[Quqnoos] A NATO military helicopter crashed Tuesday in Maidan Wardak province, a local official said The crash happened as two helicopters were landing at a Turkish-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Maidan Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman for the provincial governor. He said one of the helicopters, which both belonged to NATO member Turkey, crashed into a hillside near the PRT while the other landed safely.
"The helicopter crashed in the Women's Garden in Wardak city and at this stage we know nothing about any possible casualties," he said. NATO had no immediate comment over the cause of the crash.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under:
[Maghrebia] Algerian soldiers and gendarmes in El-Bayadh dismantled a major arms trafficking network operating between Morocco and Algeria, Liberte quoted sources as saying on Tuesday (March 23rd). Information provided by a recently-arrested contraband trafficker led authorities to a home in the Tlemcen town of Sidi El-Djilali, where they reportedly uncovered at least 14,000 rounds of 16mm rifle ammunition in the trunk of the resident's Mercedes. The Spanish-made cartridges were reportedly trafficked to Algeria from Morocco.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
Holy Caliber Batman... 16 mm rifle ammo! That's one heck of a rifle.
#2
Sixteen millimeters is about 5/8 inch - larger than .50 caliber (about .63). I don't know any weapon beyond a machine gun or sniper rifle that uses a cartridge that large.
I'd also suspect the shocks on that vehicle are totally shot! That's over a ton of ammo.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/24/2010 14:11 Comments ||
Top||
SAUDI Arabia claims it has broken up three cells of Al-Qaeda militants that were planning attacks in the kingdom, including on its oil installations.
One cell consisted of 101 people, and two smaller cells were made up of six men each.
The large cell comprised 47 Saudis and 51 Yemenis, as well as a Somali, a Bangladeshi and a Eritrean, said a statement read out on state television yesterday.
The two smaller groups were made up of 11 Saudis and a Yemeni.
Arms, ammunition, computers, pre-paid telephone cards and unspecified documents were all seized in the operation.
Saudi officials have broken up several plots to launch attacks inside the kingdom in the past year, rounding up numerous suspected militants and seizing weapons caches and bomb-making equipment, all linked to Al-Qaeda.
In August, a Saudi militant from the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, pretending to surrender to the authorities, sneaked a bomb into the palace of Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in an attempt to kill the top security official.
The bomb, believed to have been hidden in the militant's underpants, exploded very close to the prince, but killed only the bomber himself. The prince suffered minor injuries only.
Your cleverness astounds and amazes, young Mr. JUSTICE. Truly, I am speechles. That someone of your heritage and pole-like family tree -- not even braided, mind you -- could string an entire four-word sentence together and have it not quite make sense to the reader is quite, quite beyond expectation. And using a polysyllabic verb, too!
Posted by: trailing wife on the other computer ||
03/24/2010 15:29 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Give our Saudi troll credit where due. After all, it was typing with one hand.
Posted by: ed ||
03/24/2010 17:40 Comments ||
Top||
#6
a polysyllabic
Oh dear, tw - now the wiper-of-camel-bottoms will have to find a dictionary.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A Bahraini state minister said late Monday he had been dismissed, following accusations of money laundering which he denied.
The Gulf Arab state's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa issued a decree dismissing the minister, Mansour bin Rajab, without giving a reason, the Bahraini daily al-Wasat said on its website.
Bin Rajab, a minister of state without portfolio, confirmed his dismissal but denied the accusations.
"My dismissal is perhaps aimed at facilitating the ongoing investigation," bin Rajab told Al Arabiya.
"I have the right to defend myself ... and the accusations are completely untrue," he said.
Police earlier said an official had been detained for questioning, without naming him. Local media identified the official as bin Rajab and said he had been released for health reasons after questioning.
"An official has been detained on charges of committing money laundering transactions domestically and abroad," a police statement said.
"The ministry (of interior) noticed the events in early 2009, and therefore monitored the official's activities, meetings and communications closely and secretly," it added, without saying how much money was involved.
Bin Rajab was earlier quoted by Gulf Daily News as saying that prosecutors "merely asked about issues relating to (his) ministry and employees".
Bahrain, which hosts the regional headquarters of anti-money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force, issued an anti-money laundering law in 2001 but until now there had been no such high-profile investigations or arrests among senior officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
"I have the right to defend myself ... and the accusations are completely untrue," he said.
Clearly the former minister mistakes American rights for universal ones. There's that American cultural imperialism again.
