There are signs that insurgents in Afghanistan are planning to attack Kandahar city, an indication the Taliban still threaten the provincial capital after weeks of fighting nearby.
Fighters are making preparations for an assault inside the city limits in the next three to four months, according to two sources with connections to the Taliban. By one account, fighters are stockpiling guns and hiding out in Loy Wiyala, a vast slum in the city's north end.
In an audio recording of a telephone conversation obtained by The Globe and Mail, a Taliban commander warns a friend who was thinking about moving his family to a house in Kandahar that the insurgents are lurking near the city's outskirts.
Continued on Page 49
#3
This sounds like journalist scuttlebutt to me. Wishfull thinking and a need for news that can be reported from the relative comfort of the city limits instead of having to put on a set of body armor and mount up with the coalition forces. The Taliwhackers have been taking such wicked beatings all across the tribal regions that they need to draw them away with crap like this.
#4
Oh, please mass your forces away from your safe havens across the border.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/19/2006 16:33 Comments ||
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#5
Tactically, it makes better sense than to stay out in the country, where they are dying like flies.
If the can count on support in a large slum area, where they can blend in, then concentrate at a given time to attack limited targets, they have a much better chance of success. Between times they threaten, harass and sponge off the locals, doing typical petty criminal stuff.
#9
HEY! Watch it, Besoeker, I resemble that remark (about the ATL). Actually, you're right until the last few years. Now there are so many diverse cultures in the suburbs (including a LOT of Mexican gang activity), that people are moving back into town. Unfortunately, a lot of them are of the PRIDE month persuasion, if you know what I mean. Of course, there are still very rough parts of ATL (and, almost ALL of N.O.), where I wouldn't show my face after sundown.
Posted by: BA ||
06/19/2006 21:17 Comments ||
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U.S. soldiers descended on a mountain ridge Sunday, quickly setting up fortified posts and mortar positions overlooking a key Taliban transport route as the coalition pressed a major offensive that has killed dozens of suspected militants.
It was the first time in several years that soldiers from the U.S.-led military force have ventured into Baghran Valley in the northern part of Helmand province.
Troops from the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division poured out of CH-47 Chinook helicopters in the early morning and scouted the mountain for militants.
The position will allow U.S. forces to block the movement of Taliban fighters and supplies, said one of the officers, Lt. Col. Chris Toner.
More than 10,000 coalition soldiers are spread out over four southern provinces Helmand, Uruzgan, Kandahar and Zabul in Operation Mountain Thrust, a blitz aimed at quelling a surge of Taliban attacks. It is the largest offensive since the 2001 ouster of the Taliban regime.
"We are the focus of Mountain Thrust right now," said Capt. Jared Wilson. "This is the decisive part of the operation because if we do not get on the mountain, we will not be able to accomplish this mission."
Before boarding the helicopters, Wilson warned his troops about the dangers of the operation.
"I want you to understand the seriousness of what you are about to do. We are landing fully loaded CH-47s on the top of a mountain. This is a highly dangerous mission. On the top of those dangers, we're going to an area where no one has been for years," he said.
Their new encampment is remote more than 60 miles from the nearest ground forces but Wilson said that serves as an advantage.
"The enemy did not suspect we would come up here. They believe they have a safe haven area up here because it has been untouched by coalition troops for years," he said.
Once down on the mountain ridge, soldiers went to work setting up defense positions and firing mortar rounds into the valleys to test their equipment and check ranges.
Standing guard with an M-16 rifle on a ridge line, Spc. Daniel Borisow, 23, from Akron, N.Y., looked down into the valley at a smattering of mud huts. He said he was ready to fight.
"For once we are in the position where we're going to take the fight to the enemy instead of us rolling through (in Humvees) and them attacking us," he said.
British forces have scored dramatic successes against the Taliban during a lightning push deep into the lawless regions of southern Afghanistan, senior commanders revealed yesterday. The scale and effect of the operation had not previously emerged but the British force in southern Afghanistan has advanced 75 miles into the insurgents' stronghold leaving dozens of Taliban dead. Despite suffering one dead and two seriously wounded last week, Operation Mountain Thrust has forced the insurgents out of villages and recovered areas not held by security forces for 30 years. The full range of military hardware has been used against the Islamist guerrillas, including artillery from 7 Parachute Regiment and the Royal Horse Artillery and four attacks mounted by Apache helicopters using machineguns, missiles and rockets.
In one engagement troops pinned down by heavy gunfire called in artillery for the first time since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The extent of the battle was illustrated yesterday when the military reported killing six Taliban fighters who had been firing mortars at a police station from the Kajaki dam in northern Helmand. After observing the gun crew for several days, the Paras obliterated their position in a matter of seconds with their own mortars late on Saturday night.
Led by troops from 3 Bn the Parachute Regiment, the operation has pushed into villages up to 75 miles north of the British base at Camp Bastion and has killed up to 40 Taliban fighters. Platoon houses, containing about 30 Paras, have been set up in at least five villages with troops driving out the Taliban and preventing them from returning.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Nothin like some serious asskickin to rally the home front. Tally ho and talibanny good bye
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/19/2006 0:33 Comments ||
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#2
The key thing to me is that as long as we have the popular support back home for this operation we can do it. If we lose the support back home and it becomes another Iraq then that will make our job as soldiers that much harder."
I think shooting a few Beeb journalists would help this enormously.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/19/2006 4:54 Comments ||
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#3
An important part of the coming victory is ensuring that is receives sufficient publicity back home. Afghanistan badly needs a Michael Yon.
#8
After observing the gun crew for several days, the Paras obliterated their position in a matter of seconds with their own mortars late on Saturday night.
Remember "The Gong Show" from the '70's?
Posted by: grb ||
06/19/2006 12:16 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- At least 12 Taliban are said to have been killed in two separate attacks by foreign and Afghan forces in Afghanistan's most volatile province of Helmand on Sunday.
In the first incident, the Afghan police and Taliban clashed in the Kajaki area of Helmand province, said police chief of the province Nabi Mulakhel. He said the firefight erupted in the morning which ended at the elimination of six insurgents. The police chief said the Taliban tried to storm a police post but their attack was repulsed and six of the assailants were gunned down.
Separately, the British forces in the same province said they had killed six militants who were firing rockets at the Kajaki hydroelectric dam for the past two days. The British forces retaliated and there were six confirmed casualties among the insurgents, said a military spokesman. Taliban did not issue any comment.
The foreign forces are presently carrying out a massive operation in the southern region. About 100 Taliban have been killed since the start of the "Operation Mountain Thrust" on June 15. Four provinces including Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul are the target while around 11,000 troops with strong air support, are taking part in the swoop on, which is the biggest since the overthrow of Taliban in 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Is it just me or is that a particularly unfortunate name for an op? Just exactly are we doing to the Talibs (snicker)...
#1
...gunmen allied with the Islamic courts burst into a tiny theater in the Hiliwaa neighborhood of north Mogadishu, condemned the place as ungodly and angrily switched off the television set.
Damn. I hope my wife never converts.
On second thought, maybe she has...
#2
They are not 'fighting' a culture war. They are 'declaring' a culture war. Somalia had a perfectly fine (if incredibly dysfunctional)culture prior to the arrival of Mo's Headsmen of the Apocalypse...
The Union of Islamic Courts that have taken control of Mogadishu and parts of southern Somalia in recent weeks have declared "jihad" on Ethiopian troops who have allegedly crossed into Somalia. The Chairman of the Courts, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, said that Ethiopia should not allow its troops to enter Somalia and added that heavily armed militias loyal to the Courts will take military action against the invasion of Ethiopian troops.
Decisions, decisions. What's the over/under and should I take the points?
Chairman Sheik Sharif called on the people of Somalia to prepare themselves for the defense of the Motherland from Ethiopian military aggression. He refered to the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia as "direct aggression."
The Islamic Courts chief also spoke about interim Somali president Abdullahi Yusuf's comments during an interview with the BBC Somali Section yesterday. Chairman Sheik Sharif said that President Abdullahi should not use terminology that could risk the chance of peaceful dialogue between the interim federal government based in Baidoa and the Islamic Courts who command vast territory in Somalia, including the capital city at Mogadishu. Chairman Sheik Sharif welcomed peace talks with the Somali federal government but warned against the interference of foreign forces intent on invading Somalia.
The leader of the Islamic Courts' comments come a day after the Ethiopian foreign ministry denied that Ethiopian military forces have crossed into Somalia to back the Baidoa-based interim government.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/19/2006 11:19 ||
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#2
I would have no qualms about running an ARCLIGHT strike through the heart of Mogadishu. There would be no islamic court, al-qaida, or any other type of terrorist to raise an objection afterwards. Make it a 9-ship cell, the outer ships overlapping. We can always rebuild afterwards. There will be lots of rubble to use for fill.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/19/2006 13:18 Comments ||
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#3
We don't do ARCLIGHTs anymore. Unnecessary.
