In an unusual public criticism, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he believes NATO forces currently deployed in southern Afghanistan do not know how to combat a guerrilla insurgency, a deficiency that could be contributing to the rising violence in the fight against the Taliban.
"I'm worried we're deploying [military advisors] that are not properly trained and I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counterinsurgency operations," Gates said in an interview.
Gates' criticism comes as the Bush administration has decided to send 3,200 U.S. Marines to southern Afghanistan on a temporary mission to help quell the rising number of attacks. It also comes amid growing friction among allied commanders over the Afghan security situation. But coming from an administration castigated for its conduct of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, such U.S. criticism of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is controversial. Many NATO officials blame inadequate U.S. troop numbers earlier in the war in part for a Taliban resurgence.
"It's been very, very difficult to apply the classic counterinsurgency doctrine because you've had to stabilize the situation sufficiently to start even applying it," said one European NATO official, who discussed the issue on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the alliance. "Even in the classic counterinsurgency doctrine, you've still got to get the fighting down to a level where you can apply the rest of the doctrine."
Gates' views, however, reflect those expressed recently by senior U.S. military officials with responsibility for Afghanistan. Some have said that an overreliance on heavy weaponry, including airstrikes, by NATO forces in the south may unwittingly be contributing to rising violence there.
"Execution of tasks, in my view, has not been appropriate," said one top U.S. officer directly involved in the Afghan campaign who discussed internal assessments on condition of anonymity. "It's not the way to do business, in my opinion. We've got to wean them of this. If they won't change then we're going to have another solution."
Gates has publicly criticized European allies in the past for failing to send adequate numbers of troops and helicopters to the Afghan mission. But concerns about strategy and tactics are usually contained within military and diplomatic channels. In the interview, Gates compared the troubled experience of the NATO forces in the south — primarily troops from the closest U.S. allies, Britain and Canada, as well as the Netherlands — with progress made by American troops in the eastern part of Afghanistan. He traced the failing in part to a Cold War orientation.
"Most of the European forces, NATO forces, are not trained in counterinsurgency; they were trained for the Fulda Gap," Gates said, referring to the German region where a Soviet invasion of Western Europe was deemed most likely.
Gates said he raised his concerns last month in Scotland at a meeting of NATO countries with troops in southern Afghanistan and suggested additional training. But he added that his concerns did not appear to be shared by the NATO allies. "No one at the table stood up and said: 'I agree with that.' " The NATO forces are led by a U.S. commander, Army Gen. Dan McNeill, who has called for greater contributions by NATO countries. Some member nations are reluctant to deepen their involvement.
NATO officials bristled at suggestions that non-U.S. forces have been ineffective in implementing a counterinsurgency campaign. They argued that the south, home to Afghanistan's Pashtun tribal heartland that produced the Taliban movement, has long been the most militarily contested region of the country. The European NATO official, who is directly involved in Afghan planning, angrily denounced the American claims, saying much of the violence is a result of the small number of U.S. troops who had patrolled the region before NATO's takeover in mid-2006, a strategy that allowed the Taliban to reconstitute in the region.
"The reason there is more fighting now is because we've uncovered a very big rock and lots of things are scurrying out," the NATO official said.
Pentagon concerns have risen as violence in the south has steadily increased, even as other parts of Afghanistan have begun to stabilize. Last year was the deadliest for both U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, according to the website icasualties.org.
But both U.S. and NATO officials have expressed optimism that eastern Afghanistan, which is under the control of U.S. forces led by Army Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, has substantially improved in recent months. Rodriguez implemented a campaign that incorporated many of the same tactics being used in Iraq by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Baghdad who co-wrote the military's new counterinsurgency field manual.
"If you believe all the things you hear about Afghanistan, this ought to be real hot," Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East and Central Asia, said of eastern Afghanistan. "More than half the border is Pakistan, it's a rough area, historically it's been a hotbed of insurgent activity. It's remarkable in its improvement."
At the same time, violence has continued to rise in the south, which is controlled by a 11,700-soldier NATO force largely made up of the British, Canadian and Dutch forces. Britain saw 42 soldiers killed last year, almost all in southern Afghanistan, its highest annual fatality count of the war; Canada lost 31, close to the 36 from that country killed in 2006. American forces lost 117 troops in 2007, up from 98 in 2006, but U.S. forces are spread more widely across Afghanistan.
"Our guys in the east, under Gen. Rodriguez, are doing a terrific job. They've got the [counterinsurgency] thing down pat," Gates said. "But I think our allies over there, this is not something they have any experience with."
Some U.S. counterinsurgency experts have argued that the backsliding is not the fault of NATO forces alone. Some have argued that an effective counterinsurgency campaign implemented by Army Lt. Gen. David W. Barno and Zalmay Khalilzad, who were the U.S. commander in and ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005, was largely abandoned by officials who came later.
