Influx of Marines and focus on security bring peace to a southern Afghan town -- at least for now
WaPo buys a clue ...
NAWA, Afghanistan -- Before a battalion of U.S. Marines swooped into this dusty farming community along the Helmand River in early July, almost every stall in the bazaar had been padlocked, as had the school and the health clinic. Thousands of residents had fled. Government officials and municipal services were nonexistent. Taliban fighters swaggered about with impunity, setting up checkpoints and seeding the roads with bombs.
In the three months since the Marines arrived, the school has reopened, the district governor is on the job and the market is bustling. The insurgents have demonstrated far less resistance than U.S. commanders expected. Many of the residents who left are returning home, their possessions piled onto rickety trailers, and the Marines deem the central part of the town so secure that they routinely walk around without body armor and helmets.
"Nawa has returned from the dead," said the district administrator, Mohammed Khan.
Nawa provides one ground-level perspective into the debate over U.S. force levels in Afghanistan among members of President Obama's national security team. In this district, the war is being waged in the manner sought by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan: The number of troops went from about 100 to 1,100, and they have been countering the insurgency by focusing on improving security for local people instead of hunting down the Taliban.
The result has been a profound transformation, suggesting that after eight years of war the United States still may be able to regain momentum in some areas that had long been written off to the Taliban. Insurgent attacks on civilians and NATO forces, once a near-daily fact of life here, have almost ceased in Nawa and are far less common than they were in surrounding areas, a turnabout reminiscent of what happened in Iraq last year after a sharp increase in American forces there.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/23/2009 12:55 ||
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Artillery battles between insurgents, Somali government forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers killed at least 30 people in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday, residents and medical workers said.
Witnesses said the rebels launched volleys of mortar bombs at the heavily guarded international airport as President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed left for a summit in Uganda, prompting AU soldiers there to respond with artillery fire. Ahmed was not hurt, but medical sources and residents said at least 30 people were killed and scores more injured in one of the heaviest exchanges to rock the lawless city for weeks.
Farah Olow, a shopkeeper in the sprawling Bakara market, told Reuters by telephone that six people were killed by one shell that demolished a home there. "They were taking cover in a concrete building, but such big shells can penetrate the strongest house. We can't go out to count how many more are dead. Bombs are raining on us," he said. Bakara, which is notorious for its open-air weapons bazaar, has long been viewed by the government and the AU force AMISOM as a stronghold of hardline Al Shabaab insurgents.
An AMISOM spokesman declined to discuss the details of Thursday's clashes, but said the rebels were deluded if they thought the peacekeepers could bomb them into submission. "The insurgents are day-dreaming and practicing wishful thinking," Major Barigye Ba-hoku told Reuters. Al Shabaab commanders and the group's spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
GULF TIMES > SOMALI REBELS THREATEN UGANDA, BURUNDI CITIES [Al-SHABAAB Militant Group threatens retaliation for alleged rocket attacks agz them via AU Peacekeepers from these cties].
versus
TOPIX > NIGERIAN REBELS GIVE CONDITIONS FOR PEACE TALKS.
(Xinhua) -- The Hijacked Chinese Bulk Carrier DE XIN HAI is confirmed to have arrived off the coast of Somalia and is now in the vicinity of Hobyo, the EU NAVFOR said on Thursday. It is not yet known if the pirates have contacted the owners and made their demands known. EU NAVFOR maritime patrol aircraft has monitored the ship in the area of the hijacking. The pirates have been venturing real far afield to grab their prey, thereby slipping the force patrolling the Gulf. This kinda tactical change is usually followed by a corresponding tactical change on the other side.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Pirates
#1
Hopefully China will see these living pirates as costing them much face, and will enthusiastically rectify the situation in a particularly brutal fashion.
Dozens of people have reportedly been killed and several more sustained wounds as clashes broke out between Yemeni Shia Houthi combatants and Saudi security forces in the al-Hasama area. "Saudi forces opened fire on the crowd following conflicts with local residents over the construction of a separation fence on Yemeni soil," said a Wednesday statement released by members of the Shia group. That'd be "sacred Yemeni soil"...
Consequently, the incident inflicted the loss of numerous lives, as well as serious injuries upon both sides. "Residents of the area reject any fence which would have a negative economic impact on them and cut them off from their brethren on the other side," the statement also noted. Coincidentally, a fence would also cut off the movement of arms, not necessarily only in one direction...
