An associate of a Pashtun warlord in western Afghanistan on Sunday accused the governor of Herat province of sending men to murder an 80-year-old tribal leader. Saifullah Khan, an associate of Pashtun leader Amanullah Khan, said 80-year-old Younis Khan and two of his sons, were shot dead on Saturday evening in Ghurian, west of Herat, by troops loyal to the governor. "Ismail Khan's forces entered Ghurian district, which is controlled by Pashtuns, and shot three innocent people dead," Saifullah Khan told Reuters by telephone. Terrible, when that happens. Just terrible. The poor old man...!
A commander close to Ismail Khan dismissed the allegations as "ludicrous" and accused the Pashtuns of attacking government troops in Ghurian. Haji Mohammed said the Herat governor's men were ambushed by those of Amanullah Khan and only resorted to shooting back when some of their number were wounded. "We know nothing about the murders of Younis Khan and his two sons," said Haji Mohammed. "We have no clue who could have done it and we certainly didn't have anything to do with them." "Nope. Wudn't us..."
Saifullah Khan said Amanullah Khan had appealed to President Hamid Karzai for an investigation into the killings. Poor Karzai's putting up with a continuous stream of bitching and moaning from the Pashtuns around Shindand. It looks like now that Bacha Khan Zadran's been kicked out of Khost, Amanullah Khan's going to take his place, only he going to use Ismail Khan as his whipping boy. But Ismail Khan's old enough and mean enough to clobber him, I think...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 08:14 pm ||
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Both Steve and Alicia tipped me to this one â thanks! From UPI...
Six suspected members of the al Qaida network were killed in a vehicle explosion, the Interior Ministry said Monday. "Initial information suggests that Ali Qaid Senan al Harithy, wanted for acts of sabotage, is among the six killed," the ministry told the official Saba news agency. The United States has linked al Harithy to the attack on the USS Cole in Aden that killed 17 sailors in October 2000. "Traces of explosives, ammunition, weapons and communication systems were found in the stricken car," situated in the northern province of Marib, the ministry said. Security officials said investigations were under way to establish the identities of those killed in the Sunday night blast. The investigation's going slowly, because the evidence is â heh heh! â fragmentary...
And the Reuters version...
A car explosion has killed six alleged members of al Qaeda, including a key suspect in an attack on a U.S. warship in Aden two years ago. Yemen's Saba news agency quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying arms and traces of explosives where found in the car along with communications equipment after Sunday's blast in the Marib oil-producing province. ``The six people who are suspected members of al Qaeda organization were all killed in the blast,'' the official said, without elaborating on the nature of the blast. The official confirmed earlier reports that authorities believed one of the dead men was Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, also known as Abu Ali, one of two key suspects who were being hunted by security forces since the September 11 attacks on the United States. Washington blames bin Laden's al Qaeda for the attacks. One man's blame is another man's credit, according to Reuters...
Yemen is keen to shake off its reputation as a haven for Muslim militants and says it is holding 85 people arrested in a manhunt for al Qaeda members. Authorities have been hunting down other suspected militants believed to be sheltering in the rugged mountainous area between Sanaa and Marib, a stronghold for disgruntled armed tribesmen who have often kidnapped tourists and foreigners working in Yemen in recent years. I like that word, "disgruntled." I get disgruntled when a piece of code doesn't work right, or my dinner's cold or my beer's warm. "Disgruntled" hasn't caused anyone I know to kidnap anyone...
The car blast coincided with a visit to Marib by the U.S. ambassador to Yemen. A source close to the U.S. embassy told Reuters that there was no link between the ambassador's visit and the explosion or a shooting on Sunday involving a helicopter owned by U.S. energy firm Hunt Oil operating in Yemen. "No! No! No connection whatsoever. Helis getting shot up and thugs exploding a half dozen at a time are common events in Yemen, nothing out of the ordinary..."
