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Al-Shabaab militants fall back to defend Kismayu
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 10:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Markie Post aka Mary's Mom in "There's Something About Mary" aka Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman in "Hearts Afire (TV Series 1992–1995)" aka Christine Sullivan in "Night Court (TV Series 1984–1992)" aka Terri Michaels in "The Fall Guy (TV Series 1981–1986)" aka Julia Whitney in "Odd Man Out (TV Series 1999–2000)" (age 61)



For Gorb's eyes only
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 11/04/2011 12:14 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Al-Shabaab militants fall back to defend Kismayu
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Al-Shabaab
... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader...
gunnies have retreated to their Kismayu stronghold and are arming residents forcibly as Kenyan forces close in on the port town.

Media reports quoting distraught residents said the gunnies had armed students, mounted weapons on buildings and dug trenches around the town in readiness for the battle with Kenyan forces.

"They have put their weapons over us. Every high house in the city is a defence for Al-Shabaab.

"Since Kenya mentioned the 10 towns it was targeting, Al-Shabaab have been readying all their weapons and small arms," Ms Fatuma Ali was quoted as saying by a local paper.

Another resident, Ms Amina Mahmoud, said: "They gave arms to people and they're telling them to stay and defend the country from foreigners. They said yesterday evening 'Everyone of you who dies here is a mujahid and will enter paradise."

The Kenyan troops plan to capture Afmadow before advancing to Kismayu.

On Thursday, military front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the Kenya Navy had killed 18 Al-Shabaab gunnies aboard a small boat transporting fuel to Kuday Town.

"On 2nd November 2011 at 5pm, a skiff laden with 18 Al-Shabaab fighters was transporting fuel to Kuday.

"The Kenya Navy intercepted the skiff and sunk it, killing all the orcs," Major Chirchir said in a statement.

The Kenyan troops have also banned aircraft from landing at Baidoa whose airstrip the military said was used by the gunnies to ship in three consignments of weapons on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Shoot down any aircraft

The military further warned that it would shoot down any aircraft flying over parts of Southern Somalia where its troops are conducting the operation to wipe out the Al-Shabaab.

"On two occasions, KDF has observed an aircraft overfly our troops in the three sectors. The owners of the aircraft are hereby warned that KDF considers this a security violation.

"Further unauthorised over flying on the said region will be considered a threat. In addition, all aircraft are hereby warned not to land in Baidoa. Anyone violating this will be doing so at their peril," the statement warned.

The statement also warned Kenyan donkey traders against selling their animals along the Kenya-Somalia border as the gunnies were buying them to use them to transport weapons due to impassable roads in southern Somalia. (READ: Kenyan army warns of Al-Shabaab donkey threat)

"Information reaching us confirms that Al-Shabaab has resorted to using donkeys to transport their weapons.

"Thus, any large concentration and movement of loaded donkeys will be considered as Al-Shabaab activity," the statement read.

"Kenyans dealing in donkey trade along the Kenya-Somali border are advised not to sell their animals to Al-Shabaab as it would undermine our efforts in Somalia," it added.

On Thursday, the Kenyan troops backed by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) fighters combed Elwak, Beled-hawo and Garbaharey towns for the orcs.

A TFG military official, Mr Osman Sheikh Abdi, reportedly told local media that his troops fighting alongside Kenyans had taken control of Al-Shabaabbases in Gadon-dawe, Khadijo-Hajji, El-Adde and El-Gudud without firing a single shot.

But the gunnies warned Kenyans to prepare for a protracted, intense battle. (READ: Somali rebels push for 'endless war')

"The Al-Shabaab mujahideen will defend Somalia, and will put Kenya into an endless war.

"We will defeat you like the other major countries that have suffered when they attacked Somalia, you will see the consequences," the group warned in a statement on an Islamist website.

Received weapons

The militia group dismissed reports that they had received weapons from Eritrea. The military said they are going after the gunnies and their weapons and not civilians.

"We will soon disrupt their flow of arms, and we will ensure they are not effective," Major Chirchir said on Twitter on Thursday.

There were also reports that the Al-Shabaab were preventing residents from fleeing Kismayu and nine other towns.

"They've refused to let us out, and we don't have any money to leave. Some people are trying to flee but the heavy rain is not giving them a chance," a resident said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  bottle them up, close the sea escape route and kill em. I like it.
Posted by: Frank G || 11/04/2011 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Why does a little voice tell me that in a couple of years, we'll have forgotten the great service the Kenyans are doing for the world, & we'll try to put some Kenyan general on trial at the Hague for "war crimes" (ie, abuses against Muslims that some newspaper makes up).
Posted by: American Delight || 11/04/2011 8:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Distraught residents? Hmmm. IIRC the Kenyans warned these residents that this was gonna happen a couple of days ago.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/04/2011 12:47 Comments || Top||