The Yemeni government launched Operation 'Scorched Earth' on August 11 to uproot the Shia Houthi fighters whom Sana'a accuses of seeking a return to a Zaidi imamate rule, overthrown in a 1962 coup. The northern combatants however say that they suffer religious discrimination by Sunni fundamentalists who hold sway because of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's cordial relations with a staunchly Wahabi-dominated Saudi Arabia. No reason why both statements can't be true...
Saada and neighboring Amran provinces are encircled by fighters and frequently pounded by military fighter jets and helicopter gunships. The conflict zones in northern Yemen remain cut from the rest of the country, and are currently grappling with a pressing shortage of food and other basic supplies.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Bangladesh banned a controversial Muslim group on Thursday for "destabilising" the country, said the government, a day after a bomb attack targeted a ruling party lawmaker related to the prime minister. Home Minister Sahara Khatun told AFP that Hizbut Tahrir Bangladesh had been banned for "unleashing destructive activities" and work that goes against the "laws of the land". "We took the decision after reports from our intelligence agencies. They are found (to be) destabilising the country," she said. Hizbut Tahrir is a pan-Islamist group whose goal is to establish a global Islamic caliphate. It has been banned in a number of countries, mainly in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hizb-ut-Tahrir
#1
I wish the West would ban this group as they stir up trouble.For some reason they are not banned in the UK????
#2
The UK doesn't ban most of the bad actors, Glavitle B. Hayes4065, nor does the U.S. nor the UN. Part of the problem is that these groups are constantly splitting, coalescing, and/or renaming themselves to avoid attention getting caught up in a Rapid Action Battalion encounter.
Bodies of three Taliban were found from the Barikot area of Swat, while security forces recovered heavy weapons from the hideout of a Taliban commander on Thursday. Locals said the Taliban were killed during a shootout with security forces. Separately, Two Taliban surrendered to police during a search operation. Separately, police launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants in Swat and arrested 12 illegal Afghan immigrants.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
I hope they deal with their illegal immigrant problem a bit more firmly than we seem able to manage to do.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/23/2009 17:20 Comments ||
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The Supreme Court on Thursday imposed a Rs 10,000 fine each on the federal and Punjab government for not "seriously pursuing" appeals against the release of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed by the Lahore High Court (LHC). The bench consisted of Justice Anwar Jamali, Justice Khilji Hussain and Justice Tariq Pervaiz. The acting attorney general asked for more time to get the relevant case record. The bench adjourned proceedings for a month.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
Police and law-enforcement agencies arrested around 200 suspected terrorists in various search operations countrywide on Thursday.
According to a private TV channel, security forces -- in collaboration with police -- arrested 152 suspects from Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Most of the men belong either to the Tribal Areas or are Afghan nationals.
Those arrested in Islamabad included an alleged suicide bomber -- who was wearing a suicide jacket when he was arrested, according to DSP Khan Khursheed Khan. The channel reported that another suicide bomber was also arrested in Islamabad. Also, the channel said one of those arrested in Islamabad was carrying "maps" of sensitive locations.
In Lahore, police arrested three foreigners from Sandha area. Iqbal Town SP Ali Rizvi said all three men were wanted for an attack on the Rescue-15 building in Lahore.
Meanwhile in Karachi, Sindh police arrested three suspected men -- including a Saudi citizen -- from Karachi's Hassan Square and another from Hyderabad.
Separately, Sindh CID claimed the arrest of a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operative, who is allegedly wanted in more than 100 high-profile terrorism cases.
In Charsadda, police and CID arrested six suspected extremists on Wednesday. All arrested men are said to be residents of Swat and Shangla. In Dir and Bajaur Agency, FC troops arrested at least 22 suspected terrorists, according to a statement by the paramilitary force, reported APP.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Security forces killed 24 Taliban and wounded another 12 in air and ground strikes on the sixth day of Operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan, while two security forces personnel died in the fighting.
Fighter jets bombed Taliban hideouts and the ground forces used long-range artillery, targeting Kokat Khel, Chalghozi, Saam, Sararogha, Nanairasar, Ladha and Makeen, sources said.
The Taliban attacked troops at 4am on Thursday at Boya Narai on Wana-Razmak Road. The security forces personnel traded fire with the Taliban for two hours and repulsed the attack, killing 11 Taliban and injuring eight others. The forces have taken full control of Boya Narai and Torwam Bridge and hoisted the national flag in Mizwam.
The forces clashed with the Taliban in the Torghunday area, killing 13 of them and wounding four others.
