GARMSIR, Afghanistan, July 19 -- Marines pushing deep into a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province battled insurgents in a day of firefights around a key bazaar Sunday, as an operation designed as a U.S. show of force confronted resistance from Taliban fighters as well as constraints on supplies and manpower.
Insurgents at times showed unexpected boldness as they used machine guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to fight the advancing Marine forces. Although the Marines overpowered the Taliban with more sophisticated weapons, including attack helicopters, the clashes also indicated that the drive by about 4,500 Marines to dislodge the Taliban from its heartland in Helmand is running up against logistical hurdles.
The firefights erupted a day after the Marines raided Lakari Bazaar in Garmsir district, a market that the Taliban has long used to store and make weapons and drugs, as well as to levy taxes on civilians. The Taliban until now had free rein in the area because there had been virtually no Western or Afghan government presence.
"This has been their turf for a long time, and now we are in here, invading their space," said Capt. John Sun, Fox Company commander, at his makeshift headquarters in a fabric stall inside the bazaar. "The bazaar was a huge financial and logistics base for the Taliban, and they want to get that back."
The Marine advance began Friday when Fox Company, a unit of roughly 200 Marines, traveled in open-back trucks on a grueling, overnight journey east and south through the desert to avoid routes implanted with bombs. The Taliban has littered the main routes in Garmsir with roadside bombs, called improvised explosive devices or IEDs, forcing U.S. commanders to bar most travel by military vehicles on those roads. The number of IED attacks in southern Afghanistan has surged 78 percent over the past year, with much of the increase in Helmand.
Arriving at Lakari Bazaar at daybreak Saturday for the raid, the Marines went door to door, using explosives, rifles and axes to break into each store.
"Breaching!" yelled Lance Cpl. Travis Koehler, 21, of Fountain Valley, Calif., as he shot off a lock with his MK-12 marksman's rifle and kicked open the door for a team of Marines to enter. "All clear!"
Afghan soldiers advised by British troops searched the market and together with the Marines uncovered mortars, grenades, ammunition, and thousands of 100-pound bags of opium poppy and bomb-making materials, as well as facilities where the bombs and drugs were produced. They found tax receipts and recruiting leaflets calling on young men to join the Taliban and kill British and U.S. troops.
"The bazaar has been used by the Taliban as a staging area, weapons cache and profit base," by taxing local vendors, Sun said.
The Taliban had left the market before the raid, however, and only a handful of shopkeepers were around, leaving it deserted but for a few cats and donkeys.
Late Saturday, Sun received word that the Taliban was regrouping in a nearby village across a canal to the west. At 3 a.m. Sunday, he launched 2nd Platoon, which includes dozens of Marines, on a foot patrol to investigate. At about 8, the patrol moved into an open field, where it was ambushed by Taliban fighters positioned in two tree lines to the south and east.
When Taliban fighters fired the first shot with an AK-47 assault rifle, Sgt. Benjamin Pratt thought one of his Marines had discharged a round accidentally, he recounted. "Hey, who shot?" he called back to his squad. But within seconds, the men realized they were under fire.
"Where is the . . . fire coming from?!" shouted Lance Cpl. James Faddis, 21, of Annapolis, Md. Faddis, in his first firefight, was the M-240 machine gunner for a weapons team that had advanced farther across the field than any other Marines and initially took the most direct fire from Taliban rifles and machine guns. Bullets were cracking around their heads and kicking up dust nearby.
"Get your gun up!" yelled Cpl. Jonathan Kowalski, 25, of Erie, Pa., ordering the Marines to fire toward the tree line to the south, where he saw muzzle flashes and Taliban fighters in dark dishdashas running between positions.
The insurgents began firing mortar rounds, honing their aim until one landed just 150 yards from the Marines. The Marines called in mortars of their own, which were fired from the bazaar onto the tree line, causing a few minutes' lull in the fighting.
Faddis and his team scrambled and crawled to a better position, but on the way Kowalski dropped his radio. So he and the other machine gunners had to shout to the infantrymen to indicate they could move forward.
