ADDIS ABABA (Rooters) - Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Tuesday Ethiopia was "technically" at war with Somalia's Islamists since they had declared jihad on his nation.
"The jihadist elements within the Islamic Courts movement are spoiling for a fight. They've been declaring jihad against Ethiopia almost every other week," Meles told Reuters in an interview. "Technically we are at war."
#1
Hopefully the Ethiopians are receiving some assistance, so that when push comes to shove, the Islamists will notice peculiarly high casualty rates on their side.
#4
Seem to be getting awfully close to Djibouti and we all know what's there. Seems to me all these guys in Chad, Somalia and Ethiopia ought to get a geography and sense of imminent death lesson.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/24/2006 16:36 Comments ||
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#5
CJTF Horn of Africa has done many humanitarian missions in Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, etc.
I suspect that sometimes the aircraft and those on board have other things in mind, as well.
#6
Perhaps his "technically at war" simply means that only combat between Somali and Ethopian "technicals" will take place. I suppose this means that Dodge and Toyota are major players in the Horn of Africa's arms race.
#7
It also means that if anyone gets a picture of Ethiopian troops killing jihadis somewhere in Somalia, the Ethiopians have the "technical war declaration" as cover for the operation. It breaks down to, "Well, they started it. We are just defending ourselves." Also lets some of the Ethiopian Special Forces serve on the line with the Somali government troops, since they would simply be allied soldiers in a war.
I don't think anybody's surprised. The warlords have the capability to kick the Islamic Courts out, but not the will.
(SomaliNet) Somalia government troops who had been in Bur-hakaba town of Bay region in southwest of Somalia are confirmed to have withdrawn from there overnight as Islamist fighters retook the town peacefully and more likely to advance towards Baidoa city, the base of the unsteady government. There were inconsistent reports over their departure from there.
Some reports say the retreat of the government forces from Bur-hakaba town was based on difference among the army commanders...
Some reports say the retreat of the government forces from Bur-hakaba town based on difference among the army commanders while other sources say the governments pull back came after mounting more pressure from yesterdays fight outside Buale city, the capital of middle Juba region, where the Juba Valley Alliance militia was overrun by Islamists. Government soldiers with allegedly Ethiopian forces that seized control of Bur-hakaba town on October 21 pulled back from the town midnight.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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A Dhaka court yesterday again placed Mufti Abdul Hannan, operations commander of banned Islamist outfit Harkatul Jihad (HuJi), and his brother Mahibullah alias Mafizur Rahman - also a HuJi member- on a four-day remand, after police showed them arrested in a murder case. The case was lodged with Sutrapur Police Station in connection with the killing of Arif Prakash alias Mohammad Ali on November 5, 2001.
Earlier, completing a 10-day remand with the help of the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) produced two brothers before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court, Dhaka yesterday afternoon. The remand had been granted in connection with the killing of Bazlur Rahman.
In his forwarding report, CID Inspector and Investigation Officer (IO) of the case ZM Altafur Rahman mentioned that Hannan and Mafiz gave important information on the killing and the information was being verified. So, they should be in custody until investigation completes, the IO wrote.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
RAB+Killers+ "So, they need to be quizzed to find out the vital clues to the killing and the whereabouts of their accomplices, the IO added." = a late nite executionshootout shuttergun discovery
"Aaaiiiiieeeee!" *bang* *bang*
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/24/2006 7:46 Comments ||
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#2
It's RAB Quiz Time, gents! Here's your first question:
Venezuelan police detained a university student outside the US Embassy on Monday, saying he left two low-intensity explosives on the street outside the diplomatic mission.
He said both were in black plastic bags and contained "small fliers with publicity alluding to Hizbullah."
No one was hurt, and the student's motives remained unclear. Police set off the homemade devices - essentially large fireworks - while they closed the street to traffic outside the embassy. Children were evacuated from an adjacent school.
Wilfredo Borraz, police chief for the Baruta section of Caracas, told reporters that one of the explosives was found outside the school and one inside a planter about 50 meters (yards) from the embassy entrance. He said both were in black plastic bags and contained "small fliers with publicity alluding to Hizbullah" - the Lebanese guerrilla group.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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(Itar-Tass) - - A leader of a gang involved in committing acts of terrorism against federal forces was detained in Chechnya. As Itar-Tass at the law enforcement bodies of the republic, 35- year-old resident of the Grozny region Sadaluyev was detained during a joint operation of officers of the Russian Interior Ministry and the Federal Security Service Department in the village of Savelyevskaya of the Naursky region.
According to the information of the law enforcement bodies, from May 2000 to December 2002, Sadulayev led a gang engaged in committing acts of sabotage and terrorism against units of federal forces and the local population on the territories of Vedeno, Sharoisky and Shatoisky regions. The detainee was on the federal wanted list. While examining the gang leader, two grenades were confiscated from him.
Besides, a 38-year-old local resident who, according to the information of the law enforcement bodies, rendered assistance to members of a gang led by Yunadi Turchayev (destroyed in special operation in February 2005) was detained the Gudermes railway station. He gave gunmen information on places of dislocation and routes of movement of federal forces, as well as supplied them with foodstuffs and medicines.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
so long, Saluyev! Bet it's painful...
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/24/2006 8:26 Comments ||
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A trial began Monday in Spain of two Spaniards suspected of providing explosives to Islamist terrorists who blew up four Madrid commuter trains in March 2004, killing 191 people in the country's worst terrorist attack. The trial in the northern city of Gijon did not concern the attacks directly, but explosives and drug trafficking allegedly carried out by former miner Emilio Suarez Trashorras and his brother- in-law Antonio Toro three years before the bombings. The two men will go on trial for the Madrid bombings along with 27 other suspects next year.
In the Gijon trial, prosecutors are requesting 17 years in prison and fines of 218,000 euros (275,000 dollars) each for Trashorras and Toro. Charges were raised against the two after police discovered 55 kilos of hashish, 16 cartridges of Goma 2 Eco explosives and 94 detonators in a garage they were using. Goma 2 was the explosive used in the Madrid bombings. Trashorras and Toro had offered to sell the explosive to a nightclub employee who was a police informer in 2001. The explosives were thought to have been stolen from a mine where Trashorras had worked in the northern region of Asturias.
