Hi there, !
Today Thu 02/25/2010 Wed 02/24/2010 Tue 02/23/2010 Mon 02/22/2010 Sun 02/21/2010 Sat 02/20/2010 Fri 02/19/2010 Archives
Rantburg
531718 articles and 1856008 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 59 articles and 243 comments as of 15:51.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix   
Mali frees al-Qaeda members ahead of French hostage deadline
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
8 00:00 ed [1] 
2 00:00 Redneck Jim [1] 
3 00:00 Besoeker [] 
6 00:00 Ebbang Uluque6305 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
9 00:00 GirlThursday [] 
3 00:00 mojo [] 
1 00:00 Redneck Jim [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Mike Hunt [1] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 Glenmore [] 
0 [1] 
1 00:00 Glenmore [1] 
4 00:00 Old Patriot [] 
4 00:00 ed [2] 
0 [] 
0 [] 
1 00:00 lord garth [] 
Page 2: WoT Background
6 00:00 49 Pan []
4 00:00 Muggsy Glink []
1 00:00 DepotGuy []
1 00:00 Spot []
9 00:00 trailing wife []
0 []
4 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 []
2 00:00 JosephMendiola []
7 00:00 JosephMendiola []
0 []
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 00:00 chris []
0 [1]
5 00:00 Steve White []
2 00:00 Captain Flash5762 []
0 []
2 00:00 Sgt. D.T. []
0 []
13 00:00 ed []
5 00:00 JosephMendiola []
4 00:00 Frank G []
12 00:00 ed []
Page 4: Opinion
8 00:00 rjschwarz []
5 00:00 DMFD []
17 00:00 Scooter McGruder []
0 []
10 00:00 Raj [1]
4 00:00 Angalet Jones1077 []
22 00:00 ed [1]
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
0 []
Page 6: Politix
7 00:00 ed []
7 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
6 00:00 Steve White []
7 00:00 g(r)omgoru []
8 00:00 Cornsilk Blondie []
1 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 []
5 00:00 Besoeker []
5 00:00 Old Patriot []
Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Happy Birthday

Gone to the Big Gam Locker in the Sky

Marguerite Clark aka "Topsy" in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" 1918



Caution – Open Daily Gam Shots at your own risk.


Leslie Charleson, gave Richie Cunningham his first kiss "Happy Days" (64)



Julie Walters aka Molly Weasley "Harry Potter" (60)



Ellen Greene aka Audrey "Little Shop of Horrors" (59)


Audrey I



Rachel Dratch, comedienne, SNL (44)




Jeri Lynn Zimmermann aka Jeri Ryan aka ex-Borg Seven of Nine on "Star Trek: Voyager" (42)


Seven of Nine

Daily Gam Shot


Drew Barrymore, actress, film producer and film director (35)


Daily Gam Shot

Nightie Night


Jenna Haze, appeared in 448 short subjects (28)




Jennie Ketcham aka Penny Flame, S@x Rehab with Dr. Drew, on VH1 (27)

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/22/2010 7:06 Comments || Top||

#2  --In celebration of the 278th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, I'm gonna treat myself to some 'cherry pie'. :^)
Posted by: Tom- Pa || 02/22/2010 8:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Today is also the thirtieth anniversary of a miracle.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 02/22/2010 10:20 Comments || Top||

#4  US Hockey had another near miracle last night beating Canada in Canada, 5-3 to get to the quarter finals.
Posted by: Beldar Threreling9726 || 02/22/2010 13:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Beldar, no victory (in hockey or any other sport) over any other country was as sweet as the victory over the Soviet Union.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 02/22/2010 16:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Jeri Ryan's ex-gov-hubbie get to enjoy bubba in the pen...
Posted by: 3dc || 02/22/2010 19:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Good Grief. How did Rachel Dratch get in today's line up? Those eyes say C R A Z Y like nobody's business.
Posted by: Captain Flash5762 || 02/22/2010 21:04 Comments || Top||

#8  Jeri's ex is Jack Ryan. The orange clad ex-governor is George Ryan. Soon be joined by his successor Rod Blagojevich.

