A continuation of the story posted by Besoeker; I gave this its own post since the Roooters reporter was trying to jam two stories into one. AoS.
A day after kidnapping the Germans, the Taliban seized a group of Korean Christians travelling in a bus in Ghazni province which has in recent months seen unprecedented level of violence since Taliban's ouster in 2001. The Taliban said they would also decide later on Saturday the fate of 23 Koreans which include women mostly.
The kidnapping of the Koreans is the biggest group of foreigners seized so far in the militant campaign to oust the Unite States-backed government and force out foreign troops from the country.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun called for the release of hostages, saying they were medical volunteers. "We understand the kidnapped South Koreans have been doing medical volunteer services," Roh told a news conference in Seoul. "The kidnappers must release our people as soon as possible, and safely. In any case, valuable lives should not be damaged."
Last year, the South Korean government tried to stop a group of 2 000 Korean Christians travelling to Afghanistan for a peace conference, fearing for their safety. But 900 of them still came to Afghanistan, causing an uproar in the staunchly Muslim country -- where many accused them of being evangelical missionaries -- before they were all deported.
South Korea has no combat troops in Afghanistan, but has a contingent of 200 engineers, doctors and medical staff. Roh said they would remain in Afghanistan until their mission was complete. "The troops in Afghanistan are non-combatant, doing medical and support work. They have been trying to treat hundreds of people everyday and help reconstruct Afghanistan by building welfare facilities and bridges, and their mission is nearing an end," Roh said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/23/2007 12:41 ||
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#1
What will get the hostages released will be suitcases of cash. Of course, this cash will be used to fund further kidnappings, but don't tell the Koreans that.
#6
Weird things happen in the US, but I'm pretty sure that we don't have thousands of peace activists descending on Kabul. Maybe they saw Witness one too many times.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/23/2007 22:33 Comments ||
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US-led coalition and Afghan soldiers "routed" a large number of Taliban fighters in a two-day battle in southern Afghanistan's poppy-growing heartland, killing more than 50 suspected militants, the coalition said Monday.
The battle in Helmand province's Sangin district saw the insurgents attempt to shoot down a coalition aircraft and attack soldiers with a suicide car bomb, the coalition said in a statement.
Coalition aircraft dropped four bombs during the engagement, and Afghan forces counted "more than four dozen" insurgents killed, it said.
The Sangin district chief, Eizatullah Khan, said a big group of Taliban had attacked a convoy of vehicles Sunday afternoon. He said the battle left more than 30 Taliban dead and many wounded.
#4
By any reasonable standard (i.e., Western), the crazies in Afghanistan and Iraq are taking terrible losses. At some point will they get the picture?
Unlikely. They have a very large recruiting pool that does not have broadband connectivity. Instead they have the local imam. The way we are conducting this war, it could go on for centuries as is. But, they will do something that will change the way we conduct it. Then what is happening to the Lions of Islam will be apparent even to those in outer Waziristan, that is if there is still anyone alive in outer Waziristan.
#6
You have to hit 'em where they live to end this thing which means villages, mosques, madrassas, infrastructure and "civilian" casualties inside Pakiland. Hey, it's war. It isn't supposed to be nice and, remember, they hit us where we live with no regard for our civilian casualties. Teach them and their fellow muzzies around the world a lesson. When they are all either dead or living in caves with no heat, water or food and cut off from any outside support they might be ready to quit.
And if the Paks don't like it, tough. Sooner or later something will probably have to be done about them anyway. Anything else is BS and it probably could go on forever.
Afghanistan's Taliban movement said on Saturday it had killed the second German hostage after the group's demands were ignored, a spokesperson for the militant group said. "The mujahideen also shot dead the second hostage," Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by phone from an unknown location.
He said the Taliban had yet to decide about the bodies of the pair who the group killed at two different times on Saturday following the expiration of two separate deadlines. The couple were shot dead in Ghazni province which lies to the south-west of the capital, Kabul.
The German Foreign Ministry said it had received no independent confirmation that any of the hostages in Afghanistan had been killed by the Taliban. "We are taking these statements very seriously," German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Martin Jaeger said in a statement. "So far we have no independent confirmation that a hostage was murdered in Afghanistan." He said Berlin was in constant contact with the Afghan government.
The two unidentified Germans along with six Afghan colleagues were kidnapped at gun point while travelling in a vehicle on Wednesday in Wardak province which also lies to the south-west of Kabul. German media said the two men were engineers being escorted by their Afghan colleagues when they were taken away.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson earlier said that Berlin had received no clear evidence that the two Germans were in the hands of the Taliban. The Afghan government said it was not aware of the reported executions of the German hostages.
The Taliban kidnappers of 23 Korean hostages on Sunday extended the deadline for the South Korean government to agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 24 hours to 1430 GMT on Monday. The Taliban have extended the deadline for another 24 hours, Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said on the phone from an unknown location. He said insurgents would start killing the hostages if South Korea did not agree to the demands.
The South Korean government has said it will withdraw its troops at the end of this year as planned.
Provincial governor Mirajuddin Pattan said that an Afghan government team had gone to the area where the Koreans were kidnapped to ask tribal elders to mediate for their release, while Afghan and foreign troops stood by ready for an operation to free them. He said the government was keen for the elders to play the role of mediators between the government and the Taliban rebels.