Prosecutors were requesting sentences of up to 13 years for 18 other accused charged with related offences. The 38 witnesses were to include Rafa Zouhier, a police informer of Moroccan origin, who is also among the Madrid bombings suspects.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
JFM - Will you try to keep us updated on this? Your knowledge of who's who there is encyclopedic - and your take would be far more valuable that the MSM articles, themselves.
TIA - I certainly appreciate the explanations you've given us along the way since 3/11 ('04) occurred.
#2
I will be absent from teh front for a week but after that I promise to publish a summary of the MANY funny things in athe investigation. From falsidfied documents to explosives not analyzed to pieces of evidence who appear out of thian air in places who had been already thoroughly checked
#3
Thanks - enjoy your "vacation" (?)... you've told us about some of the oddities and absurdities in the past, but tying it together with the trial should be particularly interesting. :-)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. spy agencies cannot retain the people they are recruiting and training for the toughest jobs of all -- collecting human intelligence on al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
Thomas Waters, a former CIA officer who was a member of the agency's first post-Sept. 11 training class, told United Press International that the agency's clandestine service -- which recruits agents who spy for the United States -- had special problems retaining those like him, who had joined mid-career.
"You start doing the math and thinking about when you're going to retire and you can't get the numbers to add up," he said, adding that he had left the agency because he could not afford to stay there.
"You don't want to end up working at Wal-Mart (after retirement) to put your kids through college," said Waters, who has written a book about his experiences in CIA training called "Class 11," and who is now an intelligence contractor for the Department of Defense.
The article goes on for more whining about how the Govt is competing against contractors for talent, but NEVER once addresses the biggest issue outside of money: the old-boy network made up of incompetent risk-averse ass-covering career b-crats who backstab analysis and ops people, leak documents and are generally political assholes. I'm talking about the ones that can't tell between a shia and a sunni, and think it doesnt matter, they probably have better contacts in the NYTimes and Dem Party than they do in tracing Al Qaeda. NOBODY want to work for those sorts, and unfortunately there are a lot of them there in crucial positions; they are mainly dregs who wormed their way there during the Bush-41 and Clinton years while shedding the "talent" that is now missing. Try firing an entrenched management-type GS-UpThere. Can't be done. And thats why the CIA needs to be dismantled and parceled out to NSA, NRO, DoD and so on.
#1
OS go ahead and name Valerie Plame she is one of them. They eek out an existence until their incompetence runs smack into reality and then they have to resign or take a fallback job as a bean counter. Dont get me wrong there are some good people out there but they are vastly outnumbered by the career and politicos couldnt analyze their way out of a wet paper back. Not to go too much on a rant (too late) but can someone name an intelligence success before 9/11?
#4
Interesting peek inside, OS. In the private sector, when this kind of fossilization takes place in a big company, all the smart little mammals run off and join a start-up company where they proceed to eat the dinosaur's eggs.
Time to privatise the intelligence business? Fits right in with my plan to issue Letters of Marque and Reprisal. Vote for me!
#6
To thoroughly purge CIA, what must happen to it is what happened to the Army. In the case of the Army, its upper eschelons of West Pointers had to be replaced with ROTC graduates.
With the CIA, anyone from Yale, Harvard, or other Ivy League schools has got to go. They have created an "honorable schoolboy" cancer in the CIA that is just as corrupt as what happened in British Intelligence with "The Cambridge Five" in the Philby Affair.
Even if they are loyal to the US, which is questionable, they are more loyal to the democratic party, and most of all loyal to their schoolmates, no matter how untrustworthy.
The vast majority of the CIAs upper eschelon should come from the South and West, not including the West Coast.
#7
"Letters of Marque and Reprisal." I saw a story on the a cable network (not sure which one) where they talked stated there were over 2,000 Private Military Companies or PMC. I think the U.S. is a bit shy about unleashing hired guns to kill people in the Middle East (at least openly). We have done it before and are doing it today in some areas. In the 1970s we funded several Thai mercenary divisions to fight the Communists in Laos. Recently we hired guns to interrupt, harass, and monitor drug trafficking in South America. I am all for funding small mobile teams that basically go about vetting out justice to any Jihadi the can find. You have my vote.
#8
"By design or default, we were gutted in the 1990s and we didn't replace the human capital we lost."
My response: Well DUH! They were warned that they were keeping political fat (like Plame) and cutting the muscle (ops) and bone (analysis) of the agency. If they had bothered to keep us "cold war dinosaurs" (as we were called when it came time to chop headcount) in the 90's instead of tossing us operators and analysts out while keeping the ass-covering ass-kissing management, they wouldn't be paying out so much now, nor would they ahve been repeatedly bruened back in 2001-2003! Shame of it is the same idiots who didnt address the real problems then are missing the real problems now: sh*t head political leakers that are now risk-averse management, people who seem more concerned with treating Bush and Republicans as if they are enemies than they are with truly defending the nation against terrorists and the nutjobs in NKor and Iran.
#9
Wouln't recruiting human capital required to deal with AQ and the like mean recruiting people that are muslim that speak Farsi, Arabic, etc., that understand that culture but basically reject it in favor of Western Democracy? Are there such good muzzies amongst the rabble?
#10
Sarge: I imagine that most of those PMCs are smoke and mirrors, either set up as shell corporations for other PMCs, or as administrative functions for whatever laws apply.
It is exceptionally hard to set up a mercenary organization of scale that is well managed and logistically capable. Governments have an inherent distrust of such organizations, and go out of their way to interfere with them. Capitalization is also problematic and unpredictable.
Back in the 70s, it was suggested that eventually corporate armies would be conducting most proxy fights by now, but PMCs just don't fit easily into parent company business models. Halliburton had to go through all sorts of contortions to have Kellogg, Brown & Root providing support services in Iraq, even though they had been providing support services to the US military since WWII.
Eventually it was too much for them, and they had to spin off KBR, while keeping an 80% share.
#11
Privatization: When I checked the jobs listing about a year ago at my old company (a beltway bandit) there were about 50 openings for intel analysts and even some positions requiring humint operations experience. Sure looked like some kind of privatization.