Let's face it. Obama was elected Senator only because of criminality of the Commie arm of the Democratic party releasing sealed divorce records of Jeri and Jack Ryan. It's amazing how Obama's election opponents are magically disqualified or scandalized. It's almost if there were Black Operations on his behalf.
Posted by: ed || 02/22/2010 22:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Geri---- do your boobs hang low do they wobble to and fro can you tie em in a knot can you tie em in a bow, can you throw em over your shoulder like a .....geez she needs an bra fitting event for those low riders.
Posted by: GirlThursday || 02/22/2010 23:02 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
NATO Airstrike Killed at Least 27 'Civilians'
A NATO airstrike killed at least 27 civilians in central Afghanistan, the Cabinet said Monday, the third time a mistaken coalition strike has killed noncombatants since the start of a major offensive in the south aimed at winning over the population.

The top NATO commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, apologized to the Afghan president, NATO said.

The Afghanistan Council of Ministers strongly condemned the airstrike Sunday in Uruzgan province, calling it "unjustifiable."

It said reports indicated that NATO planes fired at a convoy of three vehicles, killing at least 27 people, including four women and a child, and injuring 12 others.

NATO confirmed that its planes fired on what it believed was a group of insurgents on their way to attack NATO and Afghan forces, but later discovered that women and children were in the vehicles.

The NATO statement did not say how many people died or whether all the occupants of the vehicles were civilians.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/22/2010 08:03 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
NATO confirmed that its planes fired on what it believed was a group of insurgents on their way to attack NATO and Afghan forces, but later discovered that women and children were in the vehicles.

These two things are not mutually exclusive.
Posted by: Parabellum || 02/22/2010 8:14 Comments || Top||

#2  “The Afghanistan Council of Ministers strongly condemned the air strike…”

Granted, it’s the Poobah’s job to condemn these tragedies. But, for once, it would be nice if they acknowledged the difficulties in eradicating the parasites amongst them.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 02/22/2010 8:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Shoulda moved out weeks ago , no sympathy .
Posted by: Granpaw || 02/22/2010 11:40 Comments || Top||

#4  In another news I learned that those 27 civilans were 4 women, 1 child and 22 men Starnge demographic composition don't you think?
Posted by: JFM || 02/22/2010 15:16 Comments || Top||

#5  I imagine at least 22 of those "civilians" needed killin'.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 02/22/2010 19:48 Comments || Top||

#6  So they jammed 27 people into three cars. Wow. I sort of wonder if they put the women and child in the cars long before the drones came along so that they wouldn't be seen. I imagine that it would be tough to distinguish women and children from men from the drones' point of view.
Posted by: gorb || 02/22/2010 20:46 Comments || Top||

#7  Starnge demographic composition don't you think?

Plenty reports of the Brave Lions of Islam taking women and children hostages with them when moving believing westerners won't attack, of which they are correct. The trick is to make it known the taliban have hostages. Same for firefights. They put women and children in front of them, making them almost immune from air strikes and forcing the infantry to aim every shot. It works due to a strange reversion of morality the West has adopted. Even the Afghans are complaining about it. Afghanistan Taliban 'using human shields' - general
Posted by: ed || 02/22/2010 20:52 Comments || Top||

#8  strange reversion = strange inversion
Posted by: ed || 02/22/2010 21:49 Comments || Top||


AV-8B Harrier with the Marine Expeditionary Brigade
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/22/2010 07:59 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Gotta love the harrier , whatever variant
Posted by: Oscar || 02/22/2010 8:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Yup, "True Lies'.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/22/2010 17:52 Comments || Top||


Afghan police move into Taliban stronghold
Afghan police prepared to take control of a town at the centre of a massive US-led offensive as US general David Petraeus said "tough fighting" continued.

About 15,000 Afghan and NATO troops faced fierce resistance as Operation Mushtarak entered a second week, with gunfights and mines holding up efforts to secure the Nad Ali and Marjah areas of Helmand province. Civilians hemmed in by bombs planted by the Taliban faced desperate conditions, with food running short.

But officials were hopeful that elite Afghan police would soon control parts of Marjah township. General Muhaidin Ghori, the Afghan National Army commander for Helmand, said about 600 police with the newly established Public Protection Police Force had expanded their positions day by day since Friday.

"They are in Marjah centre, in the bazaar," he said. "We are busy carrying out the clean-up and search operations to provide the grounds for establishing the opportunities for installing permanent posts and bases for the police to take up their policing duty."

