah, one of seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates, has been held "without charge" for days, his son said on Wednesday.

Sheikh Sultan al-Qassimi, a first cousin of the emir who heads the local branch of the Islamist group al-Islah, was incarcerated on Friday by "gunnies in civilian clothing," his son Sheikh Abdullah told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone.

Sheikh Sultan "is being held in a room secured by guards at the governor's palace," the son said, condemning the absence of "any formal charges against him."

"He refuses to sign anything or give any statements to the authorities as long he is being jugged in this manner," Sheikh Abdullah said, a day after visiting his father in jug.

He said a family member had warned his father two weeks ago that he could be incarcerated by the UAE federal authorities, adding: "We demand his immediate release."

In a statement posted on its website, al-Islah condemned Sheikh Sultan's detention as an "unprecedented provocation".

Earlier this month, UAE authorities jugged six members of al-Islah and revoked their citizenship for alleged links to terrorism funding.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the emir's first cousin was probably involved in terror finance?

Guess some billionaire businessman told the emir to clean up his act or he'd take his business elsewhere.
Posted by: American Delight || 04/26/2012 7:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Source information of the arrest of Sheikh Sultan al-Qassimi provided below:

Earlier this month, UAE authorities jugged six members of al-Islah and revoked their citizenship for alleged links to terrorism funding.

Posted by: Besoeker || 04/26/2012 7:30 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Boy killed as grenade misses target
[Dawn] An eight-year-old Afghan boy was killed and two shopkeepers injured after a hand grenade hurled by suspected gun-hung tough guys at a Frontier Constabulary checkpost in Bara Qadeen area of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar missed the target on Tuesday.

A police source said FC personnel remained unhurt in the rocket propelled grenade attack.

He said the dead boy was Israrullah, a resident of Afghanistan, while the injured shopkeepers were Shakeel and Nooran, who were shifted to the Khyber Teaching Hospital where their condition was stable.

The source said attackers decamped to Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency. He said the checkpost had been attacked by gun-hung tough guys many times in the past.

Sarband police started the paperwork but haven't done much else against unidentified attackers and began investigation.

In Kohat, Frontier Corps, Frontier Constabulary and police on Tuesday placed in durance vile 16 gun-hung tough guys during a joint operation in the Shahoo Khel area of Hangu district
... Hangu is famous for its greenery, hills, beauty and water. Most of the people of this area are Bangash & Orakzai Pashtuns. Part of the Bangash are Shia. The Orakzai and the Sunni Bangash are determined to kill them...
The area is considered to be a stronghold of the banned turban outfit, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain. For the operation, which lasted several hours, Saiful Drara area bordering Shahoo Khel area was sealed to stop gun-hung tough guys from fleeing. The security forces recovered two Kalashnikovs, six rifles, one shot gun, two pistols and 170 pound of kabooms from the placed in durance vile turbans, who were later handed over to police for interrogation.

The deputy inspector general of police, Kohat region, said gun-hung tough guys won't be allowed to enter the settled areas from tribal parts of Kohat division for anti-social activities. He asked police of Hangu, Karak and Kohat to take strict action against troublemakers. --
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Hek's boys have completed Spring Training™, still throw like little girls. Not ready for The Show
Posted by: Frank G || 04/26/2012 9:41 Comments || Top||


Four shot dead on 'ethnic and political' grounds
[Dawn] Four more men, including two young footballers, were killed in separate targeted attacks on Tuesday as killings on 'political and ethnic grounds' continued unabated in the metropolis.

Police said assailants riding a cycle of violence and a car targeted two young footballers --Shabbir and Azam -- when they were heading towards Baloch Para on a cycle of violence to see an ailing relative of theirs.

They said the incident took place at Jahangir Road No 2 within the remit of the Jamshed Quarters cop shoppe. The assailants fired on the two young men and beat feet.

The police shifted the maimed to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, where they died.

Following the incident, tension gripped Jahangir Road and Baloch Para and enraged people forced shopkeepers to shut their businesses. The protesters also burnt tyres on the main road. Extra police deployment was made in the area to control the situation.

Area DSP Qaiser Ali Shah said the assailants riding an Alto car and a cycle of violence were apparently following the victims.

He said the victims were the resident of Shafia Goth in Malir and they were going to meet their relatives in Baloch Para and were targeted at Jahangir Road No 2.

He said the suspects used 9mm pistols and both victims received three bullets each to their head, face and chest.

Both victims were footballers and represented the Bloody Karachi Port Trust team, one as centre forward and the other as midfielder.
They also played from different football clubs.

