KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops killed 32 Taliban terrorists militants in southern Afghanistan, including some who dressed as women in an attempt to escape, the U.S. military said on Saturday.
The Taliban terrorists opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades on a patrol of Afghan security forces and coalition troops in Uruzgan province on Thursday, the U.S. military said in a statement. The patrol returned fire then moved to higher ground and called in air strikes, killing three terrorists militants.
Terrorists Militants soon attacked the patrol again, the statement said, and 29 more insurgents were killed. 'During this engagement, terrorists insurgents attempted to disguise themselves in women's clothing in order to escape,' it said.
The fanatical Taliban mastermind behind recent attacks in which six British soldiers died in Afghanistan has been killed in a missile attack by an Army Apache helicopter. In what military chiefs described as a 'deliberate and surgical strike', the 35-year-old rebel leader - known as Sadiqullah - died alongside nine fellow Taliban fighters after the Apache fired two laser-guided Hellfire missiles at their red pick-up truck and destroyed it.
Helizap!
The rebel leader had been tracked down after weeks of secret intelligence work. His death would have been instantaneous, as the warheads of the 5ft-long missiles, which travel at 950mph, are loaded with high-explosives designed to destroy even the heaviest tank armour. The Hellfire was designed during the Cold War to stop Soviet armor. A typical Talibugger Toyota is seriously outmatched.
You mean he didn't suffer? Oh well ...
The British military spokesman in Afghanistan, Lt Col Robin Matthews, said last night: 'This was a deliberate and surgical strike against a man who facilitated a number of fatal attacks on British, Nato and Afghan forces and civilians. It was conducted with meticulous precision and strikes a blow at the heart of the Taliban's leadership in southern Afghanistan.'
The secret operation was carried out on Thursday by two Army Air Corps pilots who were ordered to fly to a dusty road ten miles northwest of the town of Kajaki, where intelligence reports had confirmed that Sadiqullah was a passenger in the pick-up truck. It is believed that his whereabouts were leaked to British forces - quite possibly by Afghans who want the violence destroying their country to end.
A big thank you to Mahmoud the Weasel is in order ...
The attack came after an intense summer campaign mounted by Sadiqullah and his Taliban fighters against British, American and Nato forces. Victims of his roadside bombs included intelligence officer Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, the first British woman soldier to be killed in Afghanistan. She died alongside three SAS reservists. Two Paratroopers also died in Taliban ambushes last week.
Sadiqullah was one of a number of key Taliban militia known as 'Sarbaz' - people who care nothing for their own lives. What a coincidence, we also care nothing for their lives, except to end them as quickly as possible.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of young men have been recruited by the Taliban to join their guerilla war against the Coalition-backed government of Mohammed Karzai. Sheep to the slaughter. When are Muslims going to notice that none of these heroes ever come back?
Sadiqullah is said to have put his life on hold - even though he was engaged - in order to fight what he saw as the western invaders. He was interviewed in 2003 and said: 'My parents insisted that I wait a while and get married, but I told them that my first and last commitment is jihad and I don't want to make any other commitments at this stage.' Last commitment indeed. There is a nifty graphic at the link, showing in layman's terms how the fairly standard heli-zap was carried out. I think it errs in showing the battered but relatively whole carcasses of the Talibunnies beside the truck.
#5
There's a difference between Involvement and Commitment. It's like an egg and ham breakfast. The chicken who layed the egg was Involved. The Pig was Commited. Sadiqullah was the pig.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/29/2008 8:53 Comments ||
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#6
At 35, he was an extremely old man by local standards. I imagine the typical age of most of their "senior" leadership is between 22-25. The ones older than that are foreigners who didn't enter the area until they were in their 30s or older.
Reports from Beledweyne town the provincial capital of Hiran region say that armed with armoured and machine guns fighters have wrestled the control of the town Saturday morning after the Ethiopian troops pulled out the city and its surrounding areas according to the residents.
In their initial arrival the fighters have expanded into the different sides of the town. It's yet unknown where the provincial officials of the region went.
Somewhere safe outside of Somalia, I'm guessing ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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At least eight people were killed in a bomb blast at a crowded village market in India's troubled northeastern Assam state on Sunday, police said. The separatist United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), fighting for an independent homeland for the state's more than 26 million people, was suspected to be behind the attack, according to police.