Barno retired from the military and heads the Near East South Asia Center at the National Defense University. In an article in the influential Army journal Military Review last fall, he blamed both NATO and U.S. commanders for moving away from the counterinsurgency plan since 2006. Barno accused NATO and U.S. forces of ignoring the cornerstone of a counterinsurgency campaign — protecting the local population — and said they instead focused on killing enemy forces.
"We had a fundamentally well-structured, integrated U.S. Embassy and U.S. military unified counterinsurgency campaign plan which we put in place in late '03 that took us all the way through about the middle of 2005," Barno said in an interview. "And then it was really, in many ways, changed very dramatically."
Currently serving American officers, however, have singled out non-U.S. NATO forces for the bulk of their criticism. Among the concerns is that NATO forces do not actively include Afghan troops in military operations. As a result, local forces in the south are now less capable than those in the east, which operate very closely with their American counterparts.
"Every time you see our guys in the field, you don't have to look very far and you'll see them," said the senior U.S. officer involved in the Afghan campaign. "Getting the Brits to do this and the others is a little more of a problem."
In addition, U.S. military officials said NATO forces in the south are too quick to rely on high-caliber firepower, such as airstrikes, a practice which alienates the local population.
"The wide view there, which I hear from Americans, is that the NATO military forces are taking on a Soviet mentality," said one senior U.S. military veteran of Afghanistan. "They're staying in their bases in the south, they're doing very little patrolling, they're trying to avoid casualties, and they're using air power as a substitute for ground infantry operations, because they have so little ground infantry."
The European NATO official said, however, that alliance data show that all countries, including the U.S., use air power in similar amounts when their troops come in contact with enemy forces.
"Everyone is grateful for the Americans . . . but this kind of constant denigration of what other people are doing isn't helpful," the official said. "It also makes the situation look worse than it is."
#1
It is possible the statement is true, or they may not be allowed to fight a true anti-insurgent war by their political bosses either. Hell, it took two years of Iraq going to shit before the Americans learned how to fight one. With the Marines going in to help, things will get better very quickly.
#3
The Marines should be able to get things on track. Wakiland, Iran, Syria,along with Saudi Wahibism and Saudi funding do seem to be the nexis of terror in the world.
#4
Canadians(and I expect the British and Dutch as well,) are having political discussions with repect to the future of this expeditions. Gates' statement is hardly helpful on the home front. With such comments and '08 elections in the offing, Canadians are liable to pack up and go home. So much for sacrificing 72 brave souls for this apparent screwed up mission. Thank You Mr. Gates.
#6
This is one of the few intelligent things I've heard Gates say. Now if he would draw the proper conclusion and recognize that the Euros won't fund or train adequate defence forces as long as we promise to defend them for free and that it is time to end American involvement in Nato, I'd be very impressed.
#7
Lesse, is the complaint that too much heavy ordnance is being called down on Talibunnies....errr, I mean "civilians", by our compatriots, who do not desire going door to door and getting ambushed? This sounds like Karzai bellyaching to me. Gates now repeating the mantra ? If "civilians" don't want to get vaporized, don't hide and coddle your friends, The Bunnies.
Four men have been arrested after Taliban gunmen and a suicide bomber stormed the most luxurious hotel in Afghanistan and killed seven people including three foreigners, officials said Tuesday.
A Filipina, a Norwegian and a US national were among the dead after Mondays attack on the five-star Kabul Serena hotel, a hub of foreign businessmen and diplomats and home to embassies including Australias. Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Salah told reporters the arrested suspects included a man who was supposed to have carried out one of multiple suicide bombings at the hotel, but for some reason did not.
The others were a man said to have transported the attackers to the hotel and two suspected of accommodating them in the city, Salah said. Weve captured the planners of this terrorist attack, he said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said four men armed with Kalashnikovs entered the Serena hotel and fired on foreigners. The group stormed the security gate, killing at least two Afghan guards, a hotel spokesman said, asking not to be identified by name.
This article starring:
Amrullah Salah
ZABIHULLAH MUJAHED
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
The military union ACOM says that a lack of radio equipment probably played a role in the death of two Dutch soldiers in the Afghan province of Uruzgan last weekend, the NOS reports.
Union chairman Jan Kleian said on Tuesday that he had warned some time ago that soldiers were complaining about a shortage of headsets used for communication with colleagues. Broken equipment has reportedly not been replaced over the past months, Kleian said.
The Defence department said in a reaction that Kleian's comments are "unethical" and "premature."
#4
The military unions are pretty practical though. They have no say over military or political matters. They try to make sure that troops are send out with the best possible equipment, that the families of soldiers are taken care of, veteran support programs are being implemented by Defense. Stuff like that.
Personally I find that people (especially someone from a union) should shut up untill an investigation has been completed. There could be dozens of different reasons for this incident.
Fog of war being one of the most common one, in a nightime battle in bad weather stuff can easily go wrong that would not normally go wrong.
Heavily armed police attacked a home in the capital of Russia's war-scarred Chechnya region early Tuesday, killing four suspected militants including the alleged leader of a rebel group, law enforcement authorities said.