Sgt. Deacon Holton bounded into the soggy field along with Cpl. Clayton Bowman and other Marines, running and slipping through knee-deep mud saturated from recent irrigation.
As the Marines maneuvered, a Huey and a Cobra attack helicopter flew in low overhead, circling above to spot the fighters. Capt. Brian Hill, the forward air controller, put on a bright orange panel and wore it like a cape to identify the Marine position.
Often Taliban fighters flee when helicopters arrive, Sun said, but this time they stayed, and attempted to fire a rocket-propelled grenade at one of the aircraft. The Huey made two strafing runs with its Gatling guns over the tree lines, while the Cobra fired missiles, finally ending the firefight. The helicopter crew spotted at least two dead Taliban fighters.
Although the Marines asked to pursue the Taliban fighters south, more senior commanders denied the request. Sun said he thinks the problem was a lack of helicopters to provide air power and to evacuate any possible casualties, as well as roads that had not been cleared of bombs.
"Due to the limited numbers of helicopters available, it would not have been in our best interest to get decisively engaged," Sun said. In addition, moving south would leave the bazaar open to attack, he said.
But some Marines voiced disappointment at not being able to track the Taliban, saying that decision may have allowed the insurgents to stage fresh attacks on the bazaar later in the afternoon. Faddis, Kowalski and their machine-gunning team were on guard duty in a mud-brick structure in the market that had a window facing fields to the south when shots broke out from a nearby compound. Faddis spotted a target and fired back. "They're moving out of the compound!" one Marine yelled, unleashing another volley of machine-gun fire.
The gun battle was complicated by the presence of women, children and shepherds in adjacent fields. Having staked out a claim in Lakari Bazaar, Sun said, the question remains whether his company should continue to hold this relatively strung-out position or pull back, knowing such a move would allow the Taliban to return, at least temporarily. "That's a dilemma," Sun said.
#1
WaPo headline this AM a tad misleading. They cited logistics problems - I thought some big deal creating major problems for the advance - the body of the article shows its a road not yet cleared of IEDs (a solvable problem) and a shortage of choppers.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/20/2009 11:33 Comments ||
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#2
"Where is the . . . fire coming from?!" shouted Lance Cpl. James Faddis
I think there was a word or two left out there....lol
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/20/2009 13:07 Comments ||
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#3
What the Hawk says and the new tactical directive.
Specifically, the directive calls on commanders to scrutinize and limit the use of force like close air support against residential compounds and other locations likely to produce civilian casualties. Bombing residential compounds will be allowed only under very limited conditions, the directive says. For example, if a coalition force comes in contact with Taliban fighters and the enemy takes cover in a residential compound, the NATO force can break contact and wait out the enemy rather than calling for close-air support.
The gun battle was complicated by the presence of women, children and shepherds in adjacent fields
#5
It was the "good war" while they were bitching and moaning about Iraq. Iraq's won now, so we need an "exit strategy" for Afghanistan.
Christ, they're predictable. And slimy.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 13:17 Comments ||
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#6
Insurgents at times showed unexpected boldness..
Knowing what the Marines tend to do when folks shoot at them, they showed 'unexpected ignorance', too.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/20/2009 14:12 Comments ||
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#7
Specifically, the directive calls on commanders "to scrutinize and limit the use of force like close air support against residential compounds and other locations likely to produce civilian casualties."
That is the ROE set by the new commanderf in chief. Many fine men will die due to it while Libs sit in thetr fat a..s smoking pot.
#8
"It was the "good war" while they were bitching and moaning about Iraq. Iraq's won now, so we need an "exit strategy" for Afghanistan.
Christ, they're predictable. And slimy."