#4  So now the majority of Al Shabaab is all bottled up in Kismayu. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Now is the perfect time to demonstrate to the Muslim world what an ARCLIGHT strike does to our enemies. A single B-1 is supposed to be able to carry 80,000 pounds of iron bombs. Let's hit Kismayu with a dozen B-1s (or BUFFS, which can carry the same load) within a 30-minute timespan. Let the Kenyans go in after the last bomb explodes with bulldozers and level the place, then put up a WalMart. In six months, WalMart will OWN Somalia, lock, stock, and barrel. After that, it's THEIR problem. In the meantime, AssHat, Amadinnerjacket, Hamass and Hisblowhard will be shaking in their boots.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 11/04/2011 13:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe test the Navy Rail Gun from the shore since they are bottled up?
Posted by: airandee || 11/04/2011 13:25 Comments || Top||


Somali rebels ready Kismayu to repel Kenyan strikes
MOGADISHU: Rebels linked to Al-Qaeda mounted weapons on rooftops, dug trenches and armed students to defend the southern Somali port of Kismayu from an expected onslaught by Kenya’s military.

Kenya’s army has warned Somalis to stay away from Al-Shabab bases in 10 southern towns due to “imminent strikes,” but nearly three weeks into their cross-border operation, Kenyan and Somali government troops are bogged down by heavy rains and thick mud.

Kenya issued the warning after it received intelligence reports that consignments of weapons had reached Al-Shabab militants in the rebel-controlled town of Baidoa.

“They have put their weapons over us. Every high house in the city is a defense for Al-Shabab,” said Fatuma Ali, a resident in Kismayu who lives next to the rebels’ military base.

“Since Kenya mentioned the 10 towns, Al-Shabab have been readying all their weapons and small arms,” she said.

Other residents in Kismayu, Al-Shabab’s nerve center, the militants were digging trenches in the city and handing out weapons to some students to confront the Kenyans.

“They gave arms to people and they’re telling them to stay and defend the country from foreigners,” said resident Amina Mahmoud in Kismayu. “They said yesterday evening: ‘Everyone of you who dies here is a mujahid and will enter paradise’.”

There were no reports on Thursday of any air raids since Kenya sent out its warning two days ago. But fearful of a confrontation, Somalis were trying to flee towns, only to be stopped by militants who want them to stay and fight.

“They’ve refused to let us out, and we don’t have any money to leave. Some people are trying to flee but the heavy rain is not giving them a chance,” said Ali.

On Wednesday residents in the strategic town of Afmadow said Al-Shabab had also ordered them to stay at home. Afmadow is a strategic transit point for contraband smuggled through Kismayu port and is seen as a likely flashpoint for a confrontation between Kenyan forces and Al-Shabab militants.

Kenyan and Somali government troops, in addition to militia nominally allied to the Somalia’s Western-backed government, have set up forward positions close to Afmadow.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Bloody Revenge on Daffy's Bodyguards -Warning-Graphic
Posted by: Dogsbody || 11/04/2011 00:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They're fake photos - the story EVEN SAYS THAT!!!!
Posted by: gromky || 11/04/2011 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  As this story seems to be lifted from a ME web site and published in China, it is very likely 9/10th sick fantasy gromky. On the other hand, the story is not reporting the photos as fake. (they sure could be) Read the chinese comments. I hope the ladies are actually enjoying life in a fine hotel in Algeria.
Posted by: Dogsbody || 11/04/2011 1:20 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder how long before we have (Che style) Qadaffy T-shirts.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/04/2011 3:39 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Qaida Suspects Wound Yemen Consultative Council Member
[An Nahar] A member of Yemen's consultative council and an army colonel were maimed on Thursday when their car was fired on by presumed al-Qaeda myrmidons, tribal sources said.

"Militants, suspected of belonging to al-Qaeda, opened fire with a barrage of bullets at the car of Mohammed al-Haithami Ashal as he was heading towards Sanaa, wounding him in the leg," said a source from the Ashal tribe.

Colonel Ahmed Naser Ashal, who was in the same car, was hit in the head by a bullet, the same source told Agence La Belle France Presse.

No details were given on the condition of either man.

"The al-Qaeda network is targeting our tribe after we kicked them out of our village of Moudia in Abyan" province, a stronghold of the beturbanned goons, he said.

In August, 11 rustics, including Ashal tribal chief Sheikh Abu Bahr Ashal, were killed in two suicide kabooms in Abyan.

Tribal sources have accused al-Qaeda of carrying out the attacks in two villages of Abyan, where rustics and the army have been battling snuffies from the "Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law)" who are believed to be close to al-Qaeda.

Yemen has been gripped by violence as the central government in Sanaa is weakened by anti-regime protests that have rocked the country since January.

The international community has expressed fears that the power vacuum in the impoverished country could play into the hands of al-Qaeda.

Hundreds have died in battles between security forces and protesters, and between security forces and al-Qaeda gunnies amid growing fears of the beturbanned goons exploiting the weakening of the central government in Sanaa to take control over Yemen's restive southern and eastern regions.

Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


More than One Million March in Yemen Calling for Regime Change
[Yemen Post] Demonstrations calling for the ouster of President-for-Life Saleh
... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence...
did not stop on Thursday as the country saw youth gather in large number in 14 of the countries 21 provinces.

Nationwide, at least one million were in change square demanding a regime fall.

