The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new selected article from the official magazine of Al-Qaidas network in Yemen, Sada al-Malahimin this case, featuring an interview with most wanted Saudi Al-Qaida operative Nayif bin Mohammed al-Qahtani (a.k.a. Abu Hummam al-Qahtani).
During the interview, al-Qahtani acknowledged that he had recently sought sanctuary in neighboring Yemen, explaining, there is one [united] land of the Muslims, and it does not acknowledge the narrow borders drawn by the colonialists with the cooperation of our treacherous rulers
However, the true secret of my arrival in Yemen is the search for good military preparation. When asked why he had chosen the jihad in the Arabian Peninsula over Afghanistan or Iraq, al-Qahtani outlined his military rationale:
if the enemy's interests in the Arabian Peninsula were devastated, his access to our petroleum interrupted, and the oil refineries put out of order, this would cause the enemy to collapseand they wont merely be forced to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, but moreover would face a total collapse. If [our enemy] were to be struck hard in various places, then he would scatter, turn around, and flee forlornly from the land of the Muslims, with his tail between his legs.
A translation of the interview can be accessed on the NEFA Foundation website.
#2
Might be the only way the Jihadi can win and get control of their nations but the nations won't be worth controlling with no revenue at all. Perhaps they should ask the Somali what it's like.
Charlie Wilson's friend turns into elusive enemy against U.S. We're talking about Pashtuns in Afghanistan. Next year we could be friends again, but unless we were close relatives I wouldn't let him hold my wallet.
When Jalaluddin Haqqani fought Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the U.S. showered him with praise, guns and money. The congressman celebrated in "Charlie Wilson's War," the movie and book about that conflict, called him "goodness personified." I can't recall anybody ever referring to him that way within my hearing. He wasn't as greasy as Hekmatyar, but he was no Masood, either.
Now the U.S. is trying to kill Mr. Haqqani, who commands a Taliban guerrilla force fighting Americans in five Afghan provinces from his base in western Pakistan.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
I have seen the movie in the original version with subtitles and and I dodn't remember Haquani being mentionned. The only Afghan mentionned was Ahmad Shah Massood.
#3
No more money would do wonders for that part of the world. We should have cut the Paks off years ago, and Afghanistan is turning out to be a real pill.
#4
Haqqani was one of those assholes who fought the war mostly from the Pakistani side of the border, IIRC. Massoud was with the guys who stuck to the Reds like burrs and took the majority of the grief and losses.
Haqqani's an asshole, he always has been. IIRC, he was the asshole who leveled large parts of Kabul during the post-Soviet civil war, and back in the day, he was the ISI's pet asshole to play off against actual ass-kickers like Dostum and Massoud.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/16/2008 7:57 Comments ||
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#5
he was the ISI's pet asshole to play off against actual ass-kickers like Dostum and Massoud.
That was Hykmatiar. He was/is bought and paid by the Pakis and his mean repeatedly attacked Massod's men both during and after the war against teh Soviets.
Massood, who despite being a Tajik advocated for the return of the NWFP to Afghanistan once the Durand treaty expired , despite that thiswould have reduced Tajik's influence) while the "Pashtoons" Hykmatiar and, after him, Mullah Omar were happy with the Pakistani occupation of Afghan lands.
#6
If there's no "Pakistan", there won't be a hostile intelligence service posing as a friend to protect this POS. The solution to ending the war in Afghanistan is simple - eliminate Pakistan. That will also calm things down in India, Bangladesh, and even Britain. I know it's a drastic move, but sometimes you've got to take drastic action to succeed. It's time Pakistan ceased to be.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/16/2008 10:54 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Afghan ally is now a foe
Send him his old friend Mr. Wilson's compliments on the usual missile. I'm sure the memory of that long-ago friendship will warm his heart in his last moments.
#8
This area is a cess pool and, per Michael Yon, is at least 100 years behind to civilized world. I am less and less inclined to spend blood and treasure to try and bring them into the fold. Because really, what good do they do? What needed resource do they provide? What cultural wonder do they bring to the world? I read zipp on all fronts.
If our leaving temporarily empowers the bad guys, so what? I would prefer that we leave, but with the very clear warning that should an attack on our assets emenate from that part of the world (Afghanistan, the tribal belt, Pakistan) that there will be an overwhelming and sustained response from the air. We will essentially bomb them back into the stone age (or at least farther than they are now). I think our efforts to stabilize this region is a fool's errand and one we cannot afford at this time.
