Western forces are losing ground to the Taliban. As US and UK forces struggle for a way forward in Afghanistan, this unique film shows one of the most dangerous outposts as it struggles to hold on.
Youre the first reporter Ive seen here in 8 months, says Staff Sergeant O Brien, in a rare break from the Talibans incessant fire. This outpost in Kunar province is one of hundreds supposed to allow the Americans to win over locals and control Taliban movements.
But its not working. The Taliban control the high ground around the bunker and attack every day. Weve got the most sophisticated equipment in the world, O Brien says but we cant pick up on one guy whos sitting 800 metres away from us shooting.
His men have spent 9 months under fire and must rely on what they can. One thing we usually use to determine who the bad guys are is shoe type, O Brien explains. They wear shoes like this to move around the mountains he says comparing it with the sandal worn by a member of the Afghan National Army. Part of the outpost strategy is to mentor the ANA.
But the men here see the reality of western forces losing ground. A lot of the reports you see are out of the big bases, where its secure and theres not a lot of fighting. Its in remote outposts like this one that conditions are almost like what the Russians ran in to.
The Surge just started. Let's give it more than a week before we allow the news organizations to declare the situation lost.
The Surge just started. Let's give it more than a week before we allow the news organizations to declare the situation lost.
I agree the surge has just started. But, the situation in Afghanistan is totally different from Iraq. IMHO the entire ANA isn't worth one division of the Iraqi Army. Look at those guys spray and pray tactics.
We surged in Vietnam to over a half million troops but we couldn't control the countryside. I've been down this path before and I have a bad feeling.
There is very little to build on in Afghanistan. They have no history of central authority. The only history they have is killing each other unless some foreigners came to the area, then they focused on the outsiders. Once the Infidels are gone they will go back to killing each other.
The villagers will not stand up to the Taliban like the Iraq Awakening.
I talked with some local Afghans here in town and to my surprise they wished the Taliban were back in control because at least their relatives were more secure from the lawlessness.
So far in the first half of July we have lost as many coalition forces as any one whole month in the previous eight years. If this keeps up, approaching next years elections, Obama will fold like a cheap suit and these brave men and women will have been wasted.
For what it's worth I never gave up on Iraq. But like I said, I have a bad feeling regarding our effort in Afghanistan, especially with the current Democrat Party and President in charge of this endeavor.
#2
Afghanistan is land locked with out a port for low cost deliver of supplies critical to the American way of war. They are surrounded by inimical neighbors who will be happy to provide sanctuary and support to our enemies. If we win, what will we have? Bush had a great opportunity to declare victory and withdraw.
#3
Michael Yon says Afghanistan is 1,000 years behind Iraq. There are whole provinces with no paved roads. Most of the country is illiterate. They are insular, tribal and muslim to boot. None of this bodes well for our effort. Add in the land-locked status with safe sanctuary on the border and it really doesn't look good.
#5
Was in Acoma two weeks ago. Longest continuously inhabited settlement in the US. It's centuries ahead of Afghanistan. Monogamous. Catholic Church. Literate in English. Paved roads. Nice people. I especially like the generators in the pickup trucks for the full time residents to watch TV. Visit and buy the pottery. It's the real deal.
#6
The Taliban must be selling a lot of dope. Their extended cab pickup is late model. The villagers speak pretty good English for being near an outpost out in the booneys.
To date 124 Canadians have lost their lives in Afghanistan, 110 of them KIA. They are third in casualties behind the US and Britain. Their casualties exceed that of France, Germany and Spain combined.
KABUL (AP) - Two U.S. Marines were killed in a "hostile incident" in southern Afghanistan, where a white transport helicopter also crashed, officials said Tuesday. The two Marines were killed in the southern Helmand province on Monday, said U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias. She did not have other details.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2009 00:00 ||
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NATO and Afghan officials say a helicopter carrying civilian contractors crashed Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing all six people on board and a child on the ground. Afghan officials say the aircraft may have been shot down, but NATO commanders say it is not clear what happened and that the cause of the crash is under investigation.
Shortly after the crash, Moldova's aviation agency said an Mi-26 helicopter on a humanitarian mission in the area was hit by a missile or a rocket, and that the crew was Ukrainian. It is unclear, however, whether it is the same helicopter that crashed.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for shooting down the aircraft in Sangin district.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Isn't shooting down humanitarian aid helicopters against the Geneva Conventions?