More than 45 people were wounded in the blast at Kumarikata, a small village near the border with Bhutan in Assam's Baska district, about 100 km (62 miles) west of the state capital, Dispur. "Five people died on the spot and three died on way to hospital. Four others are in critical condition," a senior police officer told Reuters. The toll could rise, police said, as they searched for more bodies and evacuated the injured to hospitals. Police recovered another bomb from the market, he added.
Witnesses described a scene of carnage. Blood was spattered around the market and torn human limbs were strewn about, while pigs and poultry ran amok after the blast, they told Reuters by telephone.
The attack came nearly a week after six ULFA senior commanders decided to shun violence and declared a ceasefire.
Over 50 personnel of the anti-Naxal force of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa police were feared drowned in Balimela reservoir in Orissa's southern district of Malkangiri on Sunday as the boat ferrying them came under gunfire by Naxalites from atop a nearby hill.
Orissa Director General of Police Gopal Nanda said that the incident took place near Alampetta village when nearly 64 security personnel of the elite Greyhound Force were on their way to Chitrakonda in the state by a boat for a joint operation against the Naxalites. Of the 64 personnel on board, eight could manage to swim ashore with bullet injuries on them while search operation was launched to trace the missing policemen.
'We cannot specify the exact number of jawans missing at this moment,' he said adding three of them were from Chitrakonda police station.
According to Malkangiri Superintendent of Police S K Gajbhiye, though none of the security personnel was found so far, the search team recovered some caps used by the jawans from the 40-meter deep reservoir.
Gajbhiye said the Greyhound Force jawans and the Orissa police personnel were on their way to Chitrakonda on the inter-state border for launching a joint operation against the Maoists who are observing a protest week since June 26 against price rise and alleged police excesses.
The SP said though there was an exchange of fire between the ultras and jawans for sometime, the rebels could successfully capsize the boat by targeting its operator. 'The ultras had an advantage as they were atop the hill and the jawans in deep water,' he said adding a massive search operation was launched by fire brigade personnel and police force.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/29/2008 08:46 ||
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#1
Ummm, I suppose that makes sense, You live in a Desert, Water is scarse, you don't need to learn to swim.
(Most folks wouldn't want you swimming in their drinking wter anyway)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/29/2008 19:12 Comments ||
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WaPo wakes up a little bit, but they still don't get the idea that the Talibunnies, the local gunnies, and the ISI are just different fingers on the same hand.
KABUL, June 28 -- Hundreds of Pakistani military and police forces moved into the northwest city of Peshawar Saturday to head off a possible attack on the city by armed Islamist insurgents. Pakistani paramilitary troops, army soldiers and police began streaming into Peshawar Friday after several contingents of heavily armed Islamist militants were seen amassing near the outskirts of the city. Residents and government officials in Peshawar said there is growing concern that the capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province could soon fall under Taliban control.
So I guess the Talibunnies advance into Peshawar is off for a week or so ...
Maj. Gen. Mohammed Alam Khattak, commander of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, said in a televised press conference that he expects the operation in the Peshawar area to last four to five days. Khattak said Pakistani security forces launched the strike against militants in the region at the request of the North-West Frontier government. 'This is an operation with the limited objectives of applying adequate force to increase the prameters of security in Peshawar and establish the government here where it has been challenged,' Khattak said.
He has to say that but the fact is the frontier police were outgunned and about to be overrun, and there's no good way for the central government to explain that to the West.
Residents in the nearby tribal area known as the Khyber Agency said several army tanks and armored vehicles could be seen patrolling the streets of Bara, one of the tribal area's main towns, as helicopters flew overhead. In recent months, the Khyber Agency has become a hotbed of extremist activity, and clashes involving militants there this year have killed dozens of people.
The build-up of security forces in the Khyber Agency and the city of Peshawar, a densely packed urban hub about 30 miles from the border with Afghanistan, signals a major strategic shift in the country's struggle to quell extremist activity. Peshawar officials and local residents say a state of high-anxiety has besieged the city of 3 million. Many in the region fear that a major clash between Pakistani security forces and militants in Peshawar could spark a large-scale conflict that could engulf the entire North-West Frontier in violence.
Not that the NWF is all that peaceful right now ...
Ret. Brig. Gen. Mahmood Shah, a former security chief in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, said the developments in Peshawar were 'troubling.' Shah said the Taliban virtually controls the country's entire tribal belt and now it was knocking at the doors of one of the country's most strategically and politically important cities. 'The situation demands action from the government,' Shah said.
Peshawar, which is a little more than 100 miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, has witnessed periodic clashes with Taliban militants and local warlords within the last year. Until now, however, Pakistani authorities have steered clear of direct or large scale confrontations with the rising number of insurgents in the area.