Daud Ahmadi, the Helmand provincial governor's spokesman, said despite the police presence in Marjah, government authorities did not yet have complete control of any target areas, including the main market seized on Wednesday. The market remained closed and civilians were unable to move freely because gardens, roads and paths were heavily mined, he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


4 more NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan
Four NATO soldiers, two of them part of the anti-Taliban offensive known as Operation Mushtarak, were killed in Afghanistan over the weekend, the alliance said.

The NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said two soldiers were killed on Saturday, one by a bomb in the course of the Mushtarak operation in the Marjah area, the other in the east of the country by an indirect hit from an unspecified projectile.

On Sunday two more soldiers were killed, one by "indirect fire" in the course of Mushtarak, the other by a bomb elsewhere in the south of the country, NATO said. It did not reveal the soldiers' nationalities, in line with NATO policy.

Some 15,000 US, NATO and Afghan troops are involved in the Mushtarak operation in Helmand province, which is aimed at clearing the Taliban from Marjah and its surrounds. In total, 14 NATO soldiers have been killed in Operation Mushtarak, which began on February 13.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Thousands trapped in Afghan assault zone
They must've thought we were kidding...
[Al Arabiya Latest] People living on the front line of a major U.S.-led offensive against Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan are trapped in their homes with little access to food and health care, rights groups say.

Hundreds more who fled the area before fighting began over a week ago are receiving little help in harsh winter conditions, they add.
I thought The Brutal Afghan Winter™ was only supposed to screw us up?
"We are seriously worried about the safety of civilians, especially in the Marjah area," said Ajmal Samadi, head of the independent group Afghan Rights Monitor (ARM).

"People who are ill cannot get to hospitals, and others cannot bring them medicines. They cannot get food, or even go outside to look after their farms."

He added that food prices were rising due to the assault and people with medical needs -- from war wounds to pregnancy -- were largely unable to get treatment.

The assault on the Marjah and Nad Ali districts of Helmand province launched on Feb. 13 is being held up by snipers and innumerable crude bombs planted by Taliban fighters, commanders say.

The aim of the operation, dubbed Mushtarak (Together), is to drive Taliban from the area in the central Helmand River valley, where they have held sway with drug traffickers for at least two years.

The Afghan government aims firstly to re-establish sovereignty, then provide security, clinics, schools and jobs.

Mushtarak is a test of U.S. President Barack Obama's new counter-insurgency strategy, aimed at winning the trust of the population and neutralizing the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  "rights groups say"

um...BULLPUCKY - there ain't a "rights group" within a 100 miles of the place.
Posted by: Mike Hunt || 02/22/2010 21:59 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt police kill Africa migrants at Israel border
ISMAILIA, Egypt - Egyptian police shot dead two African migrants on Sunday as they tried to slip across the Sinai peninsula desert border to Israel, a security source said. The source said a police patrol ordered them to stop and opened fire when they did not. The dead men were not carrying identification documents but were believed to be African.

Egyptian police have stepped up efforts in recent months to control the border with Israel, after an increase in human trafficking through Egypt. At least 19 migrants were killed by Egyptian border guards last year and seven this year. The last such shooting was reported earlier this month.

The Sinai border is a main transit route for African migrants and refugees seeking work or asylum in Israel. Egyptian police say the smugglers who ferry migrants to the border region sometimes fire on security forces.

Egypt, which for years tolerated tens of thousands of African migrants on its territory, fears the unfettered flow of migrants at its Sinai border could pose a security threat in an area where Islamist militants sometimes find refuge.

Eritreans make up the largest single group of people trying to cross into Israel from Egypt, though Ethiopians and Sudanese also make the trek. Egypt has faced Israeli pressure to halt the flow.

Security sources said police also shot and injured one Eritrean and two Ethiopians making a separate attempt to cross into Israel on Saturday. The Eritrean and one of the Ethiopians were critically injured and sent to Al-Arish hospital for treatment.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Achtung! Achtung! ENDE DES EGYPTIAN SEKTORS VOR DEM WEITERGEHEN WIRD GEWARNT!

