Several rockets fired by militants in Pakistan at villages across the border in eastern Afghanistan killed a child and wounded 13 others on Friday, officials said.
One of a number of rockets apparently targeting a base of US-led troops landed near a house in Asadabad, the capital of eastern Kunar province, killing the child and wounding another five, provincial governor Fazlulah Wahidy said.
Several other rockets hit Asmar district in Asadabad, wounding seven civilians, Wahidy said. "These rockets were fired from across the border. They fire the rockets and then escape," Wahidy told AFP.
Separately, ten rockets landed near the base of Afghan militia forces hired by US-led coalition troops in Khost province, wounding a soldier, provincial spokesman Khaibar Pashtun told AFP. "They fired rockets from within Pakistan," Pashtun said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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KUSHTIA, June 27: Two extremist leaders, including brother of slain Janajuddha kingpin Dada Tapan, were killed in a shootout between their accomplices and RAB at Goneshpur in Khoksha upazila here early Friday, reports UNB.
A real crossfire ...
The deceased were identified as Golam Hossain Alias Akash, 35, brother and close associate of slain Janajuddho chief Dada Tapan and Abdur Rashid alias Tikka, 32, chief of notorious Tikka Bahini.
Chief Tikka of Tikka Bahini? Who thought up these names?
Recently Tikka, who was wanted in various cases including on twelve systems of eight murders, joined Janajuddha after an understanding with party chief Abdur Rashid Malitha alias Dada Tapan.
Who unfortunately isn't around to corroborate the story since ...
RAB sources said police arrested Golam Hossain Alias Akash from a hideout of Dada Tapan at Bhodibari in Sadar uapzila on June 18 after Tapan was killed in a shootout with RAB on the same day.
Tapan gave up Akash who now gives up ...
According to Akash''s statement, ...
'Tapan's got hidden arms in Khoksha! I was at the grassy knoll! I sank the Lusitania! Just put those away!'
... a team of RAB-12 went to Khoksha upazila for recovering hidden arms and ammunition of Dada Tapan and nabbing his associates at about 3.15 am.
And that's why it's a crossfire, the RAB out in style at 3 am to recover hidden arms at the secret lair ...
'As soon as RAB force reached near Goneshpur Eidgah ground the extremists opened fire on them ...
... why, they must have heard the RAB coming, fancy that ...
... forcing the law enforcers to fire back, triggering a gun battle.
The RAB always shoots back, at least once ...
At one stage the extremists fled the scene sensing danger', said a RAB official giving an account of the spot.
As if they were never there ...
At one stage of the gun battle, Akash escaped from RAB custody and joined with the extremists, the source said.
Hopping on tied legs and arms ...
Police rushed to the spot and recovered the bullet-ridden body of Tikka from the scene.
Hey! A two-fer!
One AK-56 SMG, two guns, one .303 LG, one revolver, 14 rounds of bullet were recovered from near the body.
Akash wasn't worth a shutter gun?
Later, the body of Akash was recovered 50 yards away from the scene.
Right where the RAB had left him at the beginning ...
Three RAB members were also injured in the shootout.
A hernia, a splinter and a bruised ego.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
BULLSHIT
They destroyed an unused cooling tower at a supposed reactor facility (After hiding/removing all other useful stuff.
We've known for years that the NORKS have a "Hidden" facility, find it, then watch IT go Kaboom, and I'll believe
Too Cynical? Youbetcha, once bitten twice shy.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/28/2008 13:40 Comments ||
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Pakistani forces bombarded suspected militant hideouts with mortar shells Saturday as the government launched a major offensive against Taliban fighters threatening the main city in the country's volatile northwest, officials said.
The offensive in the Khyber tribal region marked the first major military action Pakistan's newly elected government has taken against the militants operating in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
The government had said it preferred to try to defuse tension with the groups through negotiations, but with threats by Islamic militants to the city of Peshawar growing in recent weeks, the military decided to take action.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2008 12:23 ||
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SRINAGAR: Tens of thousands angry demonstrators filled the streets in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday, burning flags and effigies of Indian leaders on the fifth day of protests against the transfer of land (99 acres) to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, a trust running a popular Hindu shrine.
After all it's the 493,247th holiest place in all Islam ...
Protesters clashed with riot police in several parts of the main city. Police responded with tear gas, said Prabhakar Tripathi, a spokesman for the Central Reserve Police Force.
Three people have died and several others, including at least 22 police officers, have been injured since Monday as police have struggled to control the angry mobs. Protesters accuse the Indian government of planning to build Hindu settlements in Indias only Muslim-majority state to change the demographic balance of the region. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood met with his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi to review the state of a slow-moving peace process launched by the South Asian rivals three years ago.