Posted by: trailing wife on the other computer ||
03/24/2010 12:29 Comments ||
Top||
#4
"without saying how much money was involved..."
The Associated Press is reporting that bin Rajab had taken $30 million.
Posted by: American Delight ||
03/24/2010 13:24 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Hey Justice, you sound like a conceited girl- And probably uglier than an UGG boot that just stepped in sh@t- both inside and out. Go get Phucked by your herpes laden spooge guzling B.F.
#7
Oh my, is it Friday afternoon in Mr. JUSTICE's universe already?
Poor, poor JUSTICE. Not only must he SHOUT his name to remind himself of his secret identity, but some years ago he conceived a fetish for what he fondly imagines must be my long and smelly armpit hair; hopefully one day his father will decide to marry him off, allowing him to substitute reality for his unhealthy little fantasies.
What a sad little man! Can you imagine, he actually thinks he's clever when he calls me "railing wife".
Posted by: trailing wife on the other computer ||
03/24/2010 15:14 Comments ||
Top||
[Dawn] A Greek anarchist group has claimed responsibility for three bomb attacks in Athens last week that caused no injury and minor damage, reports AP.
In an online posting Monday, the Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire group said it targeted the offices of an ultra-right party and a police immigration center to highlight the issue of racism in Greece.
The group also said it bombed a Pakistani immigrant leader's home because he once sided with authorities to deny claims that foreign agents abducted Pakistanis in Greece for questioning on terrorism.
The anarchists have claimed a series of bombings on politicians, which caused no injury, as well as a Jan. 9 blast outside Greece's parliament building.
Police have arrested seven alleged group members.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under:
Pakistan-based terror groups, including the Lashker-e-Toiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, have vowed to step up their 'jihad' to liberate Kashmir from India and asked Islamabad to adopt a concrete strategy for this purpose. The militant leaders pledged to strengthen their armed struggle and wage a jihad to "free" Jammu and Kashmir during a rally held on Tuesday in Kotli, a town in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Among the dozen speakers who addressed the gathering were top LeT commander Abdul Wahid Kashmiri and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, who also heads the United Jihad Council, an umbrella organisation of all the militant groups active in Kashmir. Leaders of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, declared a front for the LeT by the UN Security Council, also attended the rally.
Kashmiri said the LeT will continue supporting the Kashmiri people "until they achieve freedom from India". In his address, Salahuddin said jihad is the "only way" to liberate Kashmir as "diplomacy, talks and negotiations" over the past few decades "have not worked".
"We reject talks between India and Pakistan as a hoax because dialogue can never lead to the freedom of Kashmir," said Salahuddin. "Therefore, we strongly believe that the Kashmir dispute can be settled only through jihad," he said.
A resolution adopted at the rally said: "Jihad will continue until India ends its occupation of Kashmir."
Salahuddin also accused Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf of having stabbed the Kashmiris in the back when they were "nearing their freedom".
About 5,000 people attended the rally in Kotli, located about 80 km from Islamabad. Militant groups based in PoK had maintained a low profile over the past few years. However, there has been a marked spurt in their activities in recent months.
Don't they know this will only make the terrorists mad at us?
The US launched yet another airstrike in Pakistan's Taliban controlled-tribal agency of North Waziristan, the fifth in the region in eight days.
The deadly unmanned Predators and Reapers strike aircraft targeted a vehicle inside a compound run by the Haqqani Network in Machis, just outside the main town of Miramshah. Six terrorists have been reported killed in the strike.
Posted by: Glenmore ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
[Dawn] Police said Monday they had arrested two men who were masterminds behind a bomb attack on a UN office that killed five people in the capital Islamabad in October.
Acting police chief of Islamabad Bani Amin Khan said both men belonged to the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) and were planning more attacks, including strikes on a western club in Islamabad and a hotel used by foreignersm, reports AFP.
"We have arrested two master trainers from a hotel in Islamabad. They are the masterminds. They trained suicide bombers to carry out attacks in Islamabad," Khan told AFP.
"They sent two suicide bombers who hit their targets, the United Nations World Food Programme and naval headquarters," he added.
"They were behind the UN office suicide attack," a security official confirmed to AFP, on condition of anonymity. He said the arrests were made a few days ago.
In the attack on October 5, a suicide bomber dressed in military uniform struck inside the heavily fortified UN office in Islamabad, killing four Pakistanis and an Iraqi working for the food agency.