Somali authorities have arrested suspects in the kidnapping of two French security advisers in the Somali capital, Somalia's defense minister told French radio Wednesday. Defense Minister Mohamed Abdi Ghandi said on RFI radio that troops also have gone to areas where the hostages might be. He said "contact" had been made with the kidnappers but gave no further details.
The French advisers were on a mission to train Somali government forces, which are fighting Islamist militiamen. They were abducted Tuesday from a hotel in Mogadishu, one of the most dangerous cities in the world. The hotel manager said the men had described themselves at check-in as French reporters drawing vigorous protest from media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which said that government agents using journalism as a cover could put real reporters in danger.
The French Foreign Ministry said it had no information to verify that the advisers had posed as journalists. Ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux said in an online briefing that the two were in Somalia at the invitation of Somali authorities, as part of France's bid to shore up the country's security forces. Earlier this year, France announced plans to train Somali security forces using troops stationed at a French military base in nearby Djibouti.
Desagneaux would not comment on any claims of responsibility for the kidnapping or details of the hostages' whereabouts, citing "the interests of our compatriots' security."
Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped two French security advisors from a hotel in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. Witnesses say at least 10 men stormed the Sahafi Hotel Tuesday, and grabbed the two foreigners from their rooms.
The kidnapped men had registered at the hotel as journalists. But the French foreign ministry says they were on an official mission to help the Somali government with security matters. The ministry says all appropriate French agencies have been mobilized to help find the two.
No one has claimed responsibility for the abductions. Several witnesses say some of the gunmen were wearing government uniforms.
Sources in Mogadishu tell VOA the kidnapped men were taken into a part of the capital controlled by the Islamist militant group al-Shabab.
The government recently appealed for foreign assistance to help fight the insurgent groups.
The Paris-based media rights group, Reporters Without Borders, said it hoped for the men's quick release but expressed shock that they had been posing as journalists. The group said being a journalist is not a cover, it is a profession. It said their behavior endangers journalists in a region where reporting is already very dangerous.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Well if you're not a very good security advisor, I suppose Mogadishu is the perfect place for you...
Three suspected cadres of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), arrested in Tangail town on Monday night, were taken on a three-day remand yesterday. Police produced the three in the Judicial Magistrate's Court in the morning, seeking a three-day remand. The court granted the prayer, according to our correspondent.
Perhaps they can grant a prayer for a cross-fire ...
Acting on a tip-off, a police team from Tangail Sadar Police Station raided a house at Akur Takurpara at around 12:30am and arrested Abdur Rouf, 20, of Roumari in Kurigram and Mahbub Hasan, 18, of Bhuapur in Tangail. The law enforcers also seized books on Jihad from their possession. Police also arrested house owner Abdur Rahman, 30, for his alleged link with the suspected JMB cadres.
Our staff correspondent from Khulna reports: Law enforcers recovered two bombs from the residence of JMB ehsar member Abu Musa alias Ali Hossain, 40, at West Tootpara under Khulna Sadar Police Station on Monday night. Rab arrested Musa and another ehsar member Abdus Salam near Khulna City College on July 7.
Sub- Inspector Anwar Hossain of Khulna Sadar Police Station said the bombs were recovered following confessional statement of Musa during interrogation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Indian Springs, Nev. - If the Air Force needed a poster boy for the way it is adapting to the 21st century, it has high hopes that a young officer named Captain Bob will fit the bill. Captain Bob can't wait to deploy in the cockpit of the F-16 jet he's trained to fly, but the Air Force has other plans for the young fighter jock.
As it scrambles to meet an exploding appetite for real-time video surveillance of the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Air Force is undergoing a seismic cultural shift, adapting to the needs of warfare today while pondering what it might look like tomorrow.
Bob, who asked that his full name not be used because of the sensitivity of his job, has for now turned in his G-suit to be a desk jockey with a joystick. His days are spent, not pulling Gs, but inside an air-conditioned trailer an hour from the Las Vegas strip. From here, he flies a remote-controlled airplane over Afghanistan or Iraq to produce video feeds of those wars a world away. The images are fed immediately to troops on the ground to track the enemy, spot someone planting a roadside bomb, or monitor other insurgent activity.
Continued on Page 49
#1
GEEKS FROM AROUND THE WORLD OUR DAY HAS COME! Kneel before Cyber Zod IMHO if you can master Flight Simulator, this is not a big reach (if it is'nt they designed it wrong). Of course the idiot in the Air Force have to have some officer fly it because they are afraid of enlisted pilots.