But the Afghan Defence Ministry said that the Afghan army and coalition forces were also on stand-by in Ghazni province, south of the Afghan capital, Kabul. They are awaiting orders to assault suspected locations, the ministry said in a statement. The operation will be launched if Defence Ministry authorities deem it necessary.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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American and Afghan soldiers surrounded a district in central Afghanistan where 23 South Korean Christian aid workers were being held hostage last night as their Taliban captors extended a deadline for their demands by 24 hours.
The insurgents, who snatched the South Koreans from a bus at gunpoint on Thursday, have threatened to start executing the group unless an equal number of imprisoned fighters are freed.
Intensive negotiations involving President Hamid Karzai, Korean hostage negotiators and local tribal elders were under way last night as tearful relatives held a candlelight vigil outside the aid workers' church in Seoul.
The body of a German engineer, who had been abducted in a separate incident, was found in Wardak province near Kabul.
The sense of urgency grew after the body of a German engineer, who had been abducted in a separate incident, was found in Wardak province near Kabul. The Taliban said they killed the man. Last night Germany said his body had gunshot wounds. A German foreign ministry spokesman said the exact cause of death was unclear and Berlin wanted the remains returned to Germany as soon as possible for a closer examination.
The Christian aid workers including 18 women were abducted from a public bus travelling from Kandahar to Kabul on one of Afghanistan's most dangerous routes. They included nurses and English teachers in their 20s and 30s. They apparently tried to disguise themselves by wearing all-covering burkas.
An eight-strong team from the South Korean government established contact with the kidnappers as American and Afghan security forces encircled the area in central Ghazni province where the hostages were believed to be held. A western security official in the area said he did not expect an immediate raid. "I don't think there's an intention to try something big and brave. They just want to make sure that the hostages don't go anywhere."
Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yusuf said the hostages were being kept in different locations and any attempt to use force would have "dire consequences". But the insurgents were extending their deadline by 24 hours to 3.30pm BST today because "the Islamic emirate is keen to resolve this issue peacefully".
The UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, who is from South Korea, vowed to help obtain the captives' release.
South Korea has 200 soldiers in Afghanistan under American command, mostly engaged in medical or humanitarian duties. They are due to leave at the end of this year. But Afghanistan retains a curious attraction for South Korean evangelicals.
Hard as it is for Al Guardian to fathom, there are strong churches in South Korea.
Proselytising is illegal in Afghanistan and the Taliban have threatened to kill missionaries who secretly enter the country. Last year the government deported 1,200 South Koreans who flew to Kabul for a "peace parade" that never took place.
The South Korean embassy in Kabul strongly denied that the hostages, who belong to the Saemmul Christian Church from Bundang near Seoul, were engaged in missionary activity. A western security official told the Guardian that they ran a small and discreet medical charity in Kandahar. "It's a small and unobtrusive compound. Most Afghans don't even know it exists."
Relatives of the hostages fought back tears at a vigil in South Korea last night. "My only wish is for the Taliban to send our family members home safely," said Seo Jung-bae, father of two of the hostages.
But in Berlin the German chancellor Angela Merkel sounded a defiant note against Taliban demands for the immediate withdrawal of Germany's 3,000 troops in exchange for a remaining hostage. "We will not give in to blackmail," she told a German channel.
#1
Time for SKor to send in some of their highly trained "special purpose" ROK soldiers to sneak in there in the middle of the night, and leave with the hostages alive and the hostage takers with their throats cut, at least.
#2
South Korean churches have had missionaries in Pakistan for over 35 years. They were particularly active lately in assisting the earthquake victims. I'm wondering if the aid workers came directky from sKor or came over from their base in Pakistan.
#5
Perhaps NATO forces should not be overly obsessed about getting these hostages back alive. Having a few dozen of their citizens killed might shake South Korea out of its torpor over dealing with extremist regimes.
#2
During the Cultural Revolution, the Chicoms made imams shovel pig crap. That doesn't bother me anymore. I am more selective about who is worthy of respect for freedom of conscience.
#3
The US has always known, that to get rid of the 'threat', you get rid of the 'source'! As long as the 'Majority' doesn't feel threatened, such an extreme won't be implemented.
#6
I suppose I should get worked up about something, but I can't decide who I dislike more.
Hmm Commies vs. Islamo-nutz, Red guards Vs. Al-q... Help me out here...
Posted by: N Guard ||
07/23/2007 5:53 Comments ||
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#7
"A pox on both their houses".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/23/2007 6:10 Comments ||
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#8
Commies vs. Islamo-nutz, Red guards Vs. Al-q... Help me out here...
Commies are at least rational actors who prefer living over dying.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/23/2007 7:17 Comments ||
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#9
China's real motivation, unfortunately, is less anti-terror than ethnic cleansing. They want the territory the Muslims are living on for Han Chinese.
This will probably mean, in the long run, that the Chinese will start to drive their Muslims out, into adjacent countries.
#10
how many children do the muslims have keeping in mind the one child law, or has that law been thrown out the window? It seems the muslims are growing in higher numbers, everywhere because of this. link
I like the higher control over the passports idea, while I don't like the big brother, to promote higher safety maybe it's time.
Posted by: Jan ||
07/23/2007 10:29 Comments ||
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#11
Then there is outright child slavery, exposed last month in a brave report by the Hong Kong magazine Phoenix Weekly. More than 4,000 Uighur children have been kidnapped and turned into beggars or thieves by big brother Fagin figures, an estimate confirmed by the provincial welfare office.
The gangmasters, usually Uighurs themselves, set daily targets of up to £50 for stealing or begging, on pain of beatings. The children are sent to richer parts of China, the girls subjected to sexual harassment and the boys tempted into drug addiction to make them easier to manipulate.
