This day in history:
1839 - William Otis receives a patent for the steam shovel.
1863 - Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
1920 - The Nazi Party is founded.
1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
1981 - Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.
1989 - United Airlines Flight 811 rips open during flight, sucking 9 passengers out of the business-class section.
2008 - Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years.
The Pakistani Taliban has announced a unilateral ceasefire in one of its key tribal strongholds in what analysts suspect is a tactical move to increase attacks on troops in Afghanistan.
Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, the militant leader in Bajaur Agency, said his men would no longer attack Pakistani army forces which have maintained a devastating aerial bombing campaign against his fighters.
Sources close to the Taliban leader said the announcement was made following assurances of an amnesty for his fighters and a secret agreement was signed between the commissioner for Malakand district and Faqir Mohammad and his spokesman, Maulvi Omar.
The development will cause alarm in London and Washington where Britain and the United States fear such 'peace deals' amount to a surrender.
American military chiefs have bitter memories of the last peace deal in Waziristan in 2006 which they believe allowed al-Qaeda to regroup and rebuild its international headquarters.
In his radio announcement, Faqir Mohammad, who has until now been deputy to Pakistan's Taliban overlord Baitullah Mehsud, admitted 24 of his men had been killed in an assault on his forces last August.
The aerial bombardment by Pakistan forces which followed displaced 300,000 tribal families from their homes. Faqir's forces, which are known to have harboured foreign al-Qaeda fighters, have also been hit by a number of American Predator drone attacks.
He demanded compensation payments to those who had lost relatives and property in the conflict and the release of all his fighters currently in jail.
His ceasefire has intrigued analysts and diplomats who said it reflected a realignment within Pakistani Taliban forces.
It is thought to be a consolidation of forces in an attempt to survive the expected Nato surge in Afghanistan and an increase in Pakistan Army and American drone attacks on in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The announcement follows the recent peace deal in Swat where Taliban militants pledged a permanent ceasefire after the provincial government agreed to introduce Sharia Law.
It is understood the North West Frontier Province government has agreed an amnesty for Taliban fighters, including those who have bombed girls' schools and video shops and beheaded opponents.
It also follows a shake-up in the Taliban alliance led by Baitullah Mehsud. He has announced a new umbrella group, the Shura Ittehadul Mujahideen, which includes two senior militant commanders who had until now been regarded as 'pro-Pakistan government' Taliban.
According to one militant source in Bajaur, Baitullah Mehsud had recently received a message from the Taliban's 'supreme leader', Mullah Omar, calling on him to stop attacks on the Pakistan Army and reminding him that Nato forces in Afghanistan were their real enemy.
"Somebody is calling the shots here and it would make a lot of sense if it was a Pakistan Security service figure. At the moment the Taliban are trying to hold their ground but is backing away from confrontation inside Pakistan. They're saying 'we'll control the territory, but we'll not fight the army. Our brothers will fight on the [Afghan] side of the border,'" said one senior Western diplomat.
Brigadier Mehmud Shah (retired), former secretary security of Pakistan's Federally-Administered Tribal Areas, said the deal was a smart move by the government which exploited growing Taliban divisions while they are on the defensive.
He said there was resentment in Bajaur that Waziristan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud had not come to their aid during the Pakistan Army offensive and a suspicion that he was only interested in preserving his own rule in Waziristan.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/24/2009 15:35 ||
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Compare wid FREEREPUBLIC > OFFICIALS:MOST US TROOPS IN IRAQ COULD BE GONE BY 2010.
As sa id times before, despite Dubya's successes THE US HASN'T WON THE GWOT YET NOR ABSOLUTELY DEFEATED [nuclearizing]RADICAL ISLAM, + US DOMINATION OF ANY SO-CALLED OWG-NWO IS NOT YET ASSURED OR CERTAIN. THE USA CAN STILL LOSE THIS GWOT.
