(AKI) - The Taliban has strengthened its reach in Afghanistan and become the 'de facto' governing power in several provinces, an international think-tank said on Monday. The International Council on Security and Development said that the Taliban now holds a permanent presence in 72 percent of Afghanistan, up from 54 per cent a year ago.
According to a report released by ICOS in London, Taliban forces have advanced from their southern stronghold, where they are now the "de facto governing power" to western and north-western provinces, as well as provinces north of Kabul.
The report said the Taliban's permanent presence in the country had increased by a startling 18 percent.
"The Taliban are now controlling the political and military dynamic in Afghanistan," said Norine MacDonald, President and lead field researcher of ICOS.
"Despite increasingly dire levels of security in Afghanistan in recent months, there has been surprisingly little change in response from the international community," MacDonald said. "The insurgency continues to turn NATO's weaknesses into its own strengths."
The ICOS report documented the advance of the Taliban on Kabul, where it claimed three out of the four main highways into the capital were now compromised by Taliban activity.
The capital has plummeted to minimum levels of control, with the Taliban and other criminal elements infiltrating the city at will, the report said.
"The Taliban are closing a noose around Kabul, and there is a real danger that the Taliban will simply overrun Afghanistan under the noses of NATO," said Paul Burton, director of policy for ICOS.
Through its research, ICOS revealed the Taliban's presence across the country using a combination of publicly recorded attacks and local perceptions of Taliban presence.
ICOS' research model defines one or more insurgent attacks per week in an Afghan province as a "permanent Taliban presence".
"The current global security architecture is ill-equipped to deal with the problems that beset Afghanistan," said MacDonald. "Quite simply, the current rulebook on how the international community approaches these crises needs to be rewritten if we are to succeed in Afghanistan and in other conflict zones such as Iraq and Somalia."
ICOS said military intervention must be supported by job creation and development, as well as effective counter-narcotics policies, literacy, a free and open media.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Friendlies get US troops to protect them and US funds to build.
Then simply demolish any Talib controlled areas with artillery. Burn the crops, kill the livestock, destroy the buildings.
Side with the enemy and you DIE should be the message.
#4
Right. Taliban power! Back in the real world: Battlefield Losses Plummet Last month, eleven U.S. military personnel died in combat (one in Afghanistan and ten in Iraq.) This is the lowest monthly deaths since before the Iraq invasion. It's the lowest death rate for Afghanistan since July 2002 (when there were no deaths.) For 2008, the monthly death toll (from combat) has averaged about 24. Since 2001, about a thousand foreign troops have died in Afghanistan, about a third of them from non-combat causes (usually vehicle accidents).
The sharp drop in NATO and U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan is attributed to the successful campaign against Taliban leadership. ...
Posted by: ed ||
12/09/2008 13:55 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Meanwhile in Hopey Changey Ville: Chicago Sun-Times pointed out on Friday that Chicago has seen 426 homicides this year through Tuesday (late Oct 2008), compared with 417 in New York and 302 in Los Angeles.
There are more than 8 million people in New York, compared to slightly under 3 million in Chicago. The population of Los Angeles exceeds that of Chicago by more than 800,000.
How about invading and pacifying Chicago, President Rope-a-Hope?
Posted by: ed ||
12/09/2008 14:07 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Hi
Interesting site name - # hostname, How did you get such a pretty domain name?
#9
ION WAFF > MILITANTS WITHDRAW THREAT TO BEHEAD 300 ABDUCTED SOLDIERS. Baitullah Mehsud was threatening to kill five a day and send their parts over to the Pak Army.
#10
ION UK > SPECTRE OF CIVIL WAR STALKS DIVIDED THAILAND.
* Also, WORLD MIL FORUM > RAND OFFICIAL: IFF NORTH KOREA COLLAPSES AFTER DEATH OF KIM JONG-IL, SOUTH KOREAN MIL FORCES COULD BE STATIONED ALONG THE DMZ BORDER TO HANDLE EXPECTED MASSIVE REFUGEE FLOWS, WHILE CHINESE PLA UNITS CAN TAKE CONTROL OF YONGYBON NUCLEAR FACILITY.
OFFICIAL/RAND > China must ensure that any post-Kim regime is NOT ANTI-CHINESE, + NOKOR's MISSLES ARE POINTED NORTH AND WEST INTO CHINA, NOT JUST SOUTH AGZ SOUTH KOREA OR US-JAPAN.