"It grows everyday. We will not slack down and Saleh knows that. That is why he is scared. He knows that this era is the era of the people. He has ruled more than 33 years and we suffered. It is enough suffering for the Yemeni people. We have nothing to lose now," said Sameer al-Shohaiti, a youth protester in Ibb province.

More than 200,000 youths marched the streets of Sana'a calling opposition parties to find a decisive solution to oust the Ali Saleh regime.

The youth marched Qa'a road, on their way to Zubairy, Siteen Road, and back to change square Sana'a.

A pro government supporter drove through a wall of pro democracy youth protesters in Sana'a stomping and injuring more than 15 youth activists, eyewitnesses said.

"We can't even express our opinion without fearing death. This is why we want change. This is why we are marching. Yemen lacks the essentials of democracy and freedom," said Moammar al-Mathrahi, a youth activist who participated in today's march.

He added, "what does the government gain by killing us? The youth were were stomped today are now in pain and some could lose their life. All this because Ali Saleh wants to stay in power and keep the country for him and his corrupt children."

During the march tens of chants against the ruling family were repeated, one of which was, "Saleh is responsble for spilling our blood, please listen to us interpol."

In Hodieda, more than 70,000 anti government protesters marched the streets condemning the government attacks on unarmed civilians and called on the international community to save the lives of innocent Yemenis.

Pro government supporters were throwing rocks at the protesters, however, they continued marching.

Security forces were in every corner the marches turned towards. At least seven tanks were seen near the march area.

Protesters lifted banners calling that Ali Saleh be taken to the ICC and stand for the crimes he committed against unarmed youth.

Ibb, Aden, Shabwa, Saa'ada, Baitha, Dhammar, and Hajja, each saw at least 50,000 youth protesters.
Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Banglas flush out Ulfa weapons
Both factions of the Ulfa rebels, pro- and anti-talks, are seriously worried about the fresh search operations launched by Dhaka at hideouts and houses of Ulfa leaders in Bangladesh. Disclosing that security forces in Bangladesh have recovered a huge quantity of sophisticated weapons from hideouts used by Ulfa leaders before their arrest, security sources said that leaders of the pro-talks faction of Ulfa were very concerned about the search operations in Bangladesh.

Informing that the search operations were aimed at recovering missing weapons, security sources said that Dhaka had specific inputs on Ulfa rebels having sophisticated weapons, which were hidden at different locations. Even after their arrest these weapons could not be recovered, security sources said, adding that the recent operation was to trace all the missing weapons. About tension and concern noticed among the pro-talks faction of Ulfa leaders, security sources said that in hurriedly carried out operations, security forces had not been able to investigate the links and activities of Ulfa rebels in Bangladesh.

Security sources pointed out that fresh operations were launched in Bangladesh also to trace the links of Ulfa rebels and their involvement in other activities. Pointing out that top Ulfa leader Antu Chawdang, who was driven out after his arrest in Bangladesh, was holding a lot of weapons of Ulfa but that the arms were missing even after his arrest, sources said that security forces in Bangladesh were worried about these arms falling into the hands of radical forces.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/04/2011 04:03 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Four die in gunfight in Juarez
For a map click here. For a map of Chihuahua state, click here

Four unidentified armed suspects were shot to death and another five individuals were wounded in what appears to be an intergang shootout in Juarez, Chihuahua Thursday night, according to the Mexican news daily La Polaka in a late Thursday night posting.

One of the wounded was reportedly a female passerby.

The firefight took place at about 2100 hrs near the intersection of avenidas Montes Urales and Tecnologico in the La Cuesta colony.

Police arriving on the scene arrested three unidentified individuals and seized four abandoned vehicles. Police also seized several handguns left in the seized vehicles.

Reports say AK-47 assault rifles were used in the firefight. At least 150 rounds had been fired in the encounter.

The shootout took place as part of a vehicle pursuit between two armed groups,which ended near the intersection of calles Manuel J. Clouthier and Tecnologico, where an abandoned GMC Envoy SUV was found with two dead victims inside.

Another shooting in Villa Juarez colony near the intersectioon of calles 5 de Mayo and Pino Suarez took place about 30 minutes before.

Armed suspects fired AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles into a residence before fleeing the scene. No one was reported hurt in the incident.

A total of 43 rounds were fired in the assault.
Posted by: badanov || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Cubans Can Buy and Sell Property, Government Says
[NY Times] Cuba announced a new property law Thursday that promises to allow citizens and permanent residents to buy and sell real estate -- the most significant market-oriented change yet approved by the government of Raúl Castro, and one that will probably reshape Cuba's cities and conceptions of class.

The new rules go into effect Nov. 10, according to Cuba's state-run newspaper, and while some of the fine print is still being written, the law published on Thursday amounts to a major break from decades of socialist housing. For the first time since the early days of the revolution, buyers and sellers will be allowed to set home prices and move when they want. Transactions of various kinds, including sales, trades and gifts to relatives by Cubans who are emigrating, will no longer be subject to government approval, the new law says.
Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So...what's their cut gonna be?
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/04/2011 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Big. You can bet on it.

