Forty Taliban were killed in air strikes to take back a district of Afghanistan captured by Islamist rebels while a British soldier was killed in a separate clash, officials said Friday.
Afghan and NATO-led ground forces supported by international military air support launched an offensive on Wednesday to retake Ajristan, 200 kilometres (124 miles) southwest of Kabul, after rebels stormed in Monday. "Over 40 Taliban fighters were killed and 30 were wounded in an overnight coalition air strike in Ajristan district," Ghazni province spokesman Ismail Jahangir told AFP as the operation continued Friday for a third day.
The district governor, who fled after the Taliban captured the district, confirmed the air strike casualties and said two civilians also died. "On top of 40 Taliban killed and 30 wounded, we have information that two civilians were also killed in the bombing," Rad Mohammad Waziri told AFP. International forces could not immediately confirm the air strike.
Fifteen militants were killed on the first day of the operation by joint Afghan and international forces, Jahangir said earlier.
Ajristan was also captured by Taliban insurgents in October last year and was retaken the following day, when about 300 security forces moved into the small district centre. Taliban have captured several mainly remote districts in the past but have not been able to hold most of them for long, although there are a handful in southern Helmand province that security forces admit are in rebel control.
A British army dog handler and his explosives sniffer dog were killed Thursday in Helmand when they came under fire while on patrol, the Ministry of Defence in London said. Six other soldiers were also injured, although not seriously.
Meanwhile, in the western province of Farah, a roadside bomb apparently intended to hit Afghan or NATO troops blew up a civilian vehicle and killed three people, said Akramudin Yawar, police commander for western Afghanistan. He blamed the attack on the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Even with all that fresh meat living with the 72 virgins, there has to be a few equivalent company level and battalion level leaders taking dirt naps with them.
The death toll from clashes between Ethiopian forces and Somali Islamist fighters rose to 18 after villagers found nine more bodies Friday, witnesses said. Fighting erupted Thursday when Ethiopian troops came under insurgent attack in Beledweyne town, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, prompting a return of fire that killed nine civilians.
"We sent a committee to asses the casualties and they confirmed at least 18 civilians, most of them nomads who brought livestock to the town, were killed in two days," said Osman Sheik Mohamed, a local elder. He added that thousands of civilians had been displaced.
"Some of the dead were collected from outside the town where they were killed in the crossfire," said Hadi Abdi Yusuf, a local aid worker.
Residents said the clashes raged for a second day Friday with the rival sides firing artillery shells at each other.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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A 'shootout', not a true 'crossfire', but we like them all the same.
Another aide of slain top criminal Pichchi Hannan was killed yesterday in a shootout between his cohorts and Rab-2 in the capital's Tejgaon industrial area.
Another #3 bites the dust ...
The deceased was identified as Shaheb Ali, 35.
Never got vested in the criminal pension plan ...
Rab-2 sources said acting on a tip-off a team of Rab-2 ...
... with thanks to Mahmoud the Weasel ...
... raided a place near the truck stand at Tejgaon where Shaheb Ali and his accomplices gathered at about 1:30am.
Just mindin' their own business, they were ...
Sensing the presence of Rab members, ...
"Hark! My spider-sense is tingling!"
... Shaheb Ali and his accomplices opened fire on the law enforcers prompting them to retaliate.
Random aimless fire aimed at the RAB of course, but just two shots by the RAB in return, one behind each of Shaheb's ears. Wonder if anyone ever does a ballistics analysis at the crime scene ...
Shaheb was killed on the spot ...
"Which spot?"
"THAT spot!"
... while his cohorts managed to escape the scene.
As if they were never there.
Rab members recovered a revolver and a bullet from the spot.
A 'shootout' doesn't get a shutter-gun ...
The body was sent to the Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy.
Just so everyone knows he's dead ...
Sources said Shaheb was accused on twelve systems in a number of cases of different charges including murder.
So his mother likely didn't love him.
Earlier in 2005, Shaheb Ali sustained bullet injuries during a gunfight between Rab and henchmen of Pichchi Hannan. Hannan and two of his accomplices were killed in the shootout.
Clearly he didn't learn from the experience ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/26/2008 12:39 ||
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At least 29 people were killed and 88 wounded when a series of small explosions hit the western Indian city of Ahmadabad on Saturday, a top official said, a day after seven similar blasts struck a southern city.
Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state where Ahmadabad is located, said at least 16 bombs went off Saturday evening in several neighborhoods of the busy city.
Modi called the blasts "a crime against humanity," and said the state government would cover the medical costs of all those wounded in the attacks.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either set of blasts, and it was not clear if they were connected but Modi said that the attacks appeared to be masterminded by a group or groups who "are using a similar modus operandi all over the country."
Distraught relatives of the wounded crowded the city's hospitals and television channels showed video footage of police officers and sniffer dogs scouring the areas that were hit.