And Radical Islam is NOT going to let up in its efforts to DESTABILIZE + DOMIN LARGE AREAS OF MAINLAND ASIA [read, NUCLEAR STATES RUSSIA, CHINA, INDIA, etc].
Gunmen shot dead two workers for a French aid group in an ambush in the Sudanese region of south Darfur, peacekeepers said on Monday.
The two Sudanese staff from Aide Midicale Internationale were attacked on Saturday evening as they drove in a remote area where fighting has surged between government forces and rebels.
Investigations suggested the gunmen, who rode camels and horses, were bandits, a spokesman for the joint United Nations/African Union Unamid peacekeeping force said.
But the killings took place at a time of growing fears of targeted attacks on foreign aid groups in the war-torn region. Tensions have mounted in Darfur in the countdown to an expected decision from judges from the International Criminal Court on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Sudan's president on charges he orchestrated war crimes in the region.
Sudan's government has promised to protect UN and other development organisations after a decision from the Hague-based ICC.
The aid workers were attacked on the road to the settlement of Khor Abeche, 80 kilometres north east of the capital of south Darfur Nyala, at dusk, Unamid spokesman Kemal Saiki said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Nine members of a private security firm were killed when rebels attacked their base near Jijel in eastern Algeria, witnesses and local journalists said on Monday. Three other guards were wounded in the attack on the building used by private security company Spas late Sunday in the town of Ziama Mansouriah, around 360 kilometers (225 miles) east of the capital Algiers, they said.
The attack took place in the mountainous region of Kabylie where Algerian security forces have been battling al-Qaeda's north African wing, which has claimed responsibility for a string of bombings in the OPEC member country in recent years.
There was no immediate confirmation of the attack by the authorities.
Sunday's attack is the worst in the past six months in Algeria, and follows a spate of deadly assaults on military and civilians in the east of the country over the past month.
Two roadside bombs killed seven people near Algeria's border with Tunisia on Feb. 12, hours after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said he would stand for a third term in office. Days later, an Algerian newspaper said Islamic rebels had killed eight soldiers in two separate attacks.
The North African country goes to the polls to elect a new president on April 9, with the incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking an unprecedented third term.
What exactly is 'unprecedented' about an African leader trying to stay in office forever?
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Egyptian police said on Monday they arrested three people suspected of involvement in the bombing of a Cairo bazaar that killed a French teenager and wounded 25 others, most of them tourists.
The bomb, which police say was a rudimentary explosive, killed a 17-year-old French girl and wounded 25 people, most of them French tourists.
Earlier reports said four people had been killed but police later revised the number to only one.
Three men were rounded up immediately after the Sunday evening attack in the landmark Khan al-Khalili bazaar. "Three people there were arrested on the site as suspects after the attack," a police official said. "Others are being questioned as witnesses."
The dead 17-year-old French girl was part of a tour group of 54 teenagers from the Paris region who were on a trip to buy souvenirs in the market before heading home on Monday. "There was a very powerful explosion. Then screams and blood. We all started running," said Romy Janiw, 28, one of the seven adults accompanying the teenagers.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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A Spanish court official says 14 people have gone on trial charged with involvement with Islamic terrorist groups and recruiting extremists to fight in Iraq.
Some of the 14 are also accused of helping suspects in the March 11, 2004 train bombings in Madrid to flee Spain.
The 14 suspects, mainly from Morocco, were arrested in a series of raids over recent years, mostly in the northeastern region of Catalonia.
They are charged with belonging to or collaborating with Islamic terrorism groups. The prosecution is seeking sentences of between 7 and 14 years.
The official says the trial at San Fernando de Henares, just outside of Madrid, is likely to last several days. He spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with court regulations.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
were arrested in a series of raids over recent years
The mills of justice grind very slowly in Spain, it seems.