It was clearly marked.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/22/2010 3:29 Comments || Top||

#2  But who killed the adjective?
Posted by: Bulldog || 02/22/2010 4:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Schadenfreude rules OK. Weltschmerz ist verboten.
Posted by: Dave UK || 02/22/2010 4:30 Comments || Top||

#4  Could we get some Egyptian police to patrol our border?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/22/2010 11:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Our problem isn't the lack of people, Ebbang, but the lack of willpower. The primary source is Washington, DC.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 02/22/2010 12:47 Comments || Top||

#6  Durn.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/22/2010 15:51 Comments || Top||


Twin bombs detonate near Algerian football pitch
[Maghrebia] Simultaneous bomb blasts in Boumerdes on Saturday (February 20th) killed one Algerian soldier and injured five others El Watan reported. Security sources said the bombs, buried near a football pitch in Afire, near Dellys, were detonated remotely. The five wounded soldiers were not in uniform, suggesting that they had probably been playing football when the explosions occurred.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Mali frees al-Qaeda members ahead of French hostage deadline
[Maghrebia] A Bamako court released the four prison inmates whose freedom was demanded by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in exchange for life of the French hostage Pierre Camatte, AFP quoted a judicial source in Mali as saying on Friday (February 19th). The two Mauritanians, a Burkinabe and an Algerian were arrested last April. When they received 9-month prison sentences for weapons charges on Thursday, they were released for time served.

In related news, the man who allegedly financed the kidnappings in Mauritania of three Spanish aid workers and an Italian couple was extradited from Mali on Saturday, ANI reported. Oumar Ould Sid 'Ahmed, aka "Omar Sahraoui", is now in the custody of the Directorate General for National Security (DGSN) in Nouakchott. The hostages remain held by AQIM in the northern Mali desert.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  I'm gonna channel Angleton9 here - free these guys only after implanting explosive stents in their aortas. In a few days, instant aneurysms.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/22/2010 7:46 Comments || Top||


Spain to pay al-Qaeda ransom
Spain is going to pay $5m for the release of three Spanish hostages kidnapped by an al-Qaeda offshoot in Mauritania, El Mundo newspaper said Sunday.
Hell, I'm gonna go out and round up a few Spaniards tomorrow. I could use $5 million!
A Spanish foreign ministry spokesperson said he had "no new official information" on the three Spaniards who were seized in Mauritania on November 29.

Spain "is handing over $5m to the terrorists of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) through a Touareg chief," El Mundo claimed without naming sources.

The report said the deal was reached at the end of January between Madrid and the group with the help of the Malian authorities. The amount had been "confirmed" to the newspaper by a member of the government, it added.

The newspaper published an interview with Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure who said he was "confident that there would be very good news in coming days" about six European hostages held by al-Qaeda's north African branch, including the three Spaniards.

Frenchman Pierre Camatte, who was kidnapped in Mali in November, the three Spaniards and an Italian couple taken in December in Mauritania are being held in the northern Mali desert.

A deadline set by the group for the execution of the French hostage expired on Saturday.

The kidnappers have demanded the release of Islamists imprisoned in Mali in exchange for Camatte and Italian Sergio Cicala.

Threats to kill hostages have become more serious since AQIM killed British tourist Edwin Dyer in June 2009, after six months in captivity. Britain refused to yield to the Islamist militants' demands.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  The reason kidnappings continue to happen is that the ransom demands continue to be paid.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/22/2010 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  It's dreadful: every time I see that picture, my mind automatically turns "are frightening" into a present continuous verb with "terrorists" as its object. *sigh*
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/22/2010 12:58 Comments || Top||

#3  You would think that spain of all places would have better uses for the money.
Posted by: Kelly || 02/22/2010 19:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Times are tough. Everyone should have a Spanish hostage or two to help make ends meet.
Posted by: ed || 02/22/2010 23:46 Comments || Top||


Device explodes at Cairo synagogue, no injuries
[Al Arabiya Latest] A man threw a primitive explosive device at a Cairo synagogue on Sunday but it burst into flames without causing injuries, the Interior Ministry said.

The man threw the device, a suitcase filled with petrol cans at 6.15 a.m. (04:15 GMT), after checking into a hotel across the street from the synagogue on a busy Cairo thoroughfare, a ministry statement said. He immediately fled the scene.

"There were no tour groups visiting the synagogue when the incident happened. There were no casualties or damage, " an official said, adding that police were searching for the assailant.

