A massive exchange of shelling continued as pro-government forces and the AU peacekeepers, Amisom, in Mogadishu responded to attacks and fire from Islamist groups. The shelling mostly affected parts of Hodon District in South Mogadishu and Wardhigley District in downtown Mogadishu.
At least 15 people died and over 50 wounded have been taken to Madina, Daynile and Isaleey hospital, according to ambulance services in the city. Neither the Transitional Federal Government nor the Islamists have commented on the deadly battles and shelling.
Elsewhere in parts of Hiran and Galgadud regions in Central Somalia, huge confrontations between Al-Shabaab fighters and followers of Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea, a moderate Islamist group, caused deaths and injuries. Gobo village and surrounding areas in Hiran region was the scene of battles on Wednesday that later spread to other areas like Bila'ale in Hiran region and Wabho village in Galgadud.
Initial reports from Central Somalia indicate death of over 13 people and scores injured. Al-Shabaab, the Islamist group strongly opposing the TFG, accused Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea for the attack and claimed victory in the latest confrontations in Central Somalia. There are reports of enormous displacement of the inhabitants in the affected villages, especially at Gobo.
Through a teleconference today, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Raghe, the spokesman of Al-Shabaab, has labelled Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea, a moderate Islamic sect that is dominated by Sufiya sub-sect, being an Ethiopian puppet. "This group armed by the enemy has suffered a defeat and we captured arms and ammunitions from their forces," remarked Sheikh Raghe.
"Their beaten force run to Guri'el (a town 450 km north of Mogadishu)," added Sheikh Raghe. Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea, an ally of the TFG, released no official statement mainly due to poor communications from the remote areas.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A day without shelling is like a day without khat.
At least eight people have been killed in clashes between armed separatists and government forces in southern Yemen, officials and witnesses say. The protesters in the town of Zinjibar, in Abyan province, were demanding the release of detainees held during earlier disturbances. Eyewitnesses said the security forces opened fire to disperse the crowds.
Witnesses told the AFP news agency the demonstration was called by Tarek al-Fadhli, a local figure who supports independence for south Yemen from the north.
Analysts say there has been rising tension throughout the south in the past two years, as the southern independence movement gains strength. It began two years ago when former southern military officials, forced into compulsory retirement, demanded higher pension payments.
The protesters have been accusing President Ali Abdullah Saleh of corruption and openly calling for independence from his government in the northern mountain capital, Sanaa. Mr Fadhli - a prominent ally of President Saleh and a veteran of the jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan - switched sides and joined the southern independence movement in April.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
First they fought to unite the two states, now they fight to separate again. Fighting must be the national sport in Yemen.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2009 15:13 Comments ||
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A Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) jawan "committed suicide" at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital early yesterday. With this incident the number of unnatural death of BDR jawans after February 25-26 BDR mutiny stands at seven.
The deceased was Mohammad Nomanul Hossain, 30, a signalman of BDR Kaptai camp. He was undergoing treatment for blood cancer at the hospital since January 21 last.
Apparently he's not a Harvard perfesser ...
Officer-in-charge (OC) of Shahbagh Police Station Rezaul Karim said Nomanul Hossain committed suicide by hanging himself from ceiling using a gamchha [cotton towel] at a second floor washroom of the hospital around 6:30am.
Did the police leave a handy hook in the ceiling for him to use?
On information, police recovered the body from the hospital and sent it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue, OC Rezaul said, adding that after autopsy, the deceased's relatives would take the body to his village at Daulatkhan upazila of Bhola.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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LONDON: As if the troubles in Pakistan were not enough for former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, a leading Pakistani origin politician in the UK announced to move courts against Musharraf over war crimes here in London.
Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham has stepped up his campaign against the former president. The Labour peer announced yesterday that war crime charges would be brought against Musharraf, who is engaged in making speeches to think tanks and select gatherings here these days.
Lord Ahmed said he had been approached by a number of families who havd suffered at the hands of Musharrafs policies during his nearly nine-year rule. These affected families from Fata, Balochistan, Waziristan and Lal Masjid and other parts of Pakistan feel war crimes have been committed against them. They have suffered directly as a result of the policies of the former dictator, Lord Ahmed told The News yesterday.
A writ will be issued against Musharraf for the war crimes and human rights abuses in Pakistan, he said, adding some of the legal minds involved in pursuing the case against Musharraf will be those who had experience in preparing charges against Chilean army general Augusto Pinochet and had him arrested.
