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Pakistan drone attack 'kills 18 militants'
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Afghanistan
How one Afghan village fended off a Taliban advance
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/27/2010 08:26 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Opportuity is knocking; are we listening? A new water well & some subtle (but deadly) defensive assistance perhaps?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/27/2010 9:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Station a few troops there. Rotate new ones in every little while to keep them from getting complacent.

Don't make charity cases out of them.
Posted by: gorb || 12/27/2010 10:38 Comments || Top||


4 Turkish engineers abducted in Afghanistan: official
[Emirates 24/7] Four Turkish engineers and their Afghan driver were kidnapped on Sunday in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province, the deputy provincial governor told AFP.

"Four Turkish engineers and their Afghan driver were kidnapped by unknown gunnies and have been taken away to an unknown location," Abdul Rahman Mangal said, adding that the men worked for a construction company.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Afghan General Suspended Over Nato Attack in Kabul
[Tolo News] In connection to Nato's attack on a private security firm on Friday, an Afghan security officer has been suspended and is being questioned, Ministry of Interior said on Sunday.

The reason for the suspension is said to be taking a supporting role and not doing a proper investigation in the site of the incident.

The front man for the ministry of interior, Zemarai Bashari, said the ministry's investigation results show that both the international force and the Afghan forces had not acted in accordance with regulations and guidelines.

"The ministry decided to suspend the general who was in command and introduced him to relevant organisations for further questioning," he added.

Mr Bashari also said that a brigadier working for the criminal investigation department has also been sacked and refered to the relevant organisation to be interrogated.

During an attack conducted by Nato and Afghan forces on a private security firm on Friday, two guards of the firm were killed.

The operation was launched in Kabul city after Isaf received a "credible threat" of attack on the US Embassy in Kabul.

Isaf had said in a statement that as they moved towards the target area, they announced themselves and immediately received small-arms fire from the target area. The force returned fire, killing two of the shooters.

A large number of weapons, including small-arms used by the men who fired on the patrol, were found during the operation.

According to the statement, a high-ranking Afghan National Security Forces commander had arrived and had taken command of the scene.

He had personally vouched for those nabbed in the operation and they were subsequently released, said the statement.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


21 Policemen Killed in a Week
[Tolo News] A total of 21 Afghan coppers were killed in violence all across the country during the last week, a top security official said on Sunday

At a presser the front man for Interior Ministry said civilian casualties have dropped by 80 percent, but there has been a fifty percent increase in police deaths in the past one week.

He said insurgency has increased and around 155 beturbanned goons were nabbed in connection with Islamic exemplar activities.

He said most of the events took place in Kandahar, Helmand, Kunar and Kunduz provinces.

More than 4,000kg of drugs were discovered and destroyed by Afghan police forces. And 15 others were jugged in drug-trafficking cases, he said.

The spokesperson reiterated that all private security firms are banned to roam in towns and villages.

"Private security firms are no longer allowed to enter towns and villages with armed personnel and annoy people," Mr Zemarai said.

He said 57 private companies have been disbanded since the beginning of the process.
Are these security firms like Blackwater (or whatever it's called these days), or like the private militias of local Afghan warlords?
Interior ministry assured that still efforts are on the ground to disband all illegal private security companies operating in the country.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa North
Eight terrorists killed in the region of Jijel
[Ennahar] Eight cut-throats were killed Saturday in Jijel, some 300 km east of Algiers, during two separate operations of the army, reported Sunday Algerian newspapers.

Six cut-throats were killed in an ambush by soldiers to an gang in the mountainous and forested El Aouana, 15 km west of Jijel, said the Algerian press.

The operation was launched after security forces were informed of the presence of an gang in the mountains, snow and cold have forced the cut-throats to leave their shelter, said the daily El Watan.

The two other cut-throats were killed in a similar operation in neighboring Chekfa, sources said.

In early December, at least twelve armed cut-throats were killed in a massive operation against Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Kabylia (east), according to the Algerian press.

This operation, which continues, is conducted with heavy equipment and helicopter support.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Africa Subsaharan
Religious clashes flare in central Nigeria
[Arab News] Clashes broke out between armed Christian and Mohammedan groups near the central Nigerian city of Jos on Sunday, a Rooters witness said, after Christmas Eve bombings in the region killed more than 30 people.

Buildings were set ablaze and people were seen running for cover as the police and military arrived on the scene in an effort to disperse crowds.