As always, nobody screws over the Muslims so adroitly as other Muslims.
Would it be too much to hope that China's brutal treatment of its Uighur minority will spark a massive jihad against the communists? Watching thousands of Muslim terrorists funnel themselves into the maw of China's military meat-grinder has a certain special appeal all its own.
#12
It also will be interesting to observe how the Chicoms will deal with kidnapping and murder of Chinese nationals as they make their move into Sudan, Nigeria, and even eventually Iran to pursue gas/oil production contracts. I think nuch more like the Russkies. That is very harshly. Will set the Muzzies back on their heels when they find out Chicoms have a very low level of tolerance for their crap.
#14
Did you forget that Arabs are superior to Orientals ?
Islam's Clash of Civilizations with the West will be as a hiccough compared to when these two Master Races impact each other. The legendary Chinese aptitude for connivance and duplicity will make Muslims look like so many rank amateurs. One can only speculate upon Islam's towering rage when it finds itself constantly hoodwinked like some farmboy carnival mark at the Mandarins' hands.
#15
The Chicoms vs. Islam. You can't sell enough popcorn for this one.
Other page of the story. The Uighur have been around long before Islam infected the region. The earlest use of the name Uighur dates to the Wei Dynasty (386-534) AD.
They kind of remind me of the Huns.
Total population 8.68 million. Regions with significant populations:
China (Xinjiang)
Pakistan
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Uzbekistan
Mongolia
Turkey
Russia
#18
Just when I thought this islamic rabble dreck couldn't get any dumber I get new information reinforcing that they can. The Chinese are ruthless amongst themselves. Just think what they are willing to do to their enemies. It's hard to muster any feelings for the islamics after 911 and the other barbarism they pull in the world. My poor wife had to put up with my rant this a.m. which was: "They could blow all the SOBs up and I wouldn't give a $hit."
#19
History cerainly does repeat itself. Us and THEM versus the Nazis. Will it be us and THEM versus the ROP. Think so and hope so.
Posted by: Total War ||
07/23/2007 16:39 Comments ||
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#20
Moose, I'm no fan of the Chicoms, but a charge of ethnic cleansing is false. China's policy has always been cultural and political domination by the Han Chinese, not removal of minorities. For example, ethnic minorities are and always have been exempt from the one child policy.
A Moroccan imam arrested in Italy and suspected of running a terrorism school in his mosque had a variety of toxic chemicals at his home, which could have been used to make explosives, police said on Sunday. The imam was arrested in a dawn swoop on Saturday along with two assistants who worked in the mosque at Ponte Felcino, near the central Italian city of Perugia. Police seized films and Internet files they said were used for combat training.
At the house of the imam, identified as Korchi El Mustapha, police said they found dozens of bottles inside three barrels containing a variety of chemicals with which, when combined and mixed with other easily available products, it would be possible to make improvised explosives.
The arrests shocked Italy and Sunday newspapers carried headlines like Al Qaeda school in Perugia and Terrorists ready to strike. Police, who searched 23 addresses in the area, said the mosque was being used to recruit and train international terrorists.
The imam of Perugia, Abdel Qader, told the Rome daily Il Messaggero that he condemned anyone who preached violence and that the 10,000 Muslims living peacefully in the city were a concrete example of successful cohabitation.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Those chemicals weren't for bombs; the imam runs a beauty salon in his off-hours, and needs the peroxide and nail polish remover for that.
Hat tip: Belmont Club
Thursdays suicidal attack on Chinese nationals in Balochistan is said to be the first reaction to Chinese governments steps to curb Muslim insurgency in its own territory. This time the attack is said to have been carried out by some Islamic militants unlike the past when Baloch rebels were blamed for killings of Chinese workers.
A few months back, one Muslim fighter, who had taken refuge in Pakistan after fleeing from a Muslim populated province of China, was hanged by Chinese authorities after he was captured in Islamabad and extradited to Beijing. It is being widely perceived here in British media that Muslim militants were now trying to take revenge from the Chinese government by attacking its nationals working in Pakistan. A report has claimed that Islamic extremists in Pakistan are making common cause with the Muslim insurgency in China; otherwise, there would seem to be no reason for it.
It said Chinese mineworkers in southern Pakistan were targeted by a suicide bomber on Thursday what is believed to be part of the Islamist backlash, which has killed more than 140 people in the last week. A suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a convoy of police vehicles escorting Chinese technicians through a busy street at Hub. The Chinese were unhurt but the massive explosion killed 29 Pakistanis, including seven police officers travelling in the van that was rammed.
Zahid Hussain, Times correspondent in Islamabad, said Baloch tribes had never previously resorted to suicide bombings and that the attack appeared to carry the hallmarks of Islamic extremism. The choice of target also appeared to point to Islamists, Hussain said. Beijing was a close and valued ally of Pakistan, which last year handed back to China one of the leaders of the Muslim insurgency in China who had taken refuge in a Pakistan tribal area.
#1
It is being widely perceived here in British media that Muslim militants were now trying to take revenge from the Chinese government by attacking its nationals working in Pakistan.
What are you people, morons? Hmm...seem to have answered my own question, there. The recent attacks on Chinese are part of their attempts to establish Sharia law in Pakistan, nothing more. Journalists really are stupid. I can't believe something like "the journalism community perceives this" is being reported as "news".