* WORLD MIL FORUM > JAPAN CONTINUES TO PROTEST INCURSION OF CHINESE PLAN SURVEY SHIPS INTO DISPUTED DAOYU ISLANDS; + CHINA WARNS JAPAN THAT IT HAS SOVEREIGN RIGHT TO SEND CHINESE SHIPS, OTHER INTO ANY CHINESE TERRITORY [disputed or not].
* IRNA > VICE PRESIDENT: ZIONISM'S ANNIHILATION SHOULD TURN INTO A GLOBAL CAUSE.
The United States and other Western powers have "exacerbated Somalia's downward spiral" and must revise their policies in the east African country, a Human Rights Watch report has warned. Ah, "Somalia's downward spiral". From...what?
The report, released Monday, blames the policies under President George W. Bush for "breeding the very extremism that it is supposed to defeat. The new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama should urgently review U.S. policy in Somalia and the broader Horn of Africa and break with the failed approach of his predecessor," the report said. Will there even be a need for groups like Human Rights Watch after Barry takes over and all problems are magically solved or disappear? What will these people do without Bush to kick around?
It also cites key European governments for failing "to address the human rights dimensions of the crisis, with many officials hoping that somehow unfettered support to abusive TFG (Somali transitional government) forces will improve stability."
Somalia's weak transitional government, backed by Ethiopian forces, continues to battle Islamic militias with the fighting concentrated in the capital, Mogadishu. Ethiopian forces have not withdrawn from the country, as required under a recent cease-fire agreement. Ethiopia invaded Somalia two years ago and successfully routed the Islamic militia that seized control of the capital. The HRW report states that the United States "directly backed Ethiopia's intervention." Since the 2006 overthrow of the Islamic Courts Union, Somalia has suffered from "unconstrained warfare and violent rights abuses" by all warring parties. Yeah, it was like African Disneyworld when they wuz in charge. Goddamn you, Boosh!
"All sides have used indiscriminate force as a matter of routine, and in 2008 violence has taken on a new dimension with the targeted murders of aid workers and civil society activists," the report states. "The human rights and humanitarian catastrophe facing Somalia today threatens the lives and livelihoods of millions of Somalis on a scale not witnessed since the early 1990s."
Heavy fighting in Mogadishu and across Somalia has driven more than a million people from their homes. The lawlessness has also spilled onto the seas off the Horn of Africa, where international vessels are routinely hijacked by suspected Somali pirates who demand large ransoms.
Human Rights Watch offers specific recommendations to the Somali and Ethiopian governments, the main militias, and the international community to address the human rights abuses. It calls on the West to "insist upon an end to the impunity that has fueled the worst abuses - and the right place to start is by moving the U.N. Security Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry to document abuses and lay the groundwork for accountability." Oh, goody. Not just another UN commission, but a Commission of Inquiry. Headquartered in Geneva or Milan I'm sure...
#1
"What will these people do without Bush to kick around?"
Just as rumors of Hitler is South America continued for 50 years, George W. Bush will never die. Liberals will continue to scare little kids into obediance or BushChimpHitler will grab them while they're sleeping.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/09/2008 11:59 Comments ||
Top||
#2
His predecessor, you mean Clinton? Sure, the way its shaping up we are going to have Black Hawk Down too; a well made movie and tribute to the American Soldier which I wish never existed. I do not want to see a sequel.
Anyone else get the feeling that these liberal one-glove people crave war so long as it is their idea? I could listen to someone make a case for an East Africa conflict vs OIC/Sudan but it would have to be a killing war and occupation - not a security patrol to take pot shots and get badmouthed. So then gotta have foot soldiers and where do they come from? EU? AU? Afghanistan? And what would China think about this, they seem to have an interest in that theatre.
#3
All these "human rights" groups seem to believe problems can be solved by a magic wand. They have no understanding of the complexities of the situation, the motives behind the various groups, or how to govern. They just run their mouths and blame every bad thing that happens in the world on the United States and its leaders. Being a member of one of these groups should make you a pariah throughout the civilized world. Instead, these idiots are treated as heroes.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/09/2008 12:59 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Wouldnt be the tribalists fault, noooo not at all.
If the election of Barack Obama has been greeted with glee across much of Africa, there is at least one spot where the mood is decidedly different.