"Houses are on fire all over the place and I can see injured people covered in blood being dragged by friends and family toward the hospital," the Rooters witness said.

The unrest was triggered by kabooms on Christmas Eve in villages near Jos, capital of Plateau state, that killed at least 32 people and left 74 critically injured. Vice President Namadi Sambo will travel to Jos on Sunday.

"The vice president is on his way to Jos to make an effort to quell this crisis," Sambo's front man said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  The religion of Peace and Tolerance Strikes again!
Posted by: Paul D || 12/27/2010 12:14 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen opposition leader held for suspected sabotage
[Pak Daily Times] Yemeni authorities have nabbed for questioning an opposition leader suspected of offering $50,000 to disrupt a regional soccer tournament, an Interior Ministry official said on Sunday.

Yemen Socialist Party leader Mohammed Ghaleb Ahmed is suspected of offering the sum to separatist bully boyz in southern Yemen for "acts of sabotage" against the Gulf Cup, held in late November and early December, the official told Rooters.

Yemen had deployed 30,000 troops to maintain calm during the tournament in the south, the site of bloody festivities as the government struggles to subdue separatists and a resurgent regional wing of al Qaeda.

The 20th Gulf Cup which hosted teams from Yemen, the Gulf Arab states and Iraq, was seen as a test of Yemen's ability to ensure security in the volatile south.

The party condemned Ahmed's detention and accused authorities of targeting him after he publicly criticised Yemen's President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
JMB den in Ctg busted
[Bangla Daily Star] Police busted a cut-thoat den and jugged an alleged cut-thoat of banned Islamic outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) yesterday at Alipur Hospital Gate area under Hathazari upazila.

One JMB cut-thoat, living as tenant at a building, managed to beat feet while hurling a bomb at police. Police later recovered four bombs and a number of Jihadi books from the spot.

The arrestee Shamim Hasan, 22, hailing from Lalmonirhat, was living at one of the rooms in guise of a rickshaw puller, police said.

Sub-inspector (SI) Md Omar Faruq of Hathazari Police Station said he, on way to office from his Alipur residence, approached rickshaw-puller Shamim to hire rickshaw around 5:30pm.

On suspicion over his (Shamim) behaviour, SI Faruq who was in plain cloth, started inquiring of his whereabouts.

The SI then took Shamim to his mess on the ground floor of a three-story building owned by one Dr Shafi at Alipur area.

"As we entered into a room, a youth sitting on a bed tried to hide some Jihadi books," said SI Faruq.

The youth from inside the room then hurled a bomb at SI Faruq but he missed, Faruq said.

Both the two faceless myrmidons tried to flee the scene but the locals managed to hold Shamim.

Later, police from Hathazari Police Station raided the rooms and recovered the bombs and books, said Officer-in-Charge Abul Kalam Azad.

Quoting Shamim, SI Faruq said nine faceless myrmidons have been living at three rooms of the building while one Masud gave them training over guerrilla attacks.

They were planning to hurl bombs at public places, SI Faruq said quoting Shamim.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh


Caribbean-Latin America
More Mexican Mayhem
20 Die in Chihuahua

A total of 20 individuals lost their lives in ongoing drug and gang related violence in Chihuahua state including six male relatives found murdered in a mine shaft in Urique municipality in Chihuahua.
  • An unidentified woman was found murdered in a drainage ditch in Juarez Thursday, say Mexican press accounts. The victim was found wrapped in a blanket lying face down on camino Ortiz Rubio.

  • An unidentified man was shot to death and his father wounded in Juarez Thursday, say Mexican news accounts. The victims were shot near the intersection of calles Bismuto and JM Escudero in the Durango colony. The victim was shot dead by armed suspect, and when his father went to see what had happened he was fired on and wounded.

  • Five unidentified men were shot to death in two separate crimes Thursday, according to the Mexican daily La Polaka. Four men were fired ion at a residence near the junction of calles Alfredo Chavero and Mariano Cuevas in the Infonavit Casas Grandes colony. A second shooting took place near the corner of calles Camargo and Delicias in the 9 de Septiembre colony where an unidentified man was shot to death with two gunshot wounds to the head.

  • A couple in their 20s were shot to death in Juarez Friday, say Mexican news accounts. The victims wre in their Chrysler Concord near the junction of Plaza de Zaragoza, at the junction with Calle Juarez-Porvenir road. The car was crashed into a furniture store by the driver following the shooting.