There also were images of a bus with shattered windows, destroyed roadside stalls, twisted bicycles and charred vehicles. Most of the blasts took place in the narrow lanes of the older part of Ahmadabad, which is crowded with tightly packed homes and small businesses.
Prithviraj Chavan, a junior minister in the prime minister's office, called the explosions "deplorable" and said they were set off by people "bent upon creating a communal divide in the country"language officials usually use when blaming Islamic militants believed to be behind bombings that have repeatedly hit India's cities in recent years.
"Anti-national elements have been trying to create panic among the people of our country. Today's blasts in Ahmadabad seem to be part of the same strategy," federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters in New Delhi.
Patil provided no details about the explosions.
The latest attacks came a day after seven synchronized small bombs shook Bangalore, India's high-tech hub, killing two people and wounding at least five others.
On Saturday, police found and defused an eighth bomb near a popular shopping mall in Bangalore, said Srikumar, the director general of police in Karnataka state, where the city is located. Like many Indians, he uses only a single name.
As in past bombings in India, suspicion for both sets of explosions quickly fell on Muslim militants blamed for attacks such as the July 2006 bombings that ripped through Mumbai's commuter rail network, killing nearly 200 people.
Those fears were amplified by the history of Ahmadabad, a crowded and historic city that in 2002 was the scene of one of worst incidents of rioting between India's Hindu majority and its Muslim minority.
The violence killed about 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. It was triggered by a fire that killed 60 passengers on a train packed with Hindu pilgrims. Hindu extremists blamed the deaths on Muslims and rampaged through Muslim neighborhoods, although the cause of the blaze remains unclear. That last bit is fuzzy, I thought the train was attacked by a (muslim) mob IIRC?
#1
I work with alot of Indians. I'll ask them about this Monday. We have a mix of Hindi/Muslim. They get along at work fine but they don't mingle at lunch or after work too much.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
07/26/2008 20:18 Comments ||
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#2
Sounds like the Christians are killing Hindus again.
Posted by: allan ||
07/26/2008 20:53 Comments ||
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#3
From Reuters "Several TV channels said they had received an email from a group called the "Indian Mujahideen" at the time of the blasts. The same group claimed responsibility for eight bombs that killed 63 people in the western city of Jaipur in May."
So it looks like they are opening up the Eastern Front.
NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- Media reports say a series of explosions have hit the western Indian city of Ahmadabad. The TV reports say the blasts went off in several neighborhoods of the busy city on Saturday evening. There was no immediate police comment and it was not clear if there were any casualties. New reports indicate about 4 bombs went off.
Several Indian cities have been hit by serial blasts in recent months. The attacks have been blamed on Islamic militants.
Saturday's blasts come a day after seven small explosions hit the southern technology hub of Bangalore, killing two people.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan It was once known as the Parrots Beak, a strategic jut of Pakistan that the American-backed mujahedeen used to carry out raids on the Russians just over the border into Afghanistan. That was during the cold war.
Now the area, around the town of Parachinar, is near the center of the new kind of struggle. The Taliban have inflamed and exploited a long-running sectarian conflict that has left the town under siege.
The Taliban, which have solidified control across Pakistans tribal zone and are seeking new staging grounds to attack American soldiers in Afghanistan, have sided with fellow Sunni Muslims against an enclave of Shiites settled in Parachinar for centuries. The population of about 55,000 is short of food. The fruit crop is rotting, residents say, and the cost of a 66-pound bag of flour has skyrocketed to $100.
And, in a mini-conflict that yet again demonstrates the growing influence of the Taliban and the Pakistan governments lack of control over this highly sensitive border area, young and old, wounded and able-bodied, have become refugees in their own land.
Thousands of displaced Shiites from Parachinar are scattered among relatives in Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province, which abuts the tribal areas, and in hotels and shelters where images of Iranian religious leaders decorate the halls.
Last month, a Pakistani government relief convoy loaded with food and medicines that had been sent to break the siege was attacked by the Taliban at the village of Pir Qayyum. Many of the 22 vehicles were burned and 12 drivers were killed by the Taliban, according to government officials here and Shiites.
And little seems to be hindering the Taliban since the army, six months ago, agreed to a peace deal with the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, and has remained in its barracks.
Groups of Taliban affiliated with Mr. Mehsud, who according to the Bush administration is supported by Al Qaeda, now control wide swaths of the tribal areas, from Waziristan in the south to Bajur in the north.
From some parts of the tribal areas, like Waziristan and Mohmand, the Taliban have stepped up their operations into Afghanistan against NATO and American soldiers, cross-border attacks that have resulted in rising casualties for coalition forces over the last two months, the Bush administration said.