Afghan and NATO-led forces killed 18 insurgents overnight as dozens of Taliban prepared to attack the capital of the southern province of Helmand for the second time in three days, police said on Wednesday.
Massed Taliban attacks on major towns are rare, but an attempted assault on a provincial capital only four days after some 65 militants tried to do the same thing is an indication the Islamist movement has no shortage of recruits. "Dozens of Taliban fighters attacked Lashkar Gah in Helmand. Eighteen insurgents were killed during a four-hour gun battle," said Helmand police chief Asadullah Sherzad. "We believe this was the same group of insurgents and militants," said a spokesman for the British army in Helmand. "Their aims were similar to that of Saturday night," he said.
Afghan security forces took the primary role in both operations and the latest attack was also thwarted outside the city, the British military spokesman said. "They were much fewer in numbers and not as well coordinated as on Saturday," he said.
Elsewhere in Helmand, the provincial governor's spokesman said some 70 Taliban fighters were killed in an overnight air strike by foreign forces, but NATO said only a small group of Taliban commanders were targeted and killed in the strike.
It was not possible to independently verify any of the casualty figures due to poor security and lack of access to areas where fighting took place.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I suspect that they either got the memo late, or were late finding the battlefield. That will happen, every now and then.
International warplanes have bombed a gathering of Taliban on the southern border with Pakistan and killed up to 70, an Afghan government official said on Wednesday. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the strike but said it was late Sunday, not as reported on Monday, and killed a "small group of Taliban commanders".
Intelligence reports had indicated that militants, including Arabs and Pakistanis, had gathered in Barham Chah in southern Helmand, provincial government spokesman Daud Ahmadi told AFP. The men were being watched by international troops who then sent in aircraft, he said. "The foreign forces bombed the Taliban gathering in Barham Chah and killed up to 70 Taliban," Ahmadi said. "After positively identifying these insurgents, the ISAF attacked them with precision air strikes, killing the insurgents and destroying two of their vehicles," the force said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
That's a lot of fertilizer for next year's poppy crop.
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2008 0:17 Comments ||
Top||
NATO warships were steaming through the Suez Canal Wednesday en-route to Somalia to help combat piracy off the largely lawless African country's coast, an alliance spokesman said. "Seven ships from six NATO navies ... are transiting the Suez Canal today on their way to conduct both anti-piracy duties.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian ship have withdrawn their threat to blow up the vessel if a ransom is not paid, they said Wednesday as a Philippines-managed bulk carrier fell victim to hijacking off the nation's lawless coast. The pirates, whose original $20 million ransom demand appears to have dropped to $8 million, had threatened to destroy the MV Faina, one of 29 ships hijacked this year off the African coast, by early Tuesday.
"We have withdrawn it," spokesman Sugule Ali told the Associated Press on Wednesday by satellite phone from the ship, which pirates seized with its cargo of tanks and heavy weapons off the coast of Somalia on September 25.
Relatives of Ukrainian crew members on the Faina have insisted Kiev pay the ransom.
Ali, the pirate spokesman, said negotiations were going very well, but he declined to say who was negotiating. In the past they have said they were talking with the ship's owner. The Tomex Corp. of Odessa, Ukraine, which operates the ship, has not commented on negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I've been kidnapped by K-Mart! (Bette Midler as Barbara Stone - Ruthless People - 1987).
(SomaliNet) Bringing to 11 the number of vessels being held by pirates, armed pirates have hijacked another ship in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia today.
The bulk carrier with 21 crew members had been sailing from the Middle East to Asia when it was seized, the International Maritime Bureau said. The ship flies a Panamanian flag but is operated in the Philippines. No further details of the attack were immediately available.
Meanwhile, the bureau has issued an urgent warning to ships to take extra measures to deter pirates. A total of 29 ships have been hijacked in African waters this year, with more than 200 crew members on the 11 that remain in pirate hands. The attack comes despite increased international cooperation to crack down on pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
warning to ships to take extra measures to deter pirates
What with things quieting down in Iraq this past year, there ought to be a number of Blackwater guys available for hire. Properly armed with appropriate ROE, 1-2 per ship should be a good deterrant. Could run them like we run river pilots on the Mississippi - pilot boat drops him off on the ship when it gets near the river and another one picks him back up when the ship gets to port (or the end of that pilot's jurisdiction) - then repeat in reverse for the trip out. Substitute armed defender for pilot and Horn of Africa for Mississippi River.