And they can override any deal.
Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 9:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Yah, Fidel and Raul and all their buddies get to be Owners now. The little unconnected people get to be serfs. It's "capitalism," by the people, for the vanguard of the proletariat who get to be the new robber barons. Just like Vietnam (or so I hear) and to a lesser extent China.

We need a better name for this sort of economic system.

Commupitalism?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/04/2011 11:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Malthusianism.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/04/2011 14:57 Comments || Top||

#5  It's called Feudalism. Period. Doesn't have to be an hereditary landed gentry to qualify as feudalism if the King (whether they call Raul that or not) is the one ultimately in control.

Posted by: mom || 11/04/2011 16:25 Comments || Top||

#6  #OccupyHavana!!!!
Posted by: charger || 11/04/2011 17:03 Comments || Top||

#7  ok, so who owns the property that is being sold?

There are many people whose title has been expropriated by the state. So, who is the seller?
Posted by: rammer || 11/04/2011 19:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Yeah, this is going to turn into another political headache with the US because of laws on the books in the US about properties seized when the Communists took over. Lots and lots of properties in Cuba will have very muddy titles and there will be lawsuits for decades over this.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 11/04/2011 20:12 Comments || Top||

#9  That's right, Shieldwolf. Cluster up the system even more to make it impossible to determine ownership. Beware property buyers in Cuba, the government may not outlast the stolen property (or their owners) that you bought.

Property rights are the worst and most complex subject in Cuba right now. This is making a powder keg into a minefield.
Posted by: newc || 11/04/2011 23:23 Comments || Top||


Europe
Death Threats Force French 'Mohammed' Paper Offline
[An Nahar] The website of the French satirical weekly that was Molotov cocktailed after publishing images of the Prophet Mohammed was offline Thursday because of death threats against the Belgian company hosting it.

Host Bluevision took Charlie Hebdo's site offline after it was the victim of a cyberattack following Wednesday's issue featuring Mohammed as "guest editor" and has remained offline after the company received death threats.

Bluevision "doesn't want to put it back online (because) they received death threats," charliehebdo.fr's editor Valerie Manteau told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"Either the police reassure them and we manage to convince them to put it back online, or we change host."

Charlie Hebdo's Gay Paree offices were Molotov cocktailed early Wednesday after it published a special Arab Spring edition with Mohammed on the cover as "guest editor" saying: "100 lashes if you don't die of laughter!"

The newspaper's website was also hacked, with its regular home page replaced with a photo of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and a message reading: "No god but Allah".

French news site nouvelobs.com said the cyberattack was carried out by Turkish hacker group Akincilar, which said it took the action to "fight against a publication that attacks beliefs and moral values."

Manteau said that Charlie Hedbo's Facebook page would soon be closed to outside comments after thousands vented their anger over the weekly's "Sharia Hebdo" edition, including by making death threats.

"Police are collecting the data of those who have posted death threats," said Manteau. "As soon as they've finished, we will close the comments page."

Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Did anyone get a copy?
Posted by: Thrusotle Lumumba1131 || 11/04/2011 23:59 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Canada high court blocks Khadr extradition to US
OTTAWA: The Supreme Court of Canada blocked on Thursday the extradition to the United States of Abdullah Khadr, a Canadian wanted by Washington on terrorist charges. Khadr, 30, who told CBC television before being detained in Islamabad in 2004 that every Muslim dreams of being a martyr for Islam, is accused by Washington of supplying missiles to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and conspiring to murder Americans abroad. His brother Omar is in prison at Guantanamo where he belongs.

The Supreme Court refused on Thursday to hear an appeal — launched on behalf of the United States — of lower court decisions that had stopped proceedings for his extradition. That brings the United States to the end of the legal road in Canada.

The high court did not give a reason for its decision. But the Ontario court that first quashed his extradition had ruled that Khadr’s human rights, including access to Canadian diplomatic counsel, had been unjustifiably violated after his arrest by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.

The United States supposedly paid $500,000 to the Pakistanis to abduct him in Pakistan in October 2004. For 14 months he was held secretly in that country, where he alleges he was tortured.

According to documents before the Supreme Court, after the Pakistanis had exhausted Khadr as a source of anti-terrorism intelligence, they were ready to free him. But Washington insisted they hold him for another six months, while it held an investigation and started the extradition process. He was allowed to return in December 2005 to Canada, where he was soon arrested at the request of the United States.

The Canadian government was the actual party that appealed the lower court decisions to the top court, acting on behalf of the United States.

The Khadr family had close ties to Osama Bin Laden, living at his compound in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Abdullah’s father, Ahmed, was arrested in Pakistan in 1995 in connection with a bomb at the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, then freed at Canada’s request. He was killed in a gun battle in Pakistan in 2003.
Seems like the whole family is rotten...
Abdullah’s brother, Omar, pleaded guilty in October 2010 to a series of charges, including an admission under a plea deal that he was an Al-Qaeda conspirator who murdered a US soldier. Under a deal agreed at his sentencing, he is eligible to be sent home to Canada at some point to serve his sentence.
Perhaps in 2049...
Posted by: Steve White || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ooohh, really?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/04/2011 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Quick Bidenman! To the drone cave. We must launch one into Canada. We have a "target" there!
Posted by: Vortigern Hupoluse1541 || 11/04/2011 4:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Please?