The Taliban fired six rockets at the Razmak Army Camp and escaped in the woods. A soldier was killed in the attack.
Residents of the conflict-hit areas are fleeing their homes for safer ground. Dozens of displaced families reached Tank on Thursday.
Separately, a number of 60mm mortar rounds have been recovered from an area east of Kabal in Swat.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Unidentified gunmen attacked an army jeep in the federal capital on Thursday, killing a brigadier and his driver and critically injuring a guard.
Police officials said Brig Moinuddin Haider was en route to his office in Rawalpindi when the assailants fired at his jeep at around 8:45am near Street No 5, G-11/1.
Police and witnesses put the number of assailants at two -- aged between 18-to-20 years -- and said they were riding a motorbike. "One of the attackers ... [fired at] the jeep from the front side, and the other from the backside," they said. The injured guard and the bodies were immediately taken to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where the guard is being treated at an intensive care unit. Doctors said his condition was critical.
Law-enforcement agencies cordoned off the area, and launched a search operation using sniffer dogs, but could not track down the assailants -- who disappeared in an adjoining residential area.
"It was an act of terrorism," military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. "The purpose was to kill and make news."
Brigadier Moin was a resident of Sector F-11/4, and arrived in Pakistan on leave a few days ago from Sudan -- where he was part of a UN peacekeeping mission.
Officials suspect that the Taliban are likely behind the assassination -- ordered in retaliation against the military offensive in South Waziristan.
IG Kaleem Imam said it was "a target killing", and the assailants had been monitoring the route of the brigadier. "A team headed by DIG Bin Yamin has been formed to investigate the attack," he said.
He said a "massive search operation" had also been ordered in Sector G-11 and other areas of Islamabad. "A number of mosques and seminaries have been established in Islamabad without the approval of authorities ... we will take action against them," he said.
The IG said police were also searching seminaries in Islamabad, and had arrested around 60 people.
The president and the prime minister have condemned the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Nope! Nice cover story though.
He arrived in Pakistan on leave a few days ago from Sudan -- where he was part of a UN peacekeeping mission.
Officials suspect that the Taliban are likely behind the assassination.
Pakistan uses their substantial UN missions as exile for politically unpopular or dangerous officers. Guys who aren't exactly welcome back home in Pakistan. He just got back, and got clipped. Meanwhile, a Major General confirms it was terrorism, "to make news"? No claim of responsibility from the Taliban, who usually trumpet their successes from the highest mountain?
Aswat al-Iraq: A policeman was killed and three civilians wounded in two separate incidents in the city of Mosul on Thursday, a Ninewa police source said.
"An improvised explosive device went off near a police patrol in New Mosul, in the western part of the city, leaving one policeman killed," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"Another IED went off near a security patrol in al-Majmoua'a al-Thaqafiya area, northern Mosul, leaving three civilians who happened to be near the blast scene wounded," the source added.
"A retired major general of the former Iraqi army was among the wounded," the source added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
"A retired major general of the former Iraqi army was among the wounded,"
Good chance anybody who was that high up in Saddam's army deserved wounding.
Aswat al-Iraq: Police forces arrested 22 wanted men in different areas of he province of Diala on Thursday, according to an interior ministry release.
"The 22 men, wanted on terrorist charges, were captured in military operations conducted in several areas of the province," read the statement as received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The operations relied on intelligence tip-offs that led security forces to the whereabouts of the wanted persons," it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Aswat al-Iraq: Security agencies on Thursday arrested a network counterfeiting the 10,000 Iraqi dinars bill inside a house in central Baghdad, the Iraqi ministry of interior said in a statement.
"A force formed by instructions from the anti-terror board director raided a house in the area of al-Sarafiya, central Baghdad, and arrested several persons on charges of counterfeiting money, namely the 10,000 Iraqi dinars bill," according to the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"Some printers and laser disks were seized inside the house during the raid that has taken place upon a warrant in accordance with Article 281, para 40," it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Aswat al-Iraq: Police forces defused a roadside bomb and arrested four suspected gunmen in northern Falluja on Thursday, according to a security source."Acting on a tip-off, policemen found a bomb, planted on a road in al-Shuhadaa region in al-Saqlawiya district, northern Falluja," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The bomb squad managed to defuse the bomb without causing any damage," he added.
"Policemen arrested four suspected gunmen near the same region," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Aswat al-Iraq: Police forces have arrested 16 wanted and five suspected gunmen during security raids in separate areas of Basra, a police source said on Thursday.