In Kurram, the general area where Parachinar is located, the Taliban are a relatively new phenomenon, exploiting the generations-old sectarian conflict as a way of keeping the government out of the strategically important piece of territory, the senior government official in Kurram, Azam Khan, who serves as the political agent and who organized the June convoy, said in an interview.
But Shiites say the Taliban are doing more than just keeping the government at bay. The Shiites say that because they are stopping the militants from entering Afghanistan, the Taliban are attacking them.
The situation has attracted the attention of the leading Shiite figure of Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has encouraged all Shiites in Pakistan to do what they can to help their brethren in Parachinar, said Sheik Mohammed Shifah Alnajafi, the deputy representative of Ayatollah Sistani in Pakistan, and the vice principal of a Shiite seminary in the capital, Islamabad.
About 80 percent of Pakistans overwhelmingly Muslim population is Sunni, and about 20 percent Shiite. In Kurram as a whole, the two sects are almost evenly divided, with Parachinar almost entirely Shiite, according to figures from the secretariat of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the body that loosely oversees the tribal region.
The origins of the siege reach back to April 2007, when sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis flared over provocative remarks made by a Sunni of Wahhabi beliefs against historical Shiite figures, said Muhammad Amin Shaheedi, the director of the Islamic Research Council in Islamabad, and a leader of the Shiite community in Pakistan.
But unlike previous bouts of sectarian violence that were settled by mediation after a few days, the tensions mounted, exacerbated by the Taliban, who sided with some of the Sunni, he said.
Then, last Nov. 16, the tensions exploded in a day of extraordinary violence in Parachinar and surrounding villages, including mortar fire between Sunni mosques and Shiite mosques, said M. B. Bangash, a Shiite businessman from Parachinar who has taken refuge in Peshawar.
In contrast to other parts of the tribal areas, the Pakistani Army has had a garrison in Parachinar for decades, but it failed to stop the violence, he said. The government is indifferent, Mr. Bangash said.
Some of the moderate Sunni families in Parachinar, who had often helped Shiites in conflicts, were attacked in the November fighting by extremist Shiites and were forced to flee, according to Mr. Khan, a well-regarded political agent who was appointed last month to the area in an effort by the government to reduce tensions. This left the general Shiite population feeling more vulnerable to the Taliban, he said.
But the ambush of the convoy last month proved the power of the Taliban, the displaced Shiites in Peshawar said.
A driver of one of the trucks who survived, Asif Hussain, described being captured at Pir Qayyum, taken to a Taliban training camp in the village of Shasho, interrogated and then released after convincing his captors that he was not Shiite, but Sunni.
At the camp, the Taliban killed eight other drivers because they were Shia, said Mr. Hussain, 33, in a telephone interview from Parachinar.
An official of the Pakistan Peoples Party from Parachinar, Mirza Jihadi, confirmed the existence of the Shasho camp, which, he said, is at a place where Afghan refugees used to live and is now controlled by loyalists of Mr. Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban.
The displaced in Peshawar told stories of growing hardship at home, and they complained bitterly of the failure of the government to help.
I want to go home but the government does not provide any transportation, said Mohib Ali, 45, at a hotel here, as he nursed a bandaged right arm that was wounded, he said, in fighting.
He had spent the previous day at the Peshawar airport hoping to board a military helicopter that he had been told would take civilians back to Parachinar. But instead, he said, it filled up with soldiers returning after leave, and a few favored others with good contacts.
The army garrison in the town had done little to help, and had failed to organize major food supplies, said Haji Gulab Hussain, a retired government official who leads a Shiite tribal council.
The lower-ranking soldiers are ready for any action, he said. But the army is supporting the Taliban. There are no orders. During the November violence, he said, The army did nothing.
Parachinar has prided itself on the best education in the tribal areas since the British colonial era, so the closing of schools since the violence began is a special blow, some of the displaced said. Teachers were too afraid to travel, they said.
The one hospital in Parachinar was left with only a few nurses. Basic medicines, including anesthesia equipment and oxygen, were depleted, according to a medic reached by telephone.
Killings have demoralized the population. In the village of Bilyamin, 22 miles south of Parachinar, two students walking to their matriculation exams were shot dead by the Taliban, Mr. Bangash said.
Some solace was coming from Afghanistan, the refugees said. A schoolboy, Ashfaq Hussain, 12, arrived in Peshawar on Tuesday after a two-day journey by car through Afghanistan to enroll at Islamia Collegiate School, a prestigious school here.
We can go through Afghanistan without a visa, its a help, said his father, Sabir Hussain.
But his sons travel to Peshawar by car via Afghanistan cost the equivalent of $50 over two days, instead of the usual $3 by bus in about five hours, he said.
Much of the vegetable crop of potatoes and tomatoes that is normally sold to markets in the heart of Pakistan was now being sent to Kabul, Mr. Bangash said. More perishable fruits were wasted.