Note: Up until now the theory had been that these men had been lured to Somalia and indoctrinated there.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said Monday in Washington, D.C., that a Somali-American man from Minnesota who was one of several suicide bombers in a terrorist attack in Somalia had apparently been indoctrinated into his extremist beliefs while living in Minneapolis.
Ahmed was driving a vehicle laden with explosives that blew up in northern Somalia in an attack that killed as many 30 people in October, according to news reports. His body was returned to Minnesota with the help of the FBI.
"It appears that this individual was radicalized in his hometown in Minnesota," Mueller said.
Federal authorities have said that Ahmed was one of as many as two dozen young men of Somali descent who disappeared in the past two years from their homes in the Minneapolis area after being recruited by the Shabab, a militia suspected of having ties to Al-Qaida that has waged a war against the Somali government.
Some in Minneapolis' Somali community have said the young men disappeared after being radicalized at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center, a Minneapolis mosque. The mosque is the largest in Minneapolis, Sherif said, drawing 10,000 to 15,000 people. So it appears that the largest mosque in my home town, with 10 - 15,000 followers, is actively recruiting suicide bombers for Jihad.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/24/2009 11:57 ||
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Has anyone investigated this "mosque" for hate speech?
Didn't think so.
Does this mean that those 10-15k aren't "moderate" muslims?
A TALIBAN commander today ordered militants to disband checkpoints and charities to leave Pakistan's Swat valley after calling an indefinite ceasefire following a nearly two-year insurgency.
The announcement came eight days after the government signed a controversial deal agreeing to accept Islamic law as the only system of justice in Swat, 160 kilometres from Islamabad and once Pakistan's only ski resort.
The local government hailed the truce as a step toward permanent peace as the military vowed to continue to hold fire in the valley, where thousands of people have fled the violence, but analysts warned it was unlikely to last.
The sharia deal has triggered alarm in the United States, Europe, Afghanistan and India, amid concerns it will embolden militants in North West Frontier Province, which is rife with Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists.
The ceasefire announcement applies to Swat but not to vast areas elsewhere in northwest Pakistan where Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists are holed up.
Militant leader Maulana Fazlullah convened a consultative council today and agreed to extend a 10-day ceasefire, which had been scheduled to expire tomorrow, and to release prisoners, his spokesman Muslim Khan said.
"Today the shura met under Maulana Fazlullah and decided to hold a ceasefire for an indefinite period," Mr Khan said, referring to the council.
Fazlullah's supporters had observed a temporary truce since last Tuesday when the government signed the controversial deal with pro-Taliban cleric Soofi Mohammad to enforce sharia law in Swat hoping to end a nearly two-year fight.
Thousands of his militants have spent nearly two years waging a terrifying campaign to enforce sharia law, beheading opponents, bombing girls' schools, outlawing entertainment and fighting government forces.
Rome: Terrorists behind 2008's attacks on Mumbai used cell phones that were activated in the United States and paid for with funds sent from Italy, an Italian newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Corriere della Sera daily said India sent the intelligence information to Italy and other countries so anti-terrorism investigators could attempt to expose any ties to the network behind the November attack that killed at least 179 people.
Islamabad acknowledged for the first time this month that the November assault was launched from, and partly planned in, Pakistan.
Corriere said Italian authorities were investigating a wire transfer sent to the United States from the northern Italian city of Brescia by a Pakistani-born suspect. The suspect, named as Javaid Iqbal, sent the funds via Western Union to pay for five cell phones with Austrian country codes -- three of which were used by the attackers, 'Corriere' said, citing the Indian dossier.
Iqbal, a former resident of Barcelona, has been arrested in Pakistan and Italian authorities were attempting to understand how he arrived in Brescia and whether he had support from anyone there.
The cell phones were activated in the United States by a US company, Corriere reported, and registered to another man, who identified himself as an Indian citizen.
India, in its intelligence dossier, highlighted the importance of cell phone communication between the plotters and terrorists carrying out the attacks. It offered partial transcripts of the conversations detailing orders given by phone to kill hostages, and how the plotters relayed the media impact of the assault in real-time.
