#3
The link in the headline sends me back to Rantburg
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/21/2007 8:05 Comments ||
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#4
DB - of course! Why would you ever want to leave?
LGF is indeed hosed again...
:-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/21/2007 8:12 Comments ||
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#5
...consequently I may never know what DanNY did on Saturday :(
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/21/2007 8:30 Comments ||
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#6
I got to it before 6, and viewed the 159 photos, in the link, some of which were quite interesting. So I guess I'm saying it's worth it to try again later.
It seems the moonbats are all very earnest dupes.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/21/2007 8:30 Comments ||
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I was amazed when I saw Sea's item here!
Word travels fast!
Yeah it was a great time! The first in our Triple Crown of Patriotism actions here in the Northeast!
Wednesday morning we will be at New London, CT, at the Coast Guard Academy
Saturday morning we will be at Highland Falls, NY, at West Point
We'll be facing off against the main horde of communist and anarchist moonbats for control of the media message! Anyone who wants to join in and give us a hand bring your family, friends and flags to either or both locations. If you get there ask for me. I'm always happy to greet fellow 'burgers!
For great video if the finale of our Times Square Rally go here.
I've been up to my eyeballs with working on these things and such so I haven't had much chance to contribute and comment on the burg for a bit, hopefully I'll have more time after Memorial Day!
A significant number of Taleban extremist leaders were successfully targeted and killed in a precision airstrike last night in southern Afghanistan. Initial assessments indicate all of those who died were enemy insurgents.
Combined with the recent demise of Mullah Dadoullah, this strike will, in the short term, push the enemy into confusion and disarray, said Maj. John Thomas, ISAF spokesman.
The precision weapons struck the scene of a gathering of enemy leaders in a remote area, far from any population center.
The extremist leaders are being denied the ability to operate and plan. And that is very good news for the people of Afghanistan who are working bravely for peace and stability.
The German military in Afghanistan has been hit by the worst terror attack since 2003, with three soldiers killed and five injured. The opposition is now calling on the government to bring the roughly 3,000 German troops home.
The pictures published in the German newspapers paint an image of horror and destruction in the middle of a market square in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. Blood covers the ground around carts with fresh produce, and close to an empty basket lies a severed foot, with a military boot still attached.
Ten German Bundeswehr soldiers, a translator and a local police officer this past Saturday had gone to the market to buy refrigerators for their camp. The suicide bomber waited until the men had left their armored Dingo vehicle before he ignited the explosive. Three soldiers died on the spot, five were injured. Five civilians were killed, and another 16 injured. Four of the injured soldiers have already been flown to Germany to get treatment; they are in critical condition.
"It wasn't just a bomb, the explosive was stuffed with metal splinters to cause grave injuries," Franz Josef Jung, Germany's defense minister, said Sunday evening in a German political TV talk show. He added that Germany would not be bullied out of Afghanistan. The show also featured Oskar Lafontaine, the populist leader of Germany's far-left Left Party, the fiercest opposition group.
Lafontaine criticized the military part of the international presence in Afghanistan, namely the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom, which fights the Taliban in the southern provinces of the country. Meanwhile, the Bundeswehr oversees reconstruction efforts in northern Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
The U.S. OEF was not a legitimate mission and thus of terrorist nature, Lafontaine said, adding that the recent deployment of Tornado reconnaissance jet planes to the embattled south of the country meant that Germany was "indirectly involved in terrorist activities."
Lafontaine said Germany should gradually pull out its troops to avoid further casualties.
Few opposition politicians would go as far as that, but several have called for at least a strategy change in Afghanistan.
The governing Social Democratic Party has called for more reconstruction efforts to have Afghans feel real economic progress; that way, they wouldn't be drawn to support the Taliban, Ulrike Merten, a Social Democratic defense expert, told Monday's Financial Times Germany newspaper.
"We need a larger discussion whether this mission still makes sense or if not the overall strategy for Afghanistan for us and our allies has to be changed," Winfried Stolze, spokesman of the Bundeswehr Association, a soldier interest group, told German news channel n-tv. "We want to win the hearts of the people, want to approach them. That's much more important than anonymous air raids."
Aside from the bombing campaigns, in which several civilians have been killed, especially OEF is coming under increased scrutiny. Germany has some 150 special forces fighting under the U.S.-led anti-terror mission, a contribution that will likely not be extended once it is up for renewal in Germany's Parliament.
But what about the contribution in the North, where Germany has some 3,000 soldiers leading several Provincial Reconstruction Teams?
The Taliban, it seems, are now increasingly targeting soldiers and police in the North, a previously un-penetrated province. Observers say this is due to a strategy change after the terror group took heavy casualties since ISAF and OEF troops launched an offensive in the southern provinces. With the terror attacks in the North, the Taliban aim to open a new front in the battle. In these attacks in busy market places, ordinary Afghans, who happen to be bystanders, are dying as well.
A security expert who didn't want to be identified told the Financial Times Germany newspaper that the Taliban are increasingly penetrating the northern provinces, mainly where ethnic Pashtuns are living.
"The Taliban are already asking around in Pakistan if there are Pahstuns who have relatives in the North (of Afghanistan), and these people are then purposefully recruited," he said.
The Taliban have also been renting houses in Kunduz, he added.
In Germany, public support for the Afghanistan mission is at an all-time low; German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the weekend reiterated the German commitment to help reconstruction in Afghanistan and added that Germany will stay there. Yet how many more casualties can Germany, a country with a mainly pacifist public, take?
The German Parliament will decide on an extension of the ISAF contribution this fall; observers say it could be a close vote.
Tried posting this earlier - must have forgotten something.
KABUL, Afghanistan - Suspected terrorists