SIX civilians, including a child, were among 55 people killed in a NATO air strike in Afghanistan.
The strike targeted fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban, a local official said.
The driver of one of the trucks and his son were killed separately by the Taliban, Mohammad Omar, the governor of Kunduz province, said.
"According to our findings, 56 people were killed. Forty-eight men were identified as armed while the rest were civilians. Fifteen were wounded, including two Taliban," Omar said. Of the six civilians who died in the raid, one was a child killed inside one of the tankers, he added.
Afghan officials have given different death tolls related to the Taliban hijacking and NATO air strike, and precise figures are difficult to clarify.
This war would have been won years ago if the populace of Afghanistan had been encouraged to think that the Taliban had nowhere to hide amongst them, ie NATO's priorities were to kill Taliban first, protect bystanders second, and not the other way around.
[Quqnoos] One French soldier was killed and nine others injured in a bomb attack north of Kabul on Friday, officials said. The deadly incident occurred last year in August outside Kabul, where 10 French soldiers were killed after Taliban insurgents attacked their patrol.
According to the French President, the soldiers were attacked in Kapisa province, 60km north of the Afghan capital. A provincial police official said the incident happened when a convoy of the troops was passing Shokhi, a village in the east of Kapisa's centre, Mahmood Raqi at around 8am.
In a statement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has "strongly condemned" the attack. The French leader reaffirmed the commitment of his country toward Afghanistan, saying France is determined to continue to work on the re-establishment of peace and development in Afghanistan.
Nearly 3,000 French soldiers have been stationed in Afghanistan, most of them in Kapisa and Kabul provinces. The latest death brings the total number of French soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 30 since the Afghan mission began in 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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A New York Times journalist who was visiting the site of the deadly NATO airstrike in north Afghanistan along with his interpreter have been kidnapped, an official says.
The provincial governor for Kunduz, where the NATO attack killed nearly 100 people, confirmed that the reporter had been blindfolded by the insurgents and taken to unknown location on Saturday. Afghan army soldiers had found the journalist's abandoned vehicle in the area. The governor added that a search and rescue operation in the region had begun to track down the kidnappers. A regional Taliban commander has said that the Taliban leadership would decide on their fate.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Posted by: regular joe ||
09/06/2009 9:52 Comments ||
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#3
They're just protecting their ally. This is a typical pretend your after the guy ruse. Probably try and get some money too. Doubt that a thing will happen to him.
Twenty-five people have been killed and several more wounded in clashes in the tense oil-rich Upper Nile region of south Sudan, a military spokesman said on Saturday.
Heavily armed fighters attacked an ethnic Dinka settlement in Bony-Thiang, north of the state capital Malakal, early on Friday, Major General Kuol Diem Kuol, of the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), said.
Angry Dinka groups then launched a retaliatory raid on the nearby Shilluk village of Bon, killing five people including a woman and two children, Kuol said.
A southern army spokesman accused Sudan's former foreign minister Lam Akol, now the leader of a breakaway political party, of arming the attackers from his Shilluk tribe.
Rival tribes from Sudan's underdeveloped south have clashed for years in disputes often caused by cattle rustling and long-running feuds, but violence has soared this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Clashes between the Yemeni Army and Zaidi local fighters have left "dozens" of people dead or wounded, just hours after the government said it would suspend its attacks against the fighters.
"The armed forces and rebels engaged in violent clashes overnight which continued until dawn on Saturday in Malaheez and Hafr Sufyan" in Saada province, AFP quoted a military source as saying.
"Dozens of people have been killed and wounded in both camps," the source added, without elaborating. No official confirmation of the toll was available.
On Friday, the Yemeni government said it would end the bloody clashes in Saada Province and the surrounding areas and that it would let aid agencies help thousands of people in the region who have been displaced by war. But the cease-fire did not last long.
The Yemeni military launched an offensive against the Shia Zaidis in Saada and Amran provinces three weeks ago, accusing the Zaidis of trying to restore a Zaidi imamate system, overthrown in a 1962 coup.