"Everything is being registered by the media. You must inflict the maximum damage. Fight to the end. Don't leave any survivors," read one of the excerpts, in a call to an attacker at the Trident-Oberoi hotel, reported by Corriere. "Kill the hostages, except the Muslims. Take the telephone and activate it so we can hear the shots," a terrorist says, according to Corriere.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/24/2009 10:37 ||
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Think Global. Act Local.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/24/2009 11:46 Comments ||
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*shudder* Sick, Gabby. Prob'ly true, though. Certainly the reaction to YouTube, etc videos is orgasmic.
Italian authorities were attempting to understand how he arrived in Brescia and whether he had support from anyone there.
Let's start with the assumption that he had support, and do a deep investigation of everyone even peripherally involved... particularly phone and computer records. No doubt all sorts of interesting things will turn up.
#5
The CIA funded the Taliban way back when. And maybe they still are, and maybe these are CIA-supplied cell phones, which is why they were activated in the US.
Residents in Darbal village of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir are using their personal rifles and guns to protect themselves from insurgency. It may be recalled that after a recent incident of militant entering into their village, 65-year-old Jai Krishan used his licensed rifle to secure himself and his family.
Soon, other villagers have taken up weapons to protect and safeguard themselves and other villages from unwelcome and armed militants.In fact, Jai Krishan blamed the authorities and security forces for not providing adequate security.
He also noted that as a Hindu majority village they felt insecure about Islamic fundamentalists coming from across the border to attack.
Jai Krishan said the Government should strengthen village defence committees (VDCs) and provide them with modern weapons and communication systems to fight militancy.
"There was a recent incident of militant entry into our village. We had to force them out by firing on them from our own guns. We had given information about this to the police and the Army, but we have neither been provided with any such security provision nor a committee formed. We have to keep ourselves safe by using our own guns," said Jai Krishan.
However, Superintendent of Police (Kathua District), S P Pani, said there are different security forces, posted at different locations around the village, to counter insurgency. "Bani is connected to Baderwah and Doda districts.
Hence, there are chances for militants for transit movements. For this, we have provided security arrangements in the form of VDC. The Army is already posted. STF pickets are also present. We have contacts with the locals. Any such odd incidents, which may arise, we are ready to tackle them," said S P Pani, Superintendent of Police, Kathua.
He also felt that it would be appreciated if villagers informed security forces about militant movements.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/24/2009 09:26 ||
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Sounds like the Village Elders have the situation well in hand, and are doing a bang-up job against militants. Why get the guvm'nt involved, so they can screw it up?
I'd like to see every free man possessing at least one firearm, and trained in its use. Every retiree of the military, police, or fire department should be required to carry a weapon at all times - not just in the US, but in all "free" nations. Islam would rapidly begin to rethink its position, and its goal of world domination.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/24/2009 13:39 Comments ||
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OP, I absolutely agree -
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Unidentified armed men first fired at the tyres of a Parachinar-bound passenger coach in the Tut Kas area on Monday and later kidnapped 14 travellers.
Sources said the kidnappers left behind three women travelling in the same vehicle while shifted the male passengers to an undisclosed location. The vehicle was on way to Parachinar from Peshawar and it was stopped at the place where four passengers of a Peshawar-bound coach were seriously wounded in a roadside explosion on Sunday.
Locals said people were being kidnapped on daily basis from the Thall-Parachinar road near the Tor Ghar area, while the administration was looking the other way. They said 38 people had been picked from the same area so far. The residents maintained that criminals in the garb of the militants were making travellers hostage and later released them after receiving hefty amounts as ransom.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Locals claim Bin Laden hiding there and ordered terror as a way of cloaking himself.