  • An unidentified man was shot to death in Juarez Friday, say Mexican press accounts. The victim was forced out of a vehicle near the intersection of calles Trigo and Grosella in the El Granjero shot several times and then finished with a gunshot wound to the head.

  • Six individuals were found shot to death in a mine shaft in Tonachi de Cieneguita de Trejo in the Urique municipality (county), Chihuahua Tuesday, say Mexican press reports. The victims were all brothers and cousins, and had been missing for 3 months. All the victims had at least one gunshot wound to the head. Reports do not say why they were not reported missing.

  • Three individuals were shot to death in two separate crimes, according to the Mexican daily La Polaka. At 0100 hrs three men left the Bar Chess on Avenida Juarez when they were pursued by armed suspects aboard a vehicle. The victims were caught on calle Colon when the suspect dismounted their vehicle and fired on the victims. In the second crime a man driving a Dodge Caravan crashed his vehicle in the Infonavit Casas Grandes colony after he was shot in the head.

  • An unidentified man was shot to death in Juarez Saturday, according to Mexican press accounts. The victim was at the corner of calles Boro and 16 de Septiembre colony when armed suspects aboard a compact car fired weapons at the victim. A number of 9mm spent shell casings were found at the scene.
Posted by: badanov || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russian forces kill 8 in Dagestan
[Iran Press TV] Russian security forces have killed eight Islamic fascisti in an hour-long shootout in the country's volatile North Caucasus region, officials say.

According to the officials, the Islamic fascisti were killed in a shoot-out with police after they barricaded themselves in a house in the city of Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus region of Dagestan, and refused to give up.

One of the dead, identified as the "Emir of Makhachkala," is believed to be responsible for the death of several Russian coppers and the organization of several attacks.

The other seven men have yet to be identified.

No losses have been reported among the Federal Security Service
... the successor to the KGB...
(FSB) and Interior Ministry officers involved in the shootout.

Russia has been fighting separatists in the North Caucasus since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria


China-Japan-Koreas
New ROK drills add to tension on peninsula
Excerpt: The JoongAng Daily, in the ROK, reported last week that the US decided to send another nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, to East Asia.

If true, this will be the third US aircraft carrier deployed in the area, in addition to the USS George Washington, which earlier took part in Washington's joint military drills with Seoul and Tokyo, and the USS Carl Vinson, which just arrived at Guam in the western Pacific.
Expect a Chinese protest shortly ...
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 12/27/2010 09:30 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The only tension I see is the tension in Kimmie's own mind.
Posted by: gorb || 12/27/2010 10:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Any crap from anyone and I expect the USN to pull a Cthulhu on one or more of the better Chinese navy subs.

It would be way better if the way they did it didn't involve crush depth, so everybody could hear it. Just disappearance. A Twilight Zone thing.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/27/2010 13:35 Comments || Top||

#3  And other than the two, soon to 3 dreaded flattops, we cannot forget about the silent killer the USS Jimmah Cartah(SSN-killer rabbit), lurking 'somewhere' to instill fear and terror in their starving little hearts.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/27/2010 14:20 Comments || Top||

#4  SOUTH KOREA = PRESIDENT LEE is repor vowing "FEARLESS RETALIATION" iff the North attacks it again.

E.g. TOPIX > SOUTH KOREA: NO FEAR OF [fighting]NEW KOREAN WAR, agz Kimmie + Pyongyang Boyz.

CRUX > JAPAN is forecasting a LT STEADY INCREASE IN MILITARY TIES WID SOUTH KOREA, which is all but certain to raise CHINA'S angst.

ALso from TOPIX > [South Korea] HARBOR FACILITIES TO BE BUILT ON [five] ISLANDS NEAR NORTH KOREA BORDER. Naval = Landing Piers for SOKOR Navy + Other. SEOUL ALSO REPOR PLANS TO INITIATE IMPROVEMENTS TO 000'S OF VARIOUS RIVERS, ETC. CLOSE TO THE DMZ.

SOUTH KOREAN RIVERINE PROJECTS = FUTURE DPRK-ROK FREE TRADE ZONE(S) [FTZ-EEZ-SEZ]???

versus

* RENSE > {Geopolitical Monitor] US PREPARES FOR NEW DECADE OF WAR IN EAST ASIA.

ARTIC > Among other Premises, RUSSIAN REPORT ARGUES THAT THE US IS GIVING SERIOUS CONSIDERATION = WORRIED ABOUT RISING CHINA'S MILPOL COMPETITION, hence the US modernization, expansion of its GUAM MILBASES DESPITE ANY RHETORIC TO THE CONTRARY???