(Take out the rest of the family with him. Bunch of PBUH welfare grifters)
Posted by: manversgwtw || 11/04/2011 19:22 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
12 injured as bomb targets tribal elder in Jamrud
[Dawn] Law enforcement agencies defused four bombs in different areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
on Thursday while one targeted at a tribal elder went off in Khyber Agency injuring at least 12 persons.

Sources in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency said that a time device, planted in a car, that went kaboom! near Wazir Dhand checkpost was targeted at the local tribal elder Malik Taj who was to pass through the checkpost on his way home.

Family sources said that Malik Taj was among the injured and his vehicle was badly damaged. Nine other cars parked in a nearby taxi stand were also damaged.

Nobody has grabbed credit for the kaboom.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system...
the security forces have locked away three suspected beturbanned goons in Ali Masjid area of Jamrud. The locked away persons were identified as Hafeez, Juma Baz and Nama Jan. They were shifted to Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location for interrogation.

In Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, police defused a powerful improvised bomb planted near a CD shop at Board Bazaar.

SP Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed said that unidentified gunnies had planted a time bomb to blow up a music-com-CD centre but police foiled the attempt.

An official of the Bomb Disposal Unit said that it was a time bomb, weighing about three kilograms. He said that law enforcers also recovered batteries and other relevant items from the spot.

A case against unidentified gunnies was registered at the Town cop shoppe and efforts were underway to arrest the accused, police said.In Mardan, police claimed to have recovered two bombs from two different places in the city.

Officials of Hoti cop shoppe said that they were informed by locals that a suspicious bag was lying on a bridge, Shugo Pul. Police rushed to the area and recovered explosives from the bag. The explosives were later defused by bomb disposal squad.

Police also recovered another 10-kilogram bomb, planted near the tower of a cellular phone company, on Mardan Bypass Road.

The watchman of the tower informed police about the presence of explosives. Police said that they locked away three suspected persons from the area.

Both the City and Hoti cop shoppes registered cases against unidentified persons and started search operations in their respective areas to arrest the accused.

In Mansehra, police defused an bomb planted on Torghar-Thakot road near Shalay area.

The driver of an excavator, who was removing rocks and boulders from the road, saw the bomb and informed police. Police called security forces to defuse the device.

Police said that the bomb planted on the roadside weighed 12 kilograms and could cause huge losses.

Five coppers had been killed in a blast in the same area on October 1.
Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


US drones kill three Haqqani militants in Pakistan
[One Pakistan] A US drone strike killed at least three Death Eaters in northwest Pakistain on Thursday, destroying a compound in a mountain stronghold of the Afghan Taliban's Haqqani network, officials said.

The attack took place in Darpakhel Sarai, just outside Miranshah the main town of North Wazoo, the most notorious bastion of Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Pakistain's semi-autonomous tribal belt.

Covert CIA drones are the chief US weapon against Taliban and Al-Qaeda Death Eaters who use Pak soil as launch pads for attacking US troops in the 10-year war in neighbouring Afghanistan and plotting attacks on the West.

"A drone fired two missiles on a myrmidon compound. At least three Death Eaters were killed," a senior Pak security official told AFP.

He said those killed were loyal to Jamil Haqqani, an important Afghan commander in the Haqqani network whom US officials said was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan on October 13.

A US official at the time named him as Janbaz Zadran, saying he "played a central role in helping the Haqqani network attack US and coalition targets in Kabul and southeastern Afghanistan".

Other intelligence officials in Miranshah and the northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar confirmed Thursday's missile strike and casualties.

Three other maimed Death Eaters were pulled out of the rubble and taken to hospital, witnesses said. One of them was carried out on a cot by seven to eight Death Eaters enveloped in dust.

Militants cordoned off the area and were preventing anyone from accessing the destroyed compound, they said.

A local intelligence official said about 10 Death Eaters had been inside the compound but that some had managed to escape.

The latest attack is the 61st US drone strike reported in Pakistain so far this year -- a programme that American officials refuse to discuss publicly and which has been dramatically ramped up under President Barack I am the change that you seek Obama.

American politicians are running out of patience with Pakistain, demanding that Islamabad cut all long-standing ties with Islamist myrmidons, after Navy SEALs found and killed the late Osama bin Laden
... who is no more...
close to the Pak capital on May 2.

Relations between Pakistain and the United States deteriorated after that, and again over accusations that Pak intelligence helped the Haqqani network in a September 13 siege of the US embassy in Kabul.

Two US senators just back from talks in Afghanistan and Pakistain said Wednesday that the coming weeks will show whether Islamabad can be a reliable ally against Islamist hard boys.