Hard-line Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani told AFP that It is very, very unfortunate that the Pakistani foreign minister is enjoying Indian hospitality at a time when Kashmiri protesters are being crushed."
It's almost as if you're being played as a pawn ...
State Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad tried to ease the tension by promising on Wednesday that there would be no construction on the transferred land and pledging to meet with local political parties to address the protesters grievances.
Meanwhile, tour operators say the violent clashes between police and protesters have scared away thousands of visitors, hurting the Himalayan regions tourism industry. All this has hurt the economy of Kashmir badly, Inspector General of Police SM Sahai said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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Police raiding a suspected al Qaeda hide-out found a secret prison and the bodies of seven Iraqis bearing gunshot wounds and torture marks, Iraqi police said on Saturday. Police said they believed the six men and one woman, only two of whom have so far been identified, had been kidnapped. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.
Police arrested 11 suspected al Qaeda members in the raid on a house in Benat al-Hassan, on the outskirts of Samarra, early on Saturday, said Captain Muthana Shakir, commander of Iraq's Rapid Intervention Force in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad. They found a room sealed by a door with bars in it, marked 'Sijin' -- Arabic for prison -- and the tortured body of the woman, who had been shot, lay inside. 'We found munitions, weapons, and inside the prison, the woman's body; in another room, the bodies of six men,' Shakir said, adding that all showed signs of torture and bullet wounds. At least they didn't suffer like the American prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Shakir said it was in keeping with the Sunni Arab group's Islamist philosophy to separate women and men. One of the dead men was a lawyer, he added. Isn't that special!
No prisoners were found alive at the house.
There were no clashes during the raid. Police found all suspects sleeping when they stormed the building. That building had to be really ripe.
Al Qaeda's brutal tactics, including kidnappings and the routine torture and killings of hostages, have cost the Islamist group much of its popular support and were instrumental in persuading Sunni Arab tribal leaders to revolt against the militants with U.S. backing last year.
The U.S. military said on Saturday that U.S. and Iraqi forces had killed three militants, including an al Qaeda cell leader, and captured a dozen suspected militants in various operations in northern Iraq, where security forces are cracking down on what they say are the group's last strongholds.
DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iraqi al Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility on Saturday for a suicide attack in Anbar province earlier this week.
The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, started by al Qaeda and fellow Sunni militant groups, said in a statement it was behind Thursday's attack by a bomber wearing an explosive belt that killed more than 25 people and wounded many others.
Iraqi police put the death toll at 20 people and the U.S. military said three U.S. Marines and two interpreters had been killed. The bomber struck a tribal council meeting in the town of Garma, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
"(They) have sided with the Crusaders ... and they violated the honour of Muslims and stole their money in the name of fighting terrorism," the Iraqi group said in a posting on a website that carries messages by militant groups.
Walls meant to keep the peace have created unforeseen problems
Baghdad hasnt been this quiet in years. But the respite from bloodshed comes at a high price.
Up to 20 feet high in some sections.
Rows after rows of barrier walls divide the city into smaller and smaller areas that protect people from bombings, sniper fire and kidnappings. They also lead to gridlock, rising prices for food and homes, and complaints about living in what feels like a prison.
Baghdads walls are everywhere, turning a riverside capital of leafy neighborhoods and palm-lined boulevards where Shiites and Sunnis once mingled into a city of shadows separating the two Muslim sects.
The walls block access to schools, mosques, churches, hotels, homes, markets and even entire neighborhoods almost anything that could be attacked. For many Iraqis, they have become the iconic symbol of the war.
'Maybe one day they will remove it,' said Kareem Mustapha, a 26-year-old Sadr City resident who lives a five-minute walk from a wall built this spring in the large Shiite district. 'I dont know when, but it is not soon.'
Indeed, new walls are still going up, the latest one around the northwestern Shiite neighborhood of Hurriyah, where thousands of Sunnis were slaughtered or expelled in 2006. They could well be around for years to come, reflecting Iraqs fragile peace and enshrining the capitals sectarian divisions.
'The walls have stopped gunmen from coming into the neighborhood,' said Salim Ahmed, a 29-year-old oil refinery worker who lives and works in Dora. 'But we also feel that we are in a prison and isolated from the rest of the city.'
In some areas of Baghdad, the walls delay the movement of food and other essential supplies, raising prices. Where successful in preventing attacks and reducing crime, the walls push up the prices of homes.