This does lead to the question of who banged them â was it just a work accident? Or did the Yemeni secret police decide not to screw around with them? Or did they know too much? Or did the CIA somebody put out a contract on them?
Well, dayum! No sooner do I finish opining than I pop into Rooterville and find...
A missile fired by an unmanned CIA drone aircraft hit a car believed to be carrying suspected al Qaeda members in Yemen Sunday and killed several occupants, a U.S. official said Monday. The official told Reuters the American military was not involved in the attack, which reports from the capital Sanaa said killed six alleged al Qaeda members. They included Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, a key suspect in a bombing attack on the U.S. warship Cole in Aden two years ago. "As I understand it, it was an agency drone" that conducted the weekend strike in the oil-producing Marib province east of the capital Sanaa, said the U.S. official, who did not provide any details. Heh heh heh... Was he a large cheese? Shall I ululate? Where's my shootin' arn? Damn. Used up most of the candy over Halloween...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 05:05 pm ||
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Local big cheese, it seems. I've already done my ululating. Luckily my fingers aren't bothered by my temporary laryngitus.
Posted by: Kathy K ||
11/04/2002 19:14 Comments ||
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let's see 'em try to say that _these_ guys were scrap metal collectors, like the last guys that sucked on drone payload in afghanistan - but look at the metal fragments! they were clearly out in the middle of the desert, scavenging!
Posted by: andy ||
11/04/2002 23:36 Comments ||
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The U.S. ambassador was in Marib and there were secondary explosions from the car's wreckage. Don't suppose we interrupted a surprise intended for the ambassador?
They're saying it was a drone, but witnesses report the wreckage being machine gunned, not something a drone does. Spec Ops copter, with the drone being cited for a cover story.
Source: Dawn
The leader of the London-based Iraqi National Congress, Ahmed Chalabi, has met executives of three US oil multinationals to negotiate the carve-up of Iraq's massive oil reserves post-Saddam. That sounds pretty good...
Disclosure of the meetings in October in Washington - confirmed by an INC spokesman - comes as Lord Browne, the head of BP, has warned that British oil companies have been squeezed out of post-war Iraq even before the first shot has been fired in any US-led land invasion. Confirming the meetings to US journalists, INC spokesman Zaab Sethna said: "The oil people are naturally nervous. We've had discussions with them, but they're not in the habit of going around talking about them." Wouldn't see why BP would be squeezed out, though I'm not an oil insider...
Next month oil executives will gather at a country retreat near Sandringham, UK, to discuss Iraq and the future of the oil market. The conference, hosted by Sheikh Yamani, the former Oil Minister of Saudi Arabia, will feature a former Iraqi head of military intelligence, an ex-Minister and City financiers. Topics for discussion include the country's oil potential, whether it can become as big a supplier as Saudi Arabia, and whether a post-Saddam Iraq might destroy the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It's been given a few bruises in the past few years. It'd also be a nice way to cut off some of the Soddy cash flow. Without cash, they're no more a problem than Yemen...
Disclosure of talks between the oil executives and the INC-which enjoys the support of Bush administration officials - is bound to exacerbate friction on the UN Security Council between permanent members and veto-holders Russia, France and China, who fear they will be squeezed out of a post-Saddam oil industry in Iraq. Although Russia, France and China have existing deals with Iraq, Chalabi has made clear that he would reward the US for removing Saddam with lucrative oil contracts, telling the Washington Post recently: "American companies will have a big shot at Iraqi oil." Guess if you don't play the game, you don't win the prize...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 05:06 pm ||
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Nice. Byebye, Osama. Byebye, Al Qaeda. Byebye, Taliban. Byebye, Saddam. And the UN. And France. And now OPEC.
I like this more with each passing day.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/04/2002 20:04 Comments ||
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BP should be in, and probably Royal Dutch Shell, But Elf/Aquitane (French) can go suck on the Saudis' pump for all I care...
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2002 8:39 Comments ||
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I wouldn't believe anything the INC told anybody. They will not have much more say in Iraqs oil than they do now. Chalabis imagination is as big as his mouth.