Posted by: former mil contractor ||
10/24/2006 14:23 Comments ||
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#14
There are plenty of Jews who escaped from those parts of the world post 1948 too, and hence speak the required languages fluently. Masses of them put their names down after 9/11, but were told more or less politely that the Muslims wouldn't work with Jews. Oh, well.
#15
I smell a certain amount of "disinformation". Much like Fernandez' remarks on Al-Jazeera. Of course he knew what he was saying which is exactly what he was told to say. Keep them all off balance. We are divided. We are disorganized. We have humint recruiting and retention problems. You are safe to proceed. Bang. Got you.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/24/2006 16:43 Comments ||
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#16
TW, yu'd be amazed at all the peopel that shoudl ahve been hired in and were not becasue they didnt have the right connections - and stunned by the people who were hired in because they did have the right political connections.
An Ivy League pedegree goes a great deal farther than actual subject matter expertise with some pretty important folks.
Myself, I think an Ivy Legaue degree should disqualify you from employment in the field unless you have extended military (combat arms) service to offset it; even then you end up with politards like Jack Murtha. If we hire more people with a univeristy degree that said "State" or "Tech" or had a compasss point ("North, Southwestern", etc) in it someplace, we'd be much better off.
#19
The evidence is all around you in the form of leakers and their enablers, bias, and flat out lying about what was reported when and wherel this is in addition to the inability of many in the IC to admit mistakes and fault - and act to FIX things rather than cover them up.
So best back that stuff up moose - because you're the one looking like 20 pounds in a 10 pound sack..
PESHAWAR: Maulana Faqir Mohamed, once most wanted cleric in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region, and his fellow militants are likely to ink peace accord with the government after Eid al-Fitr, as the government has released all his relatives as a goodwill gesture.
On the forth day of Eid al-Fitr, both sides would sign peace agreement. Maulana Faqir Mohamed's brother, Maulana Gul Mohamed and two other important religious figures, Dr Ismail and Maulana Inayatur Rahman, were also among the released tribesmen.
The Pakistani security forces, in a raid on the house of Maulana Faqir Mohamed in Chopatra villages of Bajuar Agency, had arrested Maulana Gul Mohamed and an Uzbek national Huzaifa a day after the dramatic arrest of alleged Al Qaeda operative Abu Faraj al-Libbi in Mardan on May 2.
Besides Faqir Mohamed's brother, those released were identified as Bahadur Khan, Habibullah, Bashirullah, Ziaul Haq, Jamal Syed, Nazimeen Khan and as mentioned the two clerics - Dr Ismail and Maulana Inayatur Rahman.
Maulana Faqir Mohamed's supporters warmly received their released colleagues and celebrated their release with heavy firing into the air. Members of the tribal 'jirga' (council) took them to the village after their release from central prison in Khar, headquarters of Bajaur Agency.
Two of them, Dr Ismail and Maulana Inayatur Rahman, were detained in Peshawar and were thoroughly interrogated. Another tribal cleric, Maulana Jan Mohamed, 35, son of an aged Maulana Mohamed Amin, whose house was burnt by a tribal 'jirga' last year, had already died in custody of the law enforcement agencies allegedly due to extreme torture on him.
A 'jirga' comprising local tribal elders had started peace negotiations between the government and tribal clerics a few months ago and on one occasion the 'jirga' members met with sort of embarrassment when the tribal clerics assured them of their full support for resolving the longstanding issue, but the government then gave a very cold response.
However, according to sources, Governor of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Ali Mohamed Jan Orakzai has now given a green a signal to the tribal 'jirga' members that helped end the long deadlock in negotiations.
The 'jirga' members restarted their peace talks with tribal clerics' leaders - Maulana Faqir Mohamed and his deputy Maulana Liaqat in Damadola.
One of the prominent tribal elders, Malik Abdul Aziz, while talking on phone from his hometown in Bajaur said all arrangements had been finalised for peace deal scheduled on fourth day of the Eid.
He said there would be a big meeting of tribal 'jirga' on that occasion where all tribal clerics, elders and government representatives would be present. Under the deal, Malik Abdul Aziz explained, nobody would be allowed to provide shelter to any foreign national on Bajaur soil.
And if someone violated the peace agreement, the elder said, a strict action would be taken against him according to local customs and traditions. He said he held a detailed meeting with Maulana Faqir Mohamed when he took the released people to his village and the Maulana was quite happy with peace initiative.
"We can't even think of creating law and order situation on our soil. We are peace-loving people and are more loyal to this land than others," said Malik Abdul Aziz while quoting the Maulana as saying.
The elder said, on the demand of tribal 'jirga', the government agreed to release all the prisoners who were kept in custody for more than 15 months and nothing was found against them during this long period of interrogation.
"Since we realised the conspiracies being hatched by our common enemy, therefore, we would never like to allow Bajaur to become a battlefield for their vested interests," remarked Malik Abdul Aziz.
Maulana Faqir Mohamed was accused by the US secret service, CIA, of hosting a dinner at his Damadola village in Bajaur Agency on January 13 for Al Qaeda's deputy leader and Osama bin Laden's right-hand man Dr al-Zawahiri and other foreign militants.
However, the Maulana later rejected all the CIA claims, terming them baseless and fabricated allegations against him to justify the killing of innocent civilians.
The home of his cousins in the nearby Seway village was also raided, and three of them, namely Maulana Jan Mohamed, Maulana Bashir Mohamed and Maulana Nazir Mohamed were held.
Posted by: john ||
10/24/2006 17:30 ||
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#1
Oh good! A matched set!
Will this cover the South Wazoo?
The last 4-5 sentences are precious. IIRC, wasn't some Zawahiri realitve, a son or something, killed? So yeah, sure thing, it was all baseless lies by the evil 'Merikkkans cuz Zawa wuz late and didn't get boomed, too.
POLICE in Pakistan have arrested three more militants with suspected links to al-Qaeda over attempted rocket attacks in and around the capital Islamabad, a police official said. The trio were arrested in Islamabad's industrial area today when police intercepted a car, senior superintendent of police Sikandar Hayat said. "The arrests were made following information provided by eight others arrested earlier," Supt Hayat said.