In the Sudanese capital of Khartoum these days, political elites are bracing for what they expect will be a major shift in U.S. policy toward a government the United States has blamed for orchestrating a violent campaign against civilians in the western Darfur region.
"Compared to the Republicans, the Democrats, I think they are hawks," said Ghazi Suleiman, a human rights lawyer and member of the Southern People's Liberation Movement, which has a fragile power-sharing agreement with the ruling party. "I know Obama's appointees. And I know their policy towards Sudan. Everybody here knows it. The policy is very aggressive and very harsh. I think we really will miss the judgments of George W. Bush."
While the Bush administration most recently advocated the idea of "normalizing" relations with Sudan as a carrot approach to ending a crisis it labeled a genocide, Obama's foreign policy appointees have pushed for sticks.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, the nominee for secretary of state, has called for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone to "blanket" Darfur in order to prevent Sudanese bombing of villages. The appointee for U.N. ambassador, Susan E. Rice -- a key Africa adviser to the Clinton administration during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when President Bill Clinton was sharply criticized for failing to act -- has pushed for U.S. or NATO airstrikes and a naval blockade of Sudan's major port to prevent lucrative oil exports. Rice has vowed to "go down in flames" advocating tough measures.
Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who was chosen for his foreign policy experience and pressed early for U.S. intervention to stop the fighting in the Balkans, was blunt during a hearing last year: "I would use American force now," he said.
But it remains unclear how those pre-election views will square with the president-elect, who has outlined a pragmatic, coalition-based approach to foreign policy, while also speaking of America's "moral obligation" in the face of humanitarian catastrophes of the sort that are plentiful in Africa.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
While the Bush administration most recently advocated the idea of "normalizing" relations with Sudan as a carrot approach to ending a crisis it labeled a genocide, Obama's foreign policy appointees have pushed for sticks.
Of course they're pushing for sticks. It's a long-festering 'humanitarian' issue in a backwater country with an impact affecting the U.S. national interest somewhere between the buildup of penguin guano in Antarctica and the decline in the number of pop-groups in Sweden.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/09/2008 1:42 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Coming to the conclusion that the democrats want their own "war to free the black people".
Economic Crises? check. Unilateral Option to War by Charismatic Leader? check. Reason to War Narrative? check. With Biden tutoring Obama and the Clinton redux making the decisions what could possbily go wrong...
#4
Democrats seem to have the ability to go to war, or just bomb the crap out of people without getting a lot of friction for it. I don't know why, but they do seem to have that going for them, they only start 'righteous' wars.
#5
Sudan was only ever a stick for the Democrats to whack GWB. Along with every other war, pestilence, famine and throbbing hangnail on the planet. The chances of The Changeling annoying China over Darfur when they can use the $US for a yo-yo are zero.
A German court sentenced a Lebanese man to life imprisonment for plotting two failed suitcase-bomb attacks on German trains in 2006 that the authorities say could have led to dozens of deaths for regional commuters. The Higher Regional Court in Dusseldorf convicted the defendant, identified as Youssef Mohamad E. H. D., of attempted murder in an undetermined number of cases, court spokesman Ulrich Egger said in an interview from Dusseldorf today. The trial began almost a year ago in the western German city.
Suitcases containing propane gas canisters and detonators were discovered on two local trains departing from Colognes main station on July 31, 2006. Germanys federal prosecutor has said the bombings, which were only prevented by technical failures, could have caused damage on the scale of the terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004 or London in 2005. This constituted a very serious danger, Deputy Interior Minister August Hanning, said in an interview on German news broadcaster N24. It was only a relatively small technical error that prevented a catastrophe.
Youssef Mohamad told the court last week that he never intended to kill innocent people and knew the bombs wouldnt go off, Deutsche Presse-Agentur said. Another man involved with planning the attack, Jihad H., was sentenced by a Lebanese court last year to 12 years in prison. The two worked together in April 2006 to plan the attacks as an act of revenge against the publication of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005, the prosecutor has said. Youssef Mohamad was arrested Aug. 19, 2006, in the northern German city of Kiel.
Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed operational mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and four co-defendants told a U.S. military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Monday that they want to make a "confession" and enter guilty pleas to murder and war-crimes charges in the death-penalty case.