I think he needs to die in the fight to liberate Iraq.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/05/2002 8:44 Comments ||
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INC? International Nookie Cartel?
I *knew* there was a conspiracy! No wonder Al Bore can't get laid...
Source: BBC
Russian troops have launched large-scale operations against separatist rebels throughout Chechnya, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has announced. Mr Ivanov also said that previous plans to reduce the Russian military presence in Chechnya had been suspended. The offensive comes a week after Russian troops stormed a Moscow theatre in which about 800 theatre-goers were taken hostage by Chechen rebels. Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted Mr Ivanov as saying that the operations launched on Saturday were aimed at "nipping the threat in the bud. In the past few days we have received more and more information that on the territory of Chechnya, and not only there, guerrilla fighters are preparing to carry out new acts of terror," he said. I hope they're going to do more than "nip it in the bud." It's like crabgrass - unless you get the roots and all, it'll keep coming back.
The military actions, the Interfax news agency quoted Mr Ivanov as saying, are "broad-scale, tough and targeted". On Friday Mr Ivanov had insisted that the planned troop withdrawal from Chechnya would continue despite the hostage crisis in Moscow. Basayev was probably wondering about that, too. The only reason that move would have made sense would be to replace the consripts with good troops...
Russian authorities have imposed tough restrictions on reporting from Chechnya and access there by Russian and foreign correspondents is under strong Kremlin control. That means it's not going to be pretty...
Here's the first paragraph, that Jihad Unspun left off, courtesy Gazeta.ru...
On Sunday Russian troops in Chechnya launched a new assault, unprecedented in scale, with most of the 60,000-strong combined federal forces and special anti-terror subunits of the Federal Security Service (FSB) taking part in special operations aimed at ''nipping the terror threat in the bud''. That's a lot more descriptive, I think. I hope they do what they need to do...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 06:41 pm ||
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60,000+ troops? Jeez, see my comment above and repeat it here. It's times like this when I really admire that classic Russian straight thinking (and straight shooting, hopefully).
Posted by: John B. ||
11/04/2002 19:03 Comments ||
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Seems them Russians got some 'cowboy' instincts too. Yee Haw!
Posted by: Kathy K ||
11/04/2002 19:39 Comments ||
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They still keep some Cossacks around, I understand. Good luck to them!
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2002 19:50 Comments ||
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A large scale theft of military uniforms from an Army warehouse has been uncovered in the Siberian military district. The warehouse near the Yasnaya station in Chita Region was attacked on September 30, the press service of the Main Military Prosecutorâs Office reported on Monday. After tying up the two sentries, a group of masked criminals stole over 30,000 camouflige fatigues. Investigators soon established the identities of two of the criminals â they turned out to be residents of Chechnya. The Chechens were detained and almost all the stolen uniforms were seized from them. A search for the other criminals is under way. Sounds like the "usual suspects." Chita is in the Transbaikal Military District, way the hell over next to Outer Mongolia.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 06:45 pm ||
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Right now, everybody's gonna be a Chechyn. Hell, if a Russian diplo gets mugged in New York City, it'll be the black Chechyns.
#2
i can not remember the last time i have felt pride in our world leaders... i am ashamed of them. they act like spoiled children instead of world leaders.....
An active member of one of Moscowâs Chechen criminal groups has been detained in a rented flat in the South-West of the city, a source in the law enforcement reported on Monday. A Makarov pistol and 13 rounds of ammunition were seized from the 29-year old Chechen. It turned out that the detained had resided in Moscow since April this year without registration. Police are checking his possible involvement in crimes committed with use of firearms. This is not a good time to be a Chechen gangster...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 06:46 pm ||
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Hell, this is not a good time to be a Chechen.
Posted by: John B. ||
11/04/2002 18:58 Comments ||
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"Gangster", in the old, unlamented (at least by me) USSR was definitely a tag you didn't want. It guaranteed you a quick bullet in the back of the neck in some deep, dark cell in the basement of the Lubyanka...