A Buff with a full load-out of JDAMs making a run, however, sounds like a fine idea. Have we got good GPS coords for these guys?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/19/2006 14:06 Comments ||
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#6
Chewing khat makes you dribble green goo down your front, and gaze vancantly into the distance. But I s'pose in some circles that does feel like invincibility.
#7
Of course, the fact that for about a half-mile outside the strike box there are fatal concussive injuries just adds to the beauty of an ARCLIGHT. Besides, the level of pre-existing damage to Mogadishu from the decade and a half of looting, and clan fighting, would make any urban renewal a snap : build ANYTHING and you have made a major improvement.
#8
Too bad all the B-52Ds are gone. The "Big Belly" mod let them use the entire width of the bomb bay for weapons, 84 500 pounders in the belly and 24 more on the wings. Three cells of D's could really make the ground shake.
#9
Ethiopians have a pretty good reputation as hard-corps individual fighters. They share the same strengths of mountain people as do the Scots' Highlanders.
Remember that they defeated the Italians in 1896 in the First ItaloAbyssinian War, and almost beat them a second time in WWII, until the Italians used copious amounts of mustard agent.
N.B.: The League of Nations was proven to be useless by this war, acting just the same way that the UN acts today.
#10
1. Individual fighters versus fighters even basically trained in coordinated operations is not in the former's favour. The ICU appears to have former expatriates with military training, non-expatriates trained by friendly governments, and perhaps not a few advisors.
2. The Ethiopians fought the Italians on the former's land. The situation is reversed.
Egyptian police have arrested 31 members of the banned opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, in the Mediterranean city of Marsa Matruh. Police said the men were distributing leaflets and books for the group.
But a Brotherhood spokesman said those detained were holidaymakers from Alexandria and were not recruiting.
Hundreds of the group's members have been detained in recent weeks after demonstrations in support of reformist judges demanding judicial independence.
2 die in Rab 'crossfire'
Two criminals were killed in incidents of 'crossfire' between Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and the gangs accomplices in separate incidents in Alamdanga upazila in Chuadanga yesterday. The dead were identified as Jamal Uddin, 37, of Srirampur and Asadul Haq Rana, 30, of Garchapra of Alamdanga upazila in Chuadanga. According to Rab a statement, a team of Rab-6 arrested Rana at a house in Port Colony area in Chittagong on Friday while another Rab team arrested Jamal at his home in Srirampur on Saturday.
Rana may have 'implicated' Jamal. Between screams.
Both were brought to Chuadanga Rab office for interrogation.
"And now, your highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden rebel base..."
"Sergeant, quit fooling around and hand me the pliers"
"Yes sir, sorry sir, won't happen again"
Rab sources said both of them made confessional statements about their involvement in Banglar Communist Party (BCP) and informed about their hidden arms caches.
"...Dantooine. They're on Dantoo......Ouch! Ok, ok, they're in Srirampur!"
Two Rab teams took Jamal to Srirampur and Rana to Garchapra in Alamdanga to recover arms from their hideouts.
Say "goodbye", guys
Rab sources said the accomplices of Jamal ambushed them around 4:00am yesterday when the Rab team reached Asannagar.
"Yar! We're the Dread Accomplices Of Jamal!"
A gunfight ensued and Jamal while trying to escape Rab custody during the shootout was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot, Rab claimed.
And who are we to question their claim?
Rab recovered a pistol and four bullets from the spot. Jamal's accomplices however managed to flee.
Like it never even happened
According to Chuadanga police, Jamal was accused in eight murder cases filed with Alamdanga, Jibannagar and Chuadanga police stations. Chuadanga police had Tk 1 lakh bounty on him.
The Rab team with Rana was attacked by Rana's accomplices as the team reached Munshiganj Railway Station area in Alamdanga upazila around 4:30am resulting in an hour-long gunfight.
with breaks for tea and cakes
Rab claimed Rana was trying to escape from the Rab van and was caught in crossfire.
"Bound feet, don't fail me ....KAPOW! ...now"
He died on the spot.
"...rosebud..."
Chuadanga police said Rana was accused in four murder cases.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/19/2006 09:33 ||
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#1
A pistol and four rounds of bullet is an arms cache? Pretty slim pickens in the BCP....
#2
According to Chuadanga police, Jamal was accused in eight murder cases filed with Alamdanga, Jibannagar and Chuadanga police stations. Chuadanga police had Tk 1 lakh bounty on him.
Somthings missing here, it was like a step was left out. That invalidates the entire post.
What's missing, 6, is the police doing anything. You have wanted crooks, with multiple charges against them just going about their daily business of robbing and killing people.
That's why "crossfires" and "encounters" are in quote marks in the Bangladesh papers. Everyone knows the RAB is catching these guys, taking them to a dark alley, and putting a bullet in their heads. But, because the cops are on the take and not doing anything about the problem, they wink and turn a blind eye.
I'll be blunt about it. The Rapid Action Battalion is running death squads. Is it right? No, but it's the only law they've got.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/19/2006 12:58 Comments ||
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#5
And from what I hear, the Bangladeshis are thrilled that the RAB is on the case. Unfortunately, that's as close to justice as they get in that part of the world.
#6
I imagine there were similar feelings in the early days of the American West when the Texas Rangers showed up and asked questions later.
It takes time and commitment to establish the rule of law. We have gotten used to having it around. Not everyone is so fortunate. A Jamaican guy I know got stopped driving late at night in northern Michigan and was quite surprised the cop did not ask for money.
#8
Oh GREAT Steve! Thanks for bursting MY bubble. I guess now there's no Santa Claus and the Donks DON'T really support the troops...jeesh. I feel so stupid
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/19/2006 21:01 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- A former "Belmarsh detainee" (a prison in south London) described as a senior member of a terrorist group linked with Osama Bin Laden has been deported from Britain, the British Home Office has confirmed. The man, who can only be identified by the initial "I", was returned to Algeria yesterday after voluntarily dropping his appeal against deportation moves by the Government. He was the second Algerian terror suspect to be removed from the UK on national security grounds, following last Friday's departure of another Algerian known as "V".
Background information about Mr "I", including the alleged links with Abu Doha and other allegations levelled against him by the Government, are included in a Siac open judgment from 2004. The Home Office did not name Mr "I" in its statement late last night. But sources close to the Algerian disclosed to the British media that Mr "I" was the man deported. Mr "I" was imprisoned without charge or trial for three years under the Government's controversial Internment Powers. The Home Secretary has insisted that the Algerian was a senior member of the Abu Doha group and had received Mujahedeen training in Afghanistan. He was said to be an expert in manufacturing electrical explosives.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "An Algerian national representing a threat to the UK was exported to Algeria. The individual had withdrawn an appeal against deportation and is the second Algerian national deported to Algeria on National Security grounds. The British Government is grateful to the Algerian authorities for their cooperation in facilitating the deportation of this individual. This is an indication of our shared commitment in the fight against terrorism and of the warm relationship between our two countries." She confirmed that a number of other Algerians have withdrawn their appeals against deportation moves and that proceedings are underway to remove them from Britain. A number of others are appeal against deportation and their cases are currently before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac)," she added.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Be still my heart. An actual deportation from the UK? Next?
#2
"voluntarily dropping his appeal against deportation ...
a number of other Algerians have withdrawn their appeals against deportation moves and that proceedings are underway to remove them from Britain"
What price has been paid? what deal done? Nobody but nobody would want to be accused of islamic terrorism in algeria it frequently involves your family being disappeared. So why not appeal for all your worth.
Its not that I've got any sympathy for these people, i'm just worried that there is some sort of out of sight out of mind amnesty britain is involved in with deporting islamic terrorists.
Carriers:
USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) - Philippine Sea
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) - Philippine Sea
USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) - Pacific Ocean
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) - Philippine Sea
Command Ships:
USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) - Pacific Ocean
Hospital Ships:
USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) - Sulu Sea
Amphibious Warfare Ships:
USS Essex (LHD 2) - East China Sea
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) - Pacific Ocean
USS Tortuga (LSD 46) - port visit, Sattahip, Thailand
The U.S. has declined to tell the South Korean military if one of its Aegis destroyers is plowing the East Sea with a view to intercepting a long-range ballistic missile North Korea is allegedly planning to launch.
Washington normally gives Seoul due notice when an aircraft carrier or Aegis ship is headed into Koreas maritime operational zone, but it sometimes keeps quiet about ships it sends into international waters off North Korea. Military insiders say there is a good chance the U.S. already has an Aegis vessel in the East Sea.