After the disaster of the June convoy, Mr. Khan, the political agent, said he had a new plan to try to persuade moderate tribesmen, both Sunni and Shiite, who were now weary of the violence, to allow the opening of the 45-mile road that runs from the town of Thal along a deep, wide valley up to Parachinar.
Its been an intense year of warfare, he said. Both sides are fed up.
In Islamabad, Mr. Jihadi said the Interior Ministry had promised on Wednesday to resume flights by the government airline, Pakistan International Airways, to the airstrip in Parachinar, which had been abandoned long ago.
To try to quash the Taliban, the ministry would urge the local tribes to form small armies, known as lashkar, he said. The ministry was also offering local people financial rewards, he said, if they killed a Taliban leader.
But whether the army would take a role in the efforts to find a solution appeared to remain an open question.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/26/2008 08:15 ||
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#1
Before the LOC ceasefire, Pakistan artillery would routinely pound Shiite villages in Indian Kashmir.
The Pak dictator Zia Ul Haq ordered a pogrom of Shia in the Gilgit area of Kashmir. He had an officer organize a lashkar of Arab jihadis to do the killing.
That officer was named Pervez Musharraf. The lashkar was led by an arab named Osama Bin Laden.
Zia was killed in a mysterious crash of his C-130 aircraft. There were suspicions that some PAF Shia aircrew were involved.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/26/2008 8:24 Comments ||
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#2
John, National Geographic has an excellent article from September, last year, which backgrounds a lot of the issues in this article. Struggle for the Soul of Pakistan
Youngsters are being recruited by the Taliban and paid 1,000 rupees a day, or $9, to become jihadis. Would-be jihadi "martyrs" get the princely sum of $120, a big number in a part of the world where only 16 percent of the men and 3 percent of the women can read, and where there is no economic activity in parts of FATA and NWFP.
#1
Would-be jihadi "martyrs" get the princely sum of $120
Do they get it in advance, so they can rent a woman before they die (or at least buy an ice cream), or does it go to their families after they blow up?
The police and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) defused at locally made bomb that weighed nearly five kilogrammes Friday. It was found near a wine shop within the jurisdiction of Zaman Town police station.
The wine shop is located at Korangi Crossing, Essai Mohalla. Its owner Enayat Masih, who also lives there, informed the police at helpline 15 Madadgar, when he saw it. It took one hour to defuse it.
The bomb was based on three detonators, a timer and a plastic bottle loaded with petrol. "If anybody had hit it or the weather had become hot it would have blown up," said SHO Pervaiz Ali Shah, adding that the area was mostly populated by Christians, therefore it was possible that the people behind it wanted to target them. FIR No. 273/08 has been registered on behalf of the government against unidentified men.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Militants blew up a girls' high school, a shopping centre selling women's clothing and two barber shops in different areas of Swat on Friday, while security forces arrested 10 suspected militants, local and official sources said. Security forces imposed curfew in the Sher Palam area of the Matta tehsil on Friday and arrested ten suspected militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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(APP): The law enforcing agencies raided on the suspected hideouts of miscreants at Sherplam area of Matta Tehsil in restive Swat district and arrested about 10 miscreants besides recovering arms and ammunition, an official of District Police informed. On a tip off about presence of outlaws at Sherplam area, the law enforcing agencies raided on the militants' hideouts and arrested 10 miscreants during the three hour long search.
A spokesman of Swat Media Centre informed the journalists that the arrested persons are Abdul Qayyum, Umer Zada, Muhammad Rahim, Abdul Wahab, Muhammad shops Fazle Subhan, Imran, Ihsan Elahi, Muhammad Rehman, Iqbal Khan and Faiz Ali Khan told the local reporters here that the entire cloth in their shops have been burnt causing losses of millions of rupees.
Similarly some accused detonated Government Girls High School in Totano Bandai area as a result of which the entire record and furniture was burnt to ashes. This is the 31st incident of school burning in Swat district during the current unrest in the district.
In Tehsil Charbagh areas, some unknown militants burnt a barbershop of Shaukat and Karyana Store of Javed. No one has accepted the responsibility for these subversive acts in the districts.
Meanwhile Security forces during five hours search operation nabbed ten suspects from Sherpalam area and seized arms and ammunition from their possession. Ghani, Faisal, Abdul Ghaffar, Rafique and Najeeb Khan. They have been shifted for identification.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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(APP): Local Taliban Friday released eight government officials out of 29 hostages after a day-long successful negotiations held at adjacent Aurakzai Agency between Taliban and peace jirga, said District Nazim Hangu Khan Afzal.
Those set free by the Taliban included Wapda Superintendent Khan Mir Shah, Engineer Works and Services Muhammad Asad, SDO PTCL Qamaruddin, Wapda official Aslam Pervez, FC personnel Mir Jang, Cashier National Saving Center Zahir Shah and a police official.