#2
This time the attack is said to have been carried out by some Islamic militants unlike the past when Baloch rebels were blamed for killings of Chinese workers.
yeah, it's totally different. Uh huh
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/23/2007 7:08 Comments ||
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#3
A report has claimed that Islamic extremists in Pakistan are making common cause with the Muslim insurgency in China; otherwise, there would seem to be no reason for it.
While America seems to have great difficulty with the notion of targeted killings something tells me that China will exhibit no such compunctions. Islam's fatal prediliction for overreaching itself will find more than a match in China's penchant for crushing all opposition like so many cockroaches.
#4
If this is so, and it probably is true, Pervert is really going to be feeling extreme heat from his Chicom masters. If he thinks infidels are devils, he really has no idea which bed he's crawled into. A bed of fireants. China simply won't tolerate this kind of treatment of Chinese nationals. They may have to extermintae several thousand Paks, but it won't bother them one whit.
#6
#5 They may have to extermintae several thousand Paks, but it won't bother them one whit.You say that like it's a bad thing.
Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-23 12:18
Only if it interferes with the transfer of US and NATO supplies to Afghanistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2007 18:05 Comments ||
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#7
Only if it interferes with the transfer of US and NATO supplies to Afghanistan.
I'm wondering if it isn't time for a little brinkmanship in dealing with Pakistan. We should let their jihadis run amok just long enough to have China threatening an invasion. Then America steps in to save the dayand not coincidentally confiscate their nuclear weapons as wellwhile saving their Islamic bacon, so to speak.
One way or another Pakistan must be brought to heel. No matter what we do they will busily implode courtesy of the ISI's congenital ineptitude and their military's incompetence. If China can be inspired to exhibit some of its usual heavy-handed hamfistedness in response to this jihadist nonsense, then we might stand a remoteemphasis on the word "remote"chance of playing the good guy.
Capital Development Authority (CDA) personnel on Sunday found a mutilated body near the Jamia Hafsa kitchen.
The recovery came during the demolition of parts of the madrassa, said Islamabad SSP Captain (r) Zafar Iqbal. He said the entire body, except the face, had been mutilated. The man is yet to be identified, he added. He said the bodys head had been sent to a laboratory for DNA identification. He said that a Klashnikov rifle, 150 bullets and two hand grenades had also been found near the body. Meanwhile, sources said the CDAs Anti-encroachment Directorate had demolished 14 of the madrassas rooms built on government land.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Security forces killed 20 terrorists militants in clashes on Saturday night and Sunday in North Waziristan, while 10 security personnel were wounded.
Army troops killed 13 terrorists militants on Saturday in Ghulam Khan, 15 kilometres north of Miranshah in North Waziristan. The incident occurred about 11 pm when unidentified terrorists militants attacked a Frontier Corps check-post. The army returned fire, killing 13 terrorists militants and destroying two vehicles. The army also arrested seven terrorists militants and seized a vehicle. The terrorists militants took the bodies of their colleagues with them.
Didn't work out the way they drew it up, did it.
On Sunday, gunship helicopters killed seven terrorists militants who were shooting at an army convoy from hilltops in Qutab Khel, five kilometres east of Miranshah. Six security personnel were seriously injured in the clash. The convoy was going to Bannu from Miranshah.
Unidentified terrorists militants attacked another army convoy at Khar Qamar, 20 kilometres west of Miranshah, with a remote-controlled bomb at about 4pm on Sunday, seriously injuring four security personnel. The convoy was heading for Datta Khel.
Inter Services Public Relations Director General (DG) Major General Waheed Arshid confirmed that 13 terrorists militants had been killed and seven arrested in the Ghulam Khan incident. However, he said only six terrorists militants were killed at the Chashmai Bridge and five security personnel were wounded in Sundays incident. Terrorists Militants in small groups attempted to attack several army posts in the area but security forces foiled their bid, Gen Arshad said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Can we experiment/test any new WMD's in this area?????
Posted by: Paul ||
07/23/2007 12:10 Comments ||
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U.S. and Iraqi forces blocked access to a town on the northeast outskirts of Baghdad where Shiite gunmen were dug in for a third day Monday behind earthen barriers. Police issued calls for residents to leave the town, and some said they were running out of food and fuel.
The blockade of Husseiniyah came as at least 16 people died when four car bombs rocked the center of the capital. Three of the blasts took place in one 30-minute span, as the relentless Baghdad summer sun pushed temperatures to 115 degrees...
The Shiite-dominated parliament said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki should intervene to end the crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces on Husseiniyah. The town is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and straddles the highway to Baqouba, where U.S. forces are in the second month of a drive to cleanse that region of al-Qaida in Iraq.
State-run Iraqiya television said the Husseiniyah blockade "would have serious consequences on people's lives there."
A 51-year-old woman resident, who would give her name only as Um Bassem, said police, apparently expecting a major outbreak of fighting, had issued calls for residents to leave Husseiniyah if they could.
"My husband offered to take us out and return to protect our house and belongings, but we refused to leave because we would be so worried about him," Um Bassem told an AP reporter in the area. She said food stocks were becoming low.
"We decided to stay home in two rooms at the back of the house. We can't leave because we have valuable things and we fear looters," she said.
Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, spokesman for U.S. forces north of Baghdad, said American and Iraqi forces were now allowing "commercial vendors to bring food to the south of Husseiniyah. Civilians are authorized to walk to these vendors to buy food. Donkey carts may be used, but no vehicle movement is authorized. We are also allowing civilians that need medical aid, to walk to the Hamid Shaub Hospital for free treatment."