Lord Ahmed said a clear message would be sent to those who believe in taking over ruthlessly from civilians and killing people as they please. Barrister Ch Abid Hussain is assisting Lord Nazeer Ahmed in this case.
Abid told The News a support group had been formed to help the victims families. He said individual sponsors will come forward to support this expensive legal exercise. Lord Ahmed clarified that no Pakistani political party will be asked for funds and it will be individuals who will declare their interest in the case and fund it on record.
It is believed that a press conference will be called very soon here to announce the formal start of the legal proceedings against Musharraf. Lord Ahmed plans to travel to Pakistan within a week as part of his campaign against Musharraf. He will meet members from both the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/24/2009 18:38 ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
07/24/2009 18:03 ||
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#1
OTOH WAFF > TOP CHINESE GENERAL ANNOUNCES READY FOR MILITARY STRIKES AGZ "EAST TURKESTAN" FORCES [Uighur = Pro-Uighur Separatists]. And NOT just in Xinjiang [OUTSIDE OF CHINA = CENASIA Countries???
* Also, AL JAZEERA > TROUBLE BREWING IN TAIJIKISTAN + TURKEY DETAINS "PAN-ISLAMISTS" {200 Hizb-ut-Tahrir Activists,other Suspects].
Mian Habibur Rehman, a suspected terrorist with ties to banned terrorist groups Harkatul Ansar and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JM), died of a heart attack at the Layyah DHQ Hospital
on Thursday.
The news of Rehman's death sparked violent protests by angry supporters of the banned organisations who called Rehman, who had been in police custody, a 'martyr' and alleged that he had died of police torture.
The angry mob of around 800 protesters, led by JM Central General Secretary Abdullah Shah Mazhar, forced shopkeepers to close shop, and later took control of Layyah city railway crossing and tried to disrupt railway operations. The mob resorted to throwing stones when police tried to hold them back, and police retaliated with a baton charge and shelling.
The exchange of stone pelting and tear gas shelling continued for five hours until
Layyah District Coordination Officer Javaid Iqbal and District Police Officer Muhammad Azam successfully negotiated with the protesters. As a result of the negotiations, three of Rehman's accomplices -- Shamsur Rehman, Muhammad Saleem Buzdar and Attaur Rehman were released from police custody.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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The political administration on Thursday arrested 28 suspects and recovered three vehicles from different areas of Bajaur Agency.
During the ongoing crackdown, the Khasadar Force raided areas at Ghundai, Samsai, Doda Shaway and Lovi Gano in Khar district and arrested 28 wanted men, a political administration official said.
The administration has set up checkposts at all entry and exit points of the district.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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WASSIT / Aswat al-Iraq: Unidentified gunmen shot down two women and wounded four others, including two children, of the same family in an attack on their house south of al-Kut city on Thursday, a security source in Wassit said. The gunmen attacked a house in al-Hai district, (40 km) south of Kut, killing two women and wounding two men and children, all are members of the same family, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The police cordoned off the attack scene in an attempt to arrest the culprits who managed to escape before security forces arrived, the source said.
Investigations are underway to detect the reasons behind the attack and the identity of the armed perpetrators, he added, not giving further details.
Kut, the capital city of Wassit province, is 180 km southeast of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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MISSAN / Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen seized explosives and munitions north of al-Amara city on Thursday, according to the Missan provinces police information & media chief.
Anti-bomb squad personnel, in a search raid in the district of Ali al-Sharqi, (60 km) north of Amara, seized 100 moulds of C4 explosives in association with the National Information & Investigation Department in Missan, Col. Sadeq Sallam told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Also seized were nine mortar shells of 82 mm. caliber filled with TNT, six mortar shells of 82 mm. caliber and 14 electric spark devices used in home-making improvised explosive devices, Sallam added.
Amara, the capital city of Missan province, is 390 km south of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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KIRKUK / Aswat al-Iraq: A civilian man was killed and another wounded when an improvised explosive device went off in central Kirkuk on Thursday, a local security source said.
The charge, which targeted an Emergency Police patrol near al-Sabriya mosque on the Kirkuk-Baghdad highway, left one civilian man killed and another seriously wounded, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. The explosion also left damage to nearby stores, the source added, not giving further details.
The oil-rich Kirkuk, a city of mixed Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen population, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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State officials are making progress in solving several insurgency-related cases, particularly regarding last months massacre of a number of Muslim worshippers at prayer, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said on Thursday during a visit to Thailands restive South amid continuing violence in the region.