Earlier this month security forces arrested eight militants and seized rockets, grenades, explosives and hundreds of sniper rifle rounds in raids at undisclosed locations in Pakistan. A joint investigation team of police and intelligence agencies was conducting the probe, Supt Hayat said.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf earlier this month said that an "extremist" gang had been arrested after two rockets were found near parliament on October 5 and two more near the spy agency headquarters in Islamabad two days later. A previously unexplained blast in the Ayub public park in Rawalpindi on October 4, near Musharraf's army residence, was caused by another rocket, one of a further four planted by the militants. Militants had planned to launch the rockets simultaneously in Islamabad and Rawalpindi by the use of mobile phone signals, interior minister Aftab Sherpao has said. But only one device worked, in the Ayub park, Rawalpindi, and did not cause any casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I dont believe a word that comes out of Pervs mouth after reading the following article.
With the killing of a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant and the arrest of six others, Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday claimed to have busted a militant network allegedly supported by a ruling People's Democratic Party leader in Kupwara district. In a joint operation, police and troops of Rashtriya Rifles apprehended one Akhter Hussain Khan from Bumhama area of Kupwara district on Sunday and seized six hand grenades and a radio set from him, an official spokesman said. On the information provided by Khan, an operation was launched to nab six militants who were travelling in a vehicle belonging to a PDP leader, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Beyond Words
Something was wrong. It was a blistering June morning in 2005 when Marine Maj. Christopher Phelps led his team into the center of Saqlawiyah, a small Iraqi city ten miles from Fallujah. The place normally teemed with vendors hawking cucumbers, tomatoes and a hodgepodge of goods, but in front of the soldiers now stretched a chaotic pile of dusty rubble and thatched roofs. Fellow Marines, who thought the market a perfect place for insurgents to hide homemade bombs, had demolished it overnight at the request of the Saqlawiyah city council.
Phelps noticed groups of Iraqis quietly glaring at them. He didn't like the feel of it. Neither did his Iraqi interpreter, Mustafa Subhy Abdualla. Sixty-five U.S. soldiers had been killed by insurgents the previous month in Iraq, and the marketplace was located in eastern Al Anbar Province, one of the most murderous sections of the Sunni Triangle. Phelps and Abdualla looked at each other. "Let's get out of here!" shouted Abdualla as Phelps simultaneously ordered his team to take cover in the nearby police station.
"Was a bomb hidden there that morning?" asked Phelps afterward. "I don't know. The point is that Mustafa and I were totally in sync. That was true in every situation, every time we worked together."
As they had come to depend on each other for their lives and the lives of their team members, the major and his interpreter had developed a communication that went beyond words. Says Abdualla, "I read his mind, he read mine."
Their friendship would change their lives in ways they never guessed. They had first met four months earlier. Phelps had participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and was now on his second tour of duty. Upon arriving at Camp Fallujah, he headed for the "Terp Hootch" -- translators' bunkhouse -- to meet his interpreter, who'd be crucial to the success of this mission. Phelps would be leading a civil affairs team involved in the daunting task of rebuilding the country.
On the surface, the two had little in common. Tall and gregarious, Phelps, 34, grew up in a large, outgoing family in rural Kansas and, with wife Lisa, had four young sons, ages three to eight. Abdualla, single and soft-spoken, was a 30-year-old chemical engineer, raised by his widowed mother and two older sisters in an elegant home in urban Baghdad.
That first night as the sun set over nearby Baharia Lake, a favorite vacation spot of Saddam Hussein's murderous sons, Phelps asked Abdualla one probing question: Why did he want the job? Translating for U.S. and Coalition forces involved extremely hazardous duty. Branded traitors by the insurgents, most interpreters adopted fictional names; some even wore ski masks.
Abdualla answered, "You guys came and provided an opportunity for my country. I want to give something back."
#5
I'm going to post the rest of the article. Sorry for this clunky way of doing things. Readers Digest article.
Please do NOT paste long articles in the comments section, even really good ones. There are already over 108,000 articles and about 518,000 comments in the Rantburg database. The link and an extract as the submitted article is the way to go.
CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq The Coalition Forces killed six insurgents, wounded four and netted five sniper rifles Sunday in the Euphrates River city of Hit, Iraq.
The Coalition Force positively identified 10 males conducting insurgent activity in a parking lot prior to engaging them with a heavy volume of fire.
The insurgents were gathered around a car while distributing black masks, AK-47 assault rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers to one another.
After the engagement the Coalition Force personnel searched three insurgent vehicles in the parking lot and captured the following equipment:
o (5) sniper rifles
o (3) sniper rifle magazines
o (11) AK-47 assault rifles
o (19) AK-47 assault rifle magazines
o (3) rocket propelled grenades with launchers
o (1) RPK machine gun
o (2) PKC machine gun
o (1) video camera
o (1) bullet-proof vest with protective plates
o (2) hand grenades
o (7) load bearing vests
o (8) black masks
During the engagement, some of the insurgent weapons were destroyed, and found burning inside the vehicles.
Today was significant for Coalition Forces because it reduced the sniper threat in Hit by a considerable margin, said Lt. Col. Thomas Graves, commanding officer for the Friedburg, Germany-based 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment.
We will take advantage of this opportunity by continuing our efforts to develop Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police forces within Hit, said Graves.
1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment is the Coalition Forces unit responsible for training Iraqi Security Forces and providing security to the city of Hit.
Coalition Forces evacuated the four wounded insurgents to a nearby U.S. military medical facility for treatment. Their condition is unknown at this time.
Hit is a city of about 60,000 located 35 miles northwest of Ramadi in Iraqs Al Anbar Province
Anbar Province has mixed command Army and Marines.
"Last week CNN broadcast controversial -- some would say treasonous-- videos of insurgents sniping at American troops. Tonight, CNN is pleased to announce that US Marines have killed six jihadi snipers and wounded another four. Great going, guys! Anderson, what's your reaction?"
"Well, Katie, it's obviously yet another great display of courage and skill by the US military. As a CNN journalist I try to restrain myself from becoming a cheerleader for our guys, but this time I just can't hold it back. This ranks right up there with the flag being raised on Suribachi sixty years ago."
"Thank you, Anderson. Everyone here in the studio in Atlanta feels that way. And now on to the economy: how could it get better?"