Zaidi Shias - also known as Houthis - say they are defending themselves against religious oppression and they have vowed to fight until their rights are achieved if the attacks continue.
Zaidis Shias also say that Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda are helping the Yemeni government in its crackdown on them.
Yemen's recent military offensive against Zaidi Shia fighters - dubbed "Operation Scorched Earth" - has left scores of civilians dead and thousands of others displaced.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has warned about the dire humanitarian situation in Saada province since fighting has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching the crisis-hit area.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Three suspected criminals were killed in separate incidents of 'shootout' in Khulna, Kushtia and Pabna Friday night and early yesterday.
The deceased were identified as Arifur Alam Akkas, 45, a pirate active in the Sundarbans, Murad Hossain alias Bhola, 40, a leader of outlawed Gano Bahini, and Hasan Ali alias Hasan Kosai, 32, a cadre of Janajuddha.
Police said Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel arrested Akkas, accused in a number of cases, from his Khalishpur residence in Khulna city Friday evening.
As per his statement, Rab and police took him to an abandoned hospital at Hatiadanga village in Koira upazila to recover arms on the night.
When the law-enforcers reached the village, the associates of Akkas opened fire on them triggering a gunfight.
Akkas was caught in the line of fire while trying to flee and died on the spot, police said.
They said two police and two Rab men were also injured during the gunfight. Two guns and six bullets were recovered from the spot.
In Kushtia, acting on a tip-off police raided Kaya Child Heaven School where a group of Gano Bahini men were holding a meeting at about 4:30am yesterday.
Sensing the presence of police, the outlaws opened fire at them prompting them to fire back. At one stage, the outlaws managed to flee the scene.
Police later found the body of Murad lying on the ground.
Police recovered a shutter gun and two bullets from the spot.
According to police, Murad was accused in 11 cases, including six for murder.
Our Pabna correspondent says: Police raided Shimulchhora area in Sadar upazila after receiving information that the outlaws of Janajuddha were holding a meeting there early yesterday.
As soon as they reached Shimulchhora around 2:00am, the outlaws started firing at the law enforcers forcing them to retaliate.
Hasan, wanted in a number of cases, was killed during the gunfight, police said.
He was also a convicted fugitive sentenced to 32 years' imprisonment in a murder case, police added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The communist party chief of the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi was sacked on Saturday, state media said, following mass protests that left five people dead after a spate of syringe attacks, AFP reported.
Top city official Li Zhi was replaced by Zhu Hailun, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the Communist party's Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee but giving no reason for the sacking.
But Li presided over the city during deadly ethnic unrest between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighur residents.
Protests over the hundreds of syringe attacks began on Wednesday in the capital of Xinjiang region, where ethnic unrest in July between mainly Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese left nearly 200 people dead.
The demonstrations reached a peak Thursday when tens of thousands of people, mainly Han, poured into the streets following reports that hundreds had been stabbed with needles since mid-August.
Security remained tight as signs of normalcy returned to Urumqi on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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"sparks debate" because this is an AP story reporting on its own actions. I guess they couldn't describe their actions as they really should be described. That would be suicidal, and logical entities wouldn't do anything like that, now would they? Speaking of suicidal: Since this is an AP story, and AP has decided to relegate themselves to the back seat by deciding that they are too wonderful to copy and paste even though they have a source link included, the rest of the story can be found at the link. Enjoy watching them squirm.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed disappointment Friday at news outlets that used a picture taken and distributed by The Associated Press depicting a U.S. Marine mortally wounded in combat in Afghanistan.
The AP distributed the picture despite personal pleas from Gates and the dead Marine's family in a case that illustrated the difficult decisions in reporting on a conflict where Americans have seen relatively few images of fallen U.S. troops over eight years.
#4
The AP not only published a ghoulish pic, they broke the terms they agreed to for the embedded reporter.
They shouldn't ever be allowed to embed again, and the AP reporter at the Pentagon should be banished.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/06/2009 7:45 Comments ||
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#5
This is operations. The war will be won or lost in the American living room as was Vietnam. Fifth columnists like Walter Cronkheit and the AP are the most valuable allies the enemy has. If the DoD had any sense they would bypass the AP and it's minions at the local papers and go directly to the people via unintermediated independent reporters like Yon, et. al.