The Russian Foreign Ministry is satisfied with Albania's measures on the prevention of Chechen terrorists' participation in the Trans-National Radical Party congress in Tirana, official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Yakovenko said, commenting on the Albanian authorities' refusal to let Umar Khanbiyev, the Health Minister of the government of separatist leader and Chechen ex-president Aslan Maskhadov, enter the country. "We regard this as a proof of the growing international solidarity in the fight against terrorism," the diplomat stressed. Moscow believes that only joint efforts of all the democratic states will put terrorist attacks to an end. "We rely upon further development of international counter-terrorist cooperation," Yakovenko noted. Good for Albania, which is a predominantly Muslim country that's full of tough guys — but not terrorists.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 06:51 pm ||
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Translated from the Russian. They didn't have an English version up...
The relatives of Movsar Baraev and his henchmen cannot obtain the bodies of those killed, nor learn where they are to be buried, not even the general area. On Friday the Duma passed revisions to the law on "The War with Terrorism" and "On Burials," by which the authorities can dispose of the bodies of terrorists as they please. Even to using them as scarecrows.
The changes were developed and introduced as a direct response to the siezure by terrorists of the theater in Dubrovka. The amendments were introduced on behalf of several members of the Committee on Safety, including Chairman
Aleksandr Gurov, and deputies belonging to the Unity Movement: Franz Klintsevich and Sergey Zhitinkin. They proposed this addition to both the laws: "the burial of those, who who die as a result of their criminal pursuits as a result of the suppression of terrorist action, resides with the government of the Russian Federation". Besides this, the action of the law is extended to the bodies of these persons: "burial will not be announced, nor will the place of their burial be revealed". A separate entry prescribes that the law applies to those persons killed prior to its passage, but who are up to this moment not buried. The Kremlin completely supports the initiative of deputies. Had to make sure everything was legal, I guess. A pity those pigs have to die to see the Bad Guys on their way...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 07:53 pm ||
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The pigs didn't die in vain, Fred. I have a couple of very nice looking pork chops in the fridge that I'll enjoy tomorrow evening.
Posted by: John B. ||
11/04/2002 20:55 Comments ||
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I'm just wondering if the Russians plan on sewing the terrorist up in pigskins before burying them, as was rumored.
[Hank Williams, Jr. voice] Are ya ready for some FOOTBALL! [/Hank Williams, Jr. voice]
An American made Apache Helicopter fired a missile at a civilian vehicle in Nablus this afternoon killing two Palestinians in a residential area near Al-Ein Camp. It would be different if it was Belgian-made, or Chinese-made. Being American-made makes it worse...
The incident happened at 2.15pm when a white vehicle was traveling east in Haifa street leading to the camp. Eyewitnesses report that the two occupants in the vehicle were immediately killed. Their body parts flew into people's houses and front yards. "Is he dead?"
"I dunno. That chunk of him is..."
The names of the two martyrs are not yet confirmed. Radio Tariq Al Mahabbeh, covering the incident, refrained from naming the victims until their families are notified. And a bit more detail...
In Nablus, a senior military leader of the Islamic resistance Hamas group and another man were killed when their car exploded in the west of the city. The blast, which also injured two bystanders, was blamed on Israel. The Hamas leader was identified as Hamed Sadr, 35, whose nephew killed himself and three Israeli soldiers in a bomb attack on the Jewish settlement of Ariel last week. Witnesses said a drone was over flying the area at the time of the explosion, which blew the car, with yellow Israeli license plates, to pieces. A Palestinian security official accused Israel of "booby trapping the car and blowing it up by remote control." Today sounds like the day for drones, doesn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 05:06 pm ||
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A white vehicle? Wonderful! They finally got that Maryland sniper! (Sorry, sometimes I can't resist...)