"Police forces waged several security operations in separate areas of Basra, where they arrested 16 wanted men and five suspected gunmen," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The forces seized one gun and four unlicensed vehicles," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq's border guards arrested an Arab infiltrator in western Anbar, a police source said. "Iraq's border guards arrested late Wednesday (Oct. 21) a Jordanian infiltrator from a Palestinian origin in al-Ratba desert in western Anbar," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "He confessed during interrogation to infiltrating into Iraqi territories to launch a suicide attack in Baghdad," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi security forces arrested on Wednesday in eastern Mosul two wanted men, one of them is suspected to be the health minister of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq. "The operation relied on intelligence tip offs," a source from the Ninewa Operations Command told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He did not mention where the arrests exactly took place. "Interrogations are currently underway with the two men," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq
#1
I'm not sure what a health minister for the Islamic state of Iran does, but I'm sure it's important. When he's released "for lack of evience" he should apply for the position of Director of our new Public Option Program. I'm sure his experirnce at eliminating undesireables will help pare down our medical costs.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/23/2009 17:13 Comments ||
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#2
Hashish for the jacketwallahs and browbeating random doctors/hospitals into repairing johadi wounded, perhaps? Either that, or making sure all members take their multivitamins and nutraceuticals.
Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces arrested on Wednesday a suspected al-Qaeda gunman in northern Karbala, the police department's media director said. "Acting on a tip-off, security forces managed to arrest Mahdi John Muslim, suspected al-Qaeda member, in Imam Oun region, north of Karbala, Major Alla Abbas told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "He is wanted for implementing several crimes in Karbala and neighboring cities," he added. Interesting name, "Mahdi John Muslim."
This article starring:
Mahdi John Muslim
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
ION BHARAT RAKSHAK > FEMALE JIHADISTS DEMAND RIGHT TO FIGHT [AQ Babes are angry at ZAWAHIRI for comments].
Suspected Islamic separatist terrorists militants have shot dead two men and wounded a woman in separate attacks, police said Friday.
Early Friday morning police found the body of a 29-year-old Muslim villager who appeared to have died from a gunshot wound, on a roadside in the Yarang district of troubled Pattani province. They said the previous evening a 37-year-old Muslim man had been killed and his wife seriously wounded in a shooting at their home in neighbouring Yala province.
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Artillery battles between insurgents, Somali government forces and African Union (AU) peacekeepers killed at least 30 people in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday, residents and medical workers said. 
(Xinhua) -- The Hijacked Chinese Bulk Carrier DE XIN HAI is confirmed to have arrived off the coast of Somalia and is now in the vicinity of Hobyo, the EU NAVFOR said on Thursday. It is not yet known if the pirates have contacted the owners and made their demands known. EU NAVFOR maritime patrol aircraft has monitored the ship in the area of the hijacking.
Dozens of people have reportedly been killed and several more sustained wounds as clashes broke out between Yemeni Shia Houthi combatants and Saudi security forces in the al-Hasama area. "Saudi forces opened fire on the crowd following conflicts with local residents over the construction of a separation fence on Yemeni soil," said a Wednesday statement released by members of the Shia group. 
Police and law-enforcement agencies arrested around 200 suspected terrorists in various search operations countrywide on Thursday. 
Security forces killed 24 Taliban and wounded another 12 in air and ground strikes on the sixth day of Operation Rah-e-Nijat in South Waziristan, while two security forces personnel died in the fighting.
Unidentified gunmen attacked an army jeep in the federal capital on Thursday, killing a brigadier and his driver and critically injuring a guard. 
Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq's border guards arrested an Arab infiltrator in western Anbar, a police source said. "Iraq's border guards arrested late Wednesday (Oct. 21) a Jordanian infiltrator from a Palestinian origin in al-Ratba desert in western Anbar," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "He confessed during interrogation to infiltrating into Iraqi territories to launch a suicide attack in Baghdad," he added.
Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi security forces arrested on Wednesday in eastern Mosul two wanted men, one of them is suspected to be the health minister of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq. "The operation relied on intelligence tip offs," a source from the Ninewa Operations Command told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He did not mention where the arrests exactly took place. "Interrogations are currently underway with the two men," he said.
Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces arrested on Wednesday a suspected al-Qaeda gunman in northern Karbala, the police department's media director said. "Acting on a tip-off, security forces managed to arrest 