On December 2 a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a naval complex in the capital. A naval policeman was killed on the spot and a security official who was injured died the following day.
The police chief did not elaborate on the details of the arrests.
"They confessed that they were trying to target a western club, Serena hotel, Rescue 15 (a rescue service), a girls college in Islamabad and telephone headquarters," Khan said.
Earlier, police presented one of masterminds, who was masked, at a press conference.
"They are deserters from a paramilitary force. We have also made several more arrests," Khan said.
The police chief said both men were from Orakzai tribal district along the Afghan border.
Tehreek-e-Taliban, to which both men belonged, is the Pakistani Taliban's main umbrella faction.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks across the nation since July 2007 blamed on militants opposed to the government's alliance with the United States.
The first two months of this year saw a decline in violence by militants in Pakistan after a significant increase in bloodshed in late 2009.
Officials linked the reduction to the suspected death -- still not confirmed -- of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and military offensives that have disrupted militant networks.
But attacks this month included twin strikes killing 57 people in the city of Lahore.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is on the frontline of the US war on Al-Qaeda, under pressure to act against militants in the border area with Afghanistan -- which Washington calls the most dangerous place on Earth.
The military claims to have made big gains against Taliban and Al-Qaeda strongholds over the past year, following major offensives in the northwestern district of Swat and the tribal region of South Waziristan.
Washington says militants use Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt to plot and stage attacks in Afghanistan, where more than 120,000 Natoand US troops are helping Afghan forces battle the Taliban militia.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Earlier, police presented one of masterminds, who was masked, at a press conference.
Why give him the courtesy of anonymity?
Posted by: trailing wife on the other computer ||
03/24/2010 12:31 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Poor, poor JUSTICE -- normal men fantasize about beautiful women, you know.
Posted by: trailing wife on the other computer ||
03/24/2010 15:38 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Two people were killed in an incident of target killing in Panjgoor town of Balochistan on Tuesday.
Police said that the assailants on motorcycles opened fire on the two persons near Grid Station area of Panjgoor. One person was killed on the spot while the other succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.
Both the victims were identified as labourers. Police officials have started investigation into the incident.
Incidents of target killings in the province have increased in the past few weeks. A renowned educationist Professor Fazal Bari was gunned down in Quetta on Monday, while several others have also been killed in fatal attacks recently.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
What motive? Who targets ordinary laborers? 'Wrong' sect? Family feud? 'Wrong' project?
Security forces killed three Taliban, including a key Taliban commander, in a clash with the Taliban, while arresting more than 500 suspected terrorists in a search operation in the Swat district on Monday, official sources said. Official sources told Daily Times that three Taliban including a key Taliban commander Bakht Marin were killed in a clash between Taliban and security forces at Khawazakhela tehsil in Swat. Separately, security forces arrested around 500 suspected terrorists at Nave Kelai, a suburb village area of Mingora city during a search operation and shifted them to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Also, the body of Naik Mohammad was recovered from an empty godown, situated near the Mingora police station.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Naik Mohammad
A different one than rhw AQ guy who was killed 6 years ago? Or are they collecting mummies?
#2
The Taliban hierarchy chart must look kinda special. I'm reminded of the classical description of an "Irish king", as "a man with a sword, and two followers."
[Dawn] Missiles fired from US drones Tuesday killed at least six militants in a restive Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said. "US drones fired two missiles on a militant vehicle parked outside a compound. At least six militants were killed and three others were wounded," a senior security official told AFP. "The compound, being frequented by militants recently, was also destroyed in the attack," he added.
Another security official and two intelligence officials confirmed the missile strike and death toll. The official said it was not immediately clear whether any "high value target" was present at the time of the attack, which took place in the suburbs of Miramshah, the main town in the lawless tribal district of North Waziristan.
Residents said that militants had started sifting through the debris and removing the bodies. Militants immediately cordoned off the area around the destroyed vehicle and the compound, a local tribesman told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Residents said that militants had started sifting through the debris and removing the bodies.
Next time, save a few missiles for the post-event swarm.
The self-described leader of an al-Qaida front group has called for continued jihad against Iraq's American "occupiers" in the wake of the March 7 election that he claimed was boycotted by most Sunni Arabs, according to an audio tape posted Tuesday on militant Web sites.