They stop busses at random and hack the passengers to pieces...see the images:
Unknown miscreants late on Monday blew up the Government High School for Boys, Sunnikhel, Darra Adamkhel -- the ninth institute which was destroyed in the area. Sources said five bombs were planted to the school walls that completely reduced the building into rubble.
Girls' education was stopped in the area as all the schools, whether primary or high, were blown up by unknown militants in the gun-manufacturing town of Darra. Similarly, in the Tor Chappar area of Darra Adamkhel, no boys or girls' school was opened for students at the moment.
Those who could afford had either sent their children to Kohat or Peshawar for studies, while many coming from the poor families had stopped their education, the sources said. DCO Siraj Ahmad Khan said the government was trying its level best to reopen the schools in the FR Kohat area, including Darra Adamkhel.
Meanwhile, Taliban sources denied blowing up the school in Darra Adamkhel and said the enemies of Pakistan could be behind such incidents, claiming that they were not against education.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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How long before they run out of schools to blow up?
Unknown gunmen opened fire at a vehicle near Safari Park killing three people on the spot, Geo News reported on Monday.
Police said, one person was seriously injured in attack who was rushed to hospital.
Trader of timber market and his gunman are among killed meanwhile; Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Arab Mehar said the incident looked "Target Killing".
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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FIA arrested four suspected persons in a raid at a shop here in Sector I-9 and shifted them to an undisclosed location, source said on Monday. Foreign currency and maps have been recovered from the arrested, source added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Taliban announces a unilateral cease-fire in Pakistan's tribal Bajaur Agency where the Pakistani military has killed hundreds of its militants.
Taliban's commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad announced the cease-fire, in a radio broadcast on Monday. "We have decided to observe a cease-fire," he said. "I direct all of my fighters to stop armed actions against the government. We will take strict action against anyone who violates the order."
"We made this announcement of a unilateral ceasefire in the interest of Pakistan and our region," Faqir said, emphasizing that "Pakistan is our country and the Pakistan army is our army.
However, he warned that if US drone strikes inside Pakistan's tribal belt continued, Taliban would 'avenge them by attacking Western troops inside Afghanistan'.
The announcement comes a week after a deal was signed between Taliban insurgents and Pakistani officials to end an insurgency in the neighboring Swat valley in return for the imposition of Taliban-inspired laws.
Unlike in Swat, the insurgents in Bajur had been losing ground in recent months and the Pakistani army has several times claimed to be close to victory.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan army said it had ceased operations against Taliban militants in the northwestern valley of Swat, and a pro-Taliban cleric asked for troops to be shifted to 'safer places' to give peace a chance. However, Military Spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said that the government reserves the option of using force if no positive development is witnessed in Swat's security situation, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The developments come after pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Mohammad spearheaded a deal with provincial officials in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The peace agreement binds the government to implement Taliban-style judicial system in the Malakand division, which comprises Swat and its adjoining areas. The Taliban militants have set up a parallel administration with courts, taxes, patrols and checkpoints in the restive Swat valley and the troubled northwestern region.
Bajaur is considered a crucial hub for the Taliban insurgents due to its access routes to neighboring Afghanistan and the rest of Pakistan. The Bajaur Agency and restive Swat Valley has been the scene of some of the worst fighting between Pakistani forces and Taliban-linked militants in recent months.
Pakistan is under increasing international pressure to eliminate militant sanctuaries. The tribal regions along the shared border between Pakistan and Afghanistan have become a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants after a US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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A police guard Abdul Rahim was killed Monday when he flung himself onto a suicide bomber to prevent him from entering compound of DSP Cantt Tahir DawarÂ's home in Bannu, police said. The attacker was trying to enter the home, where judges and senior police officials live and work, when the guard intercepted him. "The suicide bomber tried to enter the compound. Then the police guard saw him, grabbed him and he exploded himself," local police official Ghafar Ali told media by telephone. Two other police guards were wounded in the attack in Bannu, a town 170 kilometres (106 miles) south of Peshawar province. Police said DSP Tahir Dawar was not present at home when the attack took place.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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The militants active in North and South Waziristan agencies have been directed by Mulla Omar to immediately stop their attacks on the Pakistani security forces.