#8
If the DoD had any sense they would bypass the AP and it's minions at the local papers and go directly to the people via unintermediated independent reporters like Yon, et. al.
#9
This AP photographer is a whore. Our local newspaper said she grappled with whether she should help the Marine or take the photograph. She made the decision to take the photograph. Bitch.
#11
"Why your organization would purposely defy the family's wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me," Gates wrote.
Certainly not "beyond" many of us. WAKE UP you rhino piece of kak.
#12
as Dr. Steve notes - she violated her embed agreement. Let her walk point on patrols or make her leave. Her higher-ups are the true whores for their Anti-American agenda. Remove all AP embeds, AP reporters from press conferences - remove their credentials from the military. What are they gonna do? Publish anti-military stories? Meh, like they aren't already?....just makes them more overt
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/06/2009 12:27 Comments ||
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#13
I originally had a different comment, but I thought better of posting it. Rather than just remove all their embeds, remove their ability to do business in the United States.
#15
Tom Curley and the wench that took the pics are human garbage scum. The decision was what brought home the most exposure for AP, the whores made their choice. As the cliche goes - we've established what they are, now it's just a matter of negotiating the price. Bad karma has a special move for people like this.
#2
Part of the 'problem' is that in older cultures they had cleansing rituals in which those who'd been in such a situation would be absolved by the society of the acts and the trauma they'd seen and lived. It was public and participatory. While we have modern psychology and practices, something that served man and his societies for thousands of years can't be completely substituted for by 'management'.
#3
Agreed, p2k, but there's some pretty strong evidence suggesting that those who are active in virtual worlds engage most of the same neural circuits as in real discussions with other vets. And that generally rewires the overloaded neural circuits that otherwise keep getting reinforced in combat memories.
My WWII decorated (Silver Star, Bronze Stars, multiple Purple Hearts) uncle spent hundreds of hours visiting wounded vets from Iraq & Afghan before he died. As he put it, 'I'm there to listen or talk if they want, and if not then at least they know I've been through similar situations."
But there aren't enough Uncles like him to go around, in part because we have lost fewer of our military to death than in prior conflicts but have more who are dealing with PTSD or brain trauma. ICT did a lot of the immersive training games the Army now uses, so they have some data on 'before' with soldiers to inform this Second Life offering.
#4
Please forgive my rant, but PTSD has become a cottage industry among the Disabled Veteran diability payment recipient ranks. There certainly ARE many legitimate cases, but the abuses should be investigated.
#5
Is it just me or does Chicoma Lodge and Chicoma Island remind anyone else of Manchurian candidate with the whole ChiCom thing. I couldn't find it in the article, where did the name come from?
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said the military operation in Swat would continue till all terrorists were eliminated and peace restored to the valley.
He said this while addressing elders and Army soldiers during his visit to the scenic Kalam Valley on Friday.
He said the militants in Swat had been given a severe blow and their infrastructure dismantled. He added that normalcy was fast returning to the area as the Army had taken control of the valley.
The Army chief said the sacrifices rendered by the people of Swat were unforgettable, adding that security forces would ensure protection of their lives and properties.
Earlier, the Army chief visited a school of psychology in Barikot area where treatment was being provided to children who were forcibly taken away by the terrorists. Currently, 32 students are getting psychological treatment at the school.
The COAS also awarded badges of bravery to officers and soldiers who displayed great acts of valour during the Operation Rah-e-Rast. A press release of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Gen Kayani interacted with the people in Kalam and Barikot and remained with them for some time.
He appreciated the people of Swat for their cooperation with security forces against the leftover terrorists in the valley. The locals assured their full support to security forces for maintaining peace and order in the valley. They said that the terrorists were not only the enemies of Islam and Pakistan but also of the people of Swat.
The COAS was briefed on the return of the displaced people. He appreciated the efforts of security forces for bringing peace in the valley and assisting the return of the displaced people. He directed the forces to maintain the respect of law at all costs.