The area DSP said the two men had gone to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre to inquire after the health of a relative, who had been discharged from the hospital and taken home in Baloch Para. They were heading to his house when they were targeted at Jehangir Road, he added.

The victims did not have any political affiliation and they did not have any criminal record, the police officer added.

The police suspected that it might be a case of killing on ethnic grounds.

Till late in the night, no case was registered at the Jamshed Quarters cop shoppe.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Pakistan tests nuke-capable ballistic missile
[Bangla Daily Star] Pakistain successfully test fired a nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile yesterday, the military said, less than a week after India test launched a long range missile.

The exact range of the missile was not revealed, but retired General Talat Masood, a defence analyst, told AFP intermediate range ballistic missiles could reach targets up to 2,500 to 3,000 kilometres away -- which would put almost all of arch-rival India within reach.

On Thursday India test fired its long range Agni V missile, which can deliver a one-tonne nuclear warhead anywhere in China.

"Pakistain today successfully conducted the launch of the intermediate range ballistic missile Hatf IV Shaheen-1A weapon system," Pakistain's military said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  This opens up some exiting possibilities. Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) worked in US vs USSR because the two countries were roughly 30 minutes apart as the missile flies which meant whoever got attacked had enough time to launch a counter-attack. No advantage to going first with a sneak attack.

In India vs Pakistan, the two countries are only 5 minutes apart - not much time to launch a counter. This means whoever decides to go first with a sucker punch attack accrues major advantage.

When Iran gets The Bomb, you will see the same situation replicated in the ME.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/26/2012 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  "As the Missle flies" > D *** NGED CROWS!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/26/2012 1:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Just like North Korea the Pakis spend more on military than their own people.
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 04/26/2012 6:28 Comments || Top||

#4 
Just like North Korea the Pakis spend more on military than their own people.


should be that way in the US. the Constitution mandates Defense but relegates the 'social' stuff to the states. of course, the 10th amendment hasn't been paid attention to in years.
Posted by: abu do you love || 04/26/2012 13:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Why do I keep getting the feeling tha the sooner Pakistan ceases to exist, the better off the world will be? (This is, of course, summing the nukes are accounted for and either captured by the US or rendered inoperable on a permanent basis). At that point, wall them off and let them go psycho on themselves.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/26/2012 16:33 Comments || Top||


Pakistan Police Defuse Passenger Train Bomb
[An Nahar] Pak police defused a bomb on a passenger train in the country's northwest on Wednesday, officials said, hours after a blast at a station in the eastern city of Lahore killed two people.

A guard found the bomb in a briefcase in the early hours of the morning on the train from Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
to Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, the main town in the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
province, near the Afghan border.

"The bomb fitted with detonator and batteries was packed with old clothes in a briefcase lying unattended in one of the coaches of the Awam Express," police officer Mazhar Abbas told Agence La Belle France Presse.

The train guard found the briefcase after a wedding party got down from the train at Attock station, he said.

"The guard checked from the wedding party members and remaining passengers in the coach but nobody claimed its ownership."

A bomb disposal squad was then summoned who defused the device, he said.

Mohammed Sajjad, a police investigation official, told AFP the bomb carried 13 kilograms of explosives as well as ball bearings and some nuts and bolts.

"Luckily a major tragedy has been averted," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Southeast Asia
Agreement to replace Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao
The Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have agreed to establish a new autonomous political entity to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Chief government negotiator Marvic Leonen said on Wednesday that the two sides had signed an agreement that contained their "decision points on principles." He said those points would guide negotiations on the substantive agenda of the peace talks.

Among the issues agreed upon was the commitment to "work for the creation of an autonomous political entity in place of the ARMM," because both sides recognized that the "status quo is unacceptable."

Leonen said replacing the ARMM with a new entity would require Congress to pass a law. He said the “contours” of the entity and how it will be established were still under discussion.”

The chief negotiator acknowledged that the government and the MILF were currently “poles apart” when it comes to their respective positions on the geographic scope of the autonomous political entity. Included in the 10-point agreement was that the autonomous political entity will have a ministerial form of government.

The two camps are set to meet again next month.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front

#1  IIRC TOPIX > [Philippines] COMMUNIST REBELS/NPA KILL ELEVEN POLICE OFFICERS.

Commie NPA = "Tip of the Jihad"???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/26/2012 1:54 Comments || Top||

#2  It's easy for me to say since I'm not out there fighting them but I wouldn't give the MILFs an inch because they'll do what Muslims always do and take a mile.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/26/2012 12:02 Comments || Top||

#3  The Philippine Government may be making nice with the Moro's because they hare facing off with the Chinese right now.?
Posted by: Vortigern Hupoluse1541 || 04/26/2012 19:45 Comments || Top||


Eight injured by roadside bomb in southern Thailand
A bomb went off on Takbai-Taba Road in Narathiwat province yesterday afternoon, injuring eight people including a three-year-old boy, civilians and soldiers. Police say the bomb was in an iron box hidden in a two-wheeled push-cart.