Trouble broke out in Husseiniyah when U.S. forces took small arms fire shortly before midnight Friday and ordered an airstrike on the building from which the gunmen were shooting. The military said helicopters fired missiles at the building and three gunmen fled to a second building.
U.S. aircraft then bombed the second structure, setting off at least seven secondary blasts believed caused by explosives and munitions stored inside the building, the military said, adding that Iraqi police told American forces six militants were killed and five wounded.
The military account contradicted reports from Iraqi police and hospital officials contacted by The Associated Press. Those officials said 18 civilians had been killed and 21 wounded in the attacks at 2 a.m. Saturday.
AP Television News videotape showed wounded women and children lying in hospital beds, and white pickup trucks carrying at least 11 bodies wrapped in blankets to the morgue. Men unloaded the bodies, including several that were small and apparently children.
Relatives said the dead were killed in the airstrike. The conflicting accounts could not be reconciled.
Donnelly said militant gunmen "are using civilians as protection and have no regard for the innocent.
"Currently there are berms (earthen barriers) placed to impede movement to/from the city by the militia group, who have fired on CF (Coalition Forces) over the past day(s). The intent of these berms remains unclear, but it is impeding movement in and out of the town for sure," he said in response to an e-mail asking for details.
In Karradah, a predominantly Shiite district in central Baghdad, two of four car bombs exploded nearly simultaneously. A third hit about 30 minutes later. Police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said at least 16 people, including five policemen, were killed.
Karradah, an upscale shopping and residential district, has suffered repeated high-profile bombings, and Monday's attacks occurred despite a five-month-old U.S.-Iraqi security operation aimed at clamping off violence in the capital.
Hassan Sami, a 28-year-old clothing store owner in Karradah, said he was showered by shattered glass that wounded his left arm.
"Nothing was left except the smell of charred flesh mixed with gun powder and wreckage stained with blood," Sami said. "We've been attacked many times before, and the government can't do anything for this area. It only sends its patrols who roam the streets with their annoying sirens without doing anything useful."
Iran's ambassador to Baghdad, meanwhile, confirmed that the United States and Iran will discuss the security situation in Iraq on Tuesday in Baghdad, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
"The composition of the negotiating teams will include ambassadors of Iran and America in Baghdad, as head of the two teams, with observance of Iraqi officials," IRNA quoted Hasan Kazemi Qomi as saying Monday.
The time and place of the second meeting between U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Qomi have not been disclosed. A few paragraphs of editorializing have been deleted.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
07/23/2007 21:13 ||
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#1
The only question is were these IRG just a bunch of hapless and untrained draftees sent out as cannon fodder, or were they some of the true believers that are used as brownshirt enforcers all over the country?
The regime can ill-afford to lose this small, dedicated group of fanatical arm breakers, without risking overthrow.
#2
The IRG is more like armed thugs than some military oraganization. Sure tehy are good at terrorizing unarmed civilians but when they come upon an armed enemy they die or run away like girls. Ask the Israelis how often the Lions of Islam flee versus fight.
Posted by: John Kerry ||
07/23/2007 14:01 Comments ||
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#5
The Super-Special-Elite Republican Guard might have kicked big arse... but they weren't available at that location. The "Drug Smugglers" were SOOOOO lucky.
#6
The IRG units range in value from loyal gangbangers to actual military units. Most, however, fall into the street thug/armed gangbanger value range : good if you want to terrorize college students, bad if they need to go up against anyone who knows how to use a gun. And a lot of those "drug smugglers" in the region in question are the protection teams hired to escort the drug teams - they tend to be made up of local mercenaries and guerillas, sort of like what FARC does for the Columbian Cartels.
#8
The IRGC (or Pasdaran) does have a great range in the quality and training of its forces. They professionalized back in the mid-90s.
However, the 'thugs' are People's Militia or the Basij ( a mixture of IRGC troops and volunteers). They (in the form of the Ashura Brigades)took over internal security and responding to civil unrest. Supposedly they're under IRGC control, at least nominally (they're headed by a non-IRGC civilian). Reportedly they've been given greater responsibility for doemstic security.
#9
I think you are under-rating the IRG. They are primarily to control internal disturbances including anti-insurgency ops. They are reasonably well trained and equiped. An 11 vs 0 encounter says they were surprised in a well planned ambush, which in turn says this wasn't a moreorless chance encounter with a local gang, but a manifestation of a real anti-government insurgency.
#11
I think Pappy is probably right. I think, at one time, the Basij were ill-equipt, barely trained peasant volunteers who sought and found matyrdom by the wave in battle with Sadaam's forces. I think they are probably the same caliber stock but now they are conscripts.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/23/2007 22:47 Comments ||
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Extremists attacked an Iraqi civilian ambulance with an improvised explosive device, July 20, in the Doura neighborhood of the Rashid District, wounding two.
Multi-National Division Baghdad Soldiers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., responded to an audible explosion near the intersection of Routes Jackson and Sonics to find the ambulance disabled by an IED strike.
Coalition medics treated the driver and a passenger at the site for their injuries. The vehicle, though slightly damaged, was pushed to an nearby checkpoint to await recovery by Iraqi Security Forces
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
In the small town where I grew up, our ambulance doubled as a hearse - or was it the other way around.
Four Iraqi civilians were wounded from indirect fire attacks by militia landing in Baghdad communities and residential areas July 18-21. Fifteen separate attacks hit Baghdad residential neighborhoods during the four-day period.