AND

* DRUDGEREPORT > {Washington Times] CHINA DEPLOYING NEW CARRIER-DESTROYING [Sinking] MISSLE. The DF-21D ASBM, which can affect or hamper US ability to project mil power in support of Regional = Asia-Pacific Allies, vee forcing USN CV, Other Surface Warfare forces to NOT deploy close to the major Combat Theater(s).

Also in ARTIC = CHINA'S COMMUNIST LEADERSHIP IS CLSLEY MONITORING POTUS BAMMER'S USDOD-RELATED BUDGET-PROGRAM CUTS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/27/2010 20:28 Comments || Top||

#5  More ...

* TOPIX > [ROK Unification Ministry] NORTH KOREA POLICY TO SHIFT FROM ENGAGEMENT TO REUNIFICATION.

versus

* SAME > RAND THINK-TANK: IN A US-CHINA WAR, THE USA MAY LACK THE "POLITICAL WILL/RESOLVE" TO MILITARILY DEFEND TAIWAN IFF CHINA PREEMPTIVELY DESTROYS OR OTHERWISE NEUTRALIZES US BASES IN JAPAN + SOUTH KOREA.

* SAME > SHANDONG NEWS: US STRIKE SUBMARINES, LR DRONES MAY DEPLOY FROM GUAM BASE IN SUPPORT OF ANTi-DPRK US MILITARY OPERATIONS ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA. THE TWO KOREAS MAY REMAIN IN A HIGHLY VOLATILE + DANGEROUS MILPOL SITUATION FOR DECADES TO COME.

* SAME > SRI LANKAN MEDIA: DESPITE ITS POTENT NUCLEAR ARSENAL, CHINA IS AT A SERIOUS MILITARY DISADVANTAGE IN CONVENTIONAL WAR AGZ A US-LED REGIONAL ALLIANCE COMPOSED OF MAJOR EAST ASIAN STATES. CPLA MAY NOT BE ABLE TO "SEPARATE" THE MIL PROFICIENCIES OF REGIONAL ALLIES FROM THE US FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS.

* SAME > [Australian News] KOREAN PENISULA NOW UNDER [mutual DRPK-ROK] WAR THREATS, + related rhetoric.

* SAME > JAPANESE SCHOLARS: MANY OKINAWANS PERCEIVE THEMSELVES AS "CHINESE", NOT JAPANESE. IN A MAJOR SINO-JAPAN CONVENTIONAL WAR. TOKYO MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RELY ON THE ABSOLUTE LOYALTIES OF OKINAWANS TO JAPAN.

* WMF > CHIN FOREIGN MINSTRY: SOUTH KOREA'S PATROL BOATS HAD NO LEGAL RIGHT UNDER THE "CHINA-ROK FISHERIES AGREEMENT" TO STOP, BOARD CHIN FISHING BOATS IN DISPUTED WATERS UNDER ARMED THREAT.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/27/2010 23:48 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Australian court finds 3 men guilty of terror plot
[Beirut Daily Star: Region] Three men who believed Islam was under threat from Western nations were found guilty in an Australian court Thursday of plotting a suicide kaboom against a Sydney army base.

The men, all Australian citizens of Somali or Lebanese origin, were convicted in Victoria state Supreme Court of conspiring to plot a terrorist attack, and could face life in prison. Two other men were found not guilty of the same charge.

The five men were jugged in pre-dawn raids in the southern city of Melbourne in 2009.

Police said that the group planned to send a team of men with automatic rifles on a suicide kaboom against Holsworthy Barracks, an army base on the outskirts of Sydney.

Officials said the men were motivated by a belief that Islam was under attack from the West, and planned to keep on shooting until they were killed.

During the trial, prosecutors said the men were upset about Australia's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Australia became a staunch US ally in the war on terrorism after September 11.

Prosecutors said one of the men visited Somalia in the hopes of gaining approval for the attack from an Islamic holy man. The men were accused of having ties to Al-Shabaab, Somalia's powerful Al-Qaeda-linked militia group.

Had the plot been successful, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Tony Negus said it would have been the most serious attack ever in Australia.

Terrorism is extremely rare in Australia, though dozens of Australians have died in terrorist attacks overseas, mostly in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

The trial began in September and the jury deliberated for more than five days before returning guilty verdicts against Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 34, Saney Edow Aweys, 27, and Nayef al-Sayed, 26. Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed, 26, and Yacoub Khayre, 23, were found not guilty.

