A car packed with explosives exploded in eastern Afghanistan, killing four people who apparently were planning a terrorist attack, an Afghan military official said Sunday. The blast late Saturday in Karwan Sarui, four miles east of the town of Khost, killed two unidentified Pakistani nationals and one man from Yemen, said Khial Baz, a regional commander. Baz said the fourth man was Bacha Malkhui, a former intelligence officer for the deposed Taliban government. He was driving the car. That's about what we'd expect. A Talib for local flavor, two Paks for muscle, and an Arab to be in charge. Not the best Arab, though...
"They were planning some kind of terrorist attack, but we don't know what their target was," Baz told The Associated Press by telephone from Khost. "Now, remember, Mahmoud: park the car, arm the device, run like hell, and press the detonator."
"Gotcha. Park the car, arm the device, press the detonator... Ooops."
Malkhui's mother, who was passing by at the time, was wounded in the leg, Baz said. "What caused that terrible bruise to your shin bone, Mother Malkhui?"
"That was my boy Bacha's elbow, I think. It mighta been his knee."
Security forces found the vehicle's charred remains near Malkhui's house. Baz said the vehicle was a taxi and had come from across the border in neighboring Pakistan. Just a coincidence, of course...
Security forces had been searching for Malkhui, after he was accused of firing two rockets toward a U.S. base in the same area a month ago, Baz said. And now they've found most of him...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/13/2003 5:14:34 PM ||
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Not just secret police, but top secret police...
Yemen is questioning two senior secret police officers after 10 al Qaeda suspects, including two linked to the suicide bombing of the U.S. warship Cole, escaped from a Yemeni jail, an official said on Sunday. Jamal al-Badawi, the main suspect arrested after the October 2000 attack, a suspected accomplice and eight men held for allegedly belonging to al Qaeda escaped after drilling a hole in a bathroom wall at the high-security prison on Friday. Or breaking a window, or sprouting wings and flying away... The accounts do differ, don't they?
Police have also arrested an unspecified numbers of friends and relatives of the fugitives and are interrogating several guards at the prison in the southern port city of Aden. Security forces are carrying out a manhunt in southern Yemen, while newspapers published photographs of the 10 men and officials promised a "generous reward" to anyone helping police to catch the fugitives.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/13/2003 4:48:34 PM ||
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A deputy of the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) Saturday called the latest American threats against Iran "unacceptable". Really, Fritz?
"It's important to make clear that this is in no way acceptable despite all criticism against Syria and Iran," Markus Meckel told IRNA. "We cannot solve a criticism of a regime by force," the deputy added. Worked against Sammy, didn't it?
A member of the foreign affairs committee, Meckel stressed that he took the ongoing American provocations against Iran "very serious". The MP's remarks come after US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell issued strong warnings to Iran and Syria. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Thursday warned the United States against starting new wars in the Middle East region, reacting to Washington's anti-Iran tirade. "I am warning of repetitions. I see no reason for speculation on grounds for a new war," Schroeder was quoted as saying on German television. Except for the Syrian gunnies shooting at our troops in Iraq, and the bands of thugs threatening to throw holy men out of Najaf, right? And SAIRI making faces and Iran saying "they're not with us"...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/13/2003 12:06:37 PM ||
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Yeah, BBC, Otherwise known as 'Tikrit'. Don't you believe anything your 'reporters' file?!
US marines have entered Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, American officials say. A spokesman at US Central Command in Qatar said the troops had encountered no resistance and were receiving help from local residents. Tikrit is believed to be a possible remaining stronghold of Saddam Hussein's regime and there has been speculation that troops loyal to the deposed leader might be planning a last stand there.
But so far they're not, since Sammy's dead or run...
In cities which have already fallen to coalition forces, the US military has promised to take steps to restore law and order after the collapse of the regime led to widespread looting and violence. On Saturday, two men shot dead a US marine who was manning a checkpoint near a hospital in Baghdad. Fellow marines opened fire and killed one man who was found to be carrying Syrian papers. The other escaped.
That's significant from two points: Syria is making war on us, and Iraq isn't. Wotta surprise.
Now, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, Ahmed Chalabi, has said "free Iraqi forces" will go to Baghdad to help US forces restore order. Both Mosul in the north and Basra in the south are reported to be calmer on Sunday.
The Iraqis are probably trying to get used to the fact that it's not the conquering allied forces who're sacking their cities...
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that once the fighting is over, US forces will turn their attention to finding weapons of mass destruction. "I think they will be found," he told the BBC's Breakfast with Frost programme.
We seem to keep tripping over them — and each time the subject's dropped or it's explained away. Makes no sense to me, so obviously I don't have all the facts. Either that, or it's senseless...
Tikrit is the only major centre not under the control of US-led forces. Analysts say the battle for Saddam Hussein's hometown could be the final showdown in the war. The Republican Guard positions in the city have been pounded by US planes in recent days, and reporters on the ground say there is little sign of organised defence there.
They were saying on FoxNews a few minutes ago that there's been no resistance. It's over for the Iraqis, still under way for the Syrians.
Speaking in Qatar, Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks said American troops were "having some success" in the northern city. "Not much combat action is occurring; that's good news," he said. "Task Force Tripoli is what is headed north... with significant capabilities and fire power. They have moved north along Highway 1 to Tikrit from Samarra (50 kilometres south of Tikrit)," Lieutenant Mark Kitchens said.
Samarra was where the seven POWs/missing were picked up, just standing by the side of the road. My guess is that their captors said something along the lines of, "You're on your own. We're going home. Don't tell anybody who we are."
Earlier, a CNN crew was able to drive through checkpoints into Tikrit, which appeared to still be under the control of the Baath Party. The team was told to get permission from the area's governor to film and then came under heavy pistol and machine-gun fire as it drove through the city. And they reported this? Guess their Iraq despatches are a little less self-censored these days.
In Baghdad, US Chinook helicopters carried out their first air patrols in an effort to improve security. Coalition commanders say troops have already secured a hospital in the capital and a water treatment centre threatened by looters. But they insist that it is unrealistic for their forces to restore law and order in areas where they are still encountering armed resistance. On Sunday, hundreds of Iraqis queued in central Baghdad for jobs in key sectors, creating a traffic jam around the Palestine hotel where US officials set up a recruitment desk. The Americans have urged police, health workers, electricity and water ministry employees to help with restoring order and services in the capital.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
04/13/2003 8:32:26 AM ||
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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.