Another suspected militant was killed in a separate exchange of gunfire in the center of Grozny late Monday, Chechnya's Interior Ministry said. Tuesday's assault in the city's violent Lenin district came after police surrounded a home where the suspected militants had been living. According to the Interior Ministry, the occupants of the home answered a surrender demand by opening fire, and all four were killed in the ensuing gunbattle. A riot police officer was wounded, the ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Hundreds of Islamist militants overran a Pakistani paramilitary fort near the Afghan border Wednesday, sparking fierce fighting that left seven troops and up to 50 rebels dead, the army said. Another 20 troops were missing after insurgents armed with rocket launchers and assault rifles blasted their way into the remote outpost at Sararogha town in the rugged South Waziristan tribal district.
The area is said to be a stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal warlord with alleged links to Al-Qaeda who is accused by the government of masterminding the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. "Around midnight 400 miscreants attacked the Frontier Corps at Sararogha. The fort was captured by militants, we are taking stock of the situation," chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP. "There are reports of 40 to 50 dead miscreants, while seven personnel embraced martyrdom." Lol!
The deaders are the bad guyz, whilst the "martyrs" are the Pak troops. Baitullah, of course, would report it the other way around.
The attack, believed to be the first time Pakistan has lost one of its tribal area forts, highlighted growing insecurity ahead of elections on February 18 which were postponed because of unrest sparked by Bhutto's killing.
The words "apalling ineptitude" immediately spring to mind.
Military sources said the Islamist fighters besieged the remote post in darkness before blowing up part of the walls using explosives, storming inside and taking control of the building. Abbas said soldiers responded with artillery before fleeing. Of 42 troops manning the fort, 15 had escaped to a separate base while the whereabouts of the remaining "stragglers" was not known, he added. "They're dead, Jim." The army said it repulsed a similar attack by around 300 militants in South Waziristan last week, killing around 50 of them. Seven troops and 23 rebels died in a clash on Monday in the separate tribal area of Mohmand, it added.
Wonder if that incident made any difference in the alert status of the other forts?
Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militancy has intensified in the mountainous tribal belt since Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ordered troops to crush an uprising at the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.
Actually, it's indigenous to the area. Lal Masjid=effect of tribal belt, not cause.
Insurgent leader Mehsud is accused by the government of ordering most of the attacks in Pakistan in the past year from his hideout in South Waziristan, including Bhutto's killing at an election rally on December 27. He has denied any role in Bhutto's assassination.
It also has nothing to do with this incident that anyone can see.
Militants also took over swathes of the Swat valley, also in northwest Pakistan, and proclaimed Islamic law before being chased into the mountains by troops.
Those "militants" were primarily the TNSM, rather than Baitullah's tough guyz. TNSM is to the Taliban as Pony League is to major league baseball.
The violence in Pakistan has raised international fears for the stability of the nuclear-armed US ally in the "war on terror" ahead of the general elections. Pakistan's foreign ministry Wednesday issued a stern warning against any international military strikes on Pakistani territory, following reports that Washington was considering covert action in the tribal areas. "Without Pakistan's permission, without Pakistan's involvement, any action by a foreign government on Pakistan's territory will be an enemy act," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told a weekly briefing. "Because pakistan's sovereignty is full and complete, on all of its territory. Really."
"There are reports of 40 to 50 dead miscreants, while seven personnel embraced martyrdom."
Only seven embraced martyrdom? Not very good at it, are they? C'mon, guys, get those numbers up!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
01/16/2008 10:41 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"Another 20 troops were missing"
i.e. Joined the Taliban.
Al
Posted by: Herb Glolurt4615 ||
01/16/2008 12:14 Comments ||
Top||
#4
The Taliban at least have a modicum of military training and usually greater numbers. These "Frontier Constabulatory" are frequently untrained, have limited weapons, and no experience. If, indeed, they fought well enough to inflict 50 casualties, they won a major victory. Of course, a few more "victories" like that, and there won't be any of them left. The Taliban, even in Pakistan, are smart enough not to go up against well-trained soldiers who have a habit of hitting what they aim at.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/16/2008 14:45 Comments ||
Top||
#5
TNSM is to the Taliban as Pony League is to major league baseball.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
01/16/2008 19:25 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Reports are that the Islamists attacked all four sides of the British colonial-era fort simultaneously, using rockets to bust through the walls.
Given that it was relatively untrained paramilitary constabulary in an old fort, facing fighters in what could be termed a battalion, the result isn't surprising.
Additionally, intel sez that Meshud/Taliban may have set up a brigade-level organization, possibly higher than that. Meaning they're getting help in setting up for conventional warfare from either Pakistani, ex-Soviet 'Stans, or... other... sources
The Jamaat-i-Islami leader was shot by unidentified persons on Tuesday. JI naib ameer of district central Sayed Rasheed Ahmed was attached by two motorcyclists in New Karachi. Additional SHO Jamil Rayaz told Daily Times that Rasheed Ahmed was riding on his motorcycle at 3:00 p.m. when the men shot him in the face thrice and twice in the arms. He was rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital first and from there to Aga Khan Hospital. The bullets were removed. After hearing news of the attack, JI leaders and supporters rushed to the AKU. JI acting amir for Karachi said it was an attempt to murder him.