#2
And there are probably millions of young men (and even older fat guys like me(1) ) who can handle the likes of Flight Simulator, X-Plane, or Falcon 4 but don't stand a quarter's chance in congress to qualify for anything even remotely 'real'.
If nothing else it'll free up the real pilots like Bob here to achieve their dream of flying the real thing.
(1) As for myself - I suck even at flight simulator....
#3
CF, I agree. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Navy fighter pilot. I could picture myself sitting on the deck of a carrier, waiting for launch.
Then reality struck. I was never a jock, always a little overweight. To make matters worse, pilots had to have 20/20 vision. Mine was about 20/200 or so. I could see fine with glasses, but there was no way I could ever be a pilot.
Today, I could probably fly a drone. I don't need 20/20 uncorrected to see the ground from 30000 feet. I don't need to be in shape so I can withstand the G forces and other stresses of piloting a plane.
Of course, this is why the AF hates drones. The fighter mafia has spent 50-60 years building up the mystique of the fighter pilot as the best in the world. All of a sudden, fat, blind people like me could do the job.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/15/2009 18:02 Comments ||
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#4
And there are probably millions of young men (and even older fat guys like me(1) ) who can handle the likes of Flight Simulator, X-Plane, or Falcon 4 but don't stand a quarter's chance in congress to qualify for anything even remotely 'real'
Nah, we'll port it to consoles and PCs as a realtime massive multiplayer online game with portions both scripted and real. Operators of skill and merit who graduate to uber master level will unknowingly be operating drones in interesting areas and scenarios. As far as they know its just another game to them in virtual reality rather than naked reality. To Smo down on the ground, well, it'll be reality up front and personal.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
07/15/2009 21:19 Comments ||
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#10
IMHO if you can master Flight Simulator, this is not a big reach (if it is'nt they designed it wrong)
I've had a chance to talk with both a US and a British senior pilot with live air missions and also UAV experience. Both said that situational awareness was *harder* with UAVs because they didn't get the kinesthetic, body experience of a real plane and therefore had to work much more with conscious awareness -- without losing sharp focus.
Both also said that when ground engagements were at stake, they required split-second reactions that drew on peripheral vision, spatial orientation etc. of the sort they'd trained to develop in the cockpit.
FWIW, but their descriptions made it sound a long way from playing a video game.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- For two weeks in June, two dozen war-on-terror captives staged a sit-in at an exercise yard in a maximum-security prison camp -- refusing to budge from a labyrinth of open-air cells in a previously undisclosed coordinated protest that evoked images of the early days of Camp X-Ray. Guards delivered the detainees' meals to their recreation yards rather than risk injury by forcing the 26 protesting prisoners back into their solitary cells. Captives turned trash bags into toilets and plastic water bottles into urinals in the standoff.
Military officials this week confirmed the mass protest by about half the prisoners at Camp 5 in response to a detailed query from The Miami Herald. Camp 5 is a steel and cement building where the least cooperative captives are held.
Defense lawyers learned of the episode while it was happening but were gagged under a Pentagon system that initially classifies as secret all attorney-client meetings.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
If they have a problem with strip searches just take away their clothes permanently.
KARACHI: A general councillor associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and owners of two private schools were killed on Tuesday in separate incidents of target killing. Unidentified men shot dead 57-year-old Sirajuddin at Hoti Market in Ranchore Lane, in the Nabi Buksh police precincts. Station House Officer (SHO) Wasim Ahmed said the deceased was the general councillor of UC-6 in Saddar Town, and was associated with the MQM. No case was registered until the filing of this report.
Separately, two men who owned separate private schools in Orangi Town were killed in Baldia Town No 9 in the Saeedabad police precincts. The victims were identified as Fawad and Allah Wasaiyo. Suspecting that the cause behind the murders could be personal enmity, SHO Zahid Hussain Soomro said the victims were not affiliated with any political party.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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MINGORA: The government on Tuesday lifted restrictions on the return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), hoping to boost confidence among residents wary that the Taliban might come back.
Authorities on Monday had begun returning the IDPs to their homes, but fearing trouble on the main road into the valley and wary of the Taliban trying to slip back in, stopped private vehicles from entering the valley, only letting government buses and trucks through. That restriction was lifted on Tuesday, said Lt Col Waseem Shahid, a spokesman for the government unit overseeing the humanitarian effort.
Now, hopefully, the numbers will swell as there are no restrictions and their confidence will be boosted when they see their fellows living there in peace, he said.