The startling announcement came at the start of what was supposed to be a week of pre-trial hearings on various motions. It could create a major dilemma for the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama, who has said he wants to close the Guantanamo detention facility and prosecute defendants such as Mohammed in federal courts.
Judge Stephen R. Henley, an Army colonel, asked three of the defendants who are representing themselves if they were willing to enter guilty pleas Monday. All said they were ready to do so. Henley read from a document that the five sent him on Nov. 4 after they met together that day to plot legal strategy. The five said they had decided to "announce our confessions and plea in full," according to the document, which Henley read in court.
"Our success is the greatest praise of the Lord," the judge read from the document.
Offering to plead guilty along with Mohammed were Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, Tawfiq bin Attash and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali. A nephew of Mohammed's, Ali is also known as Ammar al-Baluchi.
Henley said he would not be able to accept pleas anytime soon from two defendants, Binalshibh and Hawsawi, because the court has yet to hold hearings on whether they are mentally competent to represent themselves.
Mohammed later told the court he would not enter a plea until a decision was made on whether the two can defend themselves. "I want to postpone pleas until decision is made about the other brothers," Mohammed said.
The military court was told in an earlier hearing that Binalshibh, an alleged liaison between the hijackers and al-Qaeda's leadership, is being administered psychotropic drugs. An attorney for Hawsawi, a Saudi and alleged financier of the attacks, said Monday he had requested a mental competency hearing for his client, but the lawyer did not provide any details on what prompted his concern.
Mohammed said he wants to end the death-penalty case quickly. He has previously expressed a desire to be executed, which he said would allow him to die a martyr.
"I understand we are in a big drama," said Mohammed. "We don't want to waste our time with motions and motions."
Earlier Monday, he requested the dismissal of the military attorney who has been advising him.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Last Wednesday evening around 10pm, following a relaxing supper, my friend Eugene and I arrived at the check-out desk at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, as we have done together hundreds of times in our travels as New York investment bankers currently living in Hong Kong.
As I placed my bag on the table I heard a loud gunshot, which I recognized from my years living in South Africa to be the distinctive snap of an AK-47 assault rifle. Hearing another shot a second later, I looked at Eugene and said, ¡°Run, that¡¯s AK!¡±
We streaked away from the gunfire toward the nearest exit as the terrorists were entering the hotel lobby from various points. I smashed through the doors toward the pool area and ducked into some bushes as the gunfire grew in intensity. I realized Eugene did not make it out of the lobby.
Five or six people had arrived in the bushes before me, all now paralyzed in fear. From the sound of things I realized that a Columbine-like shooting spree was taking place inside, with gunmen walking around methodically executing people. Mind racing, I concluded that being bunched up in the bushes in the corner of the pool area was not safe.
Breathless, I thought to email my colleagues in London and apprise them of our plight. ¡°Urgent: This is not a joke. At Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Gunmen on loose. People killed. Call police.¡± Then I turned off my phone, thinking a ring could give away my position and bring on a quick and violent death.
[later made it to a small room off the pool thanks to locals escorting them trhu a trap door in the pool area]
The minutes passed, while screams and sounds of gunfire continued. I began to pray to St. Michael the Archangel: ¡°St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.¡± I also prayed the first of many Rosaries to see my way through what had suddenly become the single most shocking and desperate experience of my life. I knew that if I was to get through this, it would be Our Lord¡¯s doing.
As the terrorists¡¯ grenades, AKs and bombs periodically shook the walls and rattled our minds, I resumed my fervent ¡ª though distracted ¡ª prayers to Our Lady.
As the hours passed, the mood inside the room remained tense but controlled. At one point the tiny red corner light on my Blackberry began to flutter. It was a colleague in my firm¡¯s corporate security operation informing me that I should leave the premises immediately, as the terrorists were searching the hotel floor-by-floor looking for Americans and Brits to kill. I¡¯m 6¡ä4¡å and an obvious Yank, particularly in a place like Bombay. Once spotted, I¡¯d be a dead man for sure.
Just then a very loud bomb detonated and small arms fire rang out in one of the stairwells. I assumed the end was near.