This article starring:
Jamil Rayaz
SAIED RASHID AHMED
Jamaat-i-Islami
Jamaat-i-Islami
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Talks between a tribal jirga and political administration for the release of tribesmen and six employees of the Gomal Zam Dam project have failed, jirga members told Daily Times on Tuesday. A 200-member tribal jirga led by former member of the National Assembly (MNA) Mirajuddin Tuesday met South Waziristan Political Agent Fazal Rabi at his office for the release of several Mehsud tribespeople who had been arrested by the government under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) on Saturday compensation for houses destroyed during government attacks, end of barricades in the agency and ceasing of shelling on residential areas. The jirga members said the political agent had linked the release of arrested tribesmen to the release of six Gomal Zam Dam workers kidnapped by unidentified militants on January 12. The jirga members, however, informed the political agent they were helpless with regard to the release kidnapped workers. At this, the political agent said he was also helpless regarding the release the tribesmen and fulfillment of other demands. After the collapse of negotiations, the jirga demanded the political agent to arrange their meeting with NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani. The jirga members said their meeting with the governor for the release of tribesmen and other demands is expected with the next few days.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
A top "commander" of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed in a encounter in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday. LeT district commander Abu Kital was killed in an encounter with the Indian security forces in Ajas village in Kashmirs Bandipora district this morning, news agency Indo Asian News Service reported, quoting a top police official. The Indian security forces are still conducting searches in the area, the news agency said. The operation was jointly carried out by Indian Army troopers, the special operations group of Jammu and Kashmir police and Indias key paramilitary unit the Central Reserve Police Force, the official added.
Carcass of Abu Kital being removed from Ajas village by Indian RR para-military and SOG policemen
This article starring:
ABU KITAL
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Kashmiri women grieve near their destroyed house after a gunbattle between a suspected militant and Indian soldiers police in Ajas, some 54 kms north east of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 15 January 2008. Abu Kital alias, Hamza, a commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba was killed during a four hour long gunbattle with Indian soldiers police this morning and the house in which he was hiding also got damaged in the gunbattle, police said.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/16/2008 5:58 Comments ||
Top||
The chief, vice chief and finance secretary of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi were on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment based on their alleged confessions for conspiring to kill President Musharraf in 2002.
According to the prosecution, the accused men had parked a vehicle laden with explosives on Shahrah-e-Faisal on April 24, 2002. President Musharraf was scheduled to travel from the Karachi airport to the State Guest House along this route. The plan to kill him, however, failed as the remote-controlled device attached to the explosives apparently failed to detonate. The conspiracy came to the fore when the men were arrested in a bomb blast case at the US Consulate in Karachi. They confessed to this incident and were charged with attempted murder under Section 324 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
This article starring:
Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi
Ashraf Khan
Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi
Inspector Waseem Ahmed
Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi
Jameel
Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi
Muhammad Haneef
Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi
Muhammad Imran
Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi
Sharib alias Arsalan Farooqui
Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
A 13-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up, killing no one but himself in the process, while security personnel shot and killed one of his colleagues in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday morning. One suicide bomber blew himself up at the Frontier Constabulary (FC)s Khapakh post in Mohmand Agency at 10.30am, said a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Security officials at the post and civilians in the vicinity remained unhurt in the bungled attack, whilst paramilitary troops shot and killed one of the suicide bombers colleagues and arrested another, the statement added.
Witnesses and officials said the three would-be assailants, including the teenage bomber, arrived in a Land Cruiser from the Khwezai area.
FC troops flagged down their vehicle for a routine search. As two of the three passengers stepped out of the vehicle, the teenager in the car detonated the explosives strapped to his body, they said. Troops captured one of the passengers and shot the other as he tried to flee, they added.
Officials said one of the assailants had been identified as a Swabi resident, Nadir, son of Musafir, while the other two hailed from Waziristan. Doctors at Ghalanai Hospital, where the two dead bodies were taken, said the suicide bomber was a 13-year-old boy. The arrested person has been shifted to Peshawar, officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
RAWALPINDI: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday framed charges against Nadeem Yousaf, Khalil Wyne and others for launching rocket attack on Ayub Park.
The accused had denied the charges. ATC Judge Habibur Rehman had asked the petitioner to produce proof in the next hearing on February 6. Nadeem, Wyne and others were also accused of trying to blow up the Presidency and the ISI Headquarters with rockets on October 5, 2006. The rockets were fixed to launchers hidden in bushes and were attached with mobile phone by wires, apparently for use as a remote launching device.