In a letter to the militants, who have forged a new alliance, Mulla Omar admonished them not to fight the Pakistani security forces and kill their Muslim brethren, a reliable source told The News on Monday.
"Mulla Omar first sent an envoy to the local Taliban and then wrote a letter to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) admonishing these leaders and told the TTP that fighting Muslims could not be described as Jihad so they should immediately cease attacks on the Pakistani security forces.
He told them that if they really want to participate in Jihad, they must fight the US and Nato troops inside Afghanistan because their attacks on the Pakistani security forces are undermining the objectives of the war against the invaders and cause of the Taliban movement.
"If anybody really wants to wage Jihad, he must fight the occupation forces inside Afghanistan," the source quoted Mulla Omar as having told the TTP leaders. "Attacks on the Pakistani security forces and killing of fellow Muslims by the militants in the tribal areas and elsewhere in Pakistan is bringing a bad name to Mujahideen and harming the war against the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan."
"Our aim is to liberate Afghanistan from the occupation forces and death and destruction inside neighbouring Pakistan has never been our goal," he added. The source said according to Mulla Omar, the US was devising a new strategy and adopting new tactics to crush Mujahideen in Afghanistan so the Taliban, too, must forge unity in their ranks, and instead of operating in Pakistan, they must concentrate on actions against the US and Nato forces.
He said the new alliance has been directed by Mulla Omar to devise a new strategy to counter the invaders because the reinforcement of the US forces in Afghanistan is food for thought for all the forces fighting the occupation forces in the war-ravaged country.
"The formation of a new alliance of militants by the name of Shura Ittihad-ul-Mujahideen is aimed at implementing the advice given by Mullah Omar," the source said. "After this development, the attacks on security forces by the local Taliban will decrease if not end completely," he said.
This correspondent tried to seek comments from some government officials and leaders of the ruling parties, including the Awami National Party and the Pakistan People's Party, but they refused to say anything on record.
However, one of the officials contacted by The News feared that if the newly found alliance of the militants stepped up their attacks on the coalition troops inside Afghanistan, it would create many problems for Pakistan and Islamabad would face its consequences.
According to an announcement made on Sunday, the new alliance comprises groups led by central head of the banned TTP, Baitullah Mehsud, and Maulvi Nazir of South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadar of North Waziristan, two militant commanders who were considered to be pro-government. A 13-member body has also been named to run the affairs of the new alliance.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
<<<< However, one of the officials contacted by The News feared that if the newly found alliance of the militants stepped up their attacks on the coalition troops inside Afghanistan, it would create many problems for Pakistan and Islamabad would face its consequences.>>>>
And such and eventuality is totally unexpected. After the truce weren't they going to go back to dying their beards, shutting down schools for children and generally moving back to the stone age. But they were to remain within their newly won territory, indulge in a little internecine bickering and generally not bother anyone.
Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) chief Mangal Bagh on Monday escaped as the headquarters of his banned outfit came under attack from Army helicopters in Spin Qabar area in Bara subdivision of the Khyber Agency.
Sources said eight people, including two children, were injured in the attack. The LI, however, said three persons were killed and 13 more wounded. Its spokesman Misri Gul admitted at least one of the three dead was an LI activist, while the other two were civilians.
Among the 13 injured, the LI spokesman said, eight were volunteers of their organisation and five others were civilians. Terming the attack uncalled for, Misri Gul said their supporters and activists would stage protest demonstrations if the government continued such actions.
Asking the government to review its policy about the LI, he said they were patriotic and peace-loving people and did not want any confrontation with the government. Political administration officials remained tight-lipped about the attack and casualty figures. However, the paramilitary officials claimed killing 10 militants and injuring 15 others in the strike.