Posted by: Matt ||
10/24/2006 16:10 Comments ||
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#4
But did they find the 1986 Buick with a hole cut into the trunk?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/24/2006 16:46 Comments ||
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#5
Things You Will Never Hear on CNN:
It is with heavy heart we report the the conviction of CNN founder Ted Turner of sedition and poor taste in wifery.
In other news:
Santaria sacrifices on the upswing in Capps Florida.
Iraqi Soldiers and Police chalked up a series of victories in recent anti-terrorist operations across the country, according to U.S. military officials.
First, Iraqi Soldiers captured several suspected members of insurgent and murder and kidnapping cells, including the alleged leader of an al-Qaida in Iraq cell, during a series of early morning raids across Baghdad Friday.
Iraqi Forces, with Coalition advisers, conducted three separate raids and detained eight suspects responsible for sectarian murders and kidnappings, as well as Improvised Explosive Device attacks on Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
In a raid in the Adhamiyah area of Baghdad, Iraqi Soldiers detained two suspects responsible for sectarian attacks against civilians and indirect fire attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
In two other raids in Southwestern Baghdad, special Iraqi Army forces detained four suspected terrorists involved in IED, rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces. Two persons suspected of sectarian attacks against Iraqi civilians were also detained.
One operation occurred in the vicinity of the Al Mluki Mosque in the Monsour district of Baghdad. Iraqi and Coalition Forces did not enter the mosque and didn't cause any damage to it. There were no civilian, Iraqi Forces or Coalition Forces casualties.
The raids were part of Operation Together Forward, intended to disrupt terror cells that kill innocent Iraqi citizens and attack government forces.
In other news, Special Iraqi Security Forces captured two terrorists and killed two others during a raid near Taji Thursday.
Coalition and Iraqi Forces scored several victories against insurgent and terrorist forces this week. Official Department of Defense photo by Sgt. Kimberly Snow.Iraqi Forces, with Coalition advisers, conducted an air-assault raid looking for five al-Qaida in Iraq-linked terrorists allegedly responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Iraqi citizens and conducting IED attacks in the Taji area. The suspects had outstanding Ministry of Interior arrest warrants.
Iraqi Forces entered the objective and encountered three male local citizens. One man immediately surrendered. Another man grabbed a pistol. He was shot and killed by the assault force. A third man, sitting behind the second man, was wounded in the exchange.
Coalition medics rendered first aid to the wounded man. As Iraqi Forces continued to clear the objective, a second male citizen was shot and killed after he grabbed a rifle and made threatening gestures. The four persons were identified as the wanted terrorists. The Iraqi force returned to base with two detainees.
Additionally, Iraqi Police remained vigilant after beating back an insurgent attack in Mosul Thursday.
Al-Qaida in Iraq forces employed two suicide truck bombs against the Abi Tamaam Police Station in eastern Mosul early Thursday. The first truck bomb exploded near the station's entry control point, blowing down protective walls and creating a sizeable crater in the road. The second truck, unable to penetrate the police station's perimeter due to the crater and debris left over from the first truck bomb, detonated in the street.
The attack killed 10 Iraqi civilians and one Iraqi Policeman, while nine police and 15 civilians were wounded. Two insurgents were killed in the attack.
"The Iraqi police took the brunt and stood their ground," said Col. Steve Townsend, commander, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Task Force Lightning. "We're immensely proud of their resilience."
Later in the morning two other suicide truckers blew up their vehicles during an attack on U.S. troops. Two U.S. soldiers were wounded and two Stryker vehicles were damaged from the explosion. The wounded soldiers were treated and returned to duty. Two insurgents were killed in the attack.
Iraqi Soldiers and Coalition troops supported the Iraqi Police, who had faced insurgents' indirect and small-arms fire throughout the morning. A Coalition engineer team was dispatched to the police station to remove the destroyed vehicles, repair the road, and rebuild the wall.
"We wanted to show our solidarity after their heroic stand," Townsend said.
#2
Something that can only be seen in person is how lots of these Iraqi soldiers are being imbued with professionalism by their contact with US soldiers.
Much of these are silent lessons based solely on observation. They adopt the carriage, mannerisms, and behavior, and they pass this on to their comrades. By now, Iraqi units should be recognizeable by whether they were trained by US Army or Marine Corps. They will reflect that difference in attitude.
This is why much of the junior officer corps and a growing percentage of the NCO corps are becoming world-class military leaders.
For a while now, we have also been instructing their "up-and-comers" in Command and Staff operations. The final step will be the creation of a General Staff school.
From that point on, they will be a fully professional army, and they will refuse nonsense like political patronage appointments to General.
#3
Sort of feel sorry for the reporters at AFPS since they seldom use their names in bylines. Can you imagine them getting a job with Rooters, or Al-AP or even NYTs? These poor guys have a mark of fair and balanced tatooed on their head that makes them just a wee bit unattractive for those high faluting journalism orgs.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/24/2006 16:49 Comments ||
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#4
I assume 'Moose knows what he's talking about. In which case, when the Iraqi Army gets to be world-class, the bad guys will understand how hopeless their task is.
The bad guys have got to drive us out before the Army is ready. It's a race, and the press and the Democrats are not on the side of the Iraqi Army.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/24/2006 17:32 Comments ||
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#5
From that point on, they will be a fully professional army, and they will refuse nonsense like political patronage appointments to General.
The 1st Iraqi Mountain Division is scheduled to deploy in the Big Rock Candy Mountains. Likely will be supplied by native schmoos.
October 24, 2006: The outlawed Baath Party of Iraq recently bought over 400 SUVs. The Iraqi Baath Party, which Saddam Hussein led for three decades, and which has been behind most of the violence in Iraq over the last three years, has lots of money, and support from the 20 percent of Iraqis who are Sunni Arabs. With all the money and terrorist activity, there is a need for transportation.
The deal went down like this. Recently there was a spurt in the purchases of a certain model Renault Jihadi of four-wheel drive vehicle in France a small European country. Over several weeks, about 400 of these were purchased, a number well-above seasonal averages. Almost all the purchases were of a single vehicle, or at most two or three, by apparently legitimate local residents. Almost all were bought in cash, sometimes with checks drawn on foreign banks. Since the purchases were spread out all over the country, individual dealers didn't necessarily notice the smell of camel dung anomaly; after all, if you're in the car sales business and you move three more vehicles this month than average, it doesn't necessarily smell suspicious. But someone higher up in the auto business spotted the unusual "bump" in sales. He alerted the national police. An investigation followed.