Meanwhile, the ATC-No1 has adjourned the hearing of the murder case of Maulana Azam Tariq, chief of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), until February 2. Maulana Azam was gunned down at the Golra More Toll Plaza on October 6, 2003 when armed men in a white Pajero opened fire on him. Judge Habibur Rehman asked the prosecutor to produce witnesses in the next hearing.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Three Army soldiers who were gunned down during an intensive, three-hour firefight in the Salad ad Din province north of Baghdad last week, may have died from friendly fire, military officials said Tuesday. The three 101st Airborne Division soldiers were part of an Army company that was attacked by as many as 15 insurgents on Jan. 8, after discovering several large caches of explosives.
Military officials said the incident is being investigated to determine whether the soldiers were killed by shots from the enemy or by U.S. forces, including members of their unit and aircraft called in for backup later in the battle. A detailed account of the incident was described by several officials to The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is not complete.
The three soldiers were part of Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. They were searching buildings southwest of Samarra early that Tuesday morning when they found more than 1,000 pounds of homemade explosives, two 55-gallon barrels rigged to blow up, a roadside bomb, and bullets and bomb-making materials. Soon afterward they found that a second building was also filled with explosives, guns, ammunition and a disassembled suicide vest.
According to reports, the soldiers continued searching the area, and later discovered four vehicles loaded with explosives. And at that point they determined that there were at least two insurgents hiding nearby. When they moved in on the insurgents, reports said the soldiers discovered an extensive tunnel and trench network that was being defended by 10 to 15 of the enemy, who attacked the company with mortars, grenades and guns.
The two sides fought for about three hours, escalating to a massive battle with U.S. aircraft blasting the insurgents with rockets, several 500-pound bombs and .50-caliber guns.
At some point during the fight, soldiers discovered that two members of their unit -- Pfc. Ivan E. Merlo, 19, of San Marcos, Calif., and Pfc. Phillip J. Pannier, 20, of Washburn, Ill. had been killed. Three others were injured, and one of them -- Sgt. David J. Hart, 22, of Lake View Terrace, Ca. -- died later. The names of the injured soldiers have not been -- and are not routinely -- released. It is not clear how many enemy insurgents were killed.
#1
INTERFAX > TWO TRAINING BOMBS ACCIDENTALLY DROPPED NEAR MOSCOW. Russia denies same as occurring. ALso from INTERFAX > KREMLIN SOURCE _ US MEDDLES IN RUSSIA-BULGARIA RELATIONS.
Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Tuesday, the latest in a series of cross border air strikes, Turkeys army said.
Intensive strikes targeted Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions in the Zap-Sivi, Avasin-Basyan and Hakurk regions, said a statement on its website, AFP reported. The aircraft returned safely to base after successfully completing their mission, it said, adding that maximum care was taken to avoid civilian casualties. It gave no toll.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, We hope this fight against terrorism will end soon but we dont know how much longer it will last.
This was the fourth air strike against PKK targets in northern Iraq the Turkish military has confirmed since December 16, in addition to a cross-border ground operation to stop a group of militants attempting to infiltrate Turkey.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
sooo... are there still troops massed on the border? Pretty piss poor reporting on this topic.
ISRAELI troops have killed the head of the armed wing of the radical Islamic Jihad movement in the West Bank in a gunbattle today. Walid Abeidi, 40, was shot dead during heavy exchanges of fire with Israeli troops who had encircled his house in the village of Qabatiya near the northern West Bank town of Jenin, security sources said. There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli army.
That's the actual news contained in the article. The remainder is opinionated boilerplate.
The raid comes one day after the deadliest single day of violence in a year in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces killed 19 Palestinians, including the son of a top Hamas leader, and Palestinian militants shot dead a civilian inside Israel.
This guy was IJ, not Hamas. It's doubtful this was an anniversary celebration.
The Israeli army carries out near daily raids in the impoverished Gaza Strip, where the Islamic Hamas movement seized power in June 2006, in a bid to curb rocket fire against southern Israel.
This operation, however, was in the West Bank, and it wasn't against Hamas.
The violence erupted after Israeli and Palestinians renewed peace talks on the most sensitive issues of the Middle East conflict with the hope of reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
The Israeli violence, however, wasn't the result of the talks. The Islamic Jihad violence, on the other hand, is an attempt to derail any talks and to negate any agreements that may be reached.
It also came on the heels of US President George W Bush's visit to the region aimed at garnering Arab support for the peace process.
Therefore George Bush shot Walid Abeidi, if only by proxy. Good proxy shootin', G.W.!
Since November, more than 115 Palestinians, most of them militants, have been killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip alone, according to an AFP count.
If most of them were militants, then the IDF would seem to be being careful about collateral damage, wouldn't they?
Today's death brings to 6070 the number of people killed since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the vast majority of them Palestinians, according to an AFP tally.
And the vast majority of the Paleostinians bumped off hard boyz.
#5
I understand they're 80% illiterate, that explains it.(No number teaching in the Koran, makes it 100%)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/16/2008 14:36 Comments ||
Top||
#6
How big a fish is this guy? Iwould think it's a big hit if he was the head of the "un-official" wing of IJ, but how many have we gone through over the years? I think at least a dozen. I'm actually suprised how Walid is. I didn't think anyone that old hadn't been helizapped.