Meanwhile, the U.S. started the largest military exercise in 10 years. The operation codenamed "Valiant Shield" takes place in waters surrounding Guam, with three aircraft carriers joining drills from Monday until Thursday. A spokesman of the U.S. Forces in the Pacific said the possibility that the missile situation in North Korea could have an effect on the drills cannot be ruled out.
#2
We won't tell South Korea if we're patrolling nearby to intercept a NorK long-range ballistic missile, but we will agree not to intercept said missile if it's heading toward South Korea - just to show our respect for South Korean sovereignty, etc., etc.
There, now - does that make you feel better, Seoul?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/19/2006 22:16 Comments ||
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AUSTRALIA has been urged to establish an exclusive terrorism court similar to the Northern Ireland judicial system to avoid disclosing potentially sensitive security information to juries.
As Sydney architect Faheem Lodhi yesterday became the first person to be convicted by a jury of planning a terrorist attack in Australia, one of the world's foremost counter-terrorism experts, John Stevens, called for terrorism cases to be heard by a judge alone.
Terror trial: Lodhi set for life sentence
The former head of the London Metropolitan police has joined Australia's top policeman, Mick Keelty, in arguing for a change to the justice system.
Lord Stevens and Mr Keelty discussed the issue in Sydney last week while the jury was deliberating on the terrorism charges against Lodhi.
Lord Stevens, who is considered one of London's most successful police commissioners, said a successful precedent had been set in Northern Ireland where judge-only courts were used to run cases against accused IRA terrorists.
Lord Stevens said one of the major issues in conducting terrorism trials was the question of how much information should and could be disclosed to a jury.
"There is some information that should never see the light of day," he said. "They (the judges) are going to be guarding the information and ensuring that it remains confidential."
A jury took more than a week to find Faheem Lodhi guilty of three terrorism-related offences under Australia's national terrorism laws. His conviction is the most serious so far under Australia's federal anti-terror laws.
It follows a series of terrorism trials around the country that have delivered mixed results.
In 2004, Jack Roche, 50, a Muslim convert, became the first person to be convicted of an offence under counter-terrorism laws introduced in 2002.
The Perth man was sentenced to nine years' jail after pleading guilty to conspiring to blow up the Israeli embassy in Canberra.
But a New South Wales Supreme Court jury acquitted Zeky Mallah, 21, of terrorism charges after he was accused of preparing to launch a suicide attack on the Sydney office of either ASIO or the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Mallah pleaded guilty to a charge of threatening to kill a commonwealth officer. He became the first person to be acquitted under Australia's anti-terror legislation.
"Jihad" Jack Thomas, the Melbourne man whom Osama bin Laden is said to have wanted as an al-Qa'ida sleeper agent in Australia, was also acquitted by a jury of terrorism charges. But he was sentenced to five years' jail for receiving funds from a terrorist organisation.
The push for exclusive terrorist trials could bring Australia closer to the French legal system, where cases are determined through judicial interrogation.
Greg Pemberton from the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism at Macquarie University, said terrorism charges should be dealt with in the normal way "so they are not under the influence of the politics of the time".
A JURY has today found Sydney architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi guilty of three terrorism-related charges. A seven-week trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court was told that in October 2003 the 36-year-old was planning a bombing attack, motivated by violent jihad.
The national electricity supply system or three Sydney defence sites Victoria Barracks, HMAS Penguin or Holsworthy Barracks were his possible targets, the jury was told.
Lodhi inquired about chemicals capable of making explosives, and had instructions for making explosives, detonators and poisons, in preparation for a terrorist attack. He was also charged with acquiring two maps of the electricity grid and 38 aerial photographs of military sites connected with preparation for a terrorist act.
Lodhi, a Pakistani-born Australian citizen, denied the charges, rejecting as absurd allegations he was planning a terrorist attack, or that he believed in violent jihad.
"Lies! All lies!"
He told the court he obtained the maps and inquired about chemicals as part of planned business ventures, while the aerial photographs were intended to enhance his CV. He never intended to use the instructions, he told the court.
The jury of six men and six women spent five days deliberating before finding Lodhi guilty of three charges relating to the maps, chemical inquiries and instructions. However, he was acquitted of the fourth charge, with the jury finding he had not downloaded the aerial photographs for a purpose connected with terrorism.
Lodhi is the first person to be convicted of a charge of preparing for a terrorist act, an offence which carries a maximum life sentence. Justice Anthony Whealy remanded Lodhi in custody to face sentencing submissions on June 29.
TUNCELI: Turkish forces killed three Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas in eastern Turkey on Sunday, while a bomb on a rail track wrecked a cargo train in the same region, military officials said. Soldiers, supported from the air, attacked a group of 13 Kurdish guerrillas in the mountainous province of Tunceli and killed three, an army official said. The operation continued with extra troops being sent to the area. Earlier on Sunday, PKK members laid a bomb on a rail track which exploded as a cargo train passed, flipping 12 carriages and leaving eight unusable, another military official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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The Andhra Pradesh Police achieved yet another major success against the outlawed CPI (Maoist) killing one of its top 'military' brains responsible for killing as many as 30 policemen in the past five years.
Guntur district Superintendent of Police B Shivadhar Reddy said district committee member and Nallamalla platoon commander Suresh was killed in an encounter on Sunday night while his accomplice escaped.
The incident occurred at the Ramapuram crossroad near Dachepalli where the police was conducting vehicle checks. When policemen tried to stop a motorcycle carrying two persons, the pillion rider opened fire.
In the retaliatory firing, the pillion rider fell while the driver escaped on the motorcycle. The person, who was later identified as Suresh, died on the spot. The police recovered a diary, Rs 10,000 cash and .45 revolver from him.
"This is a significant development because this person was a top military brain of the outfit in the area. He was involved in as many as 40 murders, attacks on police stations and landmine blasts," Shivadhar Reddy said.
Suresh, who headed a 30-member 'military platoon' of the CPI (Maoist) active in Prakasham and Guntur districts, was responsible for the death of 30 policemen since 2001. One of the landmine blasts triggered by him in Guntur district five years ago killed 8 policemen. Subsequently, another blast in 2001 had also killed nine people.
An expert in landmine laying and blasting, 28-year-old Suresh was also the first Maoist to use a rocket in the attack on the Durgi police station. He was involved in the attack on the Chilkaluripet police station in Guntur district in March last year, in which seven persons were killed. He also led the attack on the Addanki police station in Prakasham district, the SP said.
The police was on a high alert in all sensitive areas of the State in view of the local body elections later this month. Maoists have given a call for the boycott of elections.
This is the second major blow the CPI (Maoist) has suffered in less than a week.
A top Maoist leader, a central committee and central military commission member M Ravikumar was killed in the neighbouring Prakasham district last Friday.
Meanwhile, the police suspect one of the two Maoists killed in an encounter in Khammam on Sunday was also a senior functionary, possibly a district committee member. An AK-47 rifle was recovered from him. The weapon is indicative of a higher position of the person in the outfit.
Posted by: john ||
06/19/2006 21:17 ||
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Lucknow: Iraq's deceased Al Qaida leader, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, was registered for unemployment benefits in India, a recent report suggests.
A query has been ordered to certify how Al Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike in Iraq last week, came to be registered as an Indian resident.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary, N C Bajpai, is particularly concerned about reports that the late Al Qaida leader, who was registered under the name of Ama Zarqawi, was made eligible for unemployment benefits by the Lucknow district administration.
Disciplinary action has been ordered by the principal secretary and district administration against those responsible for the lapse.
#2
UP may order CID probe into Zarqawi domicile certificate issue Lucknow, June 15 (UNI) Taking a stern view of reports that mediapersons had managed a fake domicile certificate in the name of slain al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab-al Zarqawi, the Uttar Pradesh government may order a CID probe into the issue.
Reporters of a leading Hindi daily had managed a fake domicile certificate in the name of the terror head.
The certificate allows the slain terrorist to get Rs 500 per month as unemployment allowance by the Utter Pradesh government from tomorrow.
Taking a serious note, the government was likely to order a probe by the Crime Branch-CID to bust the official-interim diary network active in various districts of the state.
A senior state Home department official said there were views within the government to order a CID probe into the entire gamut.
State chief secretary Navin Chandra Bajpai, meanwhile, directed district level officials to look into the matter.
Yesterday, officials went into a tizzy after the daily produced pictures of the fake certificate. The certificate shows Zarqawi as a resident of A-1, Jal Sansthan Colony, Water Works Road, Lucknow.