"It does feel, at times, like Pakistain is playing both the role of fireman and arsonist in Afghanistan," said Democratic Senator Tom Udall, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"The next few weeks will demonstrate or not whether we can work together effectively with the government of Pakistain" against foes like the Haqqani network blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, said Democratic Senator Jack Reed.
Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  what is the replacement rate at their level?
(In other words are we taking them out faster or slower than replacements are available?)
Posted by: Water Modem || 11/04/2011 1:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Love the graphics; especially the red shoes outside bomb crater!
Posted by: Slindsey || 11/04/2011 8:58 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli Navy peacefully boards two "Gaza flotilla" vessels
Naval forces board two Gaza-bound ships after they failed to heed orders to turn around or dock in Egypt or Israel; ships being led to port of Ashdod.

The Israel Navy on Friday afternoon intercepted two boats that approached the coast of the Gaza Strip with the intent to violate Israel's naval blockade of the territory.

After the boats failed to heed calls to turn around or dock in Egypt or Israel, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz ordered naval forces to board the ships. Nobody was injured during the boarding of the ships, a military source said.

On Thursday, the Obama administration warned U.S.citizens on the boats that they may face legal action for violating Israeli and American law. The activists include Americans and citizens of eight other countries.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S.was renewing its warning to Americans "not to involve themselves in this activity."

The U.S., like Israel and the European Union, considers Hamas a terrorist organization.
Posted by: || 11/04/2011 13:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israeli Navy peacefully boards two "Gaza flotilla" vessels
The Israel Navy on Friday afternoon intercepted two boats that approached the coast of the Gazoo Strip with the intent to violate Israel's naval blockade of the territory.

After the boats failed to heed calls to turn around or dock in Egypt or Israel, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz ordered naval forces to board the ships. Nobody was injured during the boarding of the ships, a military source said.

On Thursday, the B.O. regime warned U.S.citizens on the boats that they may face legal action for violating Israeli and American law. The activists include Americans and citizens of eight other countries.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S.was renewing its warning to Americans "not to involve themselves in this activity."

The U.S., like Israel and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, considers Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, a terrorist organization.
Update: Arutz Sheva adds:
Earlier on Friday flotilla organizers announced the activists aboard the vessels had pledged not to resist IDF naval commandos expected to board the vessels in order to redirect them to another port, probably Ashdod.

US state department spokeswomen Victoria Nuland said the US had sought clarification of reports Turkish warships might be accompanying the flotilla and were told "quite emphatically" by Istanbul this was not the case.

"We've been clear to them that we think that would be an extremely bad idea and they've now reassured us that that is not what they are doing in this case," she said.

Turkey, whose prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to send a naval escort for Turkish vessels headed to Gazoo, has stressed that the vessels are not flying the Turkish flag, and have no Turkish captains or passengers.

Erdogan's threat came after the release of the UN Palmer Report on the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, during which 9 Turkish 'activists' who tried to lynch Israeli commandoes who boarded the vessel in accordance with international maritime law, were killed.

Turkey was incensed by the report, which concluded Israel's blockade of Gazoo was "legal and appropriate."
Posted by: || 11/04/2011 13:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
MILF talks end with no major agreement
Peace talks between Filipino peace negotiators and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels ended with no significant agreement, but both sides calling to hasten the talks aimed at ending the fighting in Mindanao. The talks are over the recent fighting between military and rebels, and government charges that MILF commanders are involved in kidnappings for ransom and terrorism.

According to MILF, "The negotiators of the two parties emerged from the meeting room with both sides announcing modest gains that could be nurtured to move forward the peace process towards a political settlement of the Moro Question and the armed conflict that haunted Philippine administrations since independence in 1946."

It said the both sides agreed to discuss a substantive agenda during the next round of peace talks, probably before the end of the month. Both sides also called for a joint investigation into a deadly clash in Basilan’s Al-Barka town that killed 19 soldiers and five rebels on October 18. The probe will also be joined by the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG).

The MILF also reiterated its cooperation with Philippine authorities for the "interdiction of kidnap for ransom groups, criminal groups/syndicates, and so-called lost commands pursuant to the Joint Communiqué of AHJAG."
Posted by: ryuge || 11/04/2011 03:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Indonesian church bombing attempt trial begins
Ten Islamists have gone on trial in Indonesia for allegedly attempting to bomb Christ Cathedral Church on the outskirts of Jakarta earlier this year. Prosecutor Teguh Suhendro said that the ten individuals, including TV journalist Imam Firdaus, who allegedly planned to film the havoc, are all in their 30's and are being charged for trying to destroy the church and attack those inside before this past Easter holiday.

The men, each being tried separately, allegedly placed 150 kg of explosives near the Catholic church's entrance and underneath a nearby gas pipeline. They had planned to detonate the devices using a mobile phone as Good Friday services began in the 3000-seat church, but officials stopped them before they could be detonated. Prosecutors say the accused also sent bombs through the to more moderate Indonesian Muslims and police. These did not result in any fatalities.