It appears that the vehicles were all purchased by agents of the Iraqi Baath Party. During their decades in power, Saddam Hussein and his henchmen stashed billions abroad. This money, much of which is controlled by Saddam's daughter Raghead Raghdad, is now being used to finance much of the violence in Iraq. Apparently, some of the vehicles were to be used to help fairy ferry personnel, equipment, and money from Europe to Iraq, and evacuate injured terrorists to safe areas outside the country. Other vehicles were to be smuggled into Iraq, to be used in direct support of terrorist acts.
I hope that these spiffy new vehicles have been equipped with some unadvertised special options such as all-time GPS coordinate transmission and interior / exterior sudden rapid inflation devices.
#2
Sounds like the cellphones in US. Too bad this wasn't known ahead of time, that way each vehicle could have been equiped with 6 pounds of Semtex and a receiver.
A U.S. soldier in Baghdad was reported missing late Monday, the U.S. military in Baghdad said. Other reports claimed he was an officer of Iraqi descent and was kidnapped. A military official in Washington said the missing service member was an Army translator, and the initial report was that he may have been abducted. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not cleared for release. An employee at Baghdad's al-Furat TV, which was raided by American forces earlier Monday, said the U.S. forces conducting the search told him they were looking for an abducted American officer of Iraqi descent.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
From AP: U.S. soldiers patrolling Karradah showed photocopies of the man's photograph to residents in a search for leads. The missing soldier's name and other personal details have not been officially released, although American troops who raided Baghdad's al-Furat TV on Monday said they were looking for an abducted American officer of Iraqi descent who went to join family members in Karradah.
When does the US Army allow it's soldiers to take leave and visit family on their own? This is beginning to smell like that Lebanese Marine "captive". Hope his security clearance wasn't too high.
Posted by: ed ||
10/24/2006 7:12 Comments ||
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#3
I'm sure he'll be granted the full respect of the Geneva Convention. /sarcasm off
(KUNA) -- Iraqi security authorities on Monday imposed a curfew on al-Amara city, south of Baghdad, the Ministry of Defense said. Spokesman for the Ministry Mohamed al-Askari said the curfew was imposed on people and vehicles in al-Amara, a major city of south Iraq Mesan Province. He attributed that the curfew was imposed sine die owing to the deteriorating security situation in the city.
Earlier on Monday, unknown militants killed an Iraqi police officer while he was leaving his house in central Amara City, which has recently seen strict security measures following the assassination of a high-ranking Iraqi police officer there, eyewitnesses said. The eyewitnesses told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) here that unidentified gunmen on a white Toyota shot dead Iraqi first lieutenant Sarmad Maguid Al-Shati while he was leaving his house in the Sector 28 in downtown al-Emara City early Monday, before they fled the scene.
The Iraqi police officer was killed a few hours after the corpse of the brother of Muqtada Al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army commander was found in al-Emara. Awda al-Bahrani, spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr's office in al-Emara confirmed the report in a news briefing, saying that the beheaded policeman Mohamed al-Bahdali, brother of al-Mahdi Army commander in the province Fadel al-Bahdali, was kidnapped by militants following the assassination of the Criminal Intelligence chief in Mesan last Wednesday.
Earlier last week, Amara was the scene of clashes between Shiite militias and Iraqi policemen following the assassination of Iraqi police colonel Ali Qassem al-Tamimi and arrest of several members of al-Mahdi Army.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
No killing between 10:00 and 10:15 unless during Ramadan a ding-dong
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/24/2006 0:23 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- At least five Iraqis were killed Monday and another 23 were wounded in two car-bomb explosions in eastern Baghdad and the Horriya City. Beirut square in eastern Baghdad witnessed the first explosion, which killed three Iraqi civilians and wounded another 16, said a security source from the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Another car-bomb explosion took place in the Horriya City, west of Baghdad, killing two more Iraqi civilians and injuring another seven, added the source. At least three Iraqi people were killed earlier today including a policeman and 13 others were wounded when a bomb went off near a crowd of civilians in Bab Al-Sheikh district, Baghdad, in the first day of Eid Al-Fitr.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) - The U.S. troops broke into offices of Shiite militias in the two cities of Holla and Diwaniya, southern Iraq Monday morning. They thundered the offices of Al-Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia led by Muqtada Al-Sadr in Holla, the major city of Babel province, south Iraq, according to an Iraqi police officer. Despite the shoot-out that accompanied it, the operation did not cause casualties, the source noted.
The target of the operation is not clear so far. Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi joint force broke into the house of Mahdi Army local leader in Diwaniya Province but failed to arrest him. The U.S. troops cracked down on a Sunni district and carried out a large-scale search there, according to an Iraqi police source.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
the operation did not cause casualties, the source noted.
#3
Do that about a thousand times and it might actually start working. And don't forget to torch what's left behind. Including the Imam hiding under the desk with the half-assembled IED.
#4
Intimidation. Break things, take things... the people can always be picked up later, when the evidence has been neatly organized into thick files, tracing back to their Iranian bosses. It becomes painfully clear to them that those who had been protected and untouchable are not anymore.
#6
This is where I think Bush, Cheney and Rummy have it wrong. They have allowed Sadr to run amok and look to Malaki to bring him down or under control. The sooner you rid Sadr of Sadr the sooner this sectarian BS gets under control.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/24/2006 16:52 Comments ||
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#7
Well, actually, we turned over "governing" to the Iraqis a looong time ago, with the Provisional Govt under Allawi. Since that time, they call the shots. The ONLY way we get to go after Sadr or the Badr Boyz is the same as with alQ - if they attack us - as we will always retain the right of self-defense. But otherwise, unless the Iraqi "government" approves an offensive against an entity, it ain't gonna happen.
That's why the mess exists with Tater today - he was saved waay back in Najaf by lh's buddy, Sistani. He's Maliki's political ally.
Had Fallujah been a Shia stronghold, it never would've gotten "the treatment". Only the Sunni areas are being worked, today. The Shia areas are being turned over, super-fast, cuz they're allied with the Govt. Run by Shia thugs and gangs and Qom agents (i.e. militias), they've escaped "the treatment".