Posted by: Charles ||
01/16/2008 17:25 Comments ||
Top||
#7
maybe it was supposed to be 60-70 and they typo'ed the number???
/sarc
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/16/2008 19:21 Comments ||
Top||
#8
You guys ever discuss the bigger issues instead of blabbering on about this or that specific incident only to opine inanely about it?
One of the secrets to your success is lack of context. That plays so well with many. Just incidents and blabbering about them.
Ever post articles challenging the very idea that a WOT is even intelligible?
I mean, do you really believe there is a WOT? I don't think you do. Not the smart ones anyway. The smart ones are just playing along with that ridiculous characterization.
P.S. Check out this. A VERY badly played moment in the "WOT". But you guys knew that too didn't you?:
#10
wakeup is a regular pro-iranian stooge tool. supporting a regime that regularly employs terrorism due to its' lack of military capacity
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2008 21:42 Comments ||
Top||
#11
I agree w/wakeupdead. The WOT is not intelligible it should be called the War on Islamic-facism. Terror is just the tactic, the teachings of islam having inherent facist leanings ought to be the target (or at least those that preach such). Anyways, since we owe you pussies for 1979 I could really care less if Hormuz was a staged event (FTR it wasn't but lets not have facts get in the way). If it means a chance to have Short Round meet the man I'm game for that gig.
#12
You guys ever discuss the bigger issues instead of blabbering on about this or that specific incident only to opine inanely about it?
Yes, but not in a public forum. Some of us do 'big picture' stuff for a living.
I mean, do you really believe there is a WOT? I don't think you do. Not the smart ones anyway. The smart ones are just playing along with that ridiculous characterization.
Depends what you mean by 'smart'. If you mean 'cynical' or 'of the correct political persuasion' or 'safely ensconced in Toronto', well, then of course one wouldn't.
Frankly, the word 'Terror' is overused. It could be termed a War on Fascist Islamism. IMNSHO, it's a War of the 'Worlds'. It's been going on for generations, not necessarily two cohesive groups of opponents, and some have dropped out or changed (like the Soviets, for instance). One could almost term it as the After-Effects of the Cold War.
Then again, given your diatribes, it's likely you don't believe that existed either.
Security forces were bracing Tuesday night for a major escalation on the Gaza front out of concern that the deaths of 19 Palestinians, including the son of a top Hamas official, would spur the terror group to fire Kassam rockets into Israel.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the killing of an Ecuadorian volunteer on a Gaza-belt kibbutz by a Palestinian sniper on Tuesday. The shooting took place in fields belonging to Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha near the Gaza border.
Until now, while Hamas has assisted Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in the production and delivery of Kassams, it has refrained from directly participating in their launching, preferring to operate via proxy. The concern within the defense establishment was that following the high number of Hamas casualties in Tuesday's operation, the terror group would decide to become directly involved in firing rockets. "If this happens, there will be a major increase in the number of rockets fired into Israel," a defense official explained.
On Tuesday, 28 rockets pounded the western Negev and the city of Sderot. One scored a direct hit on a home, wounding five people, including a mother and her young daughter. Another rocket, a Grad-model Katyusha, hit an empty field in southern Ashkelon. Elite troops from the Golani Brigade's Egoz Unit, backed by tanks and Engineering Corps squads, swept into central Gaza early Tuesday morning in pursuit of Kassam rocket squads and terror infrastructure the IDF feared was being built up along the border fence.
Nineteen Palestinians - including three civilians, according to hospital officials in Gaza - were killed in the ensuing gunbattles and air strikes. One was Hussam Zahar, 24, son of hard-line Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, who is viewed as the mastermind behind the violent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June. Zahar's eldest son, Khaled Zahar, was killed in 2003 when an F-16 dropped a bomb on his house in a failed attempt on Zahar's life.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned what he described as "the Israeli massacre in Gaza." According to the PA leader, Israel carried out barbaric actions that damage the peace process. "[We] cannot remain silent in light of these crimes," he said.
Hamas declared three days of mourning throughout Gaza. Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said that the IDF operation was the result of US President George W. Bush's visit to the Middle East. "This crime is the ugly fruit of Bush's visit to the region. He has incited the Zionists and has exerted pressure on the Palestinian side to become more hard-line against Palestinian dialogue," he said.
Zahar accused Abbas of complicity in his son's death. "This is the hope of Abu Mazen and his colleagues, the collaborators with Israel and the spies of America," Zahar said, referring to Abbas by his nickname. Hamas, he vowed, would respond to Tuesday's raid "in the appropriate way. We will defend ourselves by all means."
The foreign volunteer killed in a western Negev kibbutz by a sniper on Tuesday morning was identified as Carlos Andres Muscara Chavez, 20, from Quito, Ecuador. Chavez was working in a potato field in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, about 100 meters from the perimeter fence, when he was shot in the back. A Magen David Adom team summoned to the scene took the man, who was in serious condition, to the kibbutz infirmary, where he died of his wounds.