#2
It's my understanding that several ransoms have been paid. Any surprise that the piracies are increasing? Just a business matter here.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/16/2008 10:44 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Just one ARCLIGHT strike down through the center of one of the villages where the pirates hang out would put an end to the whole thing. These vermin are worse than cockroaches, and just need a good squashing. OR, the Navy could hold "field days" along the Somali Coast, taking on anything in the water. I'd still go with the ARCLIGHT strike.
Terror is an effective weapon if used correctly. Two atomic bombs convinced the Japanese they could no longer fight and still remain a nation. A couple of ARCLIGHT strikes would convince the "pirates" and people-movers that their behavior will bring them a LOT of grief - probably more than any 'ransom' would be worth.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/16/2008 10:51 Comments ||
Top||
#4
OP---I agree wholeheartedly that this problem could be solved quickly with an appropriate response. I would see an attack on the local fleet and dockside facilities at a village like Eyl. Like hitting G'Daffy out in the desert. Give him the message. Don't mess with us. If they ignore the message, make it clearer with your bombing mission.
But in another sense, it is a bigger issue. We, the US can step up to the plate, but others need to, also. They hate us so much, then THEY can take responsibility and deal with these pirates. We are not talking nation building, we are talking eliminating a plague.
There are other places plagued by piracy: like Chittagong, Philippines, off Indonesia. They can be dealt with if everyone has the will. So far, everyone is scurrying around in the UN, EU, etc working out the legal framework for dealing with non-states and international criminals who recognize no laws and play by no rules. It is a mad hatters tea party. Like I said, dump the problem in their laps and let them stew about it. If US ships are facing piracy, then I agree, ARCLITE (o/e) the pirate havens into fulgarites.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/16/2008 11:46 Comments ||
Top||
(SomaliNet) The UN said on Tuesday that intense fighting between the Congolese army and Ugandan rebels have forced about 50 000 people to flee their homes in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ituri region.
"The fighting broke out in September and has since caused heavy loss of life," said Ron Redmond, the UN refugee agency's spokesperson.
Local authorities have claimed that the bodies of 100 civilians were dumped in a river, while 80 children have been reported missing with parents fearing that they had been recruited by the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army, added Redmond.
Meanwhile, fresh fighting that broke out at the end of August in the neighbouring province of Nord-Kivu has displaced another 100 000 people.
Aid agencies now estimate that the total number of people forced to flee from the district is around one million. "Our teams report that thousands of displaced are trapped in the towns further inland, not daring to move for fear of the fighting," said Redmond.
The French EU presidency warned on Monday that "huge massacres" could once again take place in DRC. "We must raise the alarm. The situation is becoming murderous and untenable again. Once more everything is in chaos," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - An aircraft en-route to Pakistan's capital Islamabad was forced to land after a bomb threat on Wednesday.
The Etihad Airways flight with 190 passengers departed from the UAE's capital Abu Dhabi and had to be diverted to the southern Pakistani city of Karachi after a note cotaining a bomb threat was found in one of the aircraft's toilets.
When it landed in Karachi, the plane was placed in an isolated bay and everyone on board was searched.
No explosive device was reported to have been found.
Earlier on Wednesday, panic broke out aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Antalya to St Petersburg, Russia after a inebriated passenger reportedly sent a note to the pilot saying he had a bomb.
Crew and passengers managed to restrain the passenger , who was detained for questioning by police when the flight landed in St Petersburg.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
All the thrills of jihad, with none of the deadly side-effects.
(SomaliNet) Suspected Shining Path rebels fired a convoy carrying Peruvian soldiers killing at least two of them.
Five soldiers were also injured in the fire fight, The Peruvian military authorities say. The attack took place in southeastern Peru, where the remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla movement are still active.
It is the second attack that has been blamed on the left-wing rebels in the space of a week. Last Thursday, 15 people were killed in an ambush on a military convoy. The Shining Path rebel movement is estimated to be about 300 strong.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Abu do you love ||
10/16/2008 14:16 Comments ||
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#3
I was in Peru this summer and needless to say it's an interesting topic when talking with locals, tour guides, hotel/restaurant staff, etc..
It's a beautiful country, severe geography, awful politics, but plenty of potential and a native capacity to muddle through pretty well.
Cusco is fascinating, but Lima is a whopping metropolis.
They're so close to wiping this out, but if the dems ave their way with Colombia, the Peruvians have real cause to worry. Unlces Hugo and Evo would love to make neighborly trouble.