The U.S. military defends the walls, crediting them with disrupting the movement and supply routes of the Sunni militants of al-Qaida in Iraq and the Shiite militiamen of the so-called special groups. It also disagrees with the notion that the walls are dividing the city alongside sectarian lines.
Nowadays theres hardly a street in Baghdad without a wall or a cheaper substitute like barbed wire, palm tree trunks, mounds of dirt or piles of rocks. Theyre even used to control pedestrian and vehicular traffic in risky areas.
The U.S. military in April sealed off the southern section of Sadr City to put the American Embassy and Iraqi government offices out of range of rockets and mortars fired by Shiite militiamen. The shelling has since stopped, and quick-thinking entrepreneurs rushed to lay claim to a spot against the wall to sell fruits and vegetables.
Because of the Sadr City wall, Mustaphas journey to work every day now involves a 15-minute walk and two minibus rides a major inconvenience considering Baghdads unforgiving summer heat. 'Its both annoying and useful,' Mustapha said 'It makes us feel like prisoners, but things have calmed since they placed it.'
On June 12, the U.S. military began building the new barrier around Hurriyah, tying into two existing walls to prevent Shiite extremists from coming and going at will and presumably from smuggling in arms. 'Our intent is to create a safer Hurriyah neighborhood, with markets that people will want to use without fear and roads safe for people to travel,' Maj. Frank Garcia, a spokesman for U.S. forces in western Baghdad, said Wednesday.
#3
It's good news. When people complain about daily life that means security has improved substantially.
The walls will come down over the next few years as the Iraqis get a better and better grip on daily security. It won't be news (at least to the MSM) when it happens, but I think it will.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/28/2008 13:49 Comments ||
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#4
Welcome to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. First people care about physical safety, then food and shelter. Then concerns become more and more trivial till they are worried about the right shade of nail polish.
There will be plenty of "buts" to complain about; but if you read between the lines, life is becoming more and more normal.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
06/28/2008 14:33 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq Outraged Iraqi officials demanded an investigation into an early morning U.S. military raid Friday near the birthplace of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, saying the operation violated the terms of the handover of Karbala province to Iraqi security forces.
Karbala Gov. Oqeil al Khazaali said U.S. forces killed an unarmed civilian and arrested at least one person in the raid in the southern town of Janaja. The governor's brother, Hassanein al Khazaali, said late Friday that the Iraqi killed in the operation was a relative of the U.S.-backed prime minister.
The U.S. military command in Baghdad had no comment. Two senior aides to Maliki weren't available for comment; one was still in a meeting with the prime minister after midnight. The governor is said to belong to the prime minister's Dawa Party.
Iraqi officials in Karbala said the operation began at dawn Friday, when U.S. aircraft delivered dozens of American troops to the rural Shiite Muslim town of Janaja, which is populated mostly by members of the Maliki tribe.
Raed Shakir Jowdet, the Iraqi military commander of Karbala operations, said that four Apache helicopters and a jet fighter soared over the area. About 60 U.S. soldiers then stormed the town, "terrifying the families," he said.
Jowdet said that an unarmed civilian named Ali Abdulhussein was killed in his home. He added that the man detained in the operation, Hussein Nima, was visiting the area and didn't reside in Karbala.
"Not one Iraqi soldier took part in the airdrop, and the operation was not coordinated with any Iraqi authority," he said. "We are still looking for an answer as to why this has taken place, and we still have no logical explanation from the American forces."
Khazaali, the U.S.-allied governor, denounced the operation at a news conference, saying the U.S. military hadn't coordinated in advance with Iraqi forces, who assumed control of Karbala security in October 2007. The governor said the raid set "a dangerous precedent" for areas ostensibly under full Iraqi control.
"The airdrop confuses the agreements, and America should answer for this violation," Khazaali said.
Khazaali said the raid was based on false intelligence and that the U.S. military should "submit a report to clarify all the circumstances and to point out the killers and hand over the names of everyone who participated in the military operation in order for them to appear before the Iraqi judicial system."
At the time of the Karbala security handover, a joint statement from U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, praised Iraqi security forces in Karbala for "operating independently."
"Iraqi Security Forces in Karbala have been successfully operating independently, maintaining their own security for the past three months," the October 2007 statement said. "Working with local government officials, they have demonstrated their readiness to assume responsibility for the province. Today this responsibility is theirs."
Also Friday, the U.S. military announced the arrest of a suspect in connection with a suicide attack that killed more than 20 people, including three U.S. Marines and two military interpreters, at a meeting of allied Sunni tribal leaders Thursday in the western Anbar province. The military statement didn't identify the suspect, who was described as belonging to an extremist cell.