Defense officials said that Tuesday's raid did not signify a change in policy and that no large-scale operation was expected in the immediate future. Officials acknowledged that raids like the one carried out in Gaza did not contribute to a positive atmosphere for talks with the PA, but said that the actions were "unfortunately necessary."
"We are in a peace process, and we are also fighting terrorism, and both those things will continue in parallel," a senior government official said.
An official in the Prime Minister's Office said that as much as Israel was willing "to be creative in negotiations, we will not compromise on security." The official also stressed that Tuesday's actions did not represent a new policy toward the Gaza Strip, but rather a continuation of activities over the last few weeks that have actively targeted terrorists. "These actions are designed to protect our people," the official said. "They are surgical incursions designed to deal with the terrorist infrastructure. The operations have been successful in taking out hardcore terrorists, and we believe that the combination of military, economic and political pressure in Gaza will bring about a change."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
combination of military, economic and political pressure in Gaza will bring about a change
Only if they are (temporarily or permanently)removed from service faster than they're recruited.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/16/2008 6:17 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I'll postpone the jubilations until it becomes 18000 Paleos per day.
Three soldiers were wounded when terrorists insurgents detonated a bomb at their vehicle before firing them on Wednesday morning in Yala province, police said. After bombing the vehicle, the terrorists insurgents opened fire onto the unit of patrol soldiers who were travelling on Ban Yaha - Ban Tapae Road in Yaha district, causing the soldiers to fire them back. They exchanged fires for about 10 minutes before the insurgents fled the scene.
Three suspects have been arrested in connection with suspected involvement in a recent roadside bombing in Narathiwat province which left eight security patrol officials dead. The suspects were apprehended in a rubber plantation in an area known as the Moh Tae hills. Forensic experts found traces of chemicals used to make explosives on the suspects. They also found a pile of clothes discarded beside a nearby stream, believed to belong to one of the suspects. Police believe the suspect changed into fresh clothes after carrying out the bomb attack.
COLOMBO (Rooters) - A roadside bomb ripped through a Sri Lankan bus killing 26 people and wounding dozens on Wednesday, officials said, as a six-year ceasefire between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels officially expired.
The Ministry of Defence said a large number of schoolchildren were on the bus at the time of the blast in the central district of Moneragala, around 150 miles east of the capital Colombo. Hospital officials said they were treating seven children for minor injuries while a 14-year-old girl who suffered a head wound was flown to Colombo and was in intensive care. They said no children were killed.
Schools in the surrounding province of Uva were temporarily closed following the attack, which the military blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The attack, in the town of Buttala, was the latest in a series of roadside bomb blasts blamed on the rebels, fighting to create an independent state in the island's north and east. "This is a brazen demonstration to the whole world of (the Tigers') unchanged commitment to terrorism and the absolute rejection of democracy and all norms of civilized behavior, in the pursuit of its unacceptable goal of separation, which threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka," President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a statement.
The Defence Ministry posted photographs of blood-soaked corpses of some victims on its Web site. Local television broadcast footage of the bus, showing bloodstains on the floor and personal belongings strewn inside and out.
Government defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Tiger fighters shot five farmers dead in the area as they fled after the attack.
A second blast targeted an army armored personnel carrier 12 miles south of the first attack, wounding three soldiers, the military said.
Rambukwella said the military's aim was to eliminate shadowy rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran as part of a declared plan to defeat the rebels by the end of the year.
One bus passenger described hearing a firefight after the bus blast. "I was on my way to take my 1-1/2-month-old baby to the doctor. I heard a loud noise and I thought it was a bomb, so I went under the seat of the bus with my baby and we heard firing for about five minutes," 27-year-old housewife T.M Lalani told Reuters from Buttala hospital. "Everybody was screaming and I saw people on the ground in a bloodbath," she added. "My leg got injured from pieces of glass. Luckily my baby has not got any injuries."
The Tigers were not immediately available for comment on the blast, which bore the hallmarks of previous rebel attacks. They routinely deny involvement.
Sri Lanka's bourse fell 2.1 percent on the news to six-month lows, though traders said investors had been expecting violence. "We expect the market to come further down after today's end of the ceasefire agreement as more incidents are expected," said Harsha Fernando, CEO at SC Securities in Colombo.
The government argues the rebels simply used the peace pact to buy time to regroup and rearm and that they were not sincere about talking peace.
Sri Lankas government claimed Tuesday its forces had killed 22 more Tamil Tiger rebels and brushed off international concerns over the islands slide back into all-out war.
Security forces backed by war planes advanced into rebel-held territory on Monday killing at least 22 guerrillas for the loss of two government soldiers, the defence ministry said. The latest claim brings this months rebel toll to 397 dead against 20 government soldiers killed, according to the islands military.
The government abandoned the ceasefire two weeks ago, saying there was no point attempting to negotiate with a terrorist outfit - as the LTTE are also considered by the European Union and the United States. Colombo has also warned international donors not to upset its ambition to defeat the LTTE and kill its leaders before pushing through a political solution to the islands long-running ethnic war.
Warning: During talks with Japanese envoy Yasushi Akashi on Monday, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama warned against any international action that could jeopardise the governments initiatives in the peace process.
The foreign minister argued that any international pressure on the islands government - which is also under fire over its human rights record - would only strengthen LTTE intransigence and trigger increased violence. Japan, the biggest donor to Sri Lanka, has hinted that aid could be withheld if violence keeps escalating in the islands 36-year-old ethnic conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Speaking to reporters after meetings with the islands leaders, Akashi repeated a call for Sri Lanka to hammer out a political solution with the Tigers to avoid violence and greater civilian casualties.
He said the end of the ceasefire may prompt the pursuit of military solution of the conflict - something the government appears committed to already - with dire humanitarian consequences. The envoy, a former UN diplomat and trouble shooter in Cambodia and Kosovo, did however stop short of clearly threatening to cut off aid.
Japans aid programme is based on complex factors like political, economic and humanitarian needs. We will closely monitor the situation here before taking further action, Akashi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sri Lankas government claimed Tuesday its forces had killed 22 more Tamil Tiger rebels and brushed off international concerns over the islands slide back into all-out war.
Because everyone knows it's better to lose a thousand every year for the rest of eternity rather than just kill ten thousand now.
A military prosecutor Tuesday issued arrest warrants against 10 al-Qaeda suspects for allegedly planning to carry out terrorist attacks, illegal weapons possession and using forged identity cards, judicial officials said. All 10 are in custody, the officials said. Military prosecutor Rashid Mizher also issued arrest warrants against 10 other al-Qaeda suspects who are at large, the officials added.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, did not say when the 10 were detained or give their nationalities. Since last year's three month battle between the Lebanese army and Muslim extremists in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared, dozens of al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam suspects have been detained.
In June, Lebanese troops discovered three vehicles rigged with explosives during a raid on a hideout in eastern Lebanon. The two cars and a van were discovered near the town of Bar Elias in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, a day after security forces captured three foreign militants in a nearby area.
Lebanon's official National News Agency said the 10 were among 30 who were charged with joining an armed group with the aim of carrying out terrorist attacks, possessing weapons and explosives, forging identity cards and giving refuge to wanted criminals. The officials said that Mizher will question the 10 as of next week in the presence of their lawyers.
Also Tuesday, Military Prosecutor George Rizk, indicted Lebanese citizen Mahmoud Rafeh and demanded the death sentence for him accusing him of being behind a 2003 explosion in Beirut that killed Hezbollah official Ali Hussein Saleh. Hezbollah blamed Israel for killing Saleh, who died when a bomb tore apart his car.
Rizk demanded the death sentence for Rafeh for "being recruited by a hostile army and ... and giving it information." In 2006, the Lebanese army said it had arrested Rafeh, 60, a retired police officer, on suspicion of killing two Lebanese brothers who were members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. Rafeh "had links to Israeli intelligence," the army said then in a statement. Last week, prosecutor demanded the death sentence for Rafeh in the killing of the two brothers, Nidal and Mahmoud Majzoub.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
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.
Four men have been arrested after Taliban gunmen and a suicide bomber stormed the most luxurious hotel in Afghanistan and killed seven people including three foreigners, officials said Tuesday.
Heavily armed police attacked a home in the capital of Russia's war-scarred Chechnya region early Tuesday, killing four suspected militants including the alleged leader of a rebel group, law enforcement authorities said. 
Hundreds of Islamist militants overran a Pakistani paramilitary fort near the Afghan border Wednesday, sparking fierce fighting that left seven troops and up to 50 rebels dead, the army said. Another 20 troops were missing after insurgents armed with rocket launchers and assault rifles blasted their way into the remote outpost at Sararogha town in the rugged South Waziristan tribal district. 
The army said it repulsed a similar attack by around 300 militants in South Waziristan last week, killing around 50 of them. Seven troops and 23 rebels died in a clash on Monday in the separate tribal area of Mohmand, it added. 
The 
A top "commander" of the Pakistan-based 
The chief, vice chief and finance secretary of the banned 
A 13-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up, killing no one but himself in the process, while security personnel shot and killed one of his colleagues in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday morning. One suicide bomber blew himself up at the Frontier Constabulary (FC)s Khapakh post in Mohmand Agency at 10.30am, said a statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq on Tuesday, the latest in a series of cross border air strikes, Turkeys army said.
Security forces were bracing Tuesday night for a major escalation on the Gaza front out of concern that the deaths of 19 Palestinians, including the son of a top Hamas official, would spur the terror group to fire Kassam rockets into Israel. 
COLOMBO (Rooters) - A roadside bomb ripped through a Sri Lankan bus killing 26 people and wounding dozens on Wednesday, officials said, as a six-year ceasefire between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels officially expired.
Sri Lankas government claimed Tuesday its forces had killed 22 more Tamil Tiger rebels and brushed off international concerns over the islands slide back into all-out war.