The controversial certificate was attested by two gazetted officers, secretary, state transport Jamshed Alam Siddiqui and deputy transport commissioner Rajendra Prasad, both of whom have testified to have known Zarqawi for several years.
Besides, notary KK Jaiswal and a lawyer, PK Singh, too were involved for getting the affidavit cleared.
The affidavit carrying Zarqawi's photograph comes with a seal "Valid for unemployment allowance only
Posted by: john ||
06/19/2006 13:40 Comments ||
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#3
Either the certificate was fake or the authorities in UP are embarassed that Zark spent time in Lucknow.
Either way, heads will roll...
Posted by: john ||
06/19/2006 13:42 Comments ||
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#4
Mass Dept. of Transitional Assistance (the slick new Massachusetts PC term for welfare, BTW), please check your databases.
And I would not be the least bit surprised if they find him on one.
#5
What will be really interesting is who else they find, and who helped them achieve that status. I think Fred may need to set up a second popcorn machine. ;-)
#10
One can only hope his benefits include assorted niceities like barb wire d!ldoes, epoxy denture adhesive, ground glass in the salt shaker, crystal battery acid in the sugar bowl and emery cloth toilet paper.
HANGU: Militants fired a missile at Hangu city in the early hours of Sunday morning that hit the Kata Country camp, an Afghan refugee camp. No injuries or casualties were reported in the attack that was fired from an unknown place. Hangu District Police Officer Muhammad Khaliq Khan said the attack was a terrorist act.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Ah, WILE E. COYOTE - this country has gone to hell since they stopped playing him and Bugs, etal others. on weekends.
#5
I noticed some years ago tha the good cartoons were vanishing, around that same time the cartoon network ean a "June Bugs" Bugs Bunny marathon of all the Bugs Bunny cartoons.
I taped the whole thing.
They did it again a year later, this time they went all PC and eliminated the Wartime anti-German and anti-Japanese cartoons, tough shit folks, I got them on tape the year before.
Bugs is now off the air, but not for me.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/19/2006 13:57 Comments ||
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#6
They're on DVD. Vol 3 has annoying PC disclaimers.
MIRANSHAH: Security forces on Sunday gunned down two suspected tribal militants and wounded another in response to an attack on their check-post in North Waziristan, security officials said. The men were believed to be local tribesmen from Speenwam area, 25 kilometres north of Mir Ali town, the officials told Daily Times on condition of anonymity. They said that the wounded man was in security force custody and was receiving medical treatment, while the bodies of the dead men had been handed over to the political administration.
"Miranshah's on the line, Dr. Quincy!"
"Again?"
The attack took place at 10:00am when the militants, using light weapons, open-fired on the K-2 check-post, sources said. No casualties had been reported from the security force side. About two hours later, security forces arrested five suspected tribal militants and seized 14 grenades while searching a van in Spin Wam, officials said, adding that the arrested suspects had been handed over to the local administration.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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IRAQ will take over security responsibilities in al-Muthanna province and Australian soldiers there would transfer to a new base at Tallil, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said today.
Tallil was a major coalition base outside the city of Nasiriyah, Dr Nelson said.
Australia has 460 soldiers in the al-Muthanna taskgroup whose job has been guarding Japanese military engineers and training Iraqi troops.
Dr Nelson said the job of guarding the Japanese engineers would continue until such time as the Japanese withdrew.
"I can confirm that our soldiers will be based at Tallil, just north of the Dhi qar-al-Muthanna border," he said.
"In this new phase of operations our soldiers will be doing very important work. They will be training and mentoring Iraqi soldiers.
"They will be supporting border protection activities, particularly on the Syrian border," Dr Nelson said.
But that did not mean Australian troops would be operating along the dangerous Syrian border area, he said.
He said terrorists might choose to target the al-Muthanna region because of its transition to Iraqi Government control.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that coalition troops were to quit the southern province of Muthanna next month, in the first such handover to Iraq's fledgling security forces. "We have a plan Did they get it from the Dems? to transfer security from coalition troops to local forces and the first governorate where it will take place is the province of Al-Muthanna next month," Maliki told reporters.
The sparsely-populated and mainly Shiite Muslim province, whose capital is Samawa, has been largely immune from the daily violence plaguing other areas. It is patrolled by 400 Australian and 250 British troops. And some 600 Japanese service personnel are deployed on humanitarian duties in the province on Tokyo's first military mission in a country where hostilities are under way since World War II.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman hailed Maliki's announcement as a "significant step." "That means they are taking control of civil institutions as well as the security responsibility," he said, but added the handover would not mean that the British soldiers deployed in the province would return home.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/19/2006 16:07 ||
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#1
Murtha won't be happy about this. Why the Limeys first?
As someone who follows Pattons philosophy; "We'll win this war, but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans that we've got more guts than they have; or ever will have. We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're going to rip out their living Goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket. War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize that instead of dirt it's the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you, you'll know what to do!" -- George S. Patton"
What are we supposed to do? Tie both hands behind our backs. Let's see what our "noble" opponents do to the 2 US troops they have captured. "Do unto others as they would do unto you, only do it first"
THE US military said today three US soldiers had been charged in the deaths of three male prisoners on May 9. It said the soldiers faced charges including "murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, communicating a threat, and obstructing justice". It was not clear whether all three faced the murder charge.
"Three members of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division have been charged in connection with the deaths of three male detainees," the US military said in a statement.
#1
well hell why mention it unless you give us the specifc charges for each one; great announcement timing by the way with two of our troops in their hands ... ass wipes
#2
[*disclaimer* ima not an lawyer, plz don't shoot]
In civilian courts if you are are arrested and accused of a crime you stand before the law, da judge, the prosecution, and the defense. And if you were smart or lucky enough to accumulate a few bucks so that you could hire good council there is an approx balance of power struck between you the accused and the state/city or Feds.
by comparison, under the Military Code of Justice the balance of power between you the accused and Military Court seems to be entirely lopsided toward the accuser and favor the prosecution, because basically not only can you be forced to stand before a Military Tribunal with less evidence, you must then try and prove that you are innocent of the charges with a just a fraction of the resources available the prosecution! no?
#3
Sorry RD, but I've sat on a number of courts martial and rehearings. I'd prefer a military MC than any civilian trial any day. One, the judge is independent and not subject to the command structure. The same for the defense lawyer. The defense lawyers have to had served as prosecutors before they could be defense lawyers. Two. the court martial board is made up of people who have at least a college level education and, unlike civilian courts, can actually ask questions of the witnesses. Three, any attempt to influence the courts martial board by the command structure is in of itself a violation of the UCMJ and will result not only in the invalidation of any outcome, but can result in the loss of the command billets by the abuser. Separate mechanisms exist which permits the reporting of such interference and require immediate action. Four, the rules of evidence are the same for the CM as they are for the federal system. Five, the Military Court of Appeals, has no sense of humor. Cases are indeed thrown out or reheard. The rehearing can be at the unit where the original conviction occurred or where the individual is being held for confinement which is usually Fort Leavenworth. Reread point three.
The CMs I sat on were more concern with getting to the truth. The major abuse I saw was exactly the same I've seen in civilian criminal case, in that the prosecution got a 'copped' plea and worked a deal with someone who should have been the main target of the trial and it was his lackey who took the brunt of the CM. Fortunately, in the CM, if a person is convicted [and it can be of lesser charges] the same CM board also determines punishment within parameters. Lackeys got less than if it had been the instigator.
#9
Pre-trial in the military is an Article 32 investigation. Article 32 is somewhat like a grand jury proceeding. An disinterested officer is appointed to complete the Art 32. By disinterested that means not part of the subordinate unit direct chain of command. He gathers what ever criminal investigation by the CID [which is independent of the command, thanks to the first Sergeant Major of the Army] and/or the Military Police. The investigating officer will conduct interviews and take sworn statements. After compiling all appropriate material, the IO then makes a recommendation whether evidence justifies further proceedings. The report is reviewed by the servicing JAG for legal sufficiency and compliance. The commander has several options. He can ignore the recommendation, but now has an official record that can come back to bite, one way or another. He can take action, either that recommended by the IO which can vary from administrative punish to courts martial. He can mitigate the findings and take lesser action. Or in the case of courts martial, direct his JAG, who is subject to his command, to prepare action against the accused.
The prosecution in the trial of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has called for his execution as it delivered its closing arguments. The prosecution said Saddam Hussein and two of his seven co-defendants should be put to death for war crimes. The trial has now adjourned and judges will consider their verdict after final defence arguments on 10 July.
The defendants deny being responsible for the deaths of 148 Shia Muslim villagers in the 1980s. The men are accused of launching a crackdown in the village of Dujail after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein.