A single rocket impacted the al-Nidal area of the Rusafa District, wounding three Iraqi civilians and causing minor damage to the al-Nafees Hospital July 18. One other Iraqi civilian was wounded when rocket impacted the al-Zawrar residential area in the Karkh District in central Baghdad that same day.
Over the past three days, all 15 attacks have occurred mostly in the New Baghdad and East Rashid Districts on the east side of the Iraqi capital. Other areas that have been targeted less frequently have been the Karkh, Rusafa and the Karadah Districts.
Neighborhood areas and residential communities that are continually targeted include al-Amin, al-Jazair, al-Baladiat, al-Zubaida and most recently al-Ghartan. Ten of the 15 militia indirect fire attacks struck these neighborhoods, with 23 mortar and rocket rounds impacting these Baghdad communities since July 18.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
So I guess today's theme is attacking medical facilities. ROPMA.
Five Sunni tribal leaders opposed to Al Qaeda were killed when a suicide bomber drove a minivan packed with about half a tonne of explosives into a house north of Baghdad on Sunday, police said.
The tribal leaders were meeting in an area known as Jurf Al Milih near Taji, about 20 km north of the Iraqi capital, to discuss joining US and Iraqi forces in fighting Al Qaeda in their mainly Sunni Arab area. A police source said the preliminary death toll of five could rise. Another 12 people were injured.
An Iraqi army source said the local Sunni tribal chiefs were meeting after talks were held in Taji on Friday with local Shia leaders. Those talks were held under the protection of US forces, the army source said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
That is a pretty guaranteed way for AQ to turn tribes so against them, if there was a smidget of sympathy left, it is over... it is now matter of a blood feud. Thanks to providence that they are such morons.
Fed up with being part of a group that cuts off a persons face with piano wire to teach others a lesson, dozens of low-level members of al-Qaeda in Iraq are daring to become informants for the US military in a hostile Baghdad neighbourhood.
The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheikhs have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement.
They are turning. We are talking to people who we believe have worked for al-Qaeda in Iraq and want to reconcile and have peace, said Colonel Ricky Gibbs, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which oversees the area.
RTWT
Posted by: lotp ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
Wouldn't doubt it. Once you get informants, its all over.
Denmark has completed the evacuation of some 200 Iraqis who it feared faced danger for their association with Danish troops in southern Iraq. A final group of 80 Iraqis has arrived in Denmark, joining 120 already there.
The airlift of the Iraqis, including translators for Danish troops, had so far been kept secret for security reasons, a Danish official said. Most of the 200 evacuated Iraqis are expected to be offered asylum in Denmark.
Denmark is expected to withdraw its group of 480 troops from Basra in southern Iraq next month.
Military spokesman Lt-Cdr Nils Markussen said the initiative had come from Danish soldiers serving in Iraq. "The signal we want to send is that we of course take care of our employees if the business they have been doing for us is putting them into danger," Cdr Markussen said.
Cdr Markussen said the evacuation had been kept low profile "in order not to target them further". He also said he believed other countries with troops in Iraq had carried out similar evacuations.
A heated public debate preceded Denmark's decision to arrange the evacuation, with the government eventually reaching a deal with the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party.
#1
If we cut and run, we will have to evacuate many more than 200 people that gave helped us.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/23/2007 1:01 Comments ||
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#2
I submitted this article 2 days ago, but it never showed up on the Burg.
The information is useful, but its meta-message is more of the same: Not only was the US criminal in its invasion of Iraq, but it is criminally negligent in planning for its own defeat and ignominious withdrawal.
Paleo gunmen stormed the offices of a senior Fatah lawmaker in Gaza on Monday, wounding several office workers and raising tensions one month after Hamas Islamists seized control of the coastal strip. Fatah said the raid was carried out by members of Hamass Executive Force.
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Arabs fired two Kassam rockets at the Negev city of Sderot Sunday afternoon, and a woman sustained shrapnel wounds. The Israel Air Force responded quickly by firing at the rocket launchers. Palestinian Authority sources reported that two Islamic Jihad terrorists were killed in the retaliation.
The rockets were fired shortly after 4:30 PM. One Kassam landed in the Sapir College campus in Sderot, where Magen David Adom medics treated the woman whose hand was jabbed by shrapnel. She was later evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. A second rocket landed in a field just outside the city.
The two dead terrorists brought the day's total to four, after IDF troops fired on and killed two armed would-be infiltrators in northern Gaza.
The issue of reinforcing schools in Sderot against rockets continues to be a matter of controversy. The Supreme Court refused last week a government request to discuss the issue again, and therefore its directive remains in effect to have the school buildings reinforced by the time the school year begins. Parents say they won't send their children to school on September 1 if the buildings are not satisfactorily protected by then - which they are not expected to be.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responded angrily to the Court decision, saying that it was the government's prerogative to decide where and to what extent to provide reinforcement. "We must not reinforce ourselves to death," he told the Cabinet.
Rockets have hit Sderot schools more than once. In May 2006, a Kassam hit a classroom that was empty only because the students had been delayed on their way there by a slightly longer-than-average morning speech. The teacher and students were very emotional when they saw the damage, seeing that the rocket had crashed precisely where they normally would have been sitting.
#7
"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert responded angrily to the Court decision, ... "We must not reinforce ourselves to death," ..."
Sounds to me like the Court has listened to the people and understands what they want, unlike Ommert. Maybe if he went after the source of the rockets, he would have a chance of getting the folks to buy into his viewpoint. Seems rather an easy choice to me.