Now for the humorous part --
No top Taliban leaders in the valley were reported killed or captured and residents had seen previous military drives end only for the Taliban to re-emerge from their mountain hideouts. Responding to the IDPs skepticism, the army and government insisted that this time the Taliban would not be allowed back.
LANDIKOTAL: Suspected Taliban destroyed a NATO oil tanker in the Khyber Agency on Tuesday, triggering retaliatory mortar shelling that killed two men and injured two others. The oil tanker was carrying 40,000 liters of oil to Afghanistan when the Taliban opened fire on it. Fifteen-year-old Shahan Khan Afridi and tanker cleaner Nasir Khan Shelmani were killed in the shelling. The driver of the tanker, Gul Syed Shinwari, and Irfan Khan, another resident of the area, were injured. Two vehicles of the Khasadar Force were also damaged and one Khasadar was injured, a subedar told Daily Times.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So how did a tanker cleaner get killed in retaliatory shelling? Really bad aim? Or he was moonlighting as a tanker bomber?
GHALANAI/KHAR/ RAWALPINDI: A tribal lashkar killed 23 Taliban during clashes in the Kohimoor area of Ambaar tehsil in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday.
Syed Ahmad Jan, a senior regional administrator, told the Associated Press that local tribal militia had asked the Taliban to leave the area on Monday. The Taliban refused, sparking a gunbattle that continued until Tuesday morning, he added. Four lashkar members were wounded in the fight, while 20 men were killed. Three Taliban were arrested, but one of them committed suicide while the other two were executed by the lashkar.
Another administration official, Muhammad Rasul Khan, told AFP three villagers were missing after the clashes. The laskhar fought very well and the Taliban are on the run, he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"Leave."
"No!"
"Urk..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/15/2009 11:06 Comments ||
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A defense volunteer was shot dead on a motorcycle in Pattani, while two remote-controlled bombs exploded in Narathiwat, wounding one soldier.
Forty-five-year-old Amnuay Maseng was killed while on his way to drop off his wife at her workplace in the provincial seat in Pattani. The victims motorcycle was found near the body at the crime scene. Witnesses said he was attacked by two gunmen who were also on a motorcycle. However, his wife was not hurt. The authorities preliminary investigation focused on possible personal issues and the southern violence.
Meanwhile, in the nearby province of Narathiwats Si Sakhon district, a roadside bomb hidden in an iron box was detonated on Wednesday morning by terrorists suspected insurgents using a mobile phone signal. The explosion occurred while a special unit of 12 soldiers was patrolling the area. Shrapnel hit the left wrist of Private Anan Alaewari, who has taken for medical treatment.
Shortly after the first incident, another remote-controlled bomb exploded in Yi-ngo district, while another 12 patrol soldiers were patrolling the area on foot. As the bomb exploded in a densely forested area, no one was injured.
Reports from southern Lebanon say there have been a number of explosions at a weapons depot belonging to the Hezbollah movement. The reports say the depot was housed in an abandoned building near the village of Khirbet Silim in the Dabsheh area. There were no reports of casualties.
Hezbollah denied any link with the blasts and attributed them to the detonation of unexploded ordnance.
Lebanese troops cordoned off the area and restricted access to the site.
No-one was injured in the explosions but they caused panic among local residents who reportedly mistook them for an Israeli air raid.
Heh-heh ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2009 00:11 ||
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#1
Juice have electronic warfare ability to remotely detonate Muslim explosives? (Not impossible in principle.)
#3
A series of explosions on Tuesday in an abandoned building near Lebanons tense border with Israel was caused by a fire in a Hezbollah weapons depot, a Lebanese security official said.
The depot in the village of Khirbet Silim, about 10 miles north of the border, was housed in an abandoned building and was likely used during the 2006 war, added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.
Lebanese soldiers and firefighters sealed the area off after the explosions to keep journalists away.
The Lebanese army issued a statement saying only that the area was sealed after an explosion in an abandoned building and that a joint committee from the military and UN peacekeepers was investigating.
Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, said UNIFIL was investigating the incident and had not yet determined the cause of the explosions.
According to Israeli security sources, the Hezbollah depot contained various of types of rockets, including Katyusha rockets, which the organization was hiding. The rockets are being stored for future use against Israel. The Israeli sources further claimed that the incident is testimony to the fact that Hezbollah continues to use Lebanese villages along the border to hide weapons among the civilian population, effectively turning them into human shields.
Tehran, Iran, Jul. 14 - An Iranian journalist who wrote an editorial criticising the actions of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) on Monday was killed in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.