In September, terrorists extremists set off explosives after a worship service at a church in Solo City, wounding 28 people. Following the service, suicide bomber Pino Damayanto, also known as Achmad Yosepa Hayat, detonated a device inside the building while the congregation was exiting the church. A national police spokesperson said he was a member of the terrorist group, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/04/2011 02:44 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Thai terrorist tactics: efficient and deadly
Posted by: ryuge || 11/04/2011 02:43 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
'15,000 strong' army gathers to take on Syria
The national "Syrian Free Army" aims to be the "military wing of the Syrian people's opposition to the regime", its leader told The Daily Telegraph from a heavily guarded camp in eastern Turkey.

Confirmation of an armed force operating with the covert approval of the Turkish authorities follows evidence that attacks inside Syria are causing high levels of casualties in the security forces. It also shows the anger of Recep Tayipp Erdogan, the Turkish premier, with Mr Assad, a former ally whose failed promises of reform have caused a deep rift.

"We are the future army of the new Syria. We are not in league with any particular sect, religion or political party. We believe in protecting all elements of Syrian society," the Army's leader, Col Riad al-Assad, said. Made up of defectors from the regime's army, SFA fighters are conducting "high quality operations against government soldiers and security agents," Col Assad said.

Last week the SFA claimed responsibility for the killing of nine Syrian soldiers in battles in a town in central Syria. On Friday a further 17 regime soldiers were reported killed in violent clashes with defected former comrades in the city of Homs, a hotbed of resistance.

The violence has continued this week. There have been unconfirmed reports that nine members of the minority Alawite sect to which Mr Assad belongs were dragged off a bus and killed, while 15 members of the security forces were killed by deserters on Wednesday in two attacks, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The escalation has given new urgency to Wednesday's fragile agreement between the regime and the Arab League to withdraw the army from the streets. The Observatory said 20 more people died in Homs on Thursday from gunfire and shelling despite the supposed agreement, while today will see an even bigger test as activists challenge Mr Assad with street protests after Friday prayers.

Col Assad has an extensive Turkish personal security entourage, and access to him is controlled directly by the Turkish foreign ministry.
Wow! Turkey sponsoring a military opposition to Pencilneck,
Turkey's formal position that it has only a humanitarian role in Syria and Col Assad was coy on whether the SFA was conducting cross border operations. But he said his men were operating across Syria. "Our fighters protect the borders of dissident towns and villages, and attack soldiers who gun down peaceful demonstrators," he said. "We are armed with guns and ammunition stolen from the regime".

The size of the movement is unclear, with estimates ranging from 5,000 to 15,000. Many defectors have fled across the border and are being hosted in guarded camps in Turkey.

Col Assad appealed to the international community to impose a 'no fly zone' and a 'no sea zone'. "We don't have the ability to buy weapons, but we need to protect civilians inside Syria," he said. "We want to make a 'safe zone' in the north of Syria, a buffer zone in which the SFA can get organised." With a small weapons supply, his movement is not yet in a position to pose a serious threat to the regime, but its presence marks a definitive change to the original unified opposition policy of peaceful protest.

Col Assad said he wanted his force to be recognised as the military wing of the Syrian National Council -- the umbrella political opposition announced at a conference in Istanbul.

"We are waiting for them to appoint a high delegation and send a representative to speak to us about how we can support their aims militarily," he said. A council member speaking anonymously confirmed that 'off the table discussions' were taking place. "Our commitment is, and has always been, peaceful resolution, but our patience has a limit," the source said. "It depends on the political developments among the Arab League, the Middle East and the International Community. "In 10 days we will present a new plan that is to include a military and political strategy. Here the issue of the SFA may well be put on the table."
Posted by: phil_b || 11/04/2011 03:43 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'll lay in extra supplies of popcorn & condiments.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/04/2011 3:55 Comments || Top||

#2  The potential for international intrigue with this is a thrill.

Not just the Turks, but the French, the Russians, the Kurds, maybe some quiet help from the Israelis and who knows who else? Lots of quiet agreements and payoffs.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/04/2011 17:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Thank goodness I've got two extra boxcar loads of popcorn coming in.
Posted by: Barbara || 11/04/2011 18:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Syrian Free Army? SFA? Could have chosen a better nmae.
Posted by: Aussie Mike || 11/04/2011 19:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Syrian Transitional Defense?
STD?
Our motto: "We aren't going away"
Posted by: Frank G || 11/04/2011 20:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Sunni Army would be a more accurate name. Apart from the Kurds, the non-Sunnis are lining up behind Assad, whether or not they benefited from his rule. At this point, they have three choices - (1) defend Assad and help kill limited numbers of Sunnis, (2) don't defend Assad and be massacred wholesale when he's toppled or (3) leave the country. If the Kurds are smart, they'll be lining up behind Assad as well.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 11/04/2011 21:27 Comments || Top||


Syria troops kill 20 despite peace deal
[Dawn] Syrian troops killed 20 civilians and tossed in the clink dozens on Thursday, a rights watchdog said, a day after 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...
pledged to withdraw its forces from protest hubs under a deal with the 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...
to end months of bloodshed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the victims fell in various neighbourhoods of the flashpoint protest city of Homs, in central Syria, where government forces reportedly used heavy tank-mounted machineguns.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton joined world leaders in welcoming the Arab deal and urging Syria to comply quickly with the terms.