In about the same time as his visit, a teacher security escort was ambushed, with one man wounded, and two execution-style deaths took place as part of the continuing insurgency.
During his visit to Narathiwat, Mr Suthep, who heads national security, met with senior local police officers to review progress in insurgency-related cases. After being briefed on investigations and operations over the past five years, the visiting deputy prime minister praised the progress made regarding the Al Furqon Mosque attack in Cho Ai Rong district after police issued an arrest warrant for one local resident accused of shooting down worshippers in the mosque. Police are expected to issue warrants for the arrest of five others soon, he said.
Six gunmen had stormed a mosque in Cho Ai Rong district on June 8, firing on worshippers in prayer inside the mosque, leaving at least 11 dead and a dozen seriously injured in the attack.
Mr Suthep urged the police to join more effectively with military and administrative authorities to counter the long-standing insecurity. The government will support the work of police and other authorities concerned in order to ensure things go smoothly, Mr Suthep affirmed.
A bombing ambush of a teacher protection unit occurred at almost the same time in Narathiwats Bacho district Thursday morning. Hidden in an iron box, a roadside bomb was detonated by mobile phone, wounding Army Private Visanu Amsuwan, 22. Pvt. Visanu was one of eight soldiers patrolling an area on foot to provide security for local teachers travelling to school.
In the nearby province of Pattani, defence volunteer Asi Yuso was killed by two gunmen in the provincial seat. Four men on two motorcycles stopped at the victims house, shooting him in the head and torso. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Police gathered spent cartridge casings as evidence for further investigation.
On Wednesday night, Yaman Soma, an assistant village head in Yalas Raman district was found dead. He was shot in the head in a grassy area of Pattanis Thung Yang Daeng district.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Indonesian police released digital images Wednesday of the reconstructed faces of two suspected suicide bombers thought to have attacked luxury hotels in Jakarta last week, killing seven people.
Police said the suspected bomber who killed six people including five foreigners at the JW Marriott was aged only 16 to 17 years old, while the man suspected of carrying out the Ritz-Carlton attack was aged from 20 to 40 years.
The images are being shown to witnesses as part of the investigation into Friday's attacks on the luxury hotels in central Jakarta, the first major terror attack in Indonesia since 2005.
The images were based on two severed heads found at the blast sites which are believed to be those of the bombers, suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional extremist network or one of its offshoots.
"We found two severed heads on location and we can confirm that they are the suspected suicide bombers," police spokesman Nanan Soekarna told a press conference.
The men had short hair and looked Asian in appearance. The Marriott bomber was described as being 16 to 17 years old, fair-skinned and 180-190 centimeters (5'9"-6'3") tall.
The Ritz-Carlton bomber was a chubby-faced, dark-skinned man, who police said was between 20 and 40 and was about 165 cm in height, with short, straight black hair.
Negative DNA results
However as police struggled to identify the bombers, Soekarna said DNA tests on the families of two men suspected of carrying out the attacks, named as Ibrahim and Nur Hasbi, had returned negative results. "The DNA of the families have not matched the body parts that we have found," Soekarna said.
"Concerning Ibrahim, we've done a DNA test and it's not identical. Also (this is the case) for Nur Hasbi," he said.
He said the sketches also did not match Ibrahim or Nur Hasbi, also known as Nur Said, who is a reported associate of alleged terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top.
But police did not explicitly rule out either man as suspects in the wider investigation into the attacks, which have rattled the foreign business and diplomatic community in Indonesia.
Jemaah Islamiyah splinter group
Indonesian counter-terrorist police commandos secure the Ritz-CarltonSenior counterterrorism officials and police have said the attacks look very much like the work of Noordin, the Malaysian-born leader of a Jemaah Islamiyah splinter group.
The bombers checked in to the Marriott as paying guests on July 15 and assembled the bombs in room 1808 on the 18th floor, according to police. A third bomb, found in a laptop computer bag, was defused.
The victims at the Marriott were attending a weekly meeting of some of Indonesia's most prominent foreign business executives in a room
to the side of the main lobby.
A police source told Reuters on Monday that one theory the police are working on is that the bombers planned to detonate the bomb on the 18th floor first, sending panicking guests rushing down to the lobby where one of the suicide bombers would detonate a second bomb, potentially killing and injuring many more guests.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) The wife of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said Thursday that her brother is among the hundreds arrested in Iran's postelection crackdown, and she warned authorities not to publish any "forced confessions" from him or other detainees.
