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Afghanistan
25 fighters killed, wounded near Afghan-Pakistan border
2011-05-04
[Emirates 24/7] Twenty-five imported muscle were killed and maimed by Afghan cops after they crossed the border from Pakistain, a government official said, the first sign of retaliatory attacks in Afghanistan after al Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who has made the transition back to dust...
 was killed.
Good for them -- thinning the herd nicely.
Bin Laden, the architect of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, was killed by U.S. forces in a dramatic raid north of the Pak capital, Islamabad, on Monday, sparking fears of Dire Revenge™ by Islamist bad boys.

Jamaluddin Badr, governor of northeastern Nuristan province, said the 25 imported muscle killed and maimed overnight included Arabs, Chechens and Paks.
Surely there was at least one Punjabi to show the mighty Lions of Islam the path, or did Allah Himself lead them directly to the halls of their Hereafter, completely avoiding passing Go?
He said the operation was launched to guard against attacks after bin Laden's death.

"We are aware of the situation here now that al Qaeda and other elements will try to infiltrate into Afghanistan. We have launched an operation to control border infiltration," Badr told Rooters.

Tuesday's operation was in the Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan, very close to the border with Pakistain, Badr said.

Taliban, al Qaeda and other Islamist beturbanned goons have long operated out of safe havens and training camps in Pakistain's largely lawless northwest Pashtun tribal regions.
Can we hope for spontaneous combustion occurring in ammunition dumps and propane cooking canisters throughout the region in the near future?
Bin Laden was sheltered by the Afghan Taliban before the Sept. 11 attacks and managed to escape US troops and Afghan militia during an assault in Afghanistan's mountainous Tora Bora region before slipping across the border into Pakistain.

Military commanders, politicians and analysts have warned that the immediate effect of bin Laden's killing for Afghanistan would likely be a spike in violence as Islamist beturbanned goons seek to strike back.

"I don't think the death of bin Laden will directly impact the fighting capabilities of any of the parties engaged in the war in Afghanistan," Martine van Bijlert of the Afghanistan Analysts Network wrote in a blog (www.aan-afghanistan.com).

"I guess the Taliban are now trying to figure out how to position themselves. They will want to use the mobilising potential of bin Laden's death, but they will also want to leave their position vis-a-vis al Qaeda sufficiently ambiguous to keep future options open," she said.
Hopefully someone cleverer than I understands what that means...
While bin Laden's killing had likely sent shockwaves through jihadists on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistain border, Global intelligence agency Stratfor said it would be difficult for fighters to mount Dire Revenge™ attacks or move undetected.

"Someone's death can inspire people, but inspiration only goes so far. What really matters is the actual capability, and I don't think their capabilities can be changed or altered overnight," Stratfor's South Asia regional director Kamran Bokhari told Rooters.
Posted by:Fred

#1  How would you tell the difference between the usual spring festivities on the border & retaliatory strikes? Interrogate survivors, I suppose...
Posted by: Mitch H.   2011-05-04 08:57  

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