As jurors left the court following the verdict, Fattal said: "Islam is truth religion. Thank you very much."

Fattal, Aweys and Sayed embraced their acquitted co-defendants before they were led away. Justice Betty King ordered Fattal, Aweys and Sayed into custody. They will appear in court again on January 24.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Great! Can we stuff them in a rail gun and fire them into the sun now, or would that violate their human rights?
Posted by: gorb || 12/27/2010 4:11 Comments || Top||


Europe
CIA rendition case.
[Der Spiegel] The CIA rendition of cleric Abu Omar in 2003 turned into a headache for Washington when a Milan court indicted the agents involved. Secret dispatches now show how the US threatened the Italian government in an attempt to influence the case. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was apparently happy to help.

In 2007, a court in Milan started trying several CIA agents in absentia for their roles in the 2003 kidnapping of Abu Omar, an Egyptian cleric who had been living in the northern Italian city. When the indictments first came down, the US government tried to intervene -- first in Milan and then in Rome -- so as to influence the investigations of the public prosecutor's office.

At first, the efforts were conducted via diplomatic channels. But, later, they also took place during top-level talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. American diplomats and even the US secretary of defense were assured that the Italian government "was working hard to resolve the situation." And they also got to hear Berlusconi vent his rage at his own country's judicial system.

These anecdotes come from secret dispatches from the US Embassy in Rome, and they are particularly embarrassing for Berlusconi, who recently survived a confidence vote in parliament. The documents provide detailed descriptions of how both the American ambassador and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates exerted direct pressure on the Italian government in Rome. In particular, they wanted to make sure that Rome would use its influence to make sure that no international arrest warrants were issued for the CIA agents accused of being involved in Abu Omar's abduction.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/27/2010 08:11 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Apologies, please correct the careless spelling of rendition.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/27/2010 8:15 Comments || Top||

#2  In retrospect, imagine how very different, and unimportant, this story would have been if in a local Italian paper, there was a brief obituary for Abu Omar, who had died after slipping on a puddle of water and falling off a five story balcony. Three times.

Had accidents suddenly become the leading cause of death for radical Imams around the world, at the very start of the WoT, by now Muslim pulpits around the world would be quite tame. While clerics are enthusiastic about sending others to painful death, they personally don't want to experience it.

So next time, CIA, do it right. And if your wishy-washy civilian leaders don't understand, then go black and do it without them.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/27/2010 8:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Anonymouse - also accidents for the enemy parties in the public prosecutor's office.
Posted by: Water Modem || 12/27/2010 9:28 Comments || Top||

#4  For them, I think the protocol is extreme public humiliation, resulting in dismissal.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/27/2010 13:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Exactly, Moose. Attack the vector, kill the disease.
Posted by: mojo || 12/27/2010 14:21 Comments || Top||


Package bomb found at Greek embassy in Italy
[Jerusalem Post] Police and bomb squad experts rushed to the Greek Embassy in Rome on Monday after a package bomb was found, authorities said. No one was injured.

The discoveries followed package bombs that exploded Thursday at the Chilean and Swiss embassies, injuring two people who opened them. An anarchist group with ties to Greek anarchists claimed responsibility.

In Athens, Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman, Gregoris Delavekouras, said no one was harmed, in part because heightened security measures had already been put in place.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/27/2010 07:30 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


More Germans say 'nein' to Islamists
In Germany, where the racial crimes of the Nazis have bred extreme sensitivity toward the rights of minorities, such confrontations would until recently have been limited to the far-right margins. The weekly rallies in this city of 250,000 near the Dutch border these days look decidedly mainstream.

It's part of a trend seen across Europe: Spooked by what many see as a terrorism threat, ordinary people are becoming increasingly vocal in opposing radical Muslims. They are ditching traditions of tolerance and saying 'no' to cultures that do not share their democratic values. Some lament the decline of multiculturalism - "Utterly failed," in the words of German Chancellor Angela Merkel - while others say Europe is defending its way of life against those who would destroy it.

In the Netherlands, anti-immigrant sentiment has risen steadily since the 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim fanatic. In elections this year, the anti-Islam "Freedom Party" of Geert Wilders emerged as the country's third-largest political force and is helping a conservative government keep campaign promises to ban the burqa, cut immigration and imprison illegal aliens.