A police investigation found that two men on a motorcycle placed the bomb on the push-cart then fled. Later, when the soldiers' jeep drove by, the bomb was detonated by remote. The blast also hit the civilians who were on two motorcycles.

A village leader was gunned down by suspected terrorists insurgents in front of his house in Narathiwat's Sungai Padi district early yesterday morning. Police found the body of Sainung Ada, 50, riddled with bullets. He had a 9 mm pistol in his hand. Also found at the scene were 18 cartridges from AK47 and M16 rifles.

Police say Sainung was walking in front of his house at 5 a.m. when two gunmen in hiding opened fire. He tried to return fire but it appears that his weapon jammed.

Sainung was attacked and wounded by a suspected terrorist insurgent in 2010, but he fought back and the gunman fled. He had publicly announced that he would join with authorities to help crackdown on terrorists separatists.

Two villagers gunned down on the road

Two villagers were killed in a drive by shooting in Narathiwat province early Wednesday morning. They were heading home in a pickup truck from a fresh market on a local road when gunmen in another pickup truck opened fire on them with M16 and AK47 assault rifles.

The victims’ pickup truck swerved off the road, crashed into a tree and stopped. The gunmen then got out of their pickup truck and fired at them again at close range being fleeing. The victims died at the scene.

Police blamed separatist terrorists militants.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Bomb making be hard in Syria - 70 martyred in factory kaboom
Up to 70 people have been killed in an attack on a house in Hama, according to Syrian activists.

They said several houses in the Masha at-Tayyar district in southern Hama were destroyed by a big kaboom.

State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by "armed terrorist groups".

The violence comes despite a UN-brokered ceasefire - part of a peace plan proposed by the joint UN-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Kofi Annan.
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...

Scud attack?

Following the blast in Hama, activists posted video on the internet showing a scene of devastation, with bodies being pulled from the rubble.

One report said 13 children and 15 women were among the dead.

They said the blast was caused by government shelling or even a Scud missile attack.

The opposition Syrian National Council has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting "so that it can issue a resolution to protect civilians".

It says nearly 100 people have been killed in Hama in recent days.

The level of devastation seen would have been difficult to achieve by conventional shelling, the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says.

State television showed pictures of injured children in hospital and says that a group using the house to make bombs detonated them accidentally.

The reports cannot be independently verified owing to government restrictions on foreign media.

Meanwhile,
...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients of increasing volatility...
a video has emerged which purportedly shows a man being buried alive by security forces, allegedly for sending material to TV stations. Its authenticity could not be confirmed.

The unnamed man, who is said to be a media activist, is seen pleading for his life as earth is shovelled over his head. He then goes silent.

What appear to be members of the security forces are then heard cursing him for receiving money for sending material to Arabic satellite TV stations. The video was leaked by sympathisers.

Continuing violence has been reported across Syria since a ceasefire was introduced earlier this month - including in towns where UN observers are present.

La Belle France now says the Security Council should consider the use of force in Syria if Mr Annan's peace plan fails to stop the violence.

The plan calls on Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from cities.

"Totally unacceptable"

Mr Annan told the Security Council on Tuesday that the Syrian military had not withdrawn from population centres.

He condemned as "totally unacceptable and reprehensible", reports that troops entered Hama after UN observers departed on Monday, and carried out summary executions as punishment for having spoken to them.

Two observers have now returned to Hama. They form part of a small advance team, ahead of a team of 300 that the UN would like to deploy.

A front man for Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said, via Twitter, that he had sent a message to Kofi Annan to "set the record straight on several aspects of the Annan plan".

Mr Moualem is reported to have told him that there had been "more than 1,149 documented and verifiable violations from armed elements" since the ceasefire began.

The US permanent representative to the UN, Susan Rice, told news hounds on Tuesday that all Security Council members wanted the observers to be deployed quickly.

Ms Rice said that it was hoped 100 observers would be in Syria within a month, but said Syria had made clear it would not admit UN staff from any country in the "Friends of Democratic Syria" group.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/26/2012 07:59 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like calling it a work accident, even if we can't be completely sure it wasn't a Pencil-neck action. But it doesn't bother me if it was an 'on-purpose'. Please pass the popcorn.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/26/2012 20:44 Comments || Top||


Syrian rebels target security officials in Damascus
Damascus -- Rebels seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad killed three regime officers in separate attacks Tuesday around Damascus, activists and state media said, the latest violence targeting the security forces used by the government to quash dissent.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one intelligence officer was shot dead in the northeastern Barzeh neighborhood of the capital Damascus. Also Tuesday, the state news service said “terrorists” shot to death a retired lieutenant colonel and his brother, a chief warrant officer, in an area southwest of the capital.