Keep that arrow in the quiver. Biden is moaning (and even he isn't saying withdraw now, just saying dont add troops, instead "redefine victory conditions"). I don't know of anyone else in the admin doing that. Certainly we are still adding troops, IIUC. Still backing the Petraues strategy. Obama hasn't YET gone back on the "good war" approach. If and WHEN he does, he will have some major league 'splainin to do, I agree. Meanwhiles, the USMC is making headway in Helmand, and Holbrooke and McCrystals mission is to WIN in AFPAK.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/20/2009 14:49 Comments ||
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#9
BTW, I think y'all are misreading the tactical situation described in the article. The USMC hit hard in the field outside Lakari Bazaar, INCLUDING with choppers, DESPITE the presence of civilians nearby (civilians in the fields aint the same as civilians in compounds, and IIUC even the latter are not 100% off limits)
AFTER that, the Talibs, having lost 2 fighters, ran away (in good Pashtun fashion). The question THEN was to pursue or not, and the higher ups vetoed. Its good the Marines on the ground are so aggressive, I guess. But, from my limited understanding, holding for the logistics tail to catch up (like clearing the road behind of IEDs) make sense. This isnt Napoleon or Guderian striking the knockout blow. Killing a few more talibs in pursuit doesnt buy you that much, and endangering hold of a key community where you still need to hold and build is not worth the risk, I guess.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/20/2009 14:55 Comments ||
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#11
the clashes also indicated that the drive by about 4,500 Marines to dislodge the Taliban from its heartland in Helmand is running up against logistical hurdles.
Logistical hurdles? Can someone explain this to me? This would suggest that troops, supplies, or air support are not being provided as needed.
#17
Typical WaPo surrender-monkey perspective. Better title might be something like "Taliban Flee In Disarray In the Face of Relentless Pursuit by US Marines," or maybe "Taliban Whimper Like Women as US Marines Stomp Their Asses."
[Iran Press TV Latest] Over 40 members of an anti-Iran terrorist group have been killed during deadly fighting with Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
Sixty members of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) had entered Afghanistan with the help of intelligence forces from the United Arab Emirates with the aim of carrying out raids in Iran, Pouya News reported on Sunday.
The group, which was faced with strong resistance from the Iranian troops stationed on the border attempted to withdraw when it came under heavy Taliban fire from the Afghan side.
The deadly battle left over 40 MKO terrorists and an unknown number of Taliban militants dead, Pouya News said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Wait, what?!?
This strikes me as pretty bizarre. And by "pretty bizarre" I mean "It's Press TV Iran, so it's probably not true." Then again, Iran blamed MKO for the Reza Shrine bombing in 1994(?), and that was a Ramzi Yousef operation.
So could we be seeing renewed MKO-Baluch cooperation? And under the aegis of a Gulf State intelligence agency? And what, exactly, is the Taliban interest here?
#8
Iran trots out the MKO regularly as part whipping boy, part straw man. There's no telling how much, if any, truth is involved in this story.
Verlaine and Bodyguard would know a lot more about it than I do, but I'm guessing it's been at least six years since they were an active organization. They fell into our hands as a Saddam-sponsored commie organization directed against Iran. We don't generically get along well with commie organizations, and much less so during the Bush years. So it's not like they became an instrument of American policy on May 1st, 2003. They're protected persons under the 4th Geneva convention, and I think we probably use them as an occasional boogeyman against the ayatollahs, but if they're an active subversion group that'd jeopardize their status. As a condition of the cease-fire agreement, the group relinquished its weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery.
Jamestown.org has a decent discussion of MKO. FAS has a write-up on them, too, but I don't think anybody's tracking them closely these days, except for Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 13:38 Comments ||
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#9
"We don't generically get along well with commie organizations, and much less so during the Bush years."
Quibble. The Iraqi Communist Party has generally played a positive role in post-2003 Iraq, supportig secularism, opposing sectarianism, opposing the armed insurgency. Only good criticism I could make would be that IIUC they take a fairly unreasonable position on the oil law, but thats hardly a deal killer (Iraq will probably end up with a govt run oil industry anyway)
IIUC at least some Iranian Communist elements have promise to behave similarly.
MKO, OTOH, has been Saddam backed and has used more or less overtly terrorist means. thats the problem, not residual pseudo leninism.
The role of communist parties depends on history and on local social conditions.