But activists remained sceptical and called for mass demonstrations on Friday to test the government's commitment to the peace dead while the largest opposition group met Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi to voice its concerns.

"We told the secretary general of our fears that the regime will not keep its promises," Samir al-Nashar, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said in Cairo.

Arabi briefed them on the peace plan, which also calls on Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Dread of Those Who Don't Like Him...
to engage in a national dialogue with his opponents, said Nashar, adding that the SNC does not want talks but for Assad to quit.

"We are not talking about a dialogue. We offered to engage in negotiations to move from a authoritarian regime to a democratic regime. And we ask that Bashir al-Assad resign."The SNC is the largest and most representative Syrian opposition grouping.

On Wednesday it urged the vaporous Arab League to freeze Syria's membership in the

22-strong organization and recognise it as the sole representative of the

opposition.

Assad's opponents are sceptical about the regime's readiness to rein in a brutal crackdown that the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
says has cost more than 3,000 lives since mid-March.

London and Washington said that despite Damascus's agreement to the Arab League plan after weeks of prevarication, they still believed Assad must heed the demands of anti-government protesters and step down.

Hours after Syria agreed to the Arab plan its security forces pressed on with the crackdown.

Twenty people were killed in several flashpoint neighbourhoods of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, after an earlier toll spoke of nine dead.

Gunfire continued to explode across the city, which was pounded during the day with heavy machineguns mounted on tanks, according to activists.

Security forces also tossed in the clink "more than 80 people at dawn in Deir Ezzor (eastern Syria) and neighbouring districts," the statement added.

Under the hard-won deal announced at Arab League headquarters in Cairo on Wednesday, the Syrian government pledged to remove troops from all protest centres although no timetable is given.

Damascus also agreed to release people tossed in the clink since the anti-regime protests erupted in mid-March and to engage in a national dialogue with the opposition.

But the text, seen by AFP, did not specify a venue for the dialogue. That is a bone of contention between the government, which insists on Damascus, and the opposition, which says it should be outside Syria.

An Arab diplomat in Cairo said the ministerial task force is expected to visit Syria soon to follow up on the implementation of the agreement

But scepticism prevailed among regime opponents.

The Local Coordination Committees (LCC), which organises anti-regime protests, cast doubt over "the integrity of the Syrian regime's acceptance of the points suggested by the Arab League's initiative" and called for protests.

Syrians should stage "peaceful protests" to "validate whether armed forces... have been withdrawn from the cities and towns, and whether violence has been stopped, detainees have been released, Arab and international media correspondents have been allowed in the country and if a dialogue has been made possible," a statement said.

"May tomorrow, Friday, be the day where all streets and squares become platforms for demonstrations and for the peaceful struggle towards achieving the downfall of the regime."The Arab League plan won international endorsement.

The EU's Ashton said Damascus must "fully and rapidly" implement the deal and "reforms that the Syrian people have bravely demanded these last seven months."UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
said it was vital that Assad's regime now swiftly implement the terms of the roadmap "as soon as possible as agreed."The United States and Britannia echoed his comments but agreed that the only real way to end the bloodshed is for Assad to step down because, as the White House said, he "lost his legitimacy to rule."Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who led the Arab League's mediation efforts, said "if Syria does not respect its commitments, the ministerial committee will meet again and take the necessary decisions."
Posted by: Fred || 11/04/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  It sounds like he is killing more Syrians citizens then we are killing AQ and Talibunnies in Afghanistan. For some reason the 'stan is considered a war and not Syria.

Posted by: Water Modem || 11/04/2011 1:37 Comments || Top||

#2  And you thought it's only Paleos who won't keep a deal.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 11/04/2011 3:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Syria kills four more in Friday's festivities
Posted by: ryuge || 11/04/2011 7:14 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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2al-Shabaab
1Global Jihad
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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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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
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trailing wife
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2011-11-04
  Al-Shabaab militants fall back to defend Kismayu
Thu 2011-11-03
  Syrian tank fire kills two in Homs despite deal
Wed 2011-11-02
  Viktor Bout found guilty by NY NY court!
Tue 2011-11-01
  Unesco gives Palestinians full membership, U.S. pulls funding
Mon 2011-10-31
  Egypt brokers another truce to halt Gaza fighting
Sun 2011-10-30
  Saudi Court Jails 'al-Qaida Lady' for 15 Years
Sat 2011-10-29
  13 American troops killed in Kabul suicide car bomb attack
Fri 2011-10-28
  13 More Drone-zapped in South Wazoo
Thu 2011-10-27
  Drone strike 'kills five Taliban commanders' in South Waziristan
Wed 2011-10-26
  15 Dead as Yemen Truce Fails
Tue 2011-10-25
  U.S. pulls out envoy to Syria
Mon 2011-10-24
  Interior Minister escapes suicide kaboom on trip to Panjshir
Sun 2011-10-23
  Libyan Leader Declares Nation Islamic, Sharia Law to be Implemented
Sat 2011-10-22
  Qaddafi on display in shopping center freezer
Fri 2011-10-21
  Libyan fighters hoist govt flag above captured Sirte

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