#8
The only way to stop ALL attacks against Israel is to thoroughly crush Israel's enemies. The Gaza needs to be turned into a blazing no-man's-land where even a buzzard would have to pack a lunch. Anything else will fail to do the job. The longer Israel delays, the more Israelis die. I think even old Idiot-Stick can figure that out...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2007 18:28 Comments ||
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#9
where even a buzzard would have to pack a lunch
Israel killed four Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, two in a ground assault and two in an airstrike against terrorists militants launching rockets at the Jewish state, Palestinian witnesses and medics said. Palestinian witnesses said an Israeli attack helicopter opened fire in northern Gaza, killing two terrorists militants. The Islamic Jihad group said both were members and that they had been firing rockets at Israel.
Helizap!
An Israeli military spokesman said the air attack was launched after two rockets slammed into the southern town of Sderot, one striking a school and lightly injuring an Israeli woman. An Israeli army spokesman also said that troops opened fire at two terrorists men as they approached the border fence. The spokesman said both terrorists men were seen carrying guns.
Israeli gunship helicopters attacked a group of Palestinian terrorists fighters in the town of Beit Hanoun in the north of Gaza Strip on Sunday killing two, witnesses said. The Apache helicopters fired a single rocket in the direction of terrorists fighters of Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, on Al-Banat Street in the town, killing two instantly.
Bodies of the slain terrorists fighters turned into charred shreds of flesh that scattered onto the street.
And you know what happens next!
A spokesman of the terrorist faction identified the pair as Abdel Rahman Al-Kafarnneh, 21, who hails from Beit Hanoun, and Mohammad Abu Seif, 24, from the town of Jibala. He told a local radio station that the Israeli aircraft targetted the terrorists fighters when they ran away withdrew after firing rockets in the direction of the southern Israeli town of Sderot. The helicopters tracked down the terrorists rocketeers as they fled withdrew to the town in the north of the strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
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#1
Ok, so we now know the names of two towns Israel needs to take off the map. When does the total destruction start? Anything else is worthless.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2007 18:30 Comments ||
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#2
An air assault, to kill just two of these fuckwits? There must be a cheaper way.
The bodies of three women bearing signs of torture have been found in a street in the central Gaza Strip, medics said on Sunday. The corpses were discovered in the Deir al-Balah refugee camp late on Saturday and taken to the nearby Al-Aqsa Hospital. Medics there said that the bodies had stab wounds, traces that wire had been placed around their necks and other signs of torture. Neither the identities of the women nor the circumstances surrounding their deaths were immediately known.
Hamas was recently accused by rights groups of torturing members of the pro-Abbas Fatah party who have been detained in Gaza. Hamas denies the charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
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#2
Hamas is the poster boy for why the Two State solution should be declared DOA. As always, nobody kills Muslims with more glee or abandon than other Muslims.
#3
PCHRs preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 22:00 on Saturday, 21 July 2007, unknown persons in a jeep dumped the bodies of three young women in a grave in the Martyrs Cemetery in Wadi Salqa area to the east of Deir El-Balah. They covered the grave and left the area. At approximately 00:00 on Sunday, 22 July 2007, the bodies were brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after residents informed the Executive Force of the incident. The bodies were transferred to the forensic department at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Sources in the hospital indicated that the ages of the victims ranged from 16-22 years; and that they were killed by multiple stabs to the neck and face. PCHR learned that the three victims were sisters: Suha Said Juha (19), Lina Said Juha (22), and Nahed Said Juha (16). The motive for this crime remains unknown. However, there is a general perception that it was a crime of honor killing."
#4
The corpses were discovered in the Deir al-Balah refugee camp late on Saturday and taken to the nearby Al-Aqsa Hospital. Medics there said that the bodies had stab wounds, traces that wire had been placed around their necks and other signs of torture. Neither the identities of the women nor the circumstances surrounding their deaths were immediately known."
BEIRUT, Lebanon: A police officer died and five men were injured Sunday in a sectarian clash between Christian villagers and their Shiite Muslim neighbors in southern Lebanon, security officials said.
The fight erupted when residents in the Christian locality of Tanbourit argued with Shiite youths from the nearby town of Ghaziyeh, blaming them of having harassed some women as they cruised around the village in their car, the officials said.
The two groups quickly scuffled and then hurled rocks at each other before shooting broke out, the officials said, speaking on conditions of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Four Tanbourit villagers were wounded in the brawl, and a fifth was hit in the head by a bullet when gunshots erupted, they said.
Elias Samir Haj, 22, a member Lebanon's security services and a village resident, was later killed by the gunmen as he drove the critically injured villager to hospital in the nearby coastal town of Sidon, the officials said.
The Shiite youths were suspected of having fired all of the shots, officials said.
They said the army had arrested 10 men for questioning over the incident, which threatened to inflame sectarian tensions at a time when Lebanon is facing its worst political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war that tore the country apart along mostly sectarian lines.
Many Lebanese have kept weapons since the war, and the youths suspected in the shooting were not thought to belong to the Shiite Hezbollah or any other guerrilla group, the officials said. Just ordinary, well-armed, Youths.
Southern Lebanon is predominantly Shiite, but has a patchwork of communities that often congregate by religion and live in separate villages .
Lebanese troops and policemen deployed in Tanbourit to prevent renewed friction between Christians and Muslims from the two localities, which lie a few hundred meters (yards) from each other. Soldiers also raided a number of houses and hideouts in Ghaziyeh and seized the car used by the youths, officials said.