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/20/2009 15:01 Comments ||
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#10
tw: Yeah, all of his Winds stuff is still there, plus the many articles he posted here, along with a few comments, as well as a few odd articles in other places. I thought most of his regnum crucis blog work was lost, but more of it survived on internet wayback machine than I remembered.
Some of the US gov't information on the Iranian nuclear program supposedly came from MeK. That's really the last time I'd heard of them cropping up in a major news story, other than the "strange stories of the Iraqi occupation" variety.
I'd always taken the position that the Iranian government's view of the 1994 shrine bombing was correct: there was MeK invovlement. But also, Ramzi Yousef was involved, and he had a Lashkar e Jhangvi background. B. Raman had a somewhat rambling article touching on these points back in 2002. http://southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers5%5Cpaper484.html
On the face of it, I think it makes sense. Lashkar e Jhangvi is (name changes notwithstanding) a strongly anti-Shia organization, as are the Baluch people as a whole. MeK was obviously opposed to the Iranian regime. The common thread was Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
So my interest in this article is mainly historical, although the allegations in the article are interesting. MeK comes into Afghanistan to cross into Iran. So this is W. Afghanistan, obviously. And there are Baluch there, so I would presume that Baluch are the vector. Iran Press TV claims that the MeK turned back, and were engaged by Taliban. Taliban are Pashtun...
I take Fred's point about Iran using MeK as an all-purpose hobgoblin. I recall a recent statement where some government official claimed the student protesters were in contact with MKO, which is of course ridiculous. But I'd really like to know if there's truth to this article.
[Quqnoos] Villagers in the eastern Nangarhar province killed at least three insurgents and held 11 others, officials said.
Not exactly the Welcome Wagon, that.
"Yew ain't from 'round here, are yew"?
The 11 detained militants who are Pakistani citizens said they were told that 'infidels' rule in Afghanistan.
A top police official in the province said that a group of Taliban militants raided the house of a police officer in Achin district Friday night but the locals took arm and fought the insurgents. "Two of the killed Taliban insurgents were foreigners," said Gen Mohammad Ayub Salangi, Nangarhar's Police Chief. The official further said that a senior Taliban commander has been also killed in the fighting with the villagers.
Definitely not the Welcome Wagon.
This is the first time that locals in Afghanistan stood against Taliban insurgents. The 11 detained militants who are Pakistani citizens said they were told that 'infidels' rule in Afghanistan. Local villagers in Achin district of Nangarhar have agreed to do not allow any armed group to operate in the district.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Remember the guns that were being issued to the local villages? Afghan version of the 2nd Amendment?
A suicide bomber on Sunday killed five persons, including three Afghan police officers, in an attack on an Afghan police border post at Torkham, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.
It said there were other casualties in the attack, in which the bomber struck a border control gate on the Afghan side of the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham. Earlier, a suicide bomber dressed as a woman had killed two people at the Torkham crossing on June 30.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Terrorists killed two Algerian soldiers on Saturday (July 18th) in Tizi Ouzou province, Tout sur l'Algerie reported. The two victims, dressed in civilian clothes, were reportedly shopping in the town of Tabarkoukt, Béni Aissi commune, when terrorists targeted them with automatic weapons. One day after the attack, General Ahmed Gaid Salah, chief of staff of the Algerian Army, made a surprise visit to Tizi Ouzou -- his second trip to the region since September 2008. Salah was to preside over a large meeting of military forces in the area on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] A firefight in Nouakchott Friday night (July 17th) led to the arrests of two suspects in the fatal shooting of American NGO worker Christopher Leggett, ANI reported. One of the men had an explosive belt around his body that did not detonate, Mauritanian national security chief Mohamed Lemine Ould Ahmed said Saturday, adding that the incident occurred at a residence near the El Kast market, close to where Leggett was gunned down July 23rd.