The district administration, he said is hopeful for the release of remaining abductees, he said and added, peace negotiations would now resume again on coming Monday.
Meanwhile the administration relaxed curfew in Doaaba area of Hangu on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. first time in last 13 days after the operation was launched in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Paramilitary forces have abandoned four checkposts along the border with Afghanistan in Bajaur tribal district and the Taliban have claimed taking over two of them, officials said on Friday. "We were facing difficulties in supplying necessities to the four checkposts and they have now been abandoned," said Iqbal Khattak, assistant political agent in Khar. Meanwhile, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Umar said the Kagha Pas and Damanghi posts had been taken over by them.
This article starring:
Iqbal Khattak, assistant political agent in Khar
Maulvi Umar
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) - Security forces on Friday seized 20 stolen car hidden in a farm in Karbala, the police chief said. "Security forces cordonned off a farm, seizing 20 stolen cars hidden in a makesfit garage installed inside a farm in south Karbala", Brig. Gen. Raid Shakir, Karbala's police chief, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI). The security official noted "the operation was based on an intelligence tips-off from local residents". He added "the farm was empty and no one was arrested during the raid". The police chief called on people to report their stolen cars to the police department to file a lawsuit".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) -- Unknown gunmen kidnapped two girls and a child when they were hanging out in north of Mosul, a source from the Ninewa police said on Friday. "Unidentified armed men on Friday afternoon abducted two girls and one boy when they were hanging out at all-Ghabat area in north of Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) on condition of anonymity. "The armed abductors were driving a black car when they kidnapped the three victims," he said. He did not mention further details, but noted "The car's descriptions have been distributed on checkpoints, and searching is still underway to find the kidnappers."
Al-Ghabat area is considered one of the most important tourist places in Mosul at the Tigris River, and many people from inside and outside Ninewa province like to picnic there, especially on Fridays.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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(VOI) -- Police forces on Friday arrested six persons specialized in drug dealing and seized an amount of drug and weapons found in their possession, a police source said. "A force from the criminal police raided a house in central Hilla after receiving information on the presence of a six-person drug dealing gang," the source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq -- Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The forces found 127 drug packets, two hand grenades, two guns and a Kalashnikov," he added. The source gave no more details.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Interesting. I wasn't aware of the drug market in Iraq.
(VOI) - Forces from national security ministry on Friday arrested a women kidnapping gang in Baghdad, a media advisor said. "The Ministry Forces captured a gang abducting women to demand ransoms from their families in Kadhimiya, north Baghdad,"Fadhil al-Shuwaili,media advisor for national security ministry, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI). The advisor termed the gang as "one of the most dangerous gangs", adding "the operation was based on intelligence tips-off". The security official did not elaborate details, but he said "gang members were from Baghdad".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
What? Not enough terorists in Badghdad to catch? Have to keep busy by arresting criminals?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/26/2008 11:31 Comments ||
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#2
Same guys with a career change. Terrorism's too dangerous now no matter how much it pays, so it's back to the old game.
(VOI) -- An explosive charge went off in central Karbala on Friday left casualties among civilians, an eyewitness said. "A bomb, placed inside a car, went off in Bab al-Abbas region in central Karbala, leaving a number of casualties," the witness told Aswat al-Iraq -- Voices of Iraq (VOI). "A number of ambulances rushed some wounded to the city's hospitals and I saw a child and his mother burnt inside the car," he added
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Hamas security arrested dozens of supporters of the rival Fatah group, hurled grenades at the home of one Fatah leader and set up checkpoints across Gaza on Saturday, following a mysterious beachside blast that killed five Hamas members and a 6-year-old girl.
Hamas leaders blamed Fatah for Friday's explosion, and began the toughest crackdown against the rival group in recent months. A Gaza-based human rights group reported Hamas security officials arrested at least 160 Fatah loyalists, and some 40 institutions connected to the group were raided. Fatah leaders denied involvement, and an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the crackdown is reducing prospects for eventual reconciliation. I fear for the cause of Palestinian unity
#2
"Hamas .... set up checkpoints across Gaza"
Of course, these are the totally acceptable Islamic checkpoints, not illegal ones like the Israelis set up in the West Bank.
Uniformed gunmen presumed to be terrorists insurgents attacked a police station in Sai Buri district of Pattani province just before dawn Saturday, causing heavy damage to the structure, police said, but no casualties.
Police said the attackers, dressed in official-appearing uniforms, traveled by motorcycle and pickup truck drove into the police station compound and fired an automatic rifle at the building. An exchange of gunfire lasted for about five minutes before the assailants withdrew. Police said the walls and glass windows were heavily damaged but no casualties were reported. A combined police and army force is now hunting the assailants.