Swiss voters have approved a ban on minarets, an anti-Islamic party has gotten into the Swedish parliament for the first time, and France's ban on wearing face-covering veils in public has broad popular support.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/27/2010 07:16 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is surprisingly simple how to end most of the problem.

1) Limit immigration.
2) Overrule judges who refuse to deny welfare to immigrants and non-citizens.
3) Deport immigrants who misbehave with little delay.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/27/2010 13:42 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan drone attack 'kills 18 militants'
Missiles fired by a suspected US drone have struck a vehicle in north-west Pakistain killing at least 18 turbans, officials say.

The strike took place in Mir Ali village, 25km (16 miles) from Miranshah, the main town in North Wazoo district.

US dronezaps are fairly regular in North and South Wazoo which are Taliban and al-Qaeda strongholds.

More than 100 such attacks occurred in 2010, most of them in North Wazoo.

Officials told the BBC that the first drone fired two missiles at a vehicle, missing it narrowly.
Whoops!
It was joined by two more drones that fired six missiles, killing the four men who had abandoned the vehicle. All four were foreign turbans, officials say.
Good.
Several minutes later, a group of 14 cut-throats from the group led by Hakimullah Mehsud were killed when a vehicle taking them to the site of the earlier attack was hit by missiles from another drone, they said.
Very good!
There has been no independent confirmation of the incident. Militant groups often dispute official corpse counts.

Drone strikes are credited with killing some top beturbanned goons but are also blamed for civilian deaths.
It doesn't sound like there were any civilian -- or 'civilian' -- deaths this time.
Posted by: tipper || 12/27/2010 08:19 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:


Checks clear - Karzai urges Pakistan to crush terrorists
[Pak Daily Times] Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday urged Islamabad to “spare no effort in eliminating” those responsible for the suicide attack on a World Food Programme project in Pakistan that killed 43 people.

He also stressed the need for the two countries to work together on boosting efforts against violent extremism in the aftermath of Saturday’s attack in Bajaur.

“I strongly condemn this attack and I ask the Pakistani government to spare no efforts in eliminating these terrorists,” Karzai said in a statement released by his spokesman’s office.

“The terrorist attack once again reveals the true face of those who have no other motive but shedding blood and causing terror,” he said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/27/2010 07:25 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ION NEWS KERALA > NATO SAYS AFGHANISTAN WAR TO ESCALATE IN 2011.

and

* SAME > "UN-PREPARED" PAKISTAN TO CONFRONT CHALLENGE OF FIGHTING BURQUA-CLAD SUICIDE BOMBERS.

IIUC ARTIC = DEDICATED = "DIRECT ACTION" FEMALE SUICIDE BOOMERS, as well BURQUA-CLAD SUICIDE BOOMERS WHOM MAY, OR MAY NOT, ACTUALLY BE FEMALE???

Uh, uh, NOT HUMANS EITHER???

OOOOOOOOO, you just know the US-NATO/ALLIES will demand OFFICIAL PAK STATISTICS ON "MISSING ANIMALS" + RC KIDDIE CARS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/27/2010 21:10 Comments || Top||


Forces pound terrorist hideouts in Jamrud
[Pak Daily Times] The Khasadar Force backed by security forces heavily pounded the hideouts of cut-throats in nearby mountains of Prang Sang, tehsil Jamrud of Khyber Agency on Sunday morning. The forces used mortars and artillery fires in the action, making the cut-throats to flee and leave behind their weapons and a vehicle they had earlier taken away after attack on a Khasadar checkpost at Prang Sang in wee hours of Sunday. The cut-throats also burnt a mobile van and a tent at the post, official sources informed. The security sources also confirmed terrorists' attack on the checkpost and said that there was no loss of life or injury to the security men in the attack.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Iraq
Seven mooks snagged in Babel
BABEL / Aswat al-Iraq: Seven wanted persons were arrested in an airdrop mission by a military force north and west of al-Hilla city on Sunday, according to a local police spokesman.

“Forces from the Quick Response Brigade’s 3rd Contingent conducted an airdrop mission in Djerf al-Sakhr district, (65 km) northwest of Hilla, arresting four wanted persons,” the spokesman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“Another airdrop operation in al-Iskandariya district, (50 km) north of Hilla, resulted in the capture of three other wanted men,” he added.

Hilla, the capital city of Babel province, lies 100 km south of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Seven wanted persons were arrested in an airdrop mission..."

In a paratrooper operation maybe?