Two other members of the same alleged terror cell based in northern Mali were arrested on June 27th. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for Leggett's murder.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Four senior Laskar-e-Taiyeba leaders who are hiding in Bangladesh are also serving as teachers in different madrasas of the country providing their fake identities like detained Mufti Obaidullah, detective branch (DB) sources said. Of the four, Indian national Moulana Mansur Ali and Pakistani national Moulana Habibullah are teachers of two madrasas in Dhaka while two others outside the capital, according to the sources. Sources, however, refused to disclose the names of two other Indian fugitive militants.
Meanwhile, DB police are also looking into whether Obaidulla had links to the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally, and bomb attacks at Ramna Batamul and Udichi function in Jessore.
DB sources said on the first day of seven-day remand, Indian militant Mufti Obaidullah confessed that Laskar-e-Taiyeba and like minded Asif Reza Commando Force (ARCF) mainly expanded their networks through former fighters from Afghanistan and Kashmir wars and also through the students of Deoband madrasa. Sources suspect that qawmi madrasas have a vital role in setting up of the network as these madrasas gave them shelters and teaching jobs by accepting their fake identities. Besides, among the militant organisations active in the country, the Indian militants have closest links with the leaders of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami (Huji), sources added.
The DB officials also suspect that Pakistan-based militant organisation Laskar-e-Taiyeba and ARCF provide them financial assistance to carry out its activities in Bangladesh and the money is supplied by hand.
Deputy Commissioner Monirul Islam of DB-South told The Daily Star that the Laskar-e-Taiyeba leaders are working as madrasa teachers in different parts of the country. He said Laskar-e-Taiyeba leaders have links to various militant organisations in the country but they are very much close to the Huji leaders. He also said Obaidullah had close contacts with Huji leaders Abdur Rouf, Mufti Hannan, Moulana Tajuddin, Moulana Abdus Salam as all the militant leaders were also Afghan war veterans.
Monirul said Mufti Obaidullah would be grilled in the Taskforce Intelligence cell from today.
Assistant Commissioner Sanwar Hossain of DB told The Daily Star that during the preliminary interrogation, Obaidullah so far disclosed the names of 26 people, including six Huji leaders. Of the six Huji leaders, two have been detained by the law-enforcers, AC Sanwar said adding, "Obaidullah said that there are some similarities between Laskar-e-Taiyeba and Huji. But they do not work like Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh."
This article starring:
ABDUR RUF
Huji
MUFTI HANNAN
Huji
MUFTI OBAIDULLAH
Lashkar-e-Taiba
MULANA ABDUS SALAM
Huji
MULANA HABIBULLAH
Lashkar-e-Taiba
MULANA MANSUR ALI
Lashkar-e-Taiba
MULANA TAJUDIN
Huji
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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MUMBAI: Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving 26/11 terrorist, told the special court that he decided to confess to his crime as he came to know that Pakistan has admitted that he was its national. ( Watch )
Following is the excerpt between judge M L Tahilyani and Kasab:
JUDGE: "Aaj achanak aapne kyun confess kiya? Jab pehle charges frame hue toh tab kyun nahi kiya? (Why are you suddenly confessing? Why did you not confess when the charges were framed earlier?)"
KASAB: "Pehle Pakistan ne yeh nahi mana tha ki main unka hoon. Aaj maan liya hai. Isiliye main bayan de raha hoon. (Initially, Pakistan had not accepted my nationality. Now that they have, I am confessing)"
JUDGE: "Aapko kaise pata chala ki Pakistan ne maan liya hai? (How do you know that Pakistan has admitted?)"
KASAB: "Bas mujhe pata chala. Maine suna ki Pakistan ne kaha ki Kasab yahan ka hai. (I just came to know. I heard that Pakistan has said that Kasab is from there.)"
JUDGE: "Kya tum kisi tarah ke dabav main ho bayan dene ke liye. (Are you under some pressure to confess?)"
KASAB: "Nahi. (No.)"
Posted by: john frum ||
07/20/2009 11:29 ||
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The lone surviving gunman in the November Mumbai attacks admitted his role in the shooting rampage in a dramatic confession Monday in an Indian court, reversing months of denials.