In the trial of Saddam Hussein and seven former aides, all defendants were in court as proceedings resumed on Monday. Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Mussawi said: "We demand the maximum punishment for Saddam, [his half-brother] Barzan al-Tikriti and [former vice-president] Taha Yassin Ramadan." "They were spreading corruption on Earth... and even the trees were not saved from their oppression," Mr Mussawi said.
Saddam Hussein, dressed in a black suit, muttered sarcastically from the dock: "Well done."
Mr Mussawi asked for charges against one defendant, Baath party official Mohammed Azawi Ali, to be dropped and for him to be freed. The prosecutor also asked for three other defendants - Baath officials Abdullah Kadhem Ruaid, Ali Daeem Ali and Mizher Abdullah Ruaid - to be treated leniently. Mr Mussawi made no specific calls on the fate of Awad Hamad al-Bandar, former chief judge of Saddam Hussein's revolutionary court.
Another prosecution lawyer, whose name has not been released for security purposes, had opened Monday's proceedings by saying defendants had "carried out a systematic, wide-scale attack" in Dujail. "They carried out broad imprisonments of men, women and children, who were exposed to physical and mental torture, including the use of electrical shocks," he said.
The lawyer argued that the assassination attempt had been "fabricated" for "political aims". The defence has argued the crackdown was necessary in the wake of an attempt to kill Saddam Hussein. It has also claimed that some of the 148 people the prosecution says were killed are still alive.
The trial has so far lasted eight months and has been criticised by some international legal experts. Some said the defence had been given a disproportionately short period to present its witnesses. The trial has also been marred by the killing of two defence lawyers and the resignation of the first chief judge in January.
UPDATE: EFL
An Iraqi insurgent umbrella group claimed Monday it had kidnapped two U.S. soldiers who were seized south of Baghdad. "Your brothers in the military wing of the Mujahedeen Shura Council kidnapped the two American soldiers near Youssifiya," the group said in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site.
In Baghdad, the U.S. military said Monday that seven American troops have been wounded, three insurgents have been killed and 34 detained during an intensive search for the soldiers. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles and dive teams had been deployed to find the two men. The men went missing Friday during an attack on their checkpoint in the volatile Sunni area south of Baghdad that left one of their comrades dead. Caldwell said seven other U.S. service members had been wounded in action during the search efforts that began Friday night.
The Defense Department identified the missing men as Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore. It said Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed in the attack. The three were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
Caldwell said more than 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops were participating in the search. "While searching for our soldiers, we have engaged in a number of significant actions against the anti-Iraqi forces," he said, adding that three insurgents had been killed and 34 taken into custody. He also said the military had received 63 tips and had launched 12 cordon and search operations, eight air assaults and 280 flight hours were logged. "Approximately 12 villages have been cleared in the area, and we continue to engage local citizens for help and information leading to the whereabouts of our soldiers," he said, without elaborating.
#3
I doubt they have imp[lanted GPS, and the first thought is "Why the Hell NOT"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/19/2006 14:07 Comments ||
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#4
#2 & #3, If you had any idea how GPS works, or radio in general, you wouldn't have to ask why.
Tell you what, let me implant in you a GPS receiver, and radio transmitter along with power source and a means to recharge that power source, then tell me what you think about your new hardware.
I have just the place to put it, your empty heads.
#6
A bit more politely, GPS will tell you where you are, if you have a low-power receiver. My kid had one in al Anbar 18 months ago. Keeps you from getting lost.
To tell someone else where you are, you need a radio to transmit your coordinates. That takes a bit more power...
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/19/2006 17:02 Comments ||
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#7
Ummm, as much power as a pacemaker, Which can be recharged by induction?
I do indeed understand electronics, what I was envisioning was a low powered reciever/transmitter that would only respond to a coded pulse with a "Here I am" Signal.
You're right I misspoke saying GPS, although a GPS transponder that said "Here I am" to a few decimal places would be more in line with what I had in mind.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/19/2006 20:30 Comments ||
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One of the best ways to tell where there is fighting going on is to monitor the Air Component Data page at CentCom. It spells out where aircraft were used on a daily basis. Here is the 6-16 report.
In Iraq yesterday, U.S. Air Force F-16s conducted a precision strike on a building containing anti-Coalition forces in the vicinity of Fallujah. The aircraft expended a GBU-12 (Guided Bomb Unit-12), successfully destroying the building.
United States Air Force F-16s and Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, and U.S. Navy F-18s also provided close air support to Coalition troops in contact with enemy forces in the vicinity of Al Mahmudiyah.
In total, Coalition aircraft flew 55 close air support missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions included support to Coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.
Thirteen U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. United States Navy fighter aircraft performed in a non-traditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.
In Afghanistan, Coalition aircraft flew 24 close air support missions for Operation Enduring Freedom. These missions included support to Coalition and Afghan troops, reconstruction activities and route patrols.
United States Air Force A-10s provided close air support to Coalition troops in contact with enemy forces in the vicinities of Asadabad and Bagram.
In addition, eight U.S. Air Force and French ISR aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Afghanistan .
United States Air Force C-130s and C-17s provided intra-theater heavy airlift support, helping sustain operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa. Approximately 165 airlift sorties were flown; almost 460 tons of cargo were delivered, and close to 2,300 passengers were transported. This included 85 thousand pounds of troop re-supply air-dropped in northeast and central Afghanistan.
Coalition C-130 crews from Australia, Canada and Korea flew in support of either OIF or OEF.
On June 15, U.S. Air Force, Royal Air Force and French tankers flew 36 sorties and off-loaded almost 2.2 million pounds of fuel.
#1
One of the best ways to tell where there is fighting going on is to monitor the Air Component Data page at CentCom. It spells out where aircraft were used on a daily basis. Here is the 6-16 report.
thanks for the tip Chuck, good short cut for finding ops.
RAMADI, Iraq (AP) - A U.S. gunship fired at suspected insurgents as hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi troops pushed into an eastern section of one of Iraq's most violent cities early Monday, the latest step in a campaign to bolster their presence in neighborhoods largely under insurgent control.
An AC-130 Spectre gunship fired on suspected insurgents in the initial hours of the operation, U.S. commanders on the ground said. Six men were thought to have been killed, and sporadic gunfire between U.S. troops and insurgent snipers echoed throughout the neighborhood.
No U.S. casualties were initially reported.
The operation was launched to establish a new outpost in the eastern Mulaab neighborhood of the city that would allow U.S. and Iraqi troops to better patrol a troublesome area where insurgents have frequently attacked. The outpost would be less than a mile deeper into the city from their current base. ``It's one of the first steps to moving into areas of the city that have not had a large coalition or Iraqi presence for a long time, if ever,'' said Col. Sean MacFarland, commander of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division that oversees the city.
Soldiers also scoured through dozens of homes in the area, finding several weapons caches and equipment used to construct roadside bombs.
During a similar operation on Sunday, U.S. troops erected two outposts in the southern half of the city to allow Iraqi soldiers to begin patrolling an area that has rarely seen any U.S. or Iraqi forces. U.S. commanders said the move wasn't the precursor to a rumored offensive to drive insurgents from Ramadi - but rather an ``isolation'' tactic to prevent the fighters from receiving arms and reinforcements from outside.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/19/2006 02:38 ||
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#1
It be raining metal.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/19/2006 5:47 Comments ||
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#2
Does the Koren say anything about the AC-130s?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/19/2006 10:55 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- A number of Iraqis were killed an many others were wounded Saturday in spite of the ongoing Iraq security plan by the government which went into its fourth phase today. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a statement that the forces arrested 122 insurgents and killed three others during several operations. Despite of the security plan conducted by the Iraqi forces, 39 Iraqis were killed and 149 were injured in a wave of insurgent attacks in Iraq.
The bloodiest attacks conducted by the insurgents were in Dhora neighborhood in southern Baghdad and Al-Harag market in the city. A booby-trapped car that exploded in Dhora neighborhood resulted in the death of 12 civilians and the injury of 38 others, while in Al-Harag market, that was targeted with mortars shells, four Iraqis were killed and 24 others were wounded in the attack. Meanwhile, the Iraq police said 18 dead bodies were found in several parts of Baghdad, including an area adjacent to the Tigris River.
Iraqi security officials said that the increasing number of attacks by insurgents only reflects their desperation while the security plan is working. The security plan involves 95 patrol units, the officials said, adding that 130 security checkpoints have been erected as part of the plan. A police source in the northern city of Mosul said a policeman and an officer were killed in an armed clash with police in the center of the city. The armed clash broke out in the Al-Thora district between the unidentified gunmen and a police patrol.