When I hear "airdrop" I think of shoving supplies off a cargo plane.
Posted by: American Delight || 12/27/2010 7:18 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli forces arrest 9 French activists
[Iran Press TV] Israeli forces have jugged several protesters, including nine French activists, at one of the largest Israeli military checkpoints in Qalandia in the Palestinian-occupied Israeli West Bank.

The protesters were rallying on Sunday against the illegal apartheid wall that Israel is building across the Palestinian-occupied Israeli West Bank, organizers told AFP.

Israel is building a 400-mile system of fences and concrete walls in and around the Palestinian-occupied Israeli West Bank.

Israeli police claim report that the arrests were made after protesters tried to cross the Qalandia checkpoint north of Arab-occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

A front man for the French EuroPaleostine activist group said nine French citizens were jugged at the demonstration, adding that one Paleostinian nabbed at the protest was later released.

Earlier on Saturday, French activist Layli Ben Saffi was nabbed by the Israeli military during a protest against Israeli settler activity nation building in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron).

In another incident in the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, Israeli soldiers nabbed three Paleostinians.

One of them was transferred to the Megiddo prison in the occupied West Bank, but the other two were later released.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  French activists, "A Isreali official is quoted as saying "They just kept on trying to surrender, throwing their hands up and pointing to each other yelling "Collaborator". We just had to arrest them.


Posted by: Steven || 12/27/2010 1:01 Comments || Top||

#2  The construction of that wall has saved countless lives and all but eliminated suicide bombings or any kind of bombing in Israel.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 12/27/2010 14:14 Comments || Top||


90 Palestinians riot at crossing into Jerusalem
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Rioters throw stones at security forces at Kalandia crossing; Border Police arrests two in Silwan for alleged rock-throwing.

Dozens of Paleostinians attempted to breach the Kalandia crossing into Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon, according to the IDF Spokesperson.

About 90 Paleostinians threw rocks at security forces, and six rioters were jugged and taken for questioning.

The IDF said that the riot was the second in the West Bank over the past two days. Over the weekend, 50 demonstrators gathered in a closed military zone in Hebron, and were dispersed by IDF soldiers. Three demonstrators were jugged.

Later on Sunday, Border Police jugged two Paleostinians aged 24 and 13 on suspicion that they threw stones at border security forces and Beit Yehonatan in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.

No injuries were reported and no damage was caused.

Dozens of Paleostinians gathered around a border police jeep because of the arrests, but quickly dispersed.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Militants Killed as Violence Surges on Gaza Border
[Asharq al-Aswat] Israeli tanks fired a barrage of shells into the Gazoo Strip on Sunday following a firefight in which two gunnies were killed, as Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, said it was "ready" for another war.

The escalation of violence comes just ahead of the two year anniversary of Israel's devastating invasion of the Hamas-controlled Gazoo Strip, and follows weeks of rocket fire from Gazoo and a string of retaliatory Israeli air raids.

In the latest incident, two Islamic Jihad gunnies were killed during an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers on the border of the Gazoo Strip early Sunday, according to witnesses and the Al-Quds brigade, a turban Islamist group.

Israeli officials confirmed the clash, which took place east of Khan Yunis, in southern Gazoo.

"Soldiers opened fire on members of a terrorist cell which was trying to place an explosive charge in the immediate vicinity of the security barrier," an Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP. The barrier separates Israel from the Gazoo Strip.

"The incident happened in the south of the Gazoo Strip and helicopters backed up the fire of the soldiers," she added.

After a similar incident a month earlier, in which there were no casualties, "soldiers received instructions not to hesitate to open fire when they saw Islamic fascisti placing booby-trap devices near the barrier," she said.

Hours after the firefight, Israeli tanks fired at least 10 shells towards Khan Yunis, an AFP photographer said. Three homes were damaged by the shells though no new casualties were reported.

Tension has been rising on the Gazoo border, where armed Islamist groups have fired dozens of mortars and rockets into southern Israel.

In response, Israel has launched a series of air raids, including most recently early Saturday, that it said targeted training facilities and smuggling tunnels.

It has also launched targeted liquidations of several top members of the Army of Islam, a jihadist group accused by Israel of planning new attacks.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
the Hamas turban group that controls the Gazoo Strip has said it plans to continue observing a truce with Israel, but also warned it was ready to resume fighting if there is an Israeli attack on the territory.

"There is a truce in effect in the field. It is real if Israel stops its aggression and ends its siege. But if there is any Israeli aggression on the Gazoo Strip we will respond strongly," said a masked front man for Hamas' armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, who identified himself as Abu Obeideh.