There is no fix if the status quo continues. If Mullahs and the Saudis are not stopped from interfering by funding and sending their agents into Iraq, it continues with a sine wave of sectarian civil war ad infinitum.
(KUNA) - At least three Iraqi persons were killed including a policeman and 13 others were wounded on Monday when a bomb went off near a crowd of civilians in Bab Al-sheikh district, Baghdad, in the first days of Eid Al-Fitr. The explosion killed two civilians and a policeman, while 13 others sustained various injures, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official told Kuna here.
The explosion also damaged a number of shops and two civilian cars as well as a police vehicle in the site, the source added. Earlier in the day the Iraqi security services declared a maximum alert to guarantee security of the citizens during Eid Al-Fitr Holiday, according to spokesman of Iraqi Interior Ministry General Abdul-Karim Khalaf. This is the first terrorist attack in Eid Al-Fitr against armless civilians in a crowded area in the Iraqi capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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US troops late Monday raided the offices of a television station affiliated with a major Shi'ite party represented in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, the station's deputy editor said. Haidar Kadhim said the troops arrived at al-Furat television complex in the central Baghdad's Karadah neighborhood at about 9:30 p.m. (18:30 GMT), disarming the station's 40 armed guards but allowing the management and editorial teams to continue to work undisturbed. They did not search the offices. Nearly two hours later, the troops handed back the guards' weapons and left, according to Kadhim and the station's public relations manager, Mohsin al-Hakim.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Almost enough to be considered a private army... plus the arms and explosives cache discovered there yesterday. It definitely feels like a sign the Shiites aren't protected any more.
Palestinian militants are constructing an "underground city" in the Gaza Strip to store weapons and attack Israeli forces in the future, army chief of staff Dan Halutz has been quoted as saying.
"The Palestinians are continuing digging an underground city in the Gaza Strip," said Halutz, who appeared before the parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee on Tuesday.
"They are constructing tunnels in the urban parts in order to confront our forces," a member of the committee quoted Halutz as saying.
The Israeli army has in recent weeks intensified its ground operation in the battered Palestinian territory, launched following the abduction of a serviceman by militants in a cross-border raid near Gaza on June 25.
The raid sparked a massive Israeli offensive which has left more than 250 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers dead in Gaza in four months.
Halutz was quoted as telling committee members that the army had discovered and destroyed 15 tunnels in the Gaza Strip during an operation along Gaza's border with Egypt, through which Israel claims large quantities of weapons are being smuggled.
so the weapons are concentrated in stores. good. just find out where they are (paleos will talk given enough "incentive").
#2
The Israelis should buy a big tunneling machine (mole) and dig tunnels under GAZA to the sea then open them to the sea.... Let the GAZA dwellers hit salt water wherever they dig.
#6
Palestinians: an example of evolution in reverse. I agree 3dc, a lot of salt water would be good. Holy land my ass, flush that place like the throne it is.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/24/2006 16:16 Comments ||
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#7
No need to insult the Morlocks
Posted by: kelly ||
10/24/2006 17:06 Comments ||
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#8
I suspect the Paleos are happy to dig for nothing other than food and bullets.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/24/2006 17:12 Comments ||
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#9
Thank goodness we've been selling the Israelis all those bunker busters.
#11
I suspect the Paleos are happy to dig for nothing other than food and bullets
Indeed.
RB History is replete with the many references the Prophet made about this very action. Most notably, "They are never so happy, as when they are burrowing"
The words of the Prophet Lucky (PBUH) may he have a fine Campy Gear System and a never flat tube.
(KUNA) -- At least six Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded Monday in an Israeli military operation in Beit Hanun, located in northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said that an Israeli force disguised as Arabs opened fire and killed six family members, including member of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) Atif Shinbari and three of his brothers. Israeli machine guns launched mortar shells toward Beit Hanun to secure cover for the forces withdrawal, added the sources.
According to residents and hospital officials, Israeli military forces have killed more than 260 Palestinians, half of them civilians, since they started the Israeli operations were triggered last June.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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IAF targeted two rocket launchers in the Gaza Strip on Monday night, IDF radio reported. The rocket launchers were said to be used earlier Monday in attacks on Sderot.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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A bomb in Muslim-dominated southern Thailand ripped into a column of Buddhist monks as they went on their alms- receiving walk Sunday, killing a marine guard and injuring a dozen other people.
The attack came a day after Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said he would use Indonesia's peace process with separatist rebels in Aceh province as an example in trying to solve the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand. More than 1,700 people have died in the south since early 2004.
Police Lieutenant Narong Buakong said a mobile telephone-triggered bomb went off outside an electronics shop in the city of Narathiwat as the monks were passing by to collect food offerings.
The bomb killed one marine and injured four other marines who were escorting the monks, five of whom were also injured, he said. Three civilians standing nearby were also wounded.
Buddhist monks are among targets of the Islamic insurgents, who are seeking to carve out a separate homeland in the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat which border Malaysia.
Since several monks were beheaded in early 2004, soldiers have provided escorts for them during their daily alms- receiving walks.
The attack was the latest in a bloody week, which included several shootings and a bomb attack Friday at a tea shop in Songkhla that killed four people and wounded 10 others.
Thailand's military-backed government, which came into power after a September 19 coup, has said it will try to negotiate with the rebels rather than continue the iron-fisted policies of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Surayud, in talks with Indonesian leaders Saturday, said he would study the peace process in Aceh.
PALU: One man was killed and five others injured during clashes between Muslim mobs and police in the religiously divided Indonesian town of Poso, police said Monday. The fighting broke out Sunday evening when about 700 paramilitary police prepared to conduct a house-to-house search for weapons and explosives in the Gebangrejo area of the town, they said. A mob attacked about 16 policemen at their local post near the site of where the search was to take place, said national police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam. There are indications that this was planned by certain groups to provoke people so that they would not sympathize with those policemen conducting the raids, Alam said. Central Sulawesi police spokesman Muhammad Kilat said a 29-year-old resident was shot in the hip and later died, while two others received gunshot wounds and were in critical condition. A policeman was also slightly injured. He said a police truck and three police motorcycles were set on fire. Alam told reporters that rocks and home-made bombs were hurled at the police post and police, and police had fired into the air as a warning.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Upon taking over the IDFs northern command from the Lebanon war commander, Monday, Oct. 23, the incoming OC Maj-Gen. Gad Eisenkott said tersely: We are keeping close watch on Hizballahs rearmament. The refurbished fortifications, according to DEBKAfiles military sources, are under cover. Because Hizballah is not yet ready to openly challenge UNIFIL, their lookout points together with fresh supplies of rockets, ammo and electronic spying gear are hidden in village houses facing Israel.