More than 500 people remain imprisoned after the heavy crackdown against protests that erupted in support of Mousavi after the disputed June 12 election. Among them are many top politicians from pro-reform political parties, human rights lawyers, journalists and activists.
Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, told the semiofficial ILNA news agency that her 62-year-old brother was arrested more than a month ago. "We have tried all legal and peaceful means to try to win the release of him and other detainees," Rahnavard said, adding that she was speaking out now because some officials have spoken of allegations against her brother.
She said her brother, Shahpour Kazemi, a communications engineer, was "apolitical" and that "accusations of provoking riots or connections to foreigners ... are unimaginable."
She warned those that are making accusations against detainees that "a divine anger will catch them and the nation will reject them."
Rahnavard, a former dean of Tehran's al-Zahra University, campaigned alongside her husband in the election, a rarity for a candidate's wife, which made her a star among women and student supporters. Her original name is Zohreh Kazemi but she changed it in the 1960s when she became an activist against the U.S.-backed shah, and she was a prominent activist in the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic Republic to power.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2009 00:00 ||
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Usama bin Laden's son isn't the only Al Qaeda operative believed to have been killed in an attack by an unmanned U.S. drone in the past year.
U.S. officials tell FOX News that Saad bin Laden, who is not considered a significant player in Al Qaeda leadership, was "collateral" damage in an airstrike in Pakistan and was not considered important enough to target on his own.
But other high-value operatives, some of them with key roles in Al Qaeda, also have been taken out by U.S. attacks. The following are 10 top operatives killed in the past year:
Khalid Habib -- veteran combat leader and operations chief involved with plots to attack the West; deputy to Shaikh Said al-Masri, Al Qaeda's No. 3.
Rashid Rauf -- mastermind of the 2006 transatlantic airliner plot.
Abu Khabab al-Masri -- Al Qaeda's most seasoned explosives expert and trainer, and the man responsible for its chemical and biological weapons efforts.
#1
Therre's something that has me puzzled. A jihadist who dies for Allah is alloted 72 virgins in Paradise. Yet, among these same people, virgin women who are condemned to die are forced to "marry" one of the guards and are raped in a "humanitarian" effort to save their souls. So, where does get get the virgins for his jihadists?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/24/2009 13:26 Comments ||
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#3
Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll:
Obama's Presidential Approval Index rating: -8
30% of voters now Strongly Approve
38% Strongly Disapprove (-8%: been there before)
Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Today marks the first time his overall approval rating has ever fallen below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.
Posted by: ed ||
07/24/2009 13:18 Comments ||
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#4
Thanks Ed. Appears we can now confirm the obvious, ie, that some who voted for him are SORRY!
#5
Switched from Opera to Firefox for Rantburg, and get to log in all over again...
Obumble's stumbling descent into obscurity will be aided by the Republican's indictment of ACORN as a "criminal enterprise" yesterday. Anything that helps his early demise will be welcome. Let's force him to resign, like the public did Richard Nixon, before his first YEAR is out. Make "Joltin' Joe" Biden, Hillary, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid go at the same time. Run 'em out, deprive them of any ill-gotten gains from public service, and cut their retirement off. Let them live on Social Security, like so many of the rest of us.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2009 15:02 Comments ||
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#6
Let them live on Social Security
OP, you realize that the Pelosi-Reid et al AIG bailout was to protect their Congressional pension funds [upon the backs of the taxpayers and kids of the future who'll have to pay the Treasury Bonds floated to make it happen]? Why should they get SS if they didn't put in for it? That's double dipping the tax serfs.
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.
A massive exchange of shelling continued as pro-government forces and the AU peacekeepers, Amisom, in Mogadishu responded to attacks and fire from Islamist groups. The shelling mostly affected parts of Hodon District in South Mogadishu and Wardhigley District in downtown Mogadishu.
At least eight people have been killed in clashes between armed separatists and government forces in southern Yemen, officials and witnesses say. The protesters in the town of Zinjibar, in Abyan province, were demanding the release of detainees held during earlier disturbances. Eyewitnesses said the security forces opened fire to disperse the crowds.
Mian Habibur Rehman, a suspected terrorist with ties to banned terrorist groups Harkatul Ansar and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JM), died of a heart attack at the Layyah DHQ Hospital 
The political administration on Thursday arrested 28 suspects and recovered three vehicles from different areas of Bajaur Agency.
Usama bin Laden's son isn't the only Al Qaeda operative believed to have been killed in an attack by an unmanned U.S. drone in the past year.