Pakistani Ajmal Kasab, on trial since April 17 in a special court, stood up just as a prosecution witness was to take the stand and addressed the judge. "Sir, I plead guilty to my crime," he said, triggering a collective gasp in the courtroom.
Judge M.L. Tahiliyani, who also was apparently taken aback, called lawyers from both sides to figure out the significance of Kasab's statement.
A total of 166 people were killed in the attacks by 10 gunmen in Mumbai, India's financial capital, that began Nov. 26. It ended three days later with troops storming the Taj Mahal Hotel where some gunmen were holed up.
It was not immediately clear what prompted Kasab, 21, to make the statement after consistently denying he was guilty.
"Everybody in the court was shocked the moment he said he accepts his crime. It was unexpected," public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said. "We have finally extracted the truth."
Harish Salve, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, said it was not clear if Kasab confessed voluntarily. "I am sorry to play the party spoiler. But I hope he doesn't come the day after and give it another twist," he said.
Majid Memon, another lawyer, said the only question that needs to be answered now is "whether this admission today ... in this important trial is voluntary or involuntary."
If the confession holds up in court it will be a big boost to India's claims that terrorist groups in Pakistan were behind the attack, and that Islamabad was not doing enough to clamp down on them.
Late last month the special court also issued arrest warrants for 22 Pakistani nationals accused of masterminding the attacks. India blames Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The founder of the group, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, was arrested with two other senior figures by Pakistani authorities in December.
A court in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore freed Saeed, a hard-line Islamic cleric, in June saying there was no evidence against him. The federal government will appeal the verdict. In his statement Monday, Kasab named Saeed as a conspirator.
Posted by: ed ||
07/20/2009 09:30 ||
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The army is investigating whether Swat Taliban chief Fazlullah, said to have been wounded in an airstrike, delivered a recent radio address, a spokesman said on Sunday. Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed that the military is looking into the reports but said it is possible that it was an older recording being played. Fazlullah has long used illegal FM radio transmissions to rally Taliban and sow fear among residents in the Swat valley.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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Security forces on Sunday said they had killed three terrorists and arrested another, as they continued search and clearance operations in Swat. "During an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists at Mauja Kandao, three terrorists were killed and one was apprehended," the ISPR said.
Security forces conducted a search operation in Goal near Sakhra and destroyed four terrorist havens. They carried out another search operation at Kanju and recovered eight rifles, two pistols and ammunition. Forces also conducted search operations at Chaprai Banda and destroyed two terrorist training centres, the house of a terrorist commander, and a 25-metre tunnel.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Frontier Corps (FC) troops claimed to have arrested an alleged suicide bomber, rcovering explosive materials from his possession near Satellite Town in Quetta on Sunday, Geo news reported. According to police, the FC troops issued a suspected bicycle rider the indication to stop. Subsequently, the rider, identified as Samiullah, tried to flee from the scene getting himself arrested. FC also claimed of seizure of explosive materials during search including two hand grenade bombs and five-kilogram explosive materials, sources said. A suicide bomb belt was also captured from his possession, sources concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Security forces and police in a joint search operation arrested 54 suspected militants and recovered arms in different parts of the district on Sunday. Arms, including six kilogram of explosives, two Kalashnikovs, four rifles, six pistols and several cartridges, were recovered from them.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Farouq al-Qaddoumi, a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official has left Amman and headed to Syria, after Jordan asked him to leave the country.
Jordanian authorities officially asked al-Qaddoumi to leave Jordan after his last Sunday statements regarding a plot that led to the assassination of Yasser Arafat, the Israeli Radio reported on Sunday.
Qaddoumi had accused the acting Palestinian Authority Chief, Mahmoud Abbas, and Fatah leader, Mohammad Dahlan, of collaboration with several US security officials and former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to assassinate Arafat while he was surrounded by the Israeli army in his Ramallah headquarters.
The Executive Committee of the PLO said on Saturday that Qaddoumi's statements harm the Palestinian cause and only serve Israeli interests. They have decided to call for a meeting for the Central Council to make a decision against Qaddoumi.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Git out an' STAY out!!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/20/2009 13:32 Comments ||
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Terrorists Suspected separatist militants in Thailand's restive south have shot dead three men in separate fresh attacks, police said Monday.