The Army chief also visited the newly built community police training centre. He appreciated the spirit and determination of local youth to fight against the terrorists. He interacted with the recruits and praised their high morale.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Six people were injured when unknown assailants hurled a hand grenade at city police station on Saturday, Geo News reported. The injured have been rushed to a nearby hospital.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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An American accused of having links to an alleged terrorist ring in the state of North Carolina failed to show up for his court hearing in Pakistan on Saturday, bolstering suspicions he's on the run.
U.S. investigators say Jude Kenan Mohammad is part of a North Carolina-based terrorist group involved in three years of nefarious international travel, gun buys and military-style training trips. They claim the group was preparing a "violent jihad," though they haven't detailed any specific targets.
Mohammad is the only one of eight alleged group members who is still at large. He was caught last year trying to enter a Pakistani militant stronghold off-limits to foreigners
Huh?
and was booked on charges of weapons possession for allegedly carrying a dagger and traveling without proper documents. He was released on bail.
Mohammad's family said he was in the country visiting his Pakistani father.
Since news emerged of the North Carolina case earlier this summer, U.S. officials have said they did not know his exact whereabouts.
Kamal Khan, senior assistant to Judge Nasirullah Khan in Charsadda district, said Mohammad's trial was supposed to start Saturday but that neither the accused nor his lawyer nor any other representatives appeared.
The court issued a summons to Mohammad, who is in his twenties, Kamal Khan said. It was not immediately clear when the next court hearing would be.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad declined to comment on the case Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I hear Gomer Pyle
SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/06/2009 20:33 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Troops backed by helicopter gunships killed about 35 militants on Saturday in attacks on militant hideouts in the northwestern Khyber Pass region, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps said.
The Khyber Pass is a main route for supplies being trucked from Karachi to western forces battling al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan. The airstrikes come as troops continue mopping up militant positions in the northwestern Swat valley, where the military says more than 2,000 militants have been killed since an offensive was launched in April.
Troops began a new operation in the Khyber this week against militants, including some who had fled from the Swat offensive. 'Our forces targeted a headquarters of Lashkar-i-Islam and about 15 militants were killed in the attack,' said a Frontier Corps spokesman in Peshawar, referring to a group under the command of Mangal Bagh, an ethnic Pashtun militant. Another 20 were killed elsewhere in the region on strikes on hideouts of militants loyal to Bagh.
Khyber is one of seven Pakistani tribal regions with a high degree of autonomy based on tribal laws. On August 27 a suicide bomber killed 22 border guards at the main crossing to Afghanistan.
In Swat, security forces killed a militant commander and arrested five others, according to a military statement. Another seven militants surrendered to security forces. Troops also destroyed two militant hideouts in the neighbouring Dir region, the military said.
This article starring:
Mangal Bagh
Lashkar-i-Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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[The News (Pak)] After months of tension in the militancy-stricken South Waziristan tribal region, the Taliban militants led by Maulvi Nazeer signed an accord with Ahmadzai Wazir tribes on Thursday in which the growing unbridled militants promised to cooperate in the restoration of peace in the region.
Taliban leader Maulvi Nazeer and his senior commanders, Shamsullah, Haleemullah and Malang, held talks with tribal elders of the nine sub-tribes of the main Ahmadzai Wazir tribe -- Zalikhel, Tojikhel, Khojalkhel, Gangikhel, Sarkikhel, Mughalkhel, Khonikhel, Ekikhel and Sperkai.
The Taliban and the Ahmadzai Wazir tribal elders had signed a similar peace accord in April 2007 and then launched an armed campaign against the Uzbek militants in the areas inhabited by the Ahmadzai Wazirs.
The Taliban militants and the Ahmadzai Wazir tribal elders agreed to work together in future for restoration of peace in the region and promised to keep elements detrimental to peace in Waziristan at bay.