The source said the police foiled an escape bid by Ayman Sabaawi, nephew of the ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, from Badoush prison. He made the futile bid along with 12 other inmates.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Unknown gunmen on Sunday abducted 10 bakery workers in Kadhimiya area, northern Baghdad. Iraqi police sources announced that the bakery workers were abducted this morning and were taken to an unknown destination.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi police announced that it found 11 unidentified dead bodies in different areas in Baghdad and Karbala. A police source said one of the bodies was found in Karbala, while the rest were found in different parts of the Iraqi capital. The bodies were handcuffed and shot in the head.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
What is it with bakers? I don't get it. Symbolic that the insurgents need more "dough"?
Sounds like a bad late-night show joke.
(KUNA) -- Five Iraqis were killed on Sunday in different incidents in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, announced the Iraqi police. A press release issued by the Joint Coordination Center said that three brothers, one of them was an officer in the dissolved Iraqi army, were killed by gunmen near the health center of the town of Meqdadiya, north of Baquba. The press release added that a teacher was killed by gunmen fire in Baquba, while another civilian was killed by gunmen near the Teachers Institute in the city.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Four Iraqi civilians were injured Sunday when an unidentified militant threw a hand bomb inside a wine store in Kirkuk. A source from Iraqi Police in Kirkuk told KUNA the explosion that occurred at Al-Jomhori Street injured the shop owner, a Christian, and three other civilians who were close to the scene.
Meanwhile, Multi National Forces (MNF) deactivated a bomb that was found by members of Al-Abbasi Police Center in Huwaija-Al-Abbasi road near Al-Tariqqiya town. Another bomb was found at Riyadh-Huwaija road near Rabza town and was removed by MNF without the cause of any damage. The source said that a bomb explosion near Asyasel tower in Qatha Al-Huwaija lead to total damage of the tower and a building. It added that unidentified people threw a hand bomb towards a group of MNF in Riyadh Bridge without causing any damage.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Instant flashback to "Death Race 2000" where Frankenstein had a grenade built into his artificial hand.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/19/2006 8:14 Comments ||
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#3
Notice the targets are getting softer and softer. Soon they will be attacking old ladies and people in wheelchairs. Almost anyone who wants to fight back is too dangerous for these idiots.
(KUNA) -- An Iraqi civilian was killed Sunday and at least nine injured when a booby-trapped car exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. An Iraqi police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the explosion was targeting American troops, but no information was available about casualties among them. The explosion caused severe damage to a hotel nearby in addition to a number of houses and stores, said the source.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said in statement today that Iraqi soldiers operated 479 military patrols in different parts of Iraq during the last two days, arrested 146 people and dismantled a booby-trapped car.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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Hebron, 19 June (AKI) - Israeli border police on Monday arrested a Palestinian man carrying 25 Molotov cocktail petrol bombs near the West bank town of Hebron. The man who was picked up in Dir al Assad, was also found in posession of an Israel military rifle and ammunition, the Jerusalem Post reported. The man, whose name was not released, is being held for interrogation, the report said.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/19/2006 08:28 ||
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#1
why not just light him up?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/19/2006 8:52 Comments ||
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#2
Why would you make one more than a case full? They're so hard to carry.
#8
Anonymoose: That's what I'ma wonderin'. Maybe "the Jooooos" shelled that beach afterall (by that I mean Paleos with Jewish artillery). Of course, they actually hit someone, so that probably rules out the Paleos, lol! Oh, but with arty, I guess you can be "close enough for gov't work," eh?
Posted by: BA ||
06/19/2006 20:59 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- The Brigades of Martyr Ahmad Aburriesh, the military arm of Fateh, on Sunday announced responsibility for firing four missiles on Majdal city in southern Israel. The brigades said in a press release that its members fired four "Somod 3" type missiles on the city, noting that the attack comes in response for the Israeli continuous aggression against the Palestinians.
Last night, Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of Islamic Jihad, fired two "Quds 2" type missiles on a runway in Kissufim settlement east of Deir Al-Balah.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Israeli Army said today that the power network in Sderot suffered damage due to a Palestinian missile attack early morning. The spokesperson said that two "Qassam" type missiles were fired from northern Gaza Strip, which hit a number of electricity poles and left a number of neighborhoods in a blackout.
The source also said that the Israeli forces arrested three persons while infiltrating into Israel from Egypt through the southern borders, noting that the infiltrators were turned over to Israeli security authorities for interrogation. The spokesperson did not reveal the identities of the infiltrators and whether they were armed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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"the" military arm of Fateh? They think too much of themselves.
(KUNA) -- The Israeli occupation forces on Sunday infiltrated into Nablus and enforced a curfew in a number of residential neighborhoods. Eyewitnesses said the occupation forces entered the city from more than one direction and gathered in the Old Town area in Nablus. The forces forced the evacuation of some buildings before executing a search. Radio Israel said the operation aimed at arresting individuals wanted by the Israeli authorities.
In the town of Yamon near Jenin, the Israeli occupation forces arrested three Palestinians in a storm and search operation. Clashes between Palestinian fighters and Israeli occupation forces took place, but no injuries were reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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it occurs to me that they have overused the word "occupation forces" where to the point that it just sounds weak and whiney.
(KUNA) -- Salah Al-Din brigades, military wing of popular resistant committees, claimed Sunday responsibility for rockets' attacks on a number of Israeli targets. The brigades said in a statement that seven rockets were launched on two Jewish settlements and an Israeli military position. The statement added that Israeli confirmed the attack which resulted in the cut of electric supplies in the Zakeem area near Sderot city.
These attacks came in retaliation to the numerous crimes committed by the Jewish state, the brigades concluded their statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
I suppose I don't need to ask, but why is the situation in Sderot being completely ignored by the majority of the world?
I particularly like this quote from a frontpage.com article "The Likud mayor doesn't mince words in conveying his disgust at his Palestinian neighbors. "There's no reason the Palestinians keep on shitting on us after we took all our troops out of Gaza. It's just blatant hatred, that's why they're shooting at us. There are no Palestinian demands on this land. I'm calling on the citizens of Sderot not to go anywhere; we'll stay here forever. Not because we're strong, but because we're right. We won't give them the satisfaction of giving into terror."
A Cambodia newspaper has reported that Muslims from Cambodia were among unidentified bodies found in mass graves in southern border provinces of Thailand, a senior police office said Monday (June 19). Pol Lt Col Subin Boonlet, deputy commander of Tambon Klongluek police station, said the Cambodian paper had reported that Cambodian Muslims should be among some 500 unidentified bodies found in Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
That's a fair number of bodies. I haven't heard anything about this before
Subin said the report would prompt Thai immigration officials to be more strict about Cambodian Muslims who want to enter Thailand.
Moving to the future homeland in the south?
Subin said Cambodian Muslims, who travelled to Thailand, now tried to get dressed like most people to avoid catching attention of Thai authorities.
Captain Salitpong Kaewpila, commander of a company of the 12th task force in Sa Kaew, said 2,317 Cambodian Muslims had entered Thailand legally during the past three months and only 171 of them had returned to their country.
Sounds familiar
Salitpong said Thai officials were not sure whether the rest of them were still in Thailand or have crossed to Malaysia.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/19/2006 13:34 ||
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#1
A Cambodia newspaper has reported that Muslims from Cambodia were among unidentified bodies found in mass graves
I call Bullshit what part of "Unidentified Bodies" don't they understand.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/19/2006 14:04 Comments ||
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#2
and how does one exactly tell the difference between a muslim and a non muslim dead body?
Who wants to get that up close and personal?
This almost seems like an article for the short attention span lol
Posted by: Jan ||
06/19/2006 14:14 Comments ||
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#3
The difference between Muslim and non-Muslim likely lies in two items: circumcision and clothing.
#4
Man what a job. I need to stop complaining about the coffee at my work. ha ha
remember to wear clean underwear, if you're ever found in an unmarked grave...
Posted by: Jan ||
06/19/2006 14:44 Comments ||
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#5
My Mum used to say I should always have clean underware on, in case I was involved in a car accident.
Mums are a bit weird like that.
I mean, what would you expect a 7 year old to do in their underware if they are hit by a car?
(KUNA) -- The Sri Lankan navy and Tamil rebels Saturday exchanged heavy fire off the country's north western coast leaving at least 11 sailors and 30 rebels dead. Six civilians were also killed and 44 others injured in two separate incidents in the same area following the clash at the sea, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported.
The battle broke out after the Sri Lankan navy Saturday morning engaged Tamil rebel boats at Mannar off the country's western coast, 320 km north of capital Colombo. At least eight of the rebel boats were destroyed in the attack. Soon after this incident unidentified people fired on and lobbed a hand grenade at a group of civilians who had taken shelter inside a church in Mannar, killing one civilian and injuring 44, the news agency reported.