More police than usual were outside the building after the incident but morning traffic was flowing as normal a few hours later, a Reuters witness said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  literally a suitcase bomb

also, thank God, an incompetent terrorist
Posted by: lord garth || 02/22/2010 8:32 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Saudi Arabia: 17-Year Combined Sentence for Al Qaeda Financier and Instigator
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's criminal court that specializes in national security crimes has handed out a 10 year sentence to a Saudi citizen suspected of financing Al Qaeda, along with a 7 year sentence for a Saudi citizen suspected of inciting others to fight for Al Qaeda, in two unrelated cases.

This is the first time that the secrecy surrounding the sentencing of Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist suspects has been lifted since the 12 May 2003 attacks that targeted residential compounds in Riyadh inhabited by westerns and Arabs.

An official at the Saudi Commission for Investigation and Prosecution also revealed this information during the "International Legal Framework for Combating Terrorist and its Financing Workshop" which was held in Riyadh and attended by the head of terrorist investigations at the US Justice Department, an FBI representative, as well as experts from the UN Office and Drugs and Crime, the European Commission, and the Arab League.

This information was revealed by Musaid al-Hamad, a member of the Saudi State Security, who also revealed that these cases were just two out of a total of 179 cases examined by the Saudi judiciary involving 330 people out of an original 991 individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities in Saudi Arabia.

In these two cases, Riyadh utilized some rulings and regulations that can be used against defendants who have been referred to trial on crimes relating to arms smuggling, breach of national security, money laundering, possession of explosives, computer crimes related to terrorism, and other crimes relating to terrorist activity.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Yemen holds 16 suspected separatists in south
Government forces have arrested 16 people on suspicion of separatist activity in southern Yemen, security sources said on Saturday.

Yemen, the poorest Arab country, is battling secessionists in the south, a Shiite insurgency in the north and a resurgent al-Qaeda, whose local arm claimed responsibility for a failed Dec. 25 bomb attempt on a U.S. plane approaching Detroit.

Those arrested were accused of taking part in unauthorized protests and jeopardizing security and unity in the Arabian Peninsula country, the sources said.

Some group members were carrying anti-government leaflets and banners, and others had attacked security forces with stones, they said. Further details were not available about the arrests, which took place in three provinces late on Friday.

People in the south, home to most of Yemen's oil facilities, have long complained that northerners have abused a 1990 agreement which united the long-divided country to seize their resources and discriminate against them.

Yemen, which already hosts 170,000 African refugees, wants to block the flow of asylum seekers across the Gulf of Aden -- which separates it from Somalia -- because of security concerns, the Interior Ministry said on its website on Saturday.

The move is part of Yemen's efforts to "prevent terrorist elements from the Horn of Africa from infiltrating its territory, especially after (Somalia's Islamist militant) al-Shabaab ... organization said it intends to support al-Qaeda elements in Yemen", it said.

The refugees, many of them fleeing political turmoil in Somalia, hope to find jobs in neighboring Saudi Arabia, or in other parts of the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Rebels prevent govt troops from deploying at Saudi border
Shiite rebels prevented Yemeni government troops from deploying along the Saudi border on Saturday in defiance of the terms of a ceasefire, said a member of a committee established to oversee the truce.

"Deployment of the army along the border is making no headway because of the rebel refusal to conform to the terms of the ceasefire" agreed last week to end six months of fighting, said the source.

"Rather than dismantle their positions to permit the army deployment, they have simply redeployed those positions in the region of Malahidh," in Saada province, said the source.

On Thursday, ceasefire monitors had said the army could begin taking up positions along the border on Saturday if demining operations were completed.

The Zaidi rebels, also known as Houthis, announced their withdrawal from the border area on Tuesday.

Riyadh has said it would only halt military operations against the rebels if Yemeni troops were able to secure their side of the rugged border.

Saudi Arabia joined the fighting in November, accusing the rebels of killing a border guard and occupying two villages inside Saudi territory.

Yemen has accused the rebels of seeking to restore the Zaidi Shiite imamate that ruled in Sanaa until its overthrow in a 1962 republican coup that sparked eight years of civil war.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Gunmen attack Gilgit mosque, policeman hurt
[Dawn] A policemen was injured on Sunday when unknown gunmen opened fire at a mosque in Gilgit.

The policeman was guarding a mosque near the Gilgit airport when suspected militants opened fire, police officials told APP.

"Fida Hussain was guarding the Zain-ul-Abideen mosque when miscreants opened fire at him...he retaliated the fire but the attackers threw a hand-grenade at him," DSP Tanveer Ahmed said.