A bomb hidden in an army truck also exploded in the capital, wounding several people. Explosives that were planted in an army truck blew up as the vehicle traveled through downtown. The blast in Marjah Square near the Iranian Cultural Center blew out the truck’s windows, leaving a hole in its roof and blood and shattered glass on the road. The truck’s driver and two passengers in a nearby car were injured and taken to a hospital.

The state news service said an “armed terrorist group” had sabotaged the car by planting explosives under the driver’s side.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Annan tells UN Syria hasn’t withdrawn heavy weapons
I was contemplating the 'Master of the Obvious' graphic for this story as well.
BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS: Syria has failed to comply with a pledge to withdraw weapons from population centers, and towns where citizens met with UN truce monitors may have been attacked, international mediator Kofi Annan told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

As violence flared in the Syrian capital of Damascus, Annan told the 15-nation body “we need eyes and ears on the ground, able to move freely and quickly” to watch over the ragged cease-fire. But the head of UN peacekeeping said deployment was moving slowly.
Send in the mighty Uruguayans!
Annan made clear that Syrian forces had not withdrawn heavy weapons from urban centers and returned to barracks, as they are required to under a six-point peace plan he drew up.

“The situation in Syria continues to be unacceptable. The Syria authorities must implement their commitments in full, and a cessation of violation in all its forms must be respected by all parties,” Annan said, according to a transcript of his remarks.

He suggested the Syrian government was targeting people in areas where the monitors had met with civilians. He noted that he was “particularly alarmed by reports that government troops entered Hama yesterday after observers departed, firing automatic weapons and killing a significant number of people.”

“If confirmed, this is totally unacceptable and reprehensible,” Annan said. “Two observers have been stationed in Hama today.”
So expect some more dead civilians...
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, sent a Twitter message from inside the council where Annan was briefing via video link, saying, “targeting by Syrian regime of those speaking with UN monitors is outrageous but not unexpected.”
Boy howdy, what resolute diplomacy by the U.S. ambassador...
Rice said that was a direct violation of two resolutions the Security Council adopted this month to authorize the deployment to Syria of 300 monitors and an unspecified number of civilians as part of a UN observer mission called UNSMIS.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Did they piss on your shoes too, Kofi?
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/26/2012 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Thats actually par for the Syrians, be it Bashir = Baby Assad, or his late Daddy-o.

* TOPIX > SYRIA FACES NEO-MUJAHIDEED STRUGGLE.

I'll say - the Hard Boyz back in AFPAK are wearing raggedy traditional Islamic wear, the Syrian Hard Boyz are post-modern le chic.

versus

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > TURKISH LEADERS: [JDP] GOVT. HAS TURNED TURKEY INTO A BASE FOR TERRORISM, + Imperialism.

PM Erdogan attempting to enforce a unilateral PRO-TURKIC/KEMALIST "GREATER MIDDLE EAST" AGENDUM???

* SAME > TURKISH ReSIGNED OFFICIALS: ERDOGAN IS TOOL WHOM IS CARRYING OUT THE PROJECTS OF SUPERPOWERS, not Turkey's interests.

* SAME > TURKEY TO STAGE [Aegean]MARITIME EXERCISES UNDER IRANIAN SUPERVISION | IRANIAN FORCES TO OBSERVE TURKISH MILITARY EXERCISES.

* TOPIX > IRANOLOGIST: AZERBAIJAN ARMY TOO WEAK TO DEFEND PIPELINE, REGION DURING [any]IRAN-AZERI WAR, IRAN ONLY NEEEDS 10% OF ITS ARMY TO REACH [take] BAKU.

* SAME > IMF ASKS CAUCASUS + CENTRAL ASIA TO CREATE MORE JOBS, espec to deter or defeat Rising Islamism among the youths + working-class [males].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/26/2012 1:52 Comments || Top||

#3  The thing that gets me about this is "Where do you expect them to be withdrawn too?"

I assume that it's expected that all the troops and weapons be stored in a warehouse/base somewhere and just allow the rebels to have freedom of movement and freedom to fire but c'mon that's ridiculous. This is a civil war, either pick a side and help of shut up and leave them alone.
Posted by: AlanC || 04/26/2012 10:59 Comments || Top||

#4  This is a civil war, either pick a side and help of shut up and leave them alone.