Unidentified gunmen shot five fishermen dead in the same area. The government forces and Tamil rebels blamed each other for the attack. In a separate incident close to Sri Lankan capital city two suspected Tamil rebels swallowed cyanide. One of them died while the other was shifted to hospital.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Old Rock of Ages, we've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war.
Posted by: Paul Eddington ||
06/19/2006 0:44 Comments ||
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he Sri Lankan Navy, originally established in December 1950 as the Royal Ceylon Navy, is the smallest of the nation's armed services. It consists of a regular and a volunteer force, each with its own reserve component. The navy is under the direct operational control of a service commander who is equal in authority to the army and air force commanders. The force is divided into three Naval Area Commands--Northern, Eastern, and Western--with a fourth (Southern Command) to be established at a later date. The navy maintains major bases in Colombo and Trincomalee, with secondary bases at Karainagar (Jaffna District), Welisara (Colombo District), Tangalla (Hambantota District), and Kalpitiya (Puttalam District).
The navy's primary mission is to prevent illegal immigration and smuggling across the Palk Strait, the narrow body of water that separates the island from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. With the growth of the Tamil separatist movement in the late 1970s, the strait became a major conduit for armaments and insurgents traveling from training bases in south India, and the naval mission was therefore expanded to include counterinsurgency patrols.
In the late 1980s, the navy had an approximate total strength of 4,000, including active reservists. By 1985 estimates, the regular force contained 243 officers and 3,072 ratings, and the Volunteer Naval Force had 64 officers and 427 men, a substantial increase over the 1977 figures (200 officers, 2,400 ratings).
In late 1987, the navy had a fleet of approximately seventy vessels, more than half of them coastal patrol craft. Building on an original fleet of mostly British ships, the government took aggressive steps to expand its sources of supply and at the same time develop a domestic shipbuilding industry sufficient to meet national defense needs. As a result, the Colombo dockyards began production of the 40-ton Pradeepa coastal patrol craft in 1980, followed by the 330-ton Jayasagara large patrol craft. The original fleet of six Sooraya fast attack craft (the Chinese Shanghai-II, bought in 1972 and 1975) was supplemented in 1985 with six Israeli Super Dvora craft, and eight more were reportedly on order. One serious gap in the fleet was the lack of shallow-draft vessels suitable for surveying purposes. Palk Strait, although relatively narrow, is infamously difficult to navigate because of the large number of uncharted coral reefs.
#5
I think the Indian Navy, and the maritime strike aircraft of the Indian Air Force would have something to say about that.
Posted by: john ||
06/19/2006 8:40 Comments ||
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#6
The year was 1971. Late one evening, an Indian naval ship apparently radioed Colombo harbour. "Am having engine trouble. Request permission to put in at the harbour." The port authorities readily agreed.
Immediately another message came in: "Have sister ship with me as well. Request permission for that too to put in." The port authorities, once again, agreed. After all, they had no reason not to.
The next evening, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike was at a cinema show when she got an SOS from her security people: extremist uprisings had suddenly broken out all over the island. The Sri Lankan Army was called out, but with little effect. The armed revolution -- reportedly an extreme-Left, Trotskyite initiative aided and abetted by North Korea -- soon began to get out of control.
The armed forces admitted they couldn't handle the situation. The Sri Lankan government started to panic. Mrs Bandaranaike finally got on the phone and called up her good friend Mrs Gandhi in Delhi, requesting her to send military assistance.
Back came the reply from Delhi: "By a strange coincidence, there happen to be two shiploads of Gurkhas sitting in Colombo harbour right now. They are at your disposal to put down the disturbances."
Posted by: john ||
06/19/2006 8:56 Comments ||
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The Gurkhas swiftly went into action. The uprising -- which was centred mainly in the hills of central Sri Lanka -- was put down with brutal efficiency. Official figures are either very hazy or non-existent, but people will tell you that literally thousands of Sinhalese youth were killed in the process.
A friend of mine, who claims to have had a very narrow escape himself, told me that any and every bearded Sinhalese male aged between 18 and 25 was suspect -- the beard apparently being a distinguishing feature of the Trotskyite movement. They were either summarily shot or jailed or, at the very least, rounded up and harshly interrogated.
My friend (an entirely innocent, but bearded, Sinhalese, 20 years old and on holiday in the hills) was just the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now a computer graphics guru in the US, he still shudders at the memory of how narrow a shave he had at the hands of the Indian Army, no pun intended.
Apparently the Trotskyites came fairly close to pulling off their coup, but it was just a combination of timing, luck and good, old-fashioned ruthlessness on the part of the Indian Army that saved the day for Mrs Bandaranaike's government. She was deeply indebted to Mrs Gandhi for her help after that.
Posted by: john ||
06/19/2006 12:09 Comments ||
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DEBKAfile: New Syria-Iranian defense treaty opens way for Iran`s Revolutionary Guards to deploy on Israels Golan border by summers end. Iranian defense minister Gen. Mustafa Najjar said: Syrias security is part of Irans security, when he signed a new military treaty with his visiting Syrian counterpart, Gen. Hassan Turkmani (picture) in Tehran last Thursday June 15. Sunday, June 18, Israels parliamentary foreign affairs and defense committee inspected its northern border, along with the deputy chief of staff Moshe Kaplinsky and OC Northern command Udi Adam. Both Tehran and Damascus referred to the tour as Israels response to their new treaty.
DEBKAfiles military sources add: At the signing ceremony, the Syrian official waved away reporters questions on whether Iran would be establishing a military base in Syria The language of a (foreign) military base in our country is alien to us. I want to say that it is not on the agenda. Nonetheless, military sources note that he rejected the term bases - but did not rule out foreign forces in nSyrian bases, which Persian Gulf and Pakistani military sources are certain was agreed secretly between the two countries. They have learned that Iran has offered to deploy Revolutionary Guards on the Golan border with Israel by the end of summer, because as Najjar said at the signing: We have a common front against Israels threats.
DEBKAfiles Tehran sources disclose the Iranians seek to attain three objectives by deploying RG units to the Golan heights:
1. Another direct front line against Israel.
2. A forward position for an Iranian electronic warning station to sound a timely alarm of the takeoff of American warplanes or missiles from the eastern Mediterranean basin on their way to attack.
3. The station can also keep electronic track of movements on Israeli air and missile bases, covering also Arrow anti-missile missile systems.
The Syrian military delegation, which spent five days in Tehran, brought a year of secret negotiations to their conclusion. The breadth of Syrian-Iranian military relations can be measured by the military treatys financial scope of $800 m and the size of the delegation Damascus sent to Tehran - 60 officers representing every branch of the Syrian armed forces, including intelligence and munitions industries. For years, both countries have supported the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and anti-Israeli Palestinian factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which maintain headquarters in Damascus
Posted by: Steve ||
06/19/2006 08:39 ||
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#1
Cuban Missile Crisis, the sequel. Watch, see how long before Iranian missiles are based with the troops. Israel won't tolerate this
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/19/2006 8:56 Comments ||
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#2
Syria is placing itself in great peril.
It has three neighbors that don't like the regime, won't tolerate Iranian RG troops near their borders and who each have the military forces to crush the Syrian army - Isral, Turkey and the US (Iraqi bases).
Posted by: john ||
06/19/2006 9:40 Comments ||
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#3
The only thing elite about the RG is the fact they are loyal to the mullahs. Israel will make very short work of those wannabes.
#4
Israel has a history of pre-emptive attack when enemies are massing against them. Traditionally they wouldn't wait to be attacked. I would be very,VERY, carefull If I were Iran and Syria. They may lose even more territory if they don't watch themselves.
Iran knows that US patience is wearing thin with both the EU/UNSC effort and the limited timeline before Iran goes nuclear.
They also know that the US has mid-term elections and, given the situation in Iraq, the American voters aren't eager for another confrontation right now.
Meantime, what better way to inflame Muslims and align the Muslim dominated countries (i.e., Saudi oil) to its side than to taunt Israel into a confrontation. For instance, which side does Jordan take?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/19/2006 10:27 Comments ||
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#6
A wild guess on my part but it sounds so much like the Cuban Missile Crisis I wouldn't be suprised if Syria gets some Iranian Nukes out of the deal.
#7
Or Israel could force the issue by threatening to invade Syria. The US could conclude that this is a potential disaster for perceptions of the US in the muslim world, so the US would invade Syria just to remove the threat of an Israeli invasion. Nasty situation for the US, victory for the Iranians by tying down more US forces that could be invading Iran. Of course it doesn't do the Syrians much good, but I get the feeling baby Assad isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
06/19/2006 11:19 Comments ||
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#8
The fourth Syrian neighbor, Lebanon, shouldn't be discounted. They could do two things to put Syria in a hole, particularly if done in concert with Israel (informally, of course): 1) crack down on the Paleos and 2) 'allow' their air space to be used by Israel.