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan troops continued their offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in two days of fighting in the north that killed 66 Tigers and eight soldiers, the military said on Saturday. The fighting in the district of Jafna, Vavuiya Polonnaruwa, Mannar and Mullaitivu came three days after the government dismissed a declaration by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of a unilateral ceasefire from July 26 to August 4.
"Our offensives are going on, troops had killed 66 LTTE terrorists in the fighting on Thursday and Friday," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. "Eight soldiers had died and 11 were injured from the fighting," he added. The Tigers were not immediately available for comment. The government and rebels trade death toll claims that are almost impossible to verify independently.
Sri Lanka's government is pursuing a strategy to gradually retake the Tiger's northern stronghold and win the 25-year civil war amidst an almost daily barrage of land, sea and air attacks in northern rebel-held territories.
Sri Lankan troops killed at least 22 Tamil Tiger rebels in fresh fighting in the far north of the island on Friday, the military said, as government forces continue their push against the rebels' northern stronghold.
The fighting in the northern district of Mullaitivu came a day after the military captured a rebel-held area in Mallavi, also in the same district, killing 25 Tamil Tiger rebels. "Troops successfully repulsed a terrorist retaliation attempt south of Mallavi last night," said a spokesman at the Media Centre for National Security. "Troops have recovered 22 bodies of terrorists including two leaders and a search operation is going on."
The military said the day earlier fighting in four northern districts had killed 13 Tamil Tiger rebels and wounded 42. Three soldiers had also died and 13 were wounded. The military also said the navy had destroyed three Tamil Tiger boats along the coast at Chilavaththai in Mullaitivu on Thursday evening.
The fighting comes a week after military said it had dealt a "fatal blow" to the Tamil Tigers, with the capture of the northwestern town of Vidattaltivu, the main base of the Tigers' sea wing and their logistics hub for the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in the number of uranium-enriching machines in its nuclear program, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The new figure is double the 3,000 centrifuges Iran had previously said it was operating in its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz.
"Islamic Iran today possesses 6,000 centrifuges," Ahmadinejad told university professors in the northeastern city of Mashhad. In April, Ahmadinejad said Iran had begun installing 6,000 centrifuges at Natanz. His reported comments Saturday provided the first public assertion that Iran has reached that goal.
Meanwhile, Javier Solana ponders, over lunch, what to do next ...
A report by the U.N.'s nuclear monitoring agency delivered to the Security Council in May said Iran had 3,500 centrifuges, although a senior U.N. official said at the time that Iran's goal of 6,000 machines running by the summer was "pretty much plausible." The workhorse of Iran's enrichment program is the P-1 centrifuge, which is run in cascades of 164 machines. But Iranian officials confirmed in February that they had started using the IR-2 centrifuge that can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate.
A total of 3,000 centrifuges is the commonly accepted figure for a nuclear enrichment program that surpasses the experimental stage and can be used as a platform for a full industrial-scale program that could churn out enough material for dozens of nuclear weapons. Iran says it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that ultimately will involve 54,000 centrifuges.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/26/2008 12:20 ||
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A mysterious explosion in a suburb of Teheran that killed 15 people last Saturday was likely an attack on a Iranian military convoy carrying arms to Hizbullah, the Telegraph reported Friday.
Way to go Team CIA. And remember to deny everything when the New York Times comes a'calling ...
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards imposed a news black-out immediately after the blast, but the UK newspaper reported that it looked like sabotage was responsible for destroying the convoy as it traveled through Khavarshahar. The newspaper noted that the company responsible for moving the military equipment, LTK, was owned by the Revolutionary Guards and was allegedly involved in shipping arms to Hizbullah.
Last Saturday's incident was the latest in a series of mysterious explosions in the Islamic republic.
Operation Lemony Snickett is in full swing, I see ...
In May, Iran blamed British and US agents for an explosion at a mosque in Shiraz that had just been the site of a military exhibition. In 2007, more than a dozen Iranian engineers lost their lives while trying to fit a chemical warhead to a missile in Syria. A few months earlier, a train apparently carrying military supplies to Syria was derailed by an explosion in northern Turkey.
#2
I'd bet money it was more a Mossad hit than a CIA one. The best reason to say that is because it worked. Of course, it could also have been one of the half-dozen anti-Khoumeni groups that are active in Iran, some of which are, indeed, funded by the CIA.
I hope Israel understands that striking Iran's nuclear works in Natanz and elsewhere is a legitimate operation, but attacking the civilian population in IRAN is a no-no. In Lebanon, however...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/26/2008 14:28 Comments ||
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#3
had it been CIA, it likely would've been on the front page of the NYT the week before: "Bush's Plan For Illegal War on Iran"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/26/2008 15:22 Comments ||
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Sectarian clashes broke out Friday in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing six people, including a 10 year-old-boy and a policeman, and wounding at least 15, police officials said. The clashes between Sunni Muslim gunmen and Alawites, an offshoot Shiite sect, broke out at dawn after a hand grenade was thrown toward a Sunni area, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Tension has been high along Lebanon's religious and political fault lines since the militant Shiite group Hezbollah overran parts of Beirut in May in response to government attempts to limit its power.