They said a 31-year-old man was killed in drive-by shooting in Pattani province Monday morning. A day earlier in neighboring Yala province, a 48-year-old rubber plantation owner was shot dead in an ambush as he returned home by motorbike on Sunday evening.
In Narathiwat province, a 65-year-old gold seller was shot five times by four militants who opened fire through his shop door. He died in hospital later.
Lebanese intelligence forces have arrested another man on suspicion of spying for Israel amid an anti-espionage crackdown in the country.
The man identified as Kamal Assaf was arrested in the southern region of Bekaa valley on charges of spying for Israel's notorious intelligence agency, Mossad on Saturday, Naharnet reported.
Since the beginning of a major crackdown on spy networks earlier this year, Lebanese security forces have dismantled several Israeli espionage rings and arrested dozens of suspects on charges ranging from providing Israel with information to help its armed forces to visiting "the enemy country" -Israel -- without permission.
Most of the detainees were reportedly equipped with high-tech espionage apparatus.
Last week, a Lebanese car dealer was sentenced to life in prison for providing Israel with intelligence on Lebanese Army's positions and the country's resistance movement, Hezbollah. He could face a death penalty.
The security forces say that they will continue to identify and arrest the people who spy for Israeli intelligence agencies.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Now that gotta stop before they arrest a real one.
#2
All the Christians, 90% of the Muslims (including half of the members of Hezbullah), and 75% of the "furriners" in Lebanon ALL spy for Israel. Not to mention the dogs, cats, and spurned or badly used goats that report EVERYTHING, whether it's true or not. The only people NOT spying for Israel are you and your partner, and I ain't exactly sure about YOU!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/20/2009 6:36 Comments ||
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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.
GARMSIR, Afghanistan, July 19 -- Marines pushing deep into a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province battled insurgents in a day of firefights around a key bazaar Sunday, as an operation designed as a U.S. show of force confronted resistance from Taliban fighters as well as constraints on supplies and manpower. 
A suicide bomber on Sunday killed five persons, including three Afghan police officers, in an attack on an Afghan police border post at Torkham, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.
[Maghrebia] A firefight in Nouakchott Friday night (July 17th) led to the arrests of two suspects in the fatal shooting of American NGO worker Christopher Leggett, ANI reported. One of the men had an explosive belt around his body that did not detonate, Mauritanian national security chief Mohamed Lemine Ould Ahmed said Saturday, adding that the incident occurred at a residence near the El Kast market, close to where Leggett was gunned down July 23rd.
[Bangla Daily Star] Four senior Laskar-e-Taiyeba leaders who are hiding in Bangladesh are also serving as teachers in different madrasas of the country providing their fake identities like detained 
The army is investigating whether Swat Taliban chief Fazlullah, said to have been wounded in an airstrike, delivered a recent radio address, a spokesman said on Sunday. Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed that the military is looking into the reports but said it is possible that it was an older recording being played. Fazlullah has long used illegal FM radio transmissions to rally Taliban and sow fear among residents in the Swat valley.
Security forces on Sunday said they had killed three terrorists and arrested another, as they continued search and clearance operations in Swat. "During an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists at Mauja Kandao, three terrorists were killed and one was apprehended," the ISPR said.
[Geo News] Frontier Corps (FC) troops claimed to have arrested an alleged suicide bomber, rcovering explosive materials from his possession near Satellite Town in Quetta on Sunday, Geo news reported. According to police, the FC troops issued a suspected bicycle rider the indication to stop. Subsequently, the rider, identified as Samiullah, tried to flee from the scene getting himself arrested. FC also claimed of seizure of explosive materials during search including two hand grenade bombs and five-kilogram explosive materials, sources said. A suicide bomb belt was also captured from his possession, sources concluded.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Farouq al-Qaddoumi, a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official has left Amman and headed to Syria, after Jordan asked him to leave the country. 