"Security forces have destroyed the main communication centre in the Khyber Agency, used by criminal elements," said a statement issued from the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters.
The statement said they had received confirmed intelligence reports that the militants present in the compound under attack were planning to target some areas in main cities. (APP adds: According to the FC sources, around 15 vehicles being used by the militants were also destroyed in shelling.)
Locals said Mangal Bagh and his Shura members were present inside the compound when it was targeted from the air. "Three helicopters twice attacked the LI centre at 2:30pm and 3:00pm and the shelling continued for 15 minutes each time," said a witness.
He said the LI activists surrounded Mangal Bagh soon after the first shot was fired from the air, and was escorted to a safer place. Were they surrounded 'Saudi' style?
The witness said only eight people were injured and no one was killed. The injured also included two children, he added. Stay here, kids, and FIGHT THE INFIDELS! I've...gotta go.
I'm sure Brave Jihadi Warrior feels quite heroic.
Delivering his routine speech on the LI's proscribed FM radio Monday night, Mangal Bagh said the attack had further strengthened his and his volunteers' faith in God. "They tried to kill us, but God is the biggest saviour who saved us," said Bagh. He added they never posed threat to the government or military officials, as the soldiers were free to go to any area in Bara sub-division.
In his nearly one hour address, which he delivers every night, Mangal Bagh did not mention the killing of anyone in the attack. The LI usually announces the timing and place of the funeral prayer of its activists who die in a clash or any other incident, but no such timing was announced.
Bagh said they were a peace-loving people, but the government was compelling them to take up arms by carrying out such "uncalled for" actions. Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Khyber Agency chapter condemned shelling by gunship helicopters in the area.
In a statement, JI chief in the agency Shah Faisal Afridi asked the government to refrain from killing its own people to appease its "foreign masters". He said the government, after the massacre of innocent people in Swat and Bajaur, had now started bloodshed of tribesmen in Khyber Agency.
This article starring:
Mangal Bagh
Posted by: Fred ||
02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Two Iraqi policemen opened fire Tuesday during a U.S. military inspection visit in northern Iraq, killing one American soldier and an interpreter in an attack that deepened worries of possible infiltration of security forces battling insurgents in their last major base.
The shooting at a police outpost in Mosul wounded three other U.S. soldiers. It was the fourth attack in the region since late 2007 with suspected links to Iraqi security units, which have struggled to uproot al-Qaida from strongholds in Iraq's third-largest city.
Any serious breaches in the Iraqi force could be a particular blow in the Mosul region where the U.S. military is light and commanders have been generally unable to spawn the type of tribal militia uprisings that helped break insurgent control in other areas of Iraq.
The U.S. military said one interpreter was killed in a small-arms attack and a soldier died later of wounds. Three other soldiers and another Iraqi interpreter were wounded. The military statement gave no other details, saying the attack was under investigation.
The two policemen began shooting as the Americans toured an Iraqi police unit guarding a key bridge in Mosul, about 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saeed al-Jubouri said.
The attackers then fled in a car from the headquarters, a collection of concrete towers and bunkers.
Al-Jubouri denied reports that the gunmen could have been insurgents dressed in police uniforms a tactic used before in suicide bombings and attacks.
He identified them as a sergeant major and rank-and-file officer from Shura, a village about 25 miles south of Mosul. Iraqi troops were sent to the village, but there was no immediate report the suspects had been located.
"Absolutely these were policeman," al-Jubouri told The Associated Press.
Posted by: ed ||
02/24/2009 20:43 ||
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A spate of attacks on Iraqi security forces has claimed the lives of eight police officers in Iraq's disrupted and second largest city, Mosul. In the latest of attacks, unidentified assailants killed a police officer in central Mosul on Monday.
"A policeman was killed when unknown gunmen shot him in a market in al-Kournish street in central Mosul. The cop was on a vacation," an Iraqi police official told Voices of Iraq under the guise of anonymity.