The deal that ended that crisis saw Hezbollah and other opposition politicians re-enter the government of the Western-backed prime minister, Fuad Saniora, with veto power over its decisions.
Friday's clashes occurred as the government was struggling to draft a document outlining plans for its term in office amid disagreements with Hezbollah.
The fighting escalated as automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were used between the Sunni Bab el-Tabaneh district and the predominantly Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighborhood, the police officials said. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.
A cease-fire went into effect at 1 p.m. after mediation by the grand mufti of north Lebanon, Sheik Malek al-Shaar, who has acted as a mediator throughout the recent weeks of fighting.
But after a brief lull fighting broke out again, said residents of the city, located 50 miles north of Beirut. The police officials said three more people died in the afternoon fighting, including a policeman and two women. A 10-year-old boy struck by a stray bullet also died later Friday, bringing the total to six people killed.
The International Committee of the Red Cross urged those fighting to stop and allow the wounded to be evacuated and medical personnel to carry out their tasks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11130 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#3
Send a flight of B-52s across the paleostain "refugee camp" there, dropping concrete bombs from 45,000 feet. Five hundred pounds of concrete dropped from 45,000 feet will leave a BIG impression on anyone it hits close to. ALL the roads will have to be repaired, and any water, electricity, or sewer lines into or through the camp will have to be replaced.
I always did like that photo - it's so OBVIOUSLY staged.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/26/2008 14:33 Comments ||
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The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has, quietly, become a very effective counter-terror agency. The arrest of international arms dealers Victor Bout and Monzar al-Kasser (in operations worthy of movie scripts) were only one example. The agency had at least a peripheral role in the Betancourt rescue â a DEA operation inserted bugged satellite phones into the FARC, a crucial tactic that has made a tremendous contribution to the FARCâs overall breakdown. In general the agency seems to have adapted well overall to the counter-terror mission, among other things doing a competent job at building up its analytical capabilities.
....
#2
The agency had at least a peripheral role in the Betancourt rescue a DEA operation inserted bugged satellite phones into the FARC
Posted at the Rant as a possible probable the day after it went down. Post-operation publicity will once again enusre that the success will not soon be repeaded.
#3
Would have thought the ATF would be involved in taking down an arms dealer. Since drugs finance a good deal of terror, it would make sense that DEA would be involved. They have had an international presence in crimes related to drug trafficking for some time.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Whether or not any bubble has burst, Americans now live in an economy where the prospect of a gallon of gas for less than $4 is cause for relief. That barrier may be broken as early as this weekend, as a two-week nosedive in crude prices begins to ripple out to gas stations nationwide.
The national average for a gallon of regular pulled back to just above $4 a gallon and oil tumbled to its lowest point in weeks Friday on the belief that prices have yet to reflect just how badly demand has deteriorated in the United States, the world's thirstiest oil consumer.
Gas is down 15 cents a gallon in the last three weeks in my neighborhood.
Prices at the pump are poised to dip even further, and could cost as much as 25 cents less by Labor Day, AAA spokesman Geoff Sundstrom said. "People say typically prices shoot up like a rocket, fall like a feather. But this time ... it looks like it's different," Sundstrom said. "The retail sector is interested in bringing these prices down as fast as they can to stimulate business in their convenience stores."
In the trading pits, oil continued on a two-week sell-off. Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $2.23 to settle at $123.26 a barrel in on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier the contract dropped as far as $122.50, its lowest point since June 5.
Many analysts say the market's momentum points to further declines. Crude has fallen in seven of the last nine sessions, and is down more than 16 percent from its peak above $147 a barrel earlier this month. "There's just nothing sufficiently bullish coming into the market right now to sustain a rally," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates. "We're just seeing a new theme in which demand has become a very important part of the equation."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/26/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11133 views]
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#1
"Just above four dollars" > Still US$4.84 this AM here in Guam.
#3
Regular gasoline is 4.40 a gallon in Anchorage, Alaska. However, in western and NW Alaska villages served by barge, gas goes from $7.00 to $8.00 per gallon and it won't go down until next year's barge shows up in spring or early summer.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/26/2008 2:19 Comments ||
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#4
North San Mateo Peninsula..
High 4.80 reg 3-4 weeks ago
Today 4.60 or so...
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
07/26/2008 3:03 Comments ||
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#5
may the Politicians and Lawyers eat my olde nasty shorts.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
07/26/2008 3:06 Comments ||
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#6
To keep the price dropping we need to continue to move toward more drilling and maintain reduced demand. We're down about 2% on demand which could disappear quickly if reduced prices encourage more consumption.