The incident occurred while maghrib prayers were being said in the mosque. All the devotees escaped unhurt, Ahmed added.

The policeman was taken to the DHQ hospital where he was stated to be in stable condition.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They have police Guarding their Mosque/Ammo dump?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/22/2010 12:25 Comments || Top||


Eight bullet-riddled bodies found near Kohat
[Dawn] Eight bullet-riddled bodies were recovered from a tribal area near Kohat on Sunday.

Locals recovered the bodies from the Turky Ismail area of the frontier region, DawnNews reported.

While the identity of the deceased has not been determined some locals suspect that they may be militants who came under attack from security forces during the on-going operation.

The bodies have been handed over to the police for further investigation.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Have the Taliban finally pushed the locals too far? Is this the product of a tribal 'Awakening' movement? Or just some Hatfield-McCoy kind of thing?
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/22/2010 7:41 Comments || Top||


1000s of Aafia supporters hold demo in Islamabad
[Iran Press TV Latest] Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Pakistani capital Islamabad to demand the release of Dr. Afia Siddiqui, who is currently in prison in the United States.

Demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans and set an effigy of US President Barack Obama on fire during the rally on Sunday.

Activists gathered to protest against her sham trial in a US court, in which the Pakistani scientist was found guilty of attempting to kill US military personnel and FBI agents.

Liaquat Baloch, an opposition figure and the senior leader of Jamat-e-Islami, told the Press TV correspondent in Islamabad that the Pakistani government should cut supply lines to the allied forces stationed in Afghanistan if the US does not release Siddiqui.

Relatives of Siddiqui have strongly criticized the US justice system for its ruling.

"The whole war on terror is a fraud. Public sentiments are very high and they are at a brink and at any time can get out of control," Aafia Siddiqui's sister Fauzia told Press TV during the demonstration.

The absence of credible evidence in Siddiqui's case has outraged many Pakistanis and other members of the Islamic ummah, who feel she was railroaded.

A US court found Aafia Siddiqui guilty of attempting to murder US citizens while she was detained for questioning in Afghanistan.

Siddiqui was charged with shooting at FBI agents and US military personnel in a police station in Ghazni, where she was being interrogated in 2008.

She was convicted in a New York court on February 3, 2010.

Her lawyers argued that there was no evidence to show Siddiqui ever fired the weapon presented in court.

Siddiqui vehemently denied all the charges against her during the trial, calling them 'ridiculous' and insisting that she was framed, jailed, and tortured by US agents in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Rage Rage Rage...
Posted by: 3dc || 02/22/2010 0:57 Comments || Top||

#2  """The whole war on terror is a fraud. Public sentiments are very high and they are at a brink and at any time can get out of control," Aafia Siddiqui's sister Fauzia told Press TV during the demonstration.""

Fine. Just so long as they rip up Islamabad or wherever. Nobody even notices what happens to ding ding girl where I live. Moslem?....in Afghanistan? Ding ding, that's about it. BYE, honey.

LOVE your picture of Monkey-boy.
Posted by: BlackBart || 02/22/2010 4:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Fine, so Spain should be added to the list of states supporting terrorism now that they have decided to finance al Qaida.
Posted by: crosspatch || 02/22/2010 12:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Another wasted opportunity for an ARCLIGHT strike on our enemies. When will the US learn? Islam is the enemy of individual freedom. You can either have Islam or freedom, but not both, as the Brits are learning.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 02/22/2010 13:46 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Car bomb targets electoral candidate in Mosul
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: A car bomb went off in western Mosul on Sunday targeting an electoral candidate of the al-Iraqiya bloc.

“One suspect was arrested near to the blast location,' a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He said that the blast caused no casualties.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza training camp blast kills "Hamas terrorist"
A Palestinian militant was killed in an explosion at a training camp run by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Monday, medics and the Islamist movement said. Another fighter was seriously wounded in the blast near the southern town of Khan Yunis, according to Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services.

Hamas said the man was killed during a "jihad mission," a phrase often used for accidental explosions.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/22/2010 06:06 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Uh, should have been "Hamas terrorist", sorry!

Fixed at 1:53 ET. -- tw
Posted by: ryuge || 02/22/2010 6:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Now pay attention , I am only going to show this to you once...red wire ..green wire...