Posted by: Kathy K ||
11/04/2002 19:50 Comments ||
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no, being "American-made" just means it _works_ ;)
note: a hit from a Hellfire missile will blow a T-72 apart at the welds. testing on passenger cars, carried out very recently, shows similar results.
Posted by: andy ||
11/04/2002 23:42 Comments ||
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Well, since the Predator has TV capabilities, I certainly hope this tape has been archived and made available to Al-Jazheera....heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2002 10:10 Comments ||
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At least two people were killed, and more than 20 injured, some seriously, in an explosion Monday, November 4, in a shopping mall in Kfar Sava, northeast of Tel Aviv. According to al-Jazeera Satellite Station, the blast resulted when a Palestinian lemming resistance activist blew himself up, killing an Israeli and wounding dozens. Israeli rescue services said the blast occurred at the Arim shopping mall, seriously injuring four people who were evacuated by ambulance. A mall... Well, that's a traditional sort of military target for Paleostinians...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 05:06 pm ||
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The joint team of Indonesian and international police investigating the Bali bombings says it knows the names and hideouts of three suspects. "We have identified the names and addresses of the three suspects whose sketches were recently released to the public," team spokesman Brigadier General Edward Aritonang was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara on Monday (4/11/02). He declined to name the suspects, but said all three were Indonesian nationals, adding that efforts were underway to locate and arrest them. The joint team has deployed special units to search the areas believed to be their hideouts. If they know who they are, then they know who their friends are, and they'll soon know who did the financing of the operation. That's unless the Indons decide there's not enough evidence and let them go...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 05:12 pm ||
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Lawyers for Jemaah Islamiyahâs alleged spiritual leader Abu Bakar Baasyir on Monday filed court papers for his release, saying there was insufficient evidence to justify his arrest last month. A ruling on the matter is expected by Wednesday. Baasyir has denied any links to terrorism and claims Jemaah Islamiyah does not exist. He is refusing to answer police questions about his alleged involvement in a series of church bombings that killed 18 people on Christmas Eve 2002, as well as an alleged plot to assassinate Megawati Sukarnoputri before she became president. The radical cleric says he will only cooperate with investigators if they meet three demands: release him; apologize for having arrested him; and summon al Qaeda operative Omar al-Faruq, who is being detained in the US and has implicated him in a number of terrorist plots. Those are pretty new heights of arrogance, even for an Islamist cleric. Sure would be terrible if a drone happened to be flying overhead and malfunctioned somehow...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 05:18 pm ||
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Iran's government has confirmed a son of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was recently arrested by its security forces and sent back to Pakistan, although the foreign ministry later backtracked over the sensitive revelation. Government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh said late Sunday a son of the world's most wanted man had been unwittingly arrested and expelled from Iran, insisting officials were at the time unaware of his true identity. "About two months ago we arrested some 20 people who had entered Iran illegally, without knowing the son of bin Laden was among them. Immediately, we sent them back across the (Pakistani) border," he told AFP. Wonder if they turned them over to the Paks or just made them walk home?
The group entered Iran from Pakistan and was sent back, he stressed, because "they were not carrying identity papers and could not be identified... At the time, we didn't know that (bin Laden's son) was among them and we found out later," he added, without naming him or giving any other details. Now I'm curious as to how they eventually found out it was him...
The leak is also potentially deeply embarrassing for Pakistan and Saudi Arabia â if it emerges that officials in those countries were aware of the incident. Pakistan has already insisted it had no information about the arrest. "I know nossing! Nossing! Tell them, Hogan!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
11/04/2002 08:00 pm ||
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UPI is hinting that the Paks turned him over to the U.S., and the Merkins are issuing "no comment"s rather than denials, so maybe Baby bin Laden will be enjoying hurricane season in Gitmo?
Just in time for Ramadan and the Holidays too! Now isn't that special..
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2002 20:55 Comments ||
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I'm just wondering how you get from Pakistan to Iran, no common border?
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.