Michael Totten has written a fair bit on how the Lebanese don't see Israel as an enemy, and in fact would like nothing better than good relations with Israel and the Syrians out of their country. This is true not only for the Maronites but also for the Druze and even a lot of the Shi'a. Seems that close contact with the Syrians has led to a fair bit of contempt. It's the famous Assad charm, methinks.
Israel moving north and northeast, Lebanon quietly cooperating, Jordan sitting on its hands, Turkey providing quiet help from its border, and US troops doing 'hot pursuit' from Iraq -- all spells the end for Doc Assa.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/19/2006 11:32 Comments ||
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#9
Israel could force the issue by threatening to invade Syria
When Turkey threated to invade Syria, Assad backed down real fast, closing down the training camps.
Posted by: john ||
06/19/2006 12:03 Comments ||
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#10
The proverbial Kick Me sticker on Syrias back.
#11
in the years before the 6 day war, Israel considered the deployment of Iraqi or KSA forces to Jordan a potential threat and casus belli, but that was with a very insecure border. I doubt very much that division of RG troops would threaten todays much stronger Israeli position on the Golan, enought to provoke a preemptive war.
IF its true that RG are going to Syria, its MUCH more likely that the purpose is to intervene in internal Syrian affairs, to provide the regime with a loyal body guard at a time when loyalties are in flux.
#12
I tend to agree with LH though I suppose that Iran may simply be trying to increase the potential cost of a move against Hezbollah by Israel that might come in conjunction with any move against the nuke sites.
Still, this sounds like typical dramatic spin by Debka on something that's been happening for a while. I saw an interesting post about a month ago by Michael Totten but cannot find th link. It showed observation towers built by Hezbollah on the border and included interviews with Israeli soldiers describing their uses. It's clear Iran already has an electronic presence near Israel for monitoring purposes.
#13
I'm a little puzzled. There is no way for Iranian troops to get to Syria by land without passing through Iraq or Turkey, unlikely to happen. Iraq doesn't have the airlift to move a significant number of troops and again, a look at the map says they couldn't do that without Jordan and Saudi permission. The only other approach is sealift through the Suez canal. I think this is more of the Arab / Persian propensity for grandiloquent prose than a real threat.
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
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
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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.
British forces have scored dramatic successes against the Taliban during a lightning push deep into the lawless regions of southern Afghanistan, senior commanders revealed yesterday. The scale and effect of the operation had not previously emerged but the British force in southern Afghanistan has advanced 75 miles into the insurgents' stronghold leaving dozens of Taliban dead. Despite suffering one dead and two seriously wounded last week, Operation Mountain Thrust has forced the insurgents out of villages and recovered areas not held by security forces for 30 years. The full range of military hardware has been used against the Islamist guerrillas, including artillery from 7 Parachute Regiment and the Royal Horse Artillery and four attacks mounted by Apache helicopters using machineguns, missiles and rockets.
(KUNA) -- At least 12 Taliban are said to have been killed in two separate attacks by foreign and Afghan forces in Afghanistan's most volatile province of Helmand on Sunday.
2 die in Rab 'crossfire'
(KUNA) -- A former "Belmarsh detainee" (a prison in south London) described as a senior member of a terrorist group linked with Osama Bin Laden has been deported from Britain, the British Home Office has confirmed. The man, who can only be identified by the initial "I", was returned to Algeria yesterday after voluntarily dropping his appeal against deportation moves by the Government. He was the second Algerian terror suspect to be removed from the UK on national security grounds, following last Friday's departure of another Algerian known as "V".
A JURY has today found Sydney architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi guilty of three terrorism-related charges. A seven-week trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court was told that in October 2003 the 36-year-old was planning a bombing attack, motivated by violent jihad. 
TUNCELI: Turkish forces killed three Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas in eastern Turkey on Sunday, while a bomb on a rail track wrecked a cargo train in the same region, military officials said. Soldiers, supported from the air, attacked a group of 13 Kurdish guerrillas in the mountainous province of Tunceli and killed three, an army official said. The operation continued with extra troops being sent to the area. Earlier on Sunday, PKK members laid a bomb on a rail track which exploded as a cargo train passed, flipping 12 carriages and leaving eight unusable, another military official said.
HANGU: Militants fired a missile at Hangu city in the early hours of Sunday morning that hit the Kata Country camp, an Afghan refugee camp. No injuries or casualties were reported in the attack that was fired from an unknown place. Hangu District Police Officer Muhammad Khaliq Khan said the attack was a terrorist act.
MIRANSHAH: Security forces on Sunday gunned down two suspected tribal militants and wounded another in response to an attack on their check-post in 
RAMADI, Iraq (AP) - A U.S. gunship fired at suspected insurgents as hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi troops pushed into an eastern section of one of Iraq's most violent cities early Monday, the latest step in a campaign to bolster their presence in neighborhoods largely under insurgent control.
(KUNA) -- A number of Iraqis were killed an many others were wounded Saturday in spite of the ongoing Iraq security plan by the government which went into its fourth phase today. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a statement that the forces arrested 122 insurgents and killed three others during several operations. Despite of the security plan conducted by the Iraqi forces, 39 Iraqis were killed and 149 were injured in a wave of insurgent attacks in Iraq.
(KUNA) -- Unknown gunmen on Sunday abducted 10 bakery workers in Kadhimiya area, northern Baghdad. Iraqi police sources announced that the bakery workers were abducted this morning and were taken to an unknown destination.
(KUNA) -- Five Iraqis were killed on Sunday in different incidents in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, announced the Iraqi police. A press release issued by the Joint Coordination Center said that three brothers, one of them was an officer in the dissolved Iraqi army, were killed by gunmen near the health center of the town of Meqdadiya, north of Baquba. The press release added that a teacher was killed by gunmen fire in Baquba, while another civilian was killed by gunmen near the Teachers Institute in the city.
(KUNA) -- Four Iraqi civilians were injured Sunday when an unidentified militant threw a hand bomb inside a wine store in Kirkuk. A source from Iraqi Police in Kirkuk told KUNA the explosion that occurred at Al-Jomhori Street injured the shop owner, a Christian, and three other civilians who were close to the scene.
(KUNA) -- An Iraqi civilian was killed Sunday and at least nine injured when a booby-trapped car exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. An Iraqi police source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that the explosion was targeting American troops, but no information was available about casualties among them. The explosion caused severe damage to a hotel nearby in addition to a number of houses and stores, said the source.
(KUNA) -- The Brigades of Martyr Ahmad Aburriesh, the military arm of Fateh, on Sunday announced responsibility for firing four missiles on Majdal city in southern Israel. The brigades said in a press release that its members fired four "Somod 3" type missiles on the city, noting that the attack comes in response for the Israeli continuous aggression against the Palestinians.
(KUNA) -- The Israeli occupation forces on Sunday infiltrated into Nablus and enforced a curfew in a number of residential neighborhoods. Eyewitnesses said the occupation forces entered the city from more than one direction and gathered in the Old Town area in Nablus. The forces forced the evacuation of some buildings before executing a search. Radio Israel said the operation aimed at arresting individuals wanted by the Israeli authorities.
(KUNA) -- Salah Al-Din brigades, military wing of popular resistant committees, claimed Sunday responsibility for rockets' attacks on a number of Israeli targets. The brigades said in a statement that seven rockets were launched on two Jewish settlements and an Israeli military position. The statement added that Israeli confirmed the attack which resulted in the cut of electric supplies in the Zakeem area near Sderot city.
(KUNA) -- The Sri Lankan navy and Tamil rebels Saturday exchanged heavy fire off the country's north western coast leaving at least 11 sailors and 30 rebels dead. Six civilians were also killed and 44 others injured in two separate incidents in the same area following the clash at the sea, news agency Indo-Asian News Service reported.
DEBKAfile: New Syria-Iranian defense treaty opens way for Iran`s Revolutionary Guards to deploy on Israels Golan border by summers end. Iranian defense minister Gen. Mustafa Najjar said: Syrias security is part of Irans security, when he signed a new military treaty with his visiting Syrian counterpart, Gen. Hassan Turkmani (picture) in Tehran last Thursday June 15. Sunday, June 18, Israels parliamentary foreign affairs and defense committee inspected its northern border, along with the deputy chief of staff Moshe Kaplinsky and OC Northern command Udi Adam. Both Tehran and Damascus referred to the tour as Israels response to their new treaty. 