"We are completely ready to answer any Israeli aggression," he said, speaking at a presser Saturday in Gazoo City with three guards, who were all masked and armed.

Abu Obeideh also hinted that the group possessed a secret weapon.

"Our weapons are few compared to those of the Israeli occupation, but we have something that will worry the occupation," he said without giving details.

Israel's military said this week that one of its tanks patrolling the Gazoo border had been hit by a Russian-made Kornet anti-tank rocket, the first time such a weapon had been encountered there.

At least 23 mortars and four rockets have been launched at Israel from Gazoo in the past week, the army said, including a Qassam rocket that struck near a kindergarten in a southern Israeli kibbutz, wounding a teenage girl.

While most of the rockets fired have been by other groups, Israel says it holds Hamas, which rules Gazoo, responsible for maintaining calm there.

On December 27, 2008, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, in response to hundreds of rockets fired into the Jewish state.

The war, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009, killed 1,400 Paleostinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran passes death sentence on ‘Israeli spy’
TEHERAN, Iran — An Iranian semiofficial news agency is reporting the country has sentenced a suspect to death on a charge of spying for Israel.

The report by Mehr news agency Sunday quoted Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, Teheran’s chief prosecutor, as saying the identity of the suspect will be announced after approval of the verdict by Iran’s Supreme Court. Neither the official nor the agency would elaborate. Israel had no immediate comment.

In 2008, Iran executed Ali Ashtari, an electronics salesman convicted of relaying information on the country’s nuclear program and other sensitive data to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Bomb Targets Shop Owned by Palestinian Armed Struggle Official in Ain el-Hilweh
[An Nahar] A bomb targeted a shop owned by a Paleostinian Armed Struggle official at Ein el-Hellhole Paleostinian refugee camp on Sunday morning, causing material damage only. Media reports said the blast went off at the shop of Rasmi Nasrallah at the camp's Hattin neighborhood at 5:00 am. The incident took place a day after Jund al-Sham official Ghandy al-Sahmarani's body was found rubbed out execution-style at the same camp.
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 12/27/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jets Coach Ryan discusses his team's loss to the Chicago Bears with his lovely wife.
Posted by: JDB || 12/27/2010 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Birthday/Daily Gam Shot

Marlene Dietrich aka Lola-Lola in "The Blue Angel" aka Frenchie in "Destry Rides Again" aka Mrs. Bertholt in "Judgment at Nuremberg" (Died in 1992 at age 90)



Gorb, there's a seat under there somewhere.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/27/2010 2:50 Comments || Top||

#3  There's a helmet under that hat, too!
Posted by: gorb || 12/27/2010 3:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Falling in love again, never wanted to.
What am I to do? Can't help it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/27/2010 8:09 Comments || Top||

#5  JDB - heh heh
Posted by: Frank G || 12/27/2010 9:51 Comments || Top||

#6  A beautiful and exotic woman.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/27/2010 18:46 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
56[untagged]
4Govt of Pakistan
3Palestinian Authority
2Global Jihad
2Govt of Iran
2al-Qaeda
2al-Shabaab
2Hamas
2Taliban
1TTP
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Commies
1Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2010-12-27
  Pakistan drone attack 'kills 18 militants'
Sun 2010-12-26
  Burqa-clad suicide bomber kills 42 in Bajaur Agency
Sat 2010-12-25
  Pakistan suicide bombing kills dozens at food aid center
Fri 2010-12-24
  Iraq arrests 93 al-Qaeda suspects
Thu 2010-12-23
  Clashes between Houthis and Tribesmen in Sa'ada Province
Wed 2010-12-22
  Kenya bus explosion kills 3, injures 30
Tue 2010-12-21
  Adam Gadahn jugged in Karachi?
Mon 2010-12-20
  Police arrest 12 people 'plotting Christmas terror attack'
Sun 2010-12-19
  Iraq: 6 dead, 12 wounded during Ashuraa pilgrimage
Sat 2010-12-18
  Three US missiles kill 54 in Pakistan
Fri 2010-12-17
  Car Bomb Explodes at a Coppe Shoppe in Monterrey
Thu 2010-12-16
  Suicide Attack Kills 33, Wounds 95 Mourners in Iran
Wed 2010-12-15
  Border Patrol agent gunned down in southern AZ
Tue 2010-12-14
  Another man arrested for plotting bomb attack on DC Metro
Mon 2010-12-13
  Six police among 13 killed in Iraq suicide attacks


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