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| Afghanistan |
| Gunmen attack UN offices in Kandahar |
| 2004-01-06 |
| Gunmen attacked the office of the United Nations refugee agency here Monday, throwing a grenade and firing shots but causing no injuries, on a violent day that also saw U.S. forces engage in a firefight and bombard a secret drug laboratory. The attack on the UN office shortly after 9 p.m., was just the latest in a series of assaults on the world body and other aid organizations that have made much of the south and east of the country a no-go area for development workers. "We were sitting outside the gate when the car pulled up," said Abdul Rehman, a security guard at the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Kandahar, once the stronghold of the Taliban. "First they threw the grenade and then opened fire." The attackers, seated in a car, sped away when police and security staff who had been sitting in a nearby tent rushed to the scene and returned fire, Rehman said. Manoel de Almeida e Silva, a UN spokesman in Kabul, confirmed the guard’s account of the attack, though he said it was unclear if fire was returned. "There were no victims," he said. "There was no one in the office at the time." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #8 Maybe they didn't really want to kill anybody, or were terrified of what it was they were told to do. Perhaps they are dupes that have had a family member kidnapped and are forced to do the job. Sometimes, I think and not in this case, these tribal guys just want to blast away without really trying to kill but to look like a badass warrior. Scared that they may actually kill some other clan member and creating a death fued. I'm sure word gets around about how Ali el babi, killed Omar dodii, son of Fatima, daughter of Abu, who runs drugs for Kalli el Dondo. Who, as we all know, is not to be messed with. "Oh Ali, do you know who you killed!?" "Doah!" "Ah, see'ya latter bro, take care." |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-1-6 2:21:18 PM |
| #7 Did the UN run away yet? |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2004-1-6 12:08:25 PM |
| #6 Toad, what's the rear sight for? :-) |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-1-6 11:41:11 AM |
| #5 These are some pretty naive terrorists; I can't believe they would try to kill UN workers in an office at 9 PM. Even if they were attacking at 9 AM, the Talianis should stake out the cafeteria not the office. Sheesh, amatuers. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-1-6 11:36:15 AM |
| #4 Err, no the AK-47 isn't a piece of shit (but neither is it a miracle weapon) a buddy of mine who was a Marine in the 90's was stationed in the Middle East. He and some other Marines got a chance to shoot some Ak-47's with the locals that were using them. The locals were astounded at what the Marines could do with the AK-47's as far as accuracy, especially at long range (anything over 50 meters, eh) Apparently the training the locals had was to kinda point and align the barrel and front sight at the target and fire a burst at full auto. Some of the better local shots would aim low and left and walk the burst up into the target. The Marines just had better training and more experience,actually knew what the rear sight was for, but it was mostly the better training in my buddy's opinion. |
| Posted by: toad 2004-1-6 9:14:54 AM |
| #3 Hmmmm. Does "Everybody's just looking for a little slack." ring any bells for you? If not, nevermind, Grid Willing - to mix metaphorical sources. Re: jihadis - yeah, I guess kids fresh out of the madrassah who've done nothing but rock back and forth memorizing the Qu'uran for 15 yrs then given a 1 week crash course in a training camp = not easy. It equals morons with guns who can't hit shit except by accident. Recall the point-blank attack on Karzai's SUV several months ago? Watching the film proved my point cuz the assailant was less than 15 feet away and only one round even came close to Karzai. Life's a bitch. It's even bitchier if you're stupid - and these guys certainly qualify. Melikes the odds. ;-) |
| Posted by: .com 2004-1-6 4:19:48 AM |
| #2 Cut them some slack. 'Tis not easy being a jihadi nowadays. |
| Posted by: RW2004 2004-1-6 3:50:24 AM |
| #1 We're already aware that throwing grenades is just beyond people in that part of the world... too much soccer, methinks. But it's also really quite fortunate that these 'tards couldn't hit the broad side of a barn - even with an assault rifle. IIRC, Afghanistan has been the scene of "gun battles" lasting hours with - no casualties, not even a stubbed toe. Since I was raised with guns I have a hard time picturing such obvious doltage but, hey, they didn't have my grandfather. Perhaps the AK-47 really is a worthless piece of shit on the level of the Katyushas, low jamming stats notwithstanding, beyond point-blank range except in the hands of an expert. And these guys seem to be fresh out of experts... probably the first to be aced by our professional forces. Amazing shit. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-1-6 3:11:50 AM |