In Baghdad, gunmen assassinated Judge Kamil al Shwaili, who presided over the Risafa appeals court, the judiciary announced Friday. Abdulsattar al Bairaqdar, a spokesman for the Iraqi judiciary, said the judge was killed on his way home from work Thursday afternoon. He added that more than 40 Iraqi judges have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
#1
That filthy country doesn't have a democracy. Islamofascist clerics supported the usual Middle East swine for office. Iraq's leaders - outside of Kurdistan - are all members of the Arab genocide pack.
#4
McZoid, that country has a fledgling representative government. At the time Saddam was taken down, over 78% of the country had been born under his rule Until 2003 they had zero experience of any other way of ruling. Compared to him, Maliki's a big improvement. It's not going to be all Jefferson and Founding Fathers immediately over there.
Hell, it wasn't all Jefferson and Founding Fathers over here at first either -- as women and slaves were quite aware. And that's with a governing class that were steeped in English common law and parliamentary traditions.
Still, our historic and so far successful experiment in liberty, dignity and representative government has been worth it. There's a good chance Iraq's will be too if given both the chance and some nudging on major issues.
Which is what Petraeus is doing -- including with this raid.
#5
Obviously it was a hit. The much beloved Phoenix Program in Vietnam served the same function: to located and eradicate traitors with high or protected positions in government.
And it worked very well. When they would identify a traitor, they would kidnap him, use ARVN troops to extract information, then execute him. Then they would take down his whole ring, often in a "night of the long knives" operation.
It was what destroyed the Viet Cong and forced them to conduct the Tet Offensive, which wiped them out.
#10
Khazaali said the raid was based on false intelligence and that the U.S. military should 'submit a report to clarify all the circumstances and to point out the killers and hand over the names of everyone who participated in the military operation in order for them to appear before the Iraqi judicial system.'
Kidding me right? This 'Iraqi Judicial System' is quite the oxymoron don't cha think.
He added that the man detained in the operation, Hussein Nima, was visiting the area and didn't reside in Karbala.
yeah he was only visiting his long lost cousin. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Where have I heard this before.
About 60 U.S. soldiers then stormed the town, "terrifying the families," he said.
this is the mindset that I have a hard time understanding. Our guys terrify them and are referred to as killers, but to the many insurgents that rape and pillage they are looked upon as the good guys? Why don't more Iraqi's see that we are trying to help them. Probably just more uneducated followers to some charasmatic mullah again. (Although, I see this in our own country with Obama) Drives me nuts.
Posted by: Jan ||
06/28/2008 13:48 Comments ||
Top||
#11
I go with lotp on this one. I;ve worked with enough of the right peopel to know that there is a glimmer over there, and that if we can continue to excise the bad, and nurture the good, it will work out for the first time ever in that tribal region.
As to the Iraqis being loud about this: They are "saving face" with the public whinging which they have to do to appear "manly" by standing up to the US - and playing to the US Press about the "justice system". But betcha a good dinner that behind closed doors they will be thanking the US commanders for taking out someone they couldn't politically touch.
#12
It's an 'honor' thing. Part of it is the old "how dare you enter the Sheik's tent without permission" and part of it is underlings trying to curry favor with Maliki. Hence the overheated remarks.
Had this happened anywhere else other than 'Sheik' Maliki's home-town, or if this had happened prior to Maliki ascending to a strong-horse position after Basra, the reaction would have been much less strident.
#13
thanks OS that makes alot of sense. As always Rantburg U helps me to understand.
Posted by: Jan ||
06/28/2008 18:57 Comments ||
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#14
Mixing democracy with arabs is like mixing oil and water. Their koran tells them that sovereignty belongs to their fictitious deity, allah. Secularism is dying in the Middle East. Elections favor Islamofascists. Jews, Kurds, Mandeans, Berbers, Bedouins, Druze, Assyrians are the last national movements there. And they are all both under Islamofascist siege and without effective international support.
Support for sham ME democracies is the equivalent of signing a death warrant against 50,000,000 people who are not Arabs in blood or by conquest.
What if I am right and the secret al-Sistani jihad fatwahs are true? What if an uprising re-starts after a failed SOFA process? What if the majority of Iraqis want US troops out and Iranian Basij elements in? We outlawed Japanese Militarism, German Nazism and Iraq Baathism. Which one inspired the 9-11 atrocities? NONE. It was the same Wahabism and Khomenism that we indulge. Give them a chance? They had a chance and chose to elect a pro-Iranian government, constructed at huge American human and monetary costs.