I hurried off an email to my Mom and Dad, thanking them for my life and everything else they¡¯d given me. Then I emailed my dear wife and sons: ¡°Thank you, Celeste, for being my best friend and soul-mate. I love you!¡± I wracked my mind and heart for a few pearls of wisdom to leave my three small boys that would edify and sustain them in a life without their father. Asking the Holy Spirit for guidance, I explained to them that life was a gift, and that they should do their best to enjoy that gift. I urged them to take care of their mother, each other, and their community ¡ª and not to be afraid to discern their vocations. I counseled them to keep a daily prayer life and live the norms of piety we¡¯d taught them. ¡°Live life to the fullest, boys, and stay in a state of grace.¡±
My heartache (and heart-rate) increased as the AK fire drew closer. I approached the headwaiter and quietly asked him if I might slip out the back stairs, as my corporate security indicated I should leave the building immediately. The man assured me that we were secure, but the look on his face betrayed his fear and uncertainty. He then huddled with his two busboys while I positioned myself by the back stairs.
A moment later, the busboys announced that they would begin allowing some folks to slip out. This instantly created a mad rush toward the stairs. Though I was positioned near the doorway, a lovely Indian-accented chorus arose, saying, ¡°Women and children first!¡± Ah, but of course! I gulped and stepped aside. The women and children began exiting in groups of eight.
I learned later from our corporate security, who were monitoring my emails, that the business center was attacked by gunmen some five minutes after I was able to escape. I also learned that my friend Eugene had been shot in the lobby, but thankfully will make a full recovery. (Eugene told me the next day that I¡¯d sprinted right past the terrorist who leveled his gun and shot him in the hip. Fortunately he was dragged into a security room, from which point he was able to escape the hotel a few minutes later.)
Colleagues and friends have asked how I feel after experiencing such a trauma. I tell them I am fine ¡ª shaken but fine. At the end of the day, I am convinced that ¡°bona omnia fecit¡± (all works for the good). I will forever be inspired by the staff of The Taj, who were polite, courteous and courageous throughout the ordeal. They saved hundreds of lives, many sacrificing their own in doing so.
[Edit Comment: Remarkable how the courage and sacrifice by the staff went nearly unmentioned in the western press]
Why God has allowed me to live on? I have no idea. But at this point, the thought that will not leave my mind is, ¡°From him to whom much is given, much is expected.¡±
I pray that I can live up to His expectations.
From the website Catholic Exchange; considerable amounts of the story have been edited out - please visit the link and read it all.
Condemning the Mumbai carnage, senior US Congressman Frank Pallone has said the terrorists involved in the attack tried to give the impression that they were local Indian Muslims.
"The fact was that they were not. They were not the Muslims in India. They were those Muslims who were trained in Pakistan and came from Pakistan," the Democratic lawmaker from New Jersey said at a condolence meeting held for the Mumbai terrorist attack victims the other day.
He said the Pakistani government had to play a role in its unorganised territories and make sure that they were not being used to launch another attack by al-Qaeda or the Taliban. "If not, then the US has to go there itself," he added.
However, Pallone opposed any attack on Pakistan by India at this point of time. This, he said, would be a big mistake because the terrorists wanted to create conflict and tension in the region. "So I think, right now, all the governments are trying (to prevent this). In my opinion, let this not be an excuse for another war between India and Pakistan," he said.
Pallone said that the upcoming Barack Obama administration needed to put a lot of pressure on Pakistan and make it clear that if it wanted to have any kind of relationship or receive assistance from the US, there had to be strings attached. "The US has sent both the secretary of state as well as military leaders to both India and Pakistan. I know that the new Obama administration and the new Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, want to do whatever they can to shore up India's security," he said.
Pallone declared Pakistan a "failed state", saying Islamabad did not have control over its own territories and its land was being used by terrorists to launch attacks against other nations, including the US and India. "Pakistan is essentially a failed state. I do not believe the central government controls most of the territory of the country."
"It is obvious that in the area near Afghanistan, which is used by al-Qaeda and the Taliban as a way to move into Afghanistan and oppose American forces there, there is no control. It is obvious that even though they have outlawed the organisations that were trying to sever Kashmir from India, they continue (to exist). So, the government really has no control," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
OK, Pak is a failed state, just like Somalia except with nukes. Now what?
US suspects Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence may have shared sensitive information with the group allegedly involved in Mumbai raids. The New York Times on Monday quoted several unnamed senior US officials as saying that the ISI shared intelligence and provided protection for Lashker-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group, allegedly involved in the coordinated terrorist attacks on India's port city of Mumbai.