The UN peacekeeping and Lebanese army presence has not stopped Hizballah from systematically retaking and re-manning its old tunnel and fortified bunker locations in South Lebanon. They are designated nature preserves by the IDF. Nor, say our military sources, did they prevent Syria over last weekend smuggling across a first consignment of medium-range Fajr-3 (45km range) and Fajr-5 (up to 100 km range) rockets the ones Hizballah used in the Lebanon War to blast in-depth Israeli targets: Haifa, Tiberias, Afula and the Hadera-Caesaria district.
IDF intelligence estimates the consignment was small, designed to test Israeli military and UN responses. It was accompanied by a vigorous campaign launched by Hizballahs friends in Beirut against Israels surveillance over-flights, thanks to which the consignment was discovered. These airborne cameras have also picked up quantities of rockets and launchers of all types including the Iranian Zelzal waiting on the Syrian side of the border to be smuggled across to Hizballah.
DEBKAfile has obtained a list of the S. Lebanese villages playing host to re-armed Hizballah positions along the Israeli border:
Kfar Kila, opposite the northernmost Israeli town of Metullah; Adissa and Markaba opposite Ramim, Hola and Mais al Jabel opposite the Israels northern highway, Itron opposite Kibbutz Malkia, Maruan a Ras opposite Yiron, and Raimish and Ait al-Shaab opposite the Western Galilee highway.
#4
Don't read to much into this. Iran spent a bloody fortune and at least a decade building fortifications for the Hez which are now all in ruins. This defense in depth has been collapsed, so now the Hez are just a weak "surface" force.
#5
At least the UN is finally uncontaminated by any pretense of neutrality. It's galling to think that this might lead to any greater restraint upon Israel's part. They have fettered themselves enough already. UNFIL is nothing more than Hizbullah's bodyguard. Once Israel launches another offensive against Nasrallah's thugs, we need to smash Syria and close all the exits. Let Lebanon be a killing floor for Hizbullah.
#6
Send those French UN troops back to France....because Hezbollah is starting to build it's own neighbourhood like they have in Beirut in Paris. The UN is done and over with.
#7
The Israeli's have been "dope-a-roped" IMO. Now when they start something against the Hizzies you have the French and Italians in the way. Not a bad crossfire target but it puts them in the PR disadvantage from the get go. You can't trust the Jooos and look how they killed poor Yves and Giovanni.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/24/2006 16:56 Comments ||
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#8
Seems like the Russian engineering advisors have been busy. You can bet these will be harder to crack than the previous ones. Major ordnance will have to be used prior to any further ground incursions.
#8
I like Ann Sheridan. She has a kind of devil-may-care, insoucient projection--don't you think? Er Fred, got any of those Hedy Lamaar photos in your archives?
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.
(SomaliNet) Somalia government troops who had been in Bur-hakaba town of Bay region in southwest of Somalia are confirmed to have withdrawn from there overnight as Islamist fighters retook the town peacefully and more likely to advance towards Baidoa city, the base of the unsteady government. There were inconsistent reports over their departure from there. 
A Dhaka court yesterday again placed 
Venezuelan police detained a university student outside the US Embassy on Monday, saying he left two low-intensity explosives on the street outside the diplomatic mission. 
(Itar-Tass) - - A leader of a gang involved in committing acts of terrorism against federal forces was detained in Chechnya. As Itar-Tass at the law enforcement bodies of the republic, 35- year-old resident of the Grozny region 
A trial began Monday in Spain of two Spaniards suspected of providing explosives to Islamist terrorists who blew up four Madrid commuter trains in March 2004, killing 191 people in the country's worst terrorist attack. The trial in the northern city of Gijon did not concern the attacks directly, but explosives and drug trafficking allegedly carried out by former miner Emilio Suarez Trashorras and his brother- in-law Antonio Toro three years before the bombings. The two men will go on trial for the Madrid bombings along with 27 other suspects next year. 
POLICE in Pakistan have arrested three more militants with suspected links to al-Qaeda over attempted rocket attacks in and around the capital Islamabad, a police official said. The trio were arrested in Islamabad's industrial area today when police intercepted a car, senior superintendent of police Sikandar Hayat said. "The arrests were made following information provided by eight others arrested earlier," Supt Hayat said.
With the killing of a 
CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq The Coalition Forces killed six insurgents, wounded four and netted five sniper rifles Sunday in the Euphrates River city of Hit, Iraq.
Iraqi Soldiers and Police chalked up a series of victories in recent anti-terrorist operations across the country, according to U.S. military officials. 
October 24, 2006: The outlawed Baath Party of Iraq recently bought over 400 SUVs. The Iraqi Baath Party, which Saddam Hussein led for three decades, and which has been behind most of the violence in Iraq over the last three years, has lots of money, and support from the 20 percent of Iraqis who are Sunni Arabs. With all the money and terrorist activity, there is a need for transportation.
(KUNA) -- At least five Iraqis were killed Monday and another 23 were wounded in two car-bomb explosions in eastern Baghdad and the Horriya City. Beirut square in eastern Baghdad witnessed the first explosion, which killed three Iraqi civilians and wounded another 16, said a security source from the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Another car-bomb explosion took place in the Horriya City, west of Baghdad, killing two more Iraqi civilians and injuring another seven, added the source. At least three Iraqi people were killed earlier today including a policeman and 13 others were wounded when a bomb went off near a crowd of civilians in Bab Al-Sheikh district, Baghdad, in the first day of Eid Al-Fitr.
(KUNA) - At least three Iraqi persons were killed including a policeman and 13 others were wounded on Monday when a bomb went off near a crowd of civilians in Bab Al-sheikh district, Baghdad, in the first days of Eid Al-Fitr. The explosion killed two civilians and a policeman, while 13 others sustained various injures, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official told Kuna here.