Intelligence agencies re-arrested an American detained in the country's volatile border region and were questioning the man, police said on Wednesday. Juddi Kenan, 20, was carrying a laptop computer when arrested on Monday at a checkpoint in Mohmand district. District Police Officer Waqif Khan said Juddi was released from custody on Tuesday but was picked up hours later at his home in Peshawar. "Intelligence agencies are required to quiz him again for further satisfaction," he said. In Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said US officials had visited and spoken with the man and were doing everything they could for him. He declined to provide more specific details including confirming the name because of privacy concerns.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
after the "vigorous" questioning, please remove and destroy that U.S. passport. He's already said it wasn't him. I'd believe him. Let him rot in Pakland
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2008 8:20 Comments ||
Top||
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Umar has said that Pakistani Taliban are ready to lay down their arms and hold talks with the government if the latter ceases fire. "We are sensible people and understand the survival and integrity of our country. If the government relinquishes use of power, we are also ready to stop our actions and hold talks with the government," Umar told BBC Urdu from an undisclosed location on Wednesday. He said that local Taliban were also ready to cooperate with the government in its efforts to drive out foreigners from the tribal areas and stop militants' infiltration into Afghanistan. When asked whether the TTP would guarantee that Pakistani Taliban would not cross into Afghanistan and take part in militancy, he replied in affirmative, saying they did not need to go to Afghanistan as Afghan Taliban were powerful. However, if Afghan Taliban seek assistance from Pakistani Taliban, the decision will be made in consultation with the people, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
this sounds familiar
Posted by: chris ||
10/16/2008 11:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
We are sensible people and understand the survival and integrity of our country.
By clamping curfew in Khar, headquarters of Bajaur Agency, security forces have started preparations for decisive action against Taliban, Online reported on Wednesday.
AFP quoted a security official as saying a curfew was imposed in Khar as part of the ongoing military operation. All shops and offices were closed, the roads were empty, and all residents were ordered to remain indoors.
AP quoted government official Jamil Khan as saying fresh troops were flowing into Khar along with tanks and artillery. Khan said artillery attacks overnight killed four Taliban in the Charmang area.
Security forces pounded Taliban hideouts in Bajaur Agency on Wednesday, killing at least 16 Taliban, officials said. "Troops fired artillery and mortars onto hideouts of Taliban in Loyesam, Rashakai, Chinar and Babra areas, killing 10 and wounding eight others," a security official told AFP. Six other Taliban were killed by helicopter gunships in the same area, he added.
APP said several Taliban hideouts were destroyed.
Security forces and political administration of Bajaur Agency destroyed the houses of two important Taliban commanders in Khar and Yousaf Abad on Tuesday. They used dynamite to blow up the house of Commander Iqbal at Khar and the house of Commander Liaqat Yousaf at Yousaf Abad.
Meanwhile, police said suspected Taliban killed four people, including a female politician of the Awami National Party (ANP), in Swat. Masked gunmen barged into the house of the ANP local councillor and shot her and her husband dead while they slept, police official Abdul Malik told AFP. APP reported that security forces detained several Taliban during a search operation in Darra Adam Khel.
A tribal lashkar in Charmang in Bajaur Agency refused to co-operate with security forces in operating against Taliban. Online quoted a private TV channel as saying the lashkar took the stance that the government did not co-operate with them. The lashkar had torched eight Taliban hideouts over the last five days.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Charmang in Bajaur Agency
I read it as 'charming' and could not figure out how anyone could apply such a word in Bajaur. Now 'Hangu' - Hang You - fits a lot better when I misread it.
Palestinian police discovered a tunnel running under a shop in the Occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday that was subsequently dynamited by Israeli sappers, sources from both sides said. No one was hurt when the tunnel, said by an AFP correspondent at the scene to be dozens of meters deep, was destroyed. A Palestinian security source said several people had been detained and were being questioned about the tunnel, in which no weapons or explosives were found.
An Israeli Army spokeswoman said an investigation had been opened to determine what the tunnel was being used for.
Hebron, located in the southern Occupied West Bank, is a predominantly Palestinian city, but there is a small colony of radical Jewish settlers in the center of the city and tensions often run high between the two communities.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot and critically wounded a Palestinian who threw a fire bomb at them near the West Bank city of Ramallah. The incident took place close to the Palestinian village of Jilabun. The fire-bomber was taken to a Palestinian hospital for treatment.
Troops from the same unit, part of the Kfir infantry brigade's Lavi battalion, on Tuesday shot dead a 17-year-old Palestinian who tried to throw a fire bomb near the West Bank settlement of Beit El. Soldiers found next to the teen's body a cache of ten other fire bombs, which he apparently planned on hurling at the settlement. According to the IDF, two other Palestinians fled the scene.