They also added that investigators are now focusing on one Lashkar leader they believe is a main liaison with the Pakistani spy service and a mastermind of the attacks.
American and Indian authorities believe that one senior Lashkar commander in particular, Zarrar Shah, is one of the group's primary links to the ISI. "He's a central character in this plot," an American official said.
Indian Investigators are also examining whether Shah, a communications specialist, helped plan and carry out the terror attacks in Mumbai, according to the newspaper.
The US officials also emphasized that the intelligence services are reassessing their view of Lashkar and believe it to be more capable and a greater threat than they had previously recognized.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has denied any government connection to the siege on Nov. 26-29, in which 10 gunmen targeted Mumbai's luxurious hotels and tourist attractions with automatic weapons and hand grenades in a 60-hour terror spree, killing nearly 200 people and injuring almost 300.
A war of words erupted when India pointed the finger at Pakistan and senior Indian officials and intelligence reports suggested the attacks were carried out by Pakistan-based militants. Islamabad has said it would act on any evidence that is presented to it and continues to express skepticism of Pakistani involvement.
This article starring:
Zarrar Shah
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: ISI
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pakistan's armed forces have been mobilised for more raids targeting leaders from the banned Kashmiri separatist group Lashkar-e-Toiba in Punjab province. The move follows the arrest of the group's chief operational commander, Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, alleged by India to be the mastermind of last month's deadly Mumbai attacks.
Other top commanders and group members were expected to be arrested late on Monday in military raids on the town of Muredkey, where Jamaatut Dawa (formerly Lashkar-e-Toiba) has its headquarters, as well as Sheikhupura, Faisalabad and other important cities.
On Sunday, a military helicopter gunship attacked the group's headquarters in Shawai Nullah outside the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad. The army overwhelmed the militants after 90 minutes and several were arrested.
Lakhwi was not arrested in the Shawai operation but in another, undisclosed location, at the request of security agencies. He is to be interrogated by a joint team of agents from the FBI and Pakistan's spy agency ISI.
An ISI team on Sunday also visited Jamaatut Dawa's provincial headquarters in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi. ISI officials questioned Jamaatut Dawa staff but did not carry out any search operations.
Islamabad has denied any role in the Mumbai attacks which left at least 170 people dead. But some of the gunmen are said to have had links to Pakistani militants.
Indian investigators have said that the only gunman captured in Mumbai, Azam Amir Qasab, told them he had been recruited by Lashkar-e-Toiba, and trained at a camp run by the group.
Although Pakistan formally banned Lashkar-e-Toiba after Al-Qaeda's 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States and curbed the group's activities, its camps were never closed, according to analysts.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
Aswat al-Iraq: The commander of the Multi National Forces (MNF) in northern Iraq on Monday said that there is a possibility that Al-Qaida in Iraq (AQI) Organization could return to areas throughout the country, revealing that numbers of foreign fighters in Iraq have been reduced during the last six months. "Developments in the security situation are brittle," the commander said in a televised press conference. "Five MNF units are working with Iraqi troops to monitor Iraq's border with Syria," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
Which part of "long war" don't people understand?
I fear, and sorta predict: around 50% of the US populace has demonstrated its short attention span and disconnection from its own reality, the US political class is breath-takingly cowardly and clueless, the world is now utterly dependent on US will and resources in the key battles ..... therefore the path to eventual victory will be much, much longer and more costly than it needs to be.
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.
If the election of Barack Obama has been greeted with glee across much of Africa, there is at least one spot where the mood is decidedly different. 
Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed operational mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and four co-defendants told a U.S. military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Monday that they want to make a "confession" and enter guilty pleas to murder and war-crimes charges in the death-penalty case. 
Last Wednesday evening around 10pm, following a relaxing supper, my friend Eugene and I arrived at the check-out desk at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, as we have done together hundreds of times in our travels as New York investment bankers currently living in Hong Kong.
Condemning the Mumbai carnage, senior US Congressman Frank Pallone has said the terrorists involved in the attack tried to give the impression that they were local Indian Muslims.
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pakistan's armed forces have been mobilised for more raids targeting leaders from the banned Kashmiri separatist group Lashkar-e-Toiba in Punjab province. The move follows the arrest of the group's chief operational commander, Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, alleged by India to be the mastermind of last month's deadly Mumbai attacks.