The Taliban and the Ahmadzai Wazir tribal elders had signed a similar peace accord in April 2007 and then launched an armed campaign against the Uzbek militants in the areas inhabited by the Ahmadzai Wazirs, including Wana, Shakai, Azam Warsak and Angoor Adda -- the border town between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Both the Taliban militants and the Ahmadzai Wazir elders were worried of the deteriorating law and order in Waziristan and feared that the dreaded Uzbek militants were once again planning to enter their villages and towns.
Taliban sources told The News that the recent spate of targeted killing of the militants and tribal elders in Wana and adjoining villages had particularly scared the Taliban.
This article starring:
Ahmadzai Wazir
Haleemullah
TTP
Malang
TTP
Maulvi Nazeer
TTP
Shamsullah
TTP
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Targeted killings of Taliban seems to have a peaceful effect on the area.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/06/2009 10:34 Comments ||
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Our top "feel-good" story of the day!
Ma'an - A smuggling truck in Egyptian Rafah caught fire Saturday while transporting fuel to the border region sough of the Strip, Egyptian security sources said.
Two tanks of fuel were said to have ignited, forcing the driver and several assistants to flee the vehicle. The truck was incinerated despite efforts of local fire crews to douse the blaze.
"Two trucks? Nice work, Ari!"
"Thanks, David."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an - Hamas' military wing the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam brigades announced the martyrdom of one of its members, Sameh Al-Bitar, in the Al-Sabra neighborhood in of Gaza City Saturday afternoon.
The statement did not explain the nature of the death, but said Al-Bitar was on a jihad mission when he was killed.
Over the past week fighters have regularly launched homemade projectiles at Israeli targets near the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces respond to each launch with at least one airstrike on the Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Martydom is the cause of death.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/06/2009 10:38 Comments ||
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#2
Jihad Mission? Epic Fail
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/06/2009 10:41 Comments ||
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Terrorists Suspected separatist militants shot and killed three villagers in Yala province on Sunday. Police said the three victims included a 61-year-old village headman, Waedaloh Waeuseng, his daughter Yaleeya Waeuseng, 35, and his son-in-law Mahama Longsa, 42. All of them were killed in front of the village headman's house in Yaha district. At least three gunmen were involved in the shooting and they sprayed dozens of bullets with M-16 and AK47 assault rifles on the three villagers, police said.
Government security forces announced Friday the capture of a top ranking rebel leader in Aurora province, dealing a blow to the communist rebel movement in Central Luzon . Police chief Dir.. Gen. Jesus Versoza identified the captured rebel leader as Delfin Pimentel who uses the aliases of Medy, Liben and Tanda.
He said Pimentel is a member of the executive committee of the Central Luzon Regional Committee of the CPP/NPA and a full time secretary of the Aurora Provincial Committee since 2002. Pimentel was arrested last Tuesday in Aurora province by a combined police and military operation. "Pimentel is a ranking member of the communist New People's Army who is wanted by the law for involvement in several atrocities and criminal activities in Central Luzon ," Versoza said.
At the time of his arrest, Pimentel carried a P2.6-million bounty put up by the Department of National Defense and of the Department of Interior and Local Government. Versoza said Pimentel was arrested based on warrants of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court 96 of Baler, Aurora for murder, multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder.
The captured communist rebel leader was involved in five cases of ambuscades and raids of different army detachments in Aurora province and liquidation of civilian agents and former NPA rebels.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/06/2009 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
SIX civilians, including a child, were among 55 people killed in a NATO air strike in Afghanistan.
A New York Times journalist who was visiting the site of the deadly NATO airstrike in north Afghanistan along with his interpreter have been kidnapped, an official says. 
[Bangla Daily Star] Three suspected criminals were killed in separate incidents of 'shootout' in Khulna, Kushtia and Pabna Friday night and early yesterday.
[Dawn] The communist party chief of the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi was sacked on Saturday, state media said, following mass protests that left five people dead after a spate of syringe attacks, AFP reported. 
[Dawn] Troops backed by helicopter gunships killed about 35 militants on Saturday in attacks on militant hideouts in the northwestern Khyber Pass region, a spokesman for the paramilitary Frontier Corps said.
[The News (Pak)] After months of tension in the militancy-stricken South Waziristan tribal region, the Taliban militants led by 