Since partners generally try to work things out between them quietly ...
The strategically located Khyber Agency, a relatively prosperous and urbanized tribal agency compared to the rest of the six mountain agencies, is home to the Afridi and Shinwari tribes. Named after the famous Khyber Pass, the tribal area has for centuries been a vital trade route, leading to Central Asia. Today, it is the key passageway for the movement of military supplies to U.S. and NATO forces operating in Afghanistan.
Peshawar and the Khyber Agency are also located at the crossroads of a decades long Taliban insurgency that spans the the porous 1,100 mile border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The city has been a hothouse of militant extremism, playing host to numerous Islamic fundamentalist heavyweights, including at one time al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri.
But within the past two years it is lesser known Islamic insurgents and local warlords in Pakistan's restive tribal areas who have taken center stage. More than a half dozen top warlords with Taliban links or sympathies operate openly in the seven tribal agencies, including the Khyber Pass agency, Peshawar's nearest neighbor along the so-called tribal belt.
In more recent months, militant warlord Mangal Bagh Afridi has presented the biggest threat to security in the region. Leader of the increasingly powerful militant group Lashkar-e-Islam, Bagh, an illiterate former bus driver, rose to power through his activism with local trade unions in the area.
And through murder, preaching, murder, gun sex, murder and pillage ...
Lashkar-e-Islam has come to be seen by many residents and officials in the province as a terrorizing force bent on imposing a harsh form of Isamic fundamentalism on the region. In March, more than 10 people were killed after dozens of Lashkar-e-Islam militants clashed with local residents at the edge of Peshawar. Residents and officials in the agency say Bagh's fighters control just about all a vast majority of the tribal agency.
Lashkar-e-Islam has essentially formed its own shadow government in the tribal agency. Despite an official government ban, Bagh's group operates its own pirate FM radio station as part of its effort to gain the sympathies of the local tribesmen, recruit new fighters and terrorize their opponents. Lashkar-e-Islam members have destroyed dozens of CD shops in the tribal agency under orders from Bagh. Members of rival groups have even accused Lashkar-e-Islam activists of extorting money from truckers moving between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Although Bagh has publicly denied any connections with the Pakistani Taliban or al-Qaeda, his efforts to impose strict Muslim codes in Bara mark him as one of the more ardent extremists operating in the region.
A senior Pakistani government official in Peshawar said authorities have been aware of Bagh's exploits in the region but have refrained from moving against him. The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that local authorities in Peshawar were ordered by high-ranking military intelligence officials in Islamabad to allow Bagh to continue operating his shadow government. 'Mangal Bagh has been here for quite some time now but it's a fact that we have tolerated him because we've been told to do so,' the senior official said.
The government, the agency, the military and the ISI, working hand-in-glove ...
On Saturday, Pakistani security forces in the Sipah section of Bara blew up Bagh's house, according to residents and local officials. Officials said Bagh was not living in the house and has fled to the remote Tirah Valley, northwest of Bara.
I bet he had enough time to take his accordion with him ...
'It's like an undeclared curfew here now in Bara and other parts of Khyber Agency,' said Ashraf ud-din Pirzada, a resident of Bara. 'It is a very confusing situation for the local people. On the one hand, they don't like bloodshed. On the other hand they want to get rid of this situation created by Mangal Bagh and his Lashkar-e-Islam.'
Paramilitary troops also destroyed Lashkar-e-Islam's headquarters in the town of Shalobar near Bara. Shoaib Afridi, a Lashkar-e-Islam commander, was injured and another of the group's fighters was killed during the assault on the headquarters, according to local media reports.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
kinda like the AP pap I posted yesterday....
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/29/2008 0:45 Comments ||
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SRINAGAR - For the sixth day yesterday, Kashmir Valley witnessed widespread protests on streets by the residents against the land transfer to a board that manages the annual pilgrimage to Hindu cave-shrine of Amarnath. A spontaneous shutdown has paralysed the region and not only have the tourists been driven out, the local population is running short of supplies of food grains and other essentials.
Yassss, completely spontaneous, just like any other riot in a Moose-limb paradise ...
Unlike on Friday when the law-enforcement agencies exercised maximum restraint while tens of thousands of people chanting pro-freedom and pro-Pakistan slogans came out on the streets and at places irate mobs even attacked Central Reserve Police Force posts, the police yesterday had to use live ammunition, besides tear gas, to break the demonstrations. Witnesses said that policemen thrashed protesters at a number of places and even stormed residential houses mainly in downtown Srinagar to beat up inmates and damage household goods.