A member of an extremist cell believed to be behind a suicide attack that killed more than 20 people including three U.S. Marines has been arrested, the U.S. military said Friday. U.S. spokesmen said it was unclear if the suspect, who was not identified, was directly involved in planning the attack that happened Thursday in the town of Karmah in Anbar province about 30 miles west of Baghdad.
A suicide bomber reportedly dressed in a police uniform detonated an explosive belt during a meeting of tribal sheiks opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq. In addition to the Marines, two Iraqi interpreters, the local mayor and several key tribal figures were killed.
The attack occurred two days before U.S. officials planned to formally hand over security responsibility for Anbar to the Iraqis, marking a major milestone in the transformation of a province that had been the most violent in Iraq. U.S. authorities announced Friday they were postponing the handover ceremony because of weather forecasts calling for high winds and sandstorms, which would ground aircraft and make it impossible for dignitaries to attend. Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, spokesman for U.S. forces in Anbar, said the U.S. had been planning to delay the ceremony based on weather forecasts before Thursday's attack.
Anbar, which extends from the western outskirts of Baghdad to the borders of Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, will be the 10th of Iraq's 18 provinces to return to Iraqi security control. The other nine provinces are dominated by Shiites or Kurds. Although Anbar is far quieter than in previous years, the Karmah attack shows that extremists, including al-Qaida in Iraq, remain a threat, albeit at a diminished level.
Also Friday, Iraq's Higher Judicial Council announced that a senior judge was assassinated by drive-by shooters while traveling in eastern Baghdad. Judge Kamil al-Showaili was driving home Thursday when the attack occurred, the council said. He was the head of one of Baghdad's two appeals courts.
To the south, Iraqi security forces said they arrested two municipal officials in Maysan province for allegedly "violating the law." Iraqi forces have launched a crackdown in the province and its capital city of Amarah to rid the area of Shiite militias. Followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr claim the operation is aimed at weakening their movement before provincial elections expected this fall.
In Baghdad, Iraqi authorities also announced they have restored the bust of Abu Jaafar Al-Mansour, the 8th-century founder of city. Saddam Hussein had often compared himself to al-Mansour. A blast damaged the monument in Baghdad's Mansour district in October 2005, a day before Saddam went on trial for killing Shiite Muslims in Dujail a charge for which he was later hanged. Many Sunnis believed Shiite extremists were responsible for damaging the monument.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I keep saying this but ... please ... hang him. In public. Make sure the rope is short.
Posted by: Bill ||
06/28/2008 12:14 Comments ||
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One civilian was killed in a US raid in Iraq's holy city of Karbala and an Iraqi judge was killed in western Baghdad on Friday, while security handover of Anbar province was postponed due to expected bad weather conditions.
One civilian was killed and four were arrested Friday during a US raid targeting Karbala, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The holy city's governor, Oqeil al-Khazaali said that the detainees were not outlaws nor did they belong to any armed group. He said that the operation took place in Ganaga district, which is the birthplace of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. 'We denounce the operation and demand an explanation from US forces, as security forces in Karbala did not know about it,' al- Khazaali said. The US army did not comment on the raid.
Earlier on Friday, the director of al-Sadr's office in Karbala said that police forces arrested between 30-40 Sadrists after the Friday prayers.
Also in the south, Iraqi army forces seized a number of weapons and stores of ammunition north of the southern city of Basra, the official spokesman for the US forces in Basra said. He told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency that the weapons were confiscated in al-Karama region, north of Basra.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
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.
KUSHTIA, June 27: Two extremist leaders, including brother of slain Janajuddha kingpin Dada Tapan, were killed in a shootout between their accomplices and RAB at Goneshpur in Khoksha upazila here early Friday, reports UNB.
SRINAGAR: Tens of thousands angry demonstrators filled the streets in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday, burning flags and effigies of Indian leaders on the fifth day of protests against the transfer of land (99 acres) to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, a trust running a popular Hindu shrine.
Police raiding a suspected al Qaeda hide-out found a secret prison and the bodies of seven Iraqis bearing gunshot wounds and torture marks, Iraqi police said on Saturday. Police said they believed the six men and one woman, only two of whom have so far been identified, had been kidnapped. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military.
DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iraqi al Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility on Saturday for a suicide attack in Anbar province earlier this week.
Walls meant to keep the peace have created unforeseen problems 
BAGHDAD, Iraq Outraged Iraqi officials demanded an investigation into an early morning U.S. military raid Friday near the birthplace of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, saying the operation violated the terms of the handover of Karbala province to Iraqi security forces. 