Mehrdad Heydari worked for the state-run daily Khorrasan. One source described his death as "suspicious".
Doesn't seem 'suspicious' at all ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Tehran, Iran, Jul. 15 Irans State Security Forces (SSF) are once again confiscating satellite dishes in the capital Tehran. SSF agents were spotted raiding houses in Amir Abad and Seyed Khandan districts in Tehran on Saturday, rounding up satellite dishes and equipment. Further patrols have continued in recent days.
The SSF said in May it had confiscated 84,000 satellite dishes during the Persian calendar year that ended March 20. SSF agents routinely go up rooftops in Tehran and other major cities removing satellite dishes which are banned in Islamic Iran.
The Islamic Republic banned satellite dishes in 1995. The crackdown on satellite dishes was prompted by broadcasts from Iranian opposition groups whose television programs reportedly have a large audience in Iran.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
That'll help win over the middle class and keep them from joining the protests /sarc
#3
At the end of his murderous regime, Saddam did the same thing in Baghdad and throughout Iraq. This is a sign that this illegitimate fascist Shia entitiy is in a state of fear, fear of it's own people.
#5
Ann had a unique Hollywood Career:
1. Church going
2. No scandals
3. Until his death, married to the same man for 54 years (Dr. James McNulty, Dennis Day's brother)
4. Hard to snark
#6
My father attended USC and was involved in football with Patrick's father John 'Marion Morrison" Wayne. When the Depression broke they went their separate ways.
About ten years ago, while I was a guest at the Bohemian Grove, I met Patrick Wayne. He was just one of the guys but he and his Hollywood buddies put on a hilarious skit taking off his dad.
#7
OS, I read a couple of his books yrs ago - prior to him pulling the full truther nuttery. He claims to have been a seal but says very little about his service as one - he says in the book that what he did was classified and he cannot talk fully about it. It didn't really pass my smell test but I could be wrong. He also advocates gays serving openly in the military which I strongly oppose.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/15/2009 22:29 Comments ||
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#13
Damn, that's funny Lagom & 49Pan.
ANd no, I don't know what they put in the water in Minnesota, except that whenever they have a 3rd party candidate soaking up votes, the nut jobs get elected from there.
My theory is that Minn has more morons per capita than elsewhere. Starting with mega-skull micro-intellect snob Garrison Keillor.
One of these days I'm gonna have to post this theory I heard during a recent podcast, that RHPS essentially recapitulated the ancient myth of the annunaki or the watchers.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KABUL (AP) - Two U.S. Marines were killed in a "hostile incident" in southern Afghanistan, where a white transport helicopter also crashed, officials said Tuesday. The two Marines were killed in the southern Helmand province on Monday, said U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias. She did not have other details.
NATO and Afghan officials say a helicopter carrying civilian contractors crashed Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing all six people on board and a child on the ground. Afghan officials say the aircraft may have been shot down, but NATO commanders say it is not clear what happened and that the cause of the crash is under investigation.
Three suspected cadres of outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), arrested in Tangail town on Monday night, were taken on a three-day remand yesterday. Police produced the three in the Judicial Magistrate's Court in the morning, seeking a three-day remand. The court granted the prayer, according to our correspondent. 
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- For two weeks in June, two dozen war-on-terror captives staged a sit-in at an exercise yard in a maximum-security prison camp -- refusing to budge from a labyrinth of open-air cells in a previously undisclosed coordinated protest that evoked images of the early days of Camp X-Ray. Guards delivered the detainees' meals to their recreation yards rather than risk injury by forcing the 26 protesting prisoners back into their solitary cells. Captives turned trash bags into toilets and plastic water bottles into urinals in the standoff.
KARACHI: A general councillor associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and owners of two private schools were killed on Tuesday in separate incidents of target killing. Unidentified men shot dead 57-year-old Sirajuddin at Hoti Market in Ranchore Lane, in the Nabi Buksh police precincts. Station House Officer (SHO) Wasim Ahmed said the deceased was the general councillor of UC-6 in Saddar Town, and was associated with the MQM. No case was registered until the filing of this report. 
MINGORA: The government on Tuesday lifted restrictions on the return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), hoping to boost confidence among residents wary that the Taliban might come back.
GHALANAI/KHAR/ RAWALPINDI: A tribal lashkar killed 23 Taliban during clashes in the Kohimoor area of Ambaar tehsil in Mohmand Agency on Tuesday.
Tehran, Iran, Jul. 14 - An Iranian journalist who wrote an editorial criticising the actions of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) on Monday was killed in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.