Among nearly 50 people injured in police action yesterday were pro-independence JKLF leader, Mohammed Yasin Malik, and his close associate, Noor Muhammad Kalwal.
Pray for sepsis ...
Officials said that about a dozen policemen also were injured in stone throwing by unruly crowds. Among those arrested were prominent separatist leaders Syed Shabir Ahmed Shah and Naeem Ahmed Khan.
This article starring:
Naeem Ahmed Khan
Syed Shabir Ahmed Shah
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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KARACHI - Pakistan Home Ministry yesterday blacklisted 15 foreign students registered in one of the country's biggest and best-known religious seminaries based in Karachi and ordered them to leave the country within 15 days.
To be quietly re-admitted for the fall semester ...
The decision to deport 15 students following alleged involvement of them in anti-Pakistan activities including propagating literature of banned Islamic organisations. According to reports five of those ordered to leave the country are girls with two of them are American nationals and holding American passports.
Oh, I definitely think we need to have a talk with those two when they get off the plane at JFK ...
Currently there are thousands of students including many foreigners studying in the seminary known as Jamia Binouri Town located in the city centre. The administrator of the seminary categorically stated that the institution would never allow their deportation and claimed the allegations against the 15 students were baseless and they were pursuing religious education.
Just simple students. With rifles and holy books.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Allah willing, we will be back for Homecoming"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/29/2008 11:12 Comments ||
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Ninewa, Jun 28, (VOI) A force from the Iraqi army 8th brigade on Saturday arrested five wanted people affiliated with al-Qaeda organization (the so-called Islamic state of Iraq), in a raid operation in Mosul city.
"A force from the Iraqi army on Saturday afternoon arrested five wanted people members of the 'Islamic state of Iraq', in a raid operation that targeted a residential house at al-Arabi neighborhood, northern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq.
"A quantity of arms and documents were seized inside the house," he said. "Interrogations are underway with the arrested persons," he noted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Diala, Jun 28, (VOI) An Iraqi army force on Saturday arrested two wanted people, said a source from Diala police, describing them as the most dangerous al-Qaeda elements operating in the province.
"A force from the Iraqi army 5th division on Saturday afternoon arrested Mahmoud al-Adhali and Anmar al-Adhali, in al-Talib suburb (15 km north of Baaquba)," the source told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq on condition of anonymity. "They are wanted by security forces for killing and displacing large numbers of citizens," he said.
"Each of them is a senior al-Qaeda element (Amir) in Diala," he added. "Both of them are considered among the extremely dangerous members of al-Qaeda in Diala," he proceeded.
"They were heading to Baghdad when they were arrested," he noted. "They were carrying forged IDs that belong to the Iraqi Presidency," he explained. The source did not mention further details about the IDs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Iran has moved ballistic missiles into launch positions, with Israels Dimona nuclear plant among the possible targets, defence sources said last week. The movement of Shahab-3B missiles, which have an estimated range of more than 1,250 miles, followed a large-scale exercise earlier this month in which the Israeli air force flew en masse over the Mediterranean in an apparent rehearsal for a threatened attack on Irans nuclear installations. Israel believes Irans nuclear programme is aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons.
The sources said Iran was preparing to retaliate for any onslaught by firing missiles at Dimona, where Israels own nuclear weapons are believed to be made.
Major-General Mohammad Jafari, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, told a Tehran daily: This country [Israel] is completely within the range of the Islamic Republics missiles. Our missile power and capability are such that the Zionist regime despite all its abilities cannot confront it.
An editorial in a government newspaper, Jomhouri Eslami, said: Our response will hit right at their temple.
The sabre-rattling coincided with a visit to Israel yesterday by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, for talks with his Israeli opposite number, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi. This intensified speculation that Israel was seeking US approval for a possible attack on Iran. Although the visit had been planned well in advance, we got the feeling he was coming to make sure well obey the strict timetable agreed with the US, said an Israeli defence source. He refused to elaborate.
President George Bush has approved the linking of Israel to a US infrared satellite detection system that could spot Shahab missile launches within seconds. This should enable the Israeli air force to destroy such missiles in the booster stage. The system will also give the Israelis about 15 minutes to seek shelter before any warhead hits.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/29/2008 0:48 Comments ||
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#2
Shahb-3 Missile: Basedon NKor Nodong-1 missiles. Range over 1000KM, CEP - varies per design mark (B more accurate than A at about 100-200m, etc). 700kg warhead capacity. Factor Iranian workmanship, factor in Patriot and Arrow batteries, and any shared US SRBM/IRBM ABM technology from the THAAD program, and only G-d knows where the missiles will end up or if they will hit their target.