The incident comes as two members of the Iraqi security forces died on Sunday afternoon when an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted their patrol at Hawi al-Kanesa district west of Mosul.
The blast also inflicted damages to the troops' military vehicle and left three policemen on patrol wounded.
Meanwhile five other Iraqi soldiers were seriously wounded in an IED attack on Sunday while conducting a routine foot patrol teh at al-Aleel district in southern Mosul.
This is while five other Iraqi soldiers were also killed on Saturday evening when a bomb exploded close to their patrol vehicle at al-Bajj district west of volatile Mosul.
Despite security gains, Mosul remains an unstable region in war-torn Iraq. The city -- the provincial capital of Iraq's Nineveh -- is situated some 396 km (250 miles) northwest of Baghdad. Explosions, rampant throughout war-battered Iraq, claim civilian lives and leave many others wounded almost every day in the country.
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02/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Iranian news outlet. To show its citizens how lucky they are to live in the Mullahocracy.
Any similarity to NYT or CNN reporting is pure coincidence.
Aswat al-Iraq: An Iraqi army force on Monday defused a car bomb in eastern Mosul, a military source said. "A force from the 2nd division of the Iraqi army on Monday (Feb. 23) managed to defuse a booby-trapped car in al-Baath neighborhood in eastern Mosul, without casualties," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The operation was based on a tip-off," he noted.
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An Israel Air Force helicopter on Monday attacked a group of Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip as they attempted to flee the border area where they had been planting explosives aimed against Israeli troops.
The Israeli soldiers stationed near the Kissufim border crossing opened fire on the militants laying the explosives, and the IAF subsequently bombed the militants' car as they tried to escape.
Neither the soldiers nor the militants sustained any casualties.
Shortly after the incident, a Qassam rocket fired from Gaza exploded in an open field in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. Later Monday afternoon, another rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip into the same area. There were no casualties or damages reported in either incident.
Gaza militants on Sunday fired two mortar rounds Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in the Kissufim area. The soldiers responded by opening fire on the militants.
A Qassam rocket hit the western Negev earlier on Sunday. There were no casualties or damages reported in either incident on Sunday.
On Saturday, a rocket struck Ashkelon, a day after Gaza militants fired 10 mortar shells and a Qassam rocket into the western Negev on Friday.
The strikes came amid an apparent stalemate in Gaza Strip truce negotiations, following Israel's demand that a cease-fire be linked to the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
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Terrorists Suspected militants shot dead a rubber tapper and seriously injured his wife yesterday morning as insurgency violence continues, apparently unabated, in the southernmost province. Police said the victim died from wounds to his chest and back and his wife, who fled through the rubber plantation, suffered severe injuries before being rescued by local residents.
In a second incident yesterday, a roadside bomb targeting a security unit patrolling the outback of Sukirin district went off but failed to inflict any injuries.
In nearby Pattani's Tambon Pakaharang, a resident was wounded but survived after four gunmen on two motorbikes, using 11mm and AK-47 weapons, fired several shots at him as he was riding his motorcycle. Mahyuding Che-loh, 36, was taken to a nearby hospital by local residents.
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.
Nine members of a private security firm were killed when rebels attacked their base near Jijel in eastern Algeria, witnesses and local journalists said on Monday. Three other guards were wounded in the attack on the building used by private security company Spas late Sunday in the town of Ziama Mansouriah, around 360 kilometers (225 miles) east of the capital Algiers, they said.
Egyptian police said on Monday they arrested three people suspected of involvement in the bombing of a Cairo bazaar that killed a French teenager and wounded 25 others, most of them tourists. 
court official says 14 people have gone on trial charged with involvement with Islamic terrorist groups and recruiting extremists to fight in Iraq.
The militants active in North and South Waziristan agencies have been directed by Mulla Omar to immediately stop their attacks on the Pakistani security forces.