Ghaziyeh's mayor, Mohammed Samieh Ghadar, denounced the clash and vowed it would not hurt the "brotherly" ties between the two communities.
"This is an isolated incident, it will not affect our relations," Ghadar said.
The bloodshed came as Lebanon is facing its most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war, with the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition locked in a fierce power struggle.
The crisis has taken on an increasingly sectarian tone and led to Sunni-Shiite street clashes between pro- and anti-government factions, killing 11 people in recent months.
Found this on a little spin thru Yahoo News Photos....
Young Lebanese Hezbollah supporters carry models of Katyusha and RPG rockets launchers, in front of a portrait of Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, left, and Shiite Muslim spiritual leader Imam Moussa Sadr who disappeared on a trip to Libya in 1978, right, during a rally in Saksakkiyeh village, southern Lebanon, Sunday July 22, 2007. Hezbollah guerrillas have moved most of their rockets in south Lebanon among civilians in villages, an apparent attempt to avoid detection by Israel and U.N. troops, Israeli military officials said Sunday.
your typical islamic cant get it hard with just a model...
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/23/2007 13:12 Comments ||
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#2
wonder if the guy riding the trailer has been informed to duck when the driver fires.....
wonder #2: does the recoil drive that little scooter backwards????
#3
Those aren't simply young Hizbullah. They're kids. Hizbullah begins the terrorist training early, and gets them used to lugging RPGs as soon as they're old enough to carry their weight.
Two Lebanese soldiers were killed in renewed battles with Fatah al-Islam terrorists on Sunday as Lebanon's fight against the terrorists entered its 10th week, and the number of soldiers killed hit 115.
The Lebanese army took advantage of a lull in fighting Sunday, to continuing clearing a path toward positions manned by Islamist militants, holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp. "Since Saturday evening, there have not been very intense military operations as specialist units continue to de-mine and clear the way," an army spokesman said. "The rest of the time, the army is responding to shooting, and continues to tighten its grip on the remaining terrorists," he added.
Security sources said six more soldiers were wounded in the fighting with Fatah al-Islam militants at Nahr al-Bared camp. There was no immediate word on militant casualties. The deaths brought to 115 the number of soldiers killed in the battles that began on May 20. More than 81 militants and at least 41 civilians have also died.
The army has pushed slowly into the camp, fighting close-quarter battles with Fatah al-Islam militants after bombarding its positions with artillery and tank fire to try to force the group to surrender.
Witnesses said the army concentrated its latest artillery shelling on pockets still held by Fatah al-Islam near the camp's main road and the northeastern area.
On Friday the army used loudspeakers to give Islamic extremists inside a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon a final attempt to surrender, as sporadic fighting continued, witnesses and security officials said.
The black loudspeakers, which were set up on the roofs of some of the camp's collapsed buildings, were the latest military tactic to pressure Fatah Islam militants holed up inside the Nahr el-Bared camp to turn themselves in.
"We are getting closer and closer. You must surrender and you will have a fair trial," the military broadcast repeatedly overnight Thursday and Friday morning, according to the witnesses and security officials.
The camp, home to 40,000 refugees before the hostilities, have been completely destroyed and its rebuilding is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Its residents have sought shelter in other Palestinian refugee camps.
The Nahr al-Bared violence is undermining stability in Lebanon, already paralyzed by a political crisis and shaken by fatal bombings whose victims include two anti-Syrian politicians and six U.N. peacekeeping troops in the past eight months.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
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#1
im telling ya... Napalm
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/23/2007 13:14 Comments ||
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#2
1 im telling ya... Napalm
At this point, flamethrowers would do equally well. A few JDAMS wouldn't hurt, either. Pitty the Lebanese government isn't on better terms with Israel - I'm sure they'd deliver a few for them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/23/2007 18:37 Comments ||
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Officials in Damascus had informed French envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran, during his last visit, of Syria's stance demanding France's "clear recognition of Syria's influence and interests in Lebanon." The Syrian officials, according to a Paris datelined report published by the daily As Safir on Saturday, stressed on what they described as the "natural and distinguished relations linking Lebanon with Syria."
They said Damascus did not respond to Cousseran's quest to get clear answers on the need to hold timely presidential elections to prevent Lebanon from sinking into constitutional and institutional chaos. They said Cousseran did not make "direct" French requests from Damascus since the Syrian-French talks were still at the beginning.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/23/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
How about Sarky showing Baby-Ass a middle finger with letters NYOB on it?
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.
The Taliban kidnappers of 23 Korean hostages on Sunday extended the deadline for the South Korean government to agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 24 hours to 1430 GMT on Monday. The Taliban have extended the deadline for another 24 hours, Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said on the phone from an unknown location. He said insurgents would start killing the hostages if South Korea did not agree to the demands.
Security forces killed 20 
Extremists attacked an Iraqi civilian ambulance with an improvised explosive device, July 20, in the Doura neighborhood of the Rashid District, wounding two.
Paleo gunmen stormed the offices of a senior Fatah lawmaker in Gaza on Monday, wounding several office workers and raising tensions one month after Hamas Islamists seized control of the coastal strip. Fatah said the raid was carried out by members of Hamass Executive Force.
by Hillel Fendel
Israel killed four Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, two in a ground assault and two in an airstrike against 
BEIRUT, Lebanon: A police officer died and five men were injured Sunday in a sectarian clash between Christian villagers and their Shiite Muslim neighbors in southern Lebanon, security officials said.