An IDF spokeswoman said that in light of a number of recent attacks in and around on the settlement an army squad had set up an ambush after dark on Tuesday, which subsequently caught the Palestinian.
Palestinian officials identified the dead teen as Abdel Kader Zeit from Jalazoun.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Yeah, but on the other hand, some gas has been wasted, so this offsets a bit the good news about the paleos being snuffed. You know, that gas could have fueled a moped or a lawnmover, I dunno, think of the possiblities.
The military on Wednesday claimed that at least 47 LTTE cadre and six soldiers were killed in heavy fighting "in counter terrorist offensive" in the north.
Pro-LTTE TamilNet claimed 120 refugees who suffered snakebite during the past seven days were admitted to the Kilinochchi district's hospital at Tharmapuram.
It quoted a doctor as saying three lorries with urgently needed medicines to treat them and also diarrhoea have not been able to enter Wanni despite three attempts to cross the entry/exit point at Oamanthai in Vavuniyaa.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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If you've got spare change, please don't forget to hit the tip jar.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Okay, Fred, you should hear PayPal bounce around in the jar any minute now. For all you do to fight off the attackers and trolls and keep the bytes flowing, the least we can do is shower you in gifts.
#20
Geez, Fred - I'm sorry. Thanks for the reminder. I had made a mental note to send you a check the next time I paid bills (which was last night), and we all know I'm more mentally deranged and less note. :-(
(Guess I should make a "Fred" page in my bill book to remind me.)
Check will go in the mail tomorrow.
BTW, I bought a toaster oven & some books from Amazon, but clicked into them through Rantburg, so hopefully you'll be getting something from that too.
And I'll say it again: NEVER apologize or be worried for asking us to contribute to help keep Rantburg going. It's worth its weight in gold. Don't thank us - Thank you from us.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/16/2008 18:46 Comments ||
Top||
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.
Charlie Wilson's friend turns into elusive enemy against U.S.
Afghan and NATO-led forces killed 18 insurgents overnight as dozens of Taliban prepared to attack the capital of the southern province of Helmand for the second time in three days, police said on Wednesday.
International warplanes have bombed a gathering of Taliban on the southern border with Pakistan and killed up to 70, an Afghan government official said on Wednesday. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the strike but said it was late Sunday, not as reported on Monday, and killed a "small group of Taliban commanders".
Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian ship have withdrawn their threat to blow up the vessel if a ransom is not paid, they said Wednesday as a Philippines-managed bulk carrier fell victim to hijacking off the nation's lawless coast. The pirates, whose original $20 million ransom demand appears to have dropped to $8 million, had threatened to destroy the MV Faina, one of 29 ships hijacked this year off the African coast, by early Tuesday.
(SomaliNet) Bringing to 11 the number of vessels being held by pirates, armed pirates have hijacked another ship in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia today. 
(AKI) - An aircraft en-route to Pakistan's capital Islamabad was forced to land after a bomb threat on Wednesday.
(SomaliNet) Suspected Shining Path rebels fired a convoy carrying Peruvian soldiers killing at least two of them. 
Intelligence agencies re-arrested an American detained in the country's volatile border region and were questioning the man, police said on Wednesday. Juddi Kenan, 20, was carrying a laptop computer when arrested on Monday at a checkpoint in Mohmand district. District Police Officer Waqif Khan said Juddi was released from custody on Tuesday but was picked up hours later at his home in Peshawar. "Intelligence agencies are required to quiz him again for further satisfaction," he said. In Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said US officials had visited and spoken with the man and were doing everything they could for him. He declined to provide more specific details including confirming the name because of privacy concerns.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Umar has said that Pakistani Taliban are ready to lay down their arms and hold talks with the government if the latter ceases fire. "We are sensible people and understand the survival and integrity of our country. If the government relinquishes use of power, we are also ready to stop our actions and hold talks with the government," Umar told BBC Urdu from an undisclosed location on Wednesday. He said that local Taliban were also ready to cooperate with the government in its efforts to drive out foreigners from the tribal areas and stop militants' infiltration into Afghanistan. When asked whether the TTP would guarantee that Pakistani Taliban would not cross into Afghanistan and take part in militancy, he replied in affirmative, saying they did not need to go to Afghanistan as Afghan Taliban were powerful. However, if Afghan Taliban seek assistance from Pakistani Taliban, the decision will be made in consultation with the people, he added.
The military on Wednesday claimed that at least 47 LTTE cadre and six soldiers were killed in heavy fighting "in counter terrorist offensive" in the north.