#3
They just have to fire enough of them. The bombs will always get through. The old saw applies; how do you sink a carrier with 100 missiles for defense? Fire 101 missiles at it.
#4
Do we know where the launch sites are? If so, I would doubt that the missiles will get launched. They should be one of the first things taken out by stealth bombers. The Iranians will never see them coming.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
06/29/2008 2:55 Comments ||
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#5
Our response will hit right at their temple
I'll be the Joooooooooooooos go for the C&C.
#13
#6: The key point to remember, they're not nuke tipped yet.
Ummm, G(R)om
Serious Question
If someone states they're going to kill you, Points a gun at you, do you assume there's no danger, it's not loaded.
(That'll get you dead real fast)
Or do you kill the bastard and check the gun later?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/29/2008 19:27 Comments ||
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#14
James, Ima think (g) has thought about this a lot.
#16
When Saddam Hussein was launching Scuds at Israel, he used mobile launchers. Iran has a superior launch and hide capacity. That is why I think this confrontation will go nuclear. And who cares? Anymore wheel spinning will indulge Iranian ICBMs targeted at American cities. In 8 years, young people are going to be asking our depraved generation: Why the f%&$ didn't you do something about that? Was your talk of "pre-emption" nothing but gas-baggery?
TRIPOLI, Lebanon - One person was killed and 20 others were wounded on Saturday as a powerful blast shook an apartment block in the northern port city of Tripoli, a Lebanese security official said. "One man was killed and some 20 people, most of them women and children, were wounded," the official told AFP as rescuers evacuated victims from the site of the 5:30 am (0230 GMT) blast in the Sunni area of Bab al-Tebbaneh.
It was not known several hours later what caused the explosion in a district of the tense northern city that has been at the centre of clashes between Sunni militants and fighters of the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
The first floor of the multi-storey building, with four apartments, was destroyed by the explosion along with several stores on the ground floor. Cars parked nearby were damaged. Lebanese troops and police reinforcements were deployed as investigators inspected the scene but they kept tight-lipped about the cause of the blast.
"We will say no more!"
Almost 500 people later attended the victim's funeral which was also attended by dozens of armed militants, some wearing black headbands and chanting Koranic verses in praise of martyrdom.
Lebanon's Sunni mufti, Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, condemned the explosion as a "criminal act aimed at spreading sedition," and urged all politicians to help Prime Minister Fuad Siniora form a new government.
Residents of Bab al-Tebbaneh who support the Western-backed majority in parliament have clashed repeatedly with Alawites in the nearby Jabal Mohsen district who back the Hezbollah-led opposition supported by Syria and Iran. Nine people were killed and some 45 wounded in clashes between the two sides on June 22 and 23.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 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.
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops killed 32 Taliban 
The fanatical Taliban mastermind behind recent attacks in which six British soldiers died in Afghanistan has been killed in a missile attack by an Army Apache helicopter. In what military chiefs described as a 'deliberate and surgical strike', the 35-year-old rebel leader - known as 
Reports from Beledweyne town the provincial capital of Hiran region say that armed with armoured and machine guns fighters have wrestled the control of the town Saturday morning after the Ethiopian troops pulled out the city and its surrounding areas according to the residents.
SRINAGAR - For the sixth day yesterday, Kashmir Valley witnessed widespread protests on streets by the residents against the land transfer to a board that manages the annual pilgrimage to Hindu cave-shrine of Amarnath. A spontaneous shutdown has paralysed the region and not only have the tourists been driven out, the local population is running short of supplies of food grains and other essentials.
KARACHI - Pakistan Home Ministry yesterday blacklisted 15 foreign students registered in one of the country's biggest and best-known religious seminaries based in Karachi and ordered them to leave the country within 15 days.
Ninewa, Jun 28, (VOI) A force from the Iraqi army 8th brigade on Saturday arrested five wanted people affiliated with al-Qaeda organization (the so-called Islamic state of Iraq), in a raid operation in Mosul city.
Diala, Jun 28, (VOI) An Iraqi army force on Saturday arrested two wanted people, said a source from Diala police, describing them as the most dangerous al-Qaeda elements operating in the province.