#7
We DO need to drill in the US. But any policy change will have to wait until November, at least. For the near to mid term though, it's a moot point. With crude at $100+, every OTHER country on the planet is drilling like mad (not to mention ripping down rainforests to plant oil crops) and all the manpower and drilling rigs are already under contract. If and when US policy does change, we will have to wait our turn for drilling teams.
The good news is extra supply is "in the pipeline".
The bad news is that we'll have to import it.
We really do have to start drilling here.
Posted by: Bin thinking again ||
07/26/2008 8:38 Comments ||
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#9
"W" could gain a few yards if he asked the American people to... voluntarily stay to the RIGHT and drive SLOWER, possibly 55. He could also demand that the far left lane of 4 lanes and interstates be restricted to heavy trucks and that folks yield to oncoming traffic from behind them. I know this would be revolutionary and possibly racist and discriminatory here in the Fulton Co. area, but in time (200-300 years), natives locals would catch on.
#10
A week or two after the chorus of voices praised W. Bush for causing the price drop, which happened immediately after he acted, I just saw Harry Reid claim credit for it, by saying that "The oil companies and speculators were afraid that congress might eventually pass legislation against them."
George announce lifting the executive ban, and the top end came off the market. Furutes have been staedily unwinding since, and its down at the sport market now, Just as I predicted.
Now if they announce actually drilling bills and pass them, then you'll see another drop to $100, and the prices will then becoem very steady, without the cheap credit backed speculators artificially inflating the cost of a contract.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/26/2008 13:50 Comments ||
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#17
It's simple. Raise the cost of crude high enough and everything will become so expensive that all the businesses will have to shut down. Whey they lay off their workers, the workers won't have to drive anymore and demand will plummet.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
07/26/2008 14:36 Comments ||
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#18
...$3.60 in Cayce, SC (just outside of Columbia) and the manager says he expects $3.50 by the end of next week.
God, I love capitalism. That's because, unlike so many of my elected representatives, I understand how it works.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/26/2008 14:58 Comments ||
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#19
Paid $3.64 outside Richmond, Va., on Friday.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/26/2008 15:13 Comments ||
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#20
"
gasbuddy.com
Helped me save $.30 a gallon."
Good tip! And don't forget to zoom in! Gas station by gas station MAP of prices in your area!
Posted by: Bin thinking again ||
07/26/2008 15:19 Comments ||
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#22
good site, thx. Helps me plan my fuel stops on vacation in a couple weeks. Highest appears to be in Bishop, CA and So. Lake Tahoe... about $4.49-$4.59....hopefully it will keep going down
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/26/2008 16:15 Comments ||
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#23
Sorry for off topic
Not many family members going to my family reunion in Tahoe this year due to gas prices with their Winnebago type vehicles getting poor gas mileage. I'm also staying home, doing the work vacation getting stuff done around the house.
It would have been fun to try connecting with you again Frank as it sounds like you're going out that way again. Have a great time, Tahoe is beautiful Jan
Posted by: Jan ||
07/26/2008 16:31 Comments ||
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#24
thx Jan :-)
the boat is staying home - boat gas is around $7 on the lake
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/26/2008 16:43 Comments ||
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#25
$3.879 for premium in Northeast Ohio.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/26/2008 17:36 Comments ||
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#26
100LL avgas in Birchwood, near Anchorage 5.96/gal, at Galena Airport 8.29, OUCH!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/26/2008 20:34 Comments ||
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#27
Gas at tip of little finger of Michigan was $4.399/gal on Thurs. 30 miles away it was $3.999/gal.
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.
Forty Taliban were killed in air strikes to take back a district of Afghanistan captured by Islamist rebels while a British soldier was killed in a separate clash, officials said Friday.
The death toll from clashes between Ethiopian forces and Somali Islamist fighters rose to 18 after villagers found nine more bodies Friday, witnesses said. Fighting erupted Thursday when Ethiopian troops came under insurgent attack in Beledweyne town, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, prompting a return of fire that killed nine civilians.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in the number of uranium-enriching machines in its nuclear program, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The new figure is double the 3,000 centrifuges Iran had previously said it was operating in its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz.
Sectarian clashes broke out Friday in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing six people, including a 10 year-old-boy and a policeman, and wounding at least 15, police officials said. The clashes between Sunni Muslim gunmen and Alawites, an offshoot Shiite sect, broke out at dawn after a hand grenade was thrown toward a Sunni area, the state-run National News Agency reported.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Whether or not any bubble has burst, Americans now live in an economy where the prospect of a gallon of gas for less than $4 is cause for relief. That barrier may be broken as early as this weekend, as a two-week nosedive in crude prices begins to ripple out to gas stations nationwide.