"Another fighter was seriously injured in the blast."
Posted by: BlackBart || 02/22/2010 9:28 Comments || Top||

#3  I recommend 'Bloom Box' timers.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/22/2010 10:44 Comments || Top||


Israeli forces storm Fatah offices in Nablus
[Ma'an] Israeli forces stormed offices belonging to Fatah in the northern West Bank village of Beit Imrin, west of Nablus, on Sunday morning, party sources told Ma'an.

Israeli soldiers attempted to break into the office by forcing down the main doors, and were unable to, the sources said.

Forces reportedly set light to a poster of the late President Yasser Arafat which was hanging on the main doors, the sources added.

An Israeli military spokesman told Ma'an that "overnight, an IDF force entered the village of Beit Umrin ... for the purpose of patrolling. Earlier today a complaint was filled with the Civil Administration about the [above mentioned] incident." The complaint is being investigated, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Fatah

#1  I have a hard time believing that the IDF couldn't knock open a door...
Posted by: American Delight || 02/22/2010 7:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Well , They must have : Israel pay for the amount of : Incursion Of : Nablus ! Also , For : Damage To Premises & Doors ! Restitution : Posters : & Having : Put On Door : Apologies By : Those Members IDF : Misguided Miscreants : IDF : Individuals
Posted by: Wantese a. bodee666 || 02/22/2010 17:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Next time, knock with a 155.
Posted by: mojo || 02/22/2010 17:27 Comments || Top||


Israeli fire wounds 5 Palestinians north of Gaza
[Iran Press TV Latest] Israeli forces have fired at and wounded five Palestinians north of the Gaza Strip amid intensifying Israeli activity within the blockaded area.

The casualties were inflicted on Sunday north of the city of Beit Lahiya also causing material losses, the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency reported.

Muawiyah Hassanein, director of the ambulance and emergency services in the strip said that two of the injured had to be placed under medical care in the Kamal Udwan Hospital, while three others were treated at the scene for minor wounds.

According to the witnesses, the fire was aimed at Palestinian workers at the evacuated Israeli settlement of Gush Katif.

Ma'an did not report any incitement on the part of the victims. An Israeli military spokesman, however, claimed that their forces had to act against "a man approaching the security fence in a suspicious manner," adding that "no casualties or structural damage were reported on both sides."

Also on Sunday, a Press TV correspondent quoted the Palestinian medics as saying that Israeli shelling had killed at least one Palestinian farmer and injured several others in the north.

It was not immediately clear whether the two sources were reporting on the same incident.

The medics said the troops injured at least four Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip and two others in the West Bank on Saturday.

The reports follow numerous instances of Israeli soldiers firing on Palestinians in the coastal sliver, which has endured more than two years of an all-out blockade by the Tel Aviv regime.
Posted by: Fred || 02/22/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas



Who's in the News
45[untagged]
3al-Qaeda in North Africa
2Hamas
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Syria
1Taliban
1TTP
1al-Qaeda
1Fatah
1Global Jihad

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2010-02-22
  Mali frees al-Qaeda members ahead of French hostage deadline
Sun 2010-02-21
  Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad banged in Philippines raid
Sat 2010-02-20
  Senior Qaeda military commander killed in Predator strike
Fri 2010-02-19
  Afghan Taliban chiefs arrested in Pakistani sweeps
Thu 2010-02-18
  MILF rejects Philippines autonomy offer
Wed 2010-02-17
  Mullah Omar issues 'Victory Declaration'
Tue 2010-02-16
  Secret Joint Raid Captures Mullah Barader in Karachi
Mon 2010-02-15
  Two al-Qaeda members arrested after clash with Mauritanian security services
Sun 2010-02-14
  Taliban leaders flee as marines hit stronghold
Sat 2010-02-13
  8 confirmed dead, 33 injured in blast at Pune bakery
Fri 2010-02-12
  Ahmadinejad hails nuke Iran on Revolution Day
Thu 2010-02-11
  US Troops Sealing Off Marjah Escape Routes
Wed 2010-02-10
  Largest Military Offensive In Afghanistan Begins
Tue 2010-02-09
  Pak Talibs confirm Hakimullah Mahsud titzup
Mon 2010-02-08
  Afghan locals flee ahead of Helmand offensive

Better than the average link...



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.
3.93.162.26
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Background (10)    Non-WoT (11)    Opinion (9)    (0)    Politix (8)