In the 24-minute tape, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi said the parliamentary election and its results meant nothing for the mujahideen, or holy fighters, and that the next government would be no different from the previous one. "We announce that the elections outcome means nothing to us ... we will continue chasing the (American) occupier and his agents until we purify the land from their filth," he said in the tape.
Aswat al-Iraq: One Iraqi serviceman was killed and seven others were injured in an explosive charge blast in Jalawlaa, a local police source said on Tuesday.
"On Tuesday, a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) hit an Iraqi army patrol vehicle in an area between Tabaj and Jalawlaa (30 km southwest of Khanaqin), killing one soldier and wounding seven others," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The wounded have been taken to the hospital for treatment, the source noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Aswat al-Iraq: Police forces on Tuesday found a heavy weapon and ammunitions in southwest of Kirkuk, according to a senior police officer.
"Acting on a tip-off, the forces rushed to the al-Hawaej village in al-Huwaiyja district, southwest of Kirkuk," Brig. Sarhad Qader, the director of the Kirkuk Districts' Police Department (KDPD), told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The forces found a Dushka machine gun with 12 boxes of its bullets in a depot in the village," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
"I wuz keepin' it for a Lawn Ornament, I wuz"
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/24/2010 8:10 Comments ||
Top||
[Dawn] An Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip overnight injured four people, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said Tuesday. The Israeli army confirmed the air raid and said it hit a weapons storage facility.
The four casualties, including a woman, were slightly hurt by shell fragments when an Israeli aircraft fired a missile on a building in the east part of Gaza City, the security officials said. "Aaiiieeee! My feet!!"
The building, which was empty at the time, was destroyed and three neighbouring houses were damaged.
"The attack is in response to the recent firing of rockets at Israel's southern communities over the past few days," the military said.
Approximately 35 rockets have been fired at Israel since the beginning of the year, and over 330 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel since the end of Israel's 22-day offensive in January 2009. A Thai labourer was killed in one of the rocket strikes earlier this month.
Late Monday, Israeli troops and Palestinian militants exchanged gunfire near the Kissufim crossing point into the Gaza Strip, Israel's Channel 10 television reported.
And in a separate incident an Israeli soldier was killed in a "friendly fire" incident near the border with Gaza as the military was tracking Palestinian suspects late on Monday, an army spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11123 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
The US court hearing into terror suspect David Headley has revealed further details of a plot to kill journalists at the Jyllands-Posten newspaper for their role in the 2005 Mohammed cartoon affair. Headley last week pleaded guilty to charges as a condition of his plea bargain agreement.
It had already been established that a terror plot involving a truck bomb at the newspaper offices was part of a wider plan to hunt down cartoonists and the newspaper's cultural editor. The new information, released publicly last week, shows that Headley's Pakistani contact allegedly ordered him to behead hostages from the newspaper staff and throw the heads from office windows to provoke the largest possible response from authorities.
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.
[Dawn] A Greek anarchist group has claimed responsibility for three bomb attacks in Athens last week that caused no injury and minor damage, reports AP.
Pakistan-based terror groups, including the Lashker-e-Toiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, have vowed to step up their 'jihad' to liberate Kashmir from India and asked Islamabad to adopt a concrete strategy for this purpose. The militant leaders pledged to strengthen their armed struggle and wage a jihad to "free" Jammu and Kashmir during a rally held on Tuesday in Kotli, a town in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Security forces killed three Taliban, including a key Taliban commander, in a clash with the Taliban, while arresting more than 500 suspected terrorists in a search operation in the Swat district on Monday, official sources said. Official sources told Daily Times that three Taliban including a key Taliban commander Bakht Marin were killed in a clash between Taliban and security forces at Khawazakhela tehsil in Swat. Separately, security forces arrested around 500 suspected terrorists at Nave Kelai, a suburb village area of Mingora city during a search operation and shifted them to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Also, the body of Naik Mohammad was recovered from an empty godown, situated near the Mingora police station. 
[Dawn] Missiles fired from US drones Tuesday killed at least six militants in a restive Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, security officials said. "US drones fired two missiles on a militant vehicle parked outside a compound. At least six militants were killed and three others were wounded," a senior security official told AFP. "The compound, being frequented by militants recently, was also destroyed in the attack," he added.
The self-described leader of an al-Qaida front group has called for continued jihad against Iraq's American "occupiers" in the wake of the March 7 election that he claimed was boycotted by most Sunni Arabs, according to an audio tape posted Tuesday on militant Web sites.