Already picked a side. And are helping it. But the narrative must be preserved.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/26/2012 11:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Grom - I pick whoever is losing at any given moment as the one to quietly help.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/26/2012 20:46 Comments || Top||


At Least 21 Civilians, 3 Troops Killed in Violence across Syria
[An Nahar] At least 21 civilians and three soldiers were killed on Wednesday in violence across Syria, activists said, 13 days after a tenuous truce came into effect.

Regime forces killed six people in the northwestern province of Idlib, four in the Damascus
...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations...
suburbs of Harasta and Douma, four in the southern province of Daraa, three in the northern province of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
, two in the central province of Hama, a person in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor and another in the central province of Homs, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four people were killed on a bus raked with gunfire by security forces at a checkpoint near Khan Sheikhun, a town in the restive northwestern province of Idlib. Another person was reportedly killed by gunfire in the village of Shatouria.

In the southern province of Daraa, violent festivities erupted between armed rebels and government forces in the town of Bosra al-Sham, the Britannia-based watchdog said.

Heavy machinegun fire and shelling by regime forces was reported, with an elderly man killed when his home was hit by a mortar, and another person dying in the festivities.

Three soldiers were killed in festivities with armed rebel groups and one citizen was killed by random shooting in the town of Tafas, also in Daraa, according to the Observatory.

One child died after being struck by gunfire in a village in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

And regime forces rubbed out one citizen in the town of Rastan, in the central province of Homs, the Observatory reported.

In Douma, a northeastern suburb of Damascus, the NGO said two citizens, including a teenage girl, were killed by sniper fire, with regime forces conducting raids, searching for people wanted by the authorities.

It was unclear whether U.N. monitors, who visited Douma on Wednesday, were present before or after the shootings and raids took place.

In another Damascus suburb, Harasta, two non-combatants were killed by regime forces.

The violence in Syria, which continues despite the hard-fought ceasefire and the presence of U.N. monitors, has claimed more than 9,000 lives since anti-regime protests erupted in March 2011, according to U.N. estimates.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Kurdish Rebels Kill Four Iran Guards
[An Nahar] Kurdish rebels have killed four members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in the country's west, a provincial official told the Mehr news agency on Wednesday.

The attack was carried out by members of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) near the town of Paveh in Iran's Kermanshah province on Tuesday evening, Mehr reported.

"Four members of the Guards were martyred and four others maimed in the cowardly act," Shahryar Heydari, the province's ranking security official, told Mehr.

Heydari said PJAK rebels also suffered casualties, but did not provide any details.

The PJAK, labeled as "terrorists" by Tehran, has often clashed with Iranian forces, sparking retaliatory bombing of their rear bases in the mountainous border districts of neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan.

The report on Wednesday was the first such account of a deadly conflict between Iranian forces and the Kurdish rebels since summer last year.

In July 2010, the Islamic republic's Guards launched a string of operations against the rebels and began shelling districts near the border with Iraq, killing dozens including the rebels' deputy commander.

Later in September, the Guards said they had forced the rebels out of northwestern Iran and killed more than 180 of them in a summer-long offensive.
Posted by: Fred || 04/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



Who's in the News
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1Jamaat-e-Islami
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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In no particular order...
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2012-04-26
  Libya bans religious, tribal or ethnic parties
Wed 2012-04-25
  Sacked Yemen Air Force Commander Quits Post
Tue 2012-04-24
  India orders deportation of 10 French nationals over Maoist links
Mon 2012-04-23
  Kazakh court sends 47 men to prison for terrorism
Sun 2012-04-22
  Tons of Explosives Seized from Militants Planning Attack in Kabul
Sat 2012-04-21
  Sudan Rebels Kill 79 Troops, Militia in Blue Nile
Fri 2012-04-20
  8 die in Michoacan state as conflict goes hot
Thu 2012-04-19
  Qaeda leader suicide bombs himself and family in Iraq
Wed 2012-04-18
  Hadi Refuses to receive Former Yemen President
Tue 2012-04-17
  UN Camp in South Sudan Targeted by Sudanese Warplanes
Mon 2012-04-16
  US drone strike kills senior al-Qaeda Militant in Yemen
Sun 2012-04-15
  Afghan capital hit by blasts, gun attack
Sat 2012-04-14
  U.S. drone strike kills 7 al-Qaeda members in Yemen
Fri 2012-04-13
  23 Reportedly Dead as Syria Regime, Opposition Trade Charges of Breaking Ceasefire
Thu 2012-04-12
  Nork rocket launched, then 'breaks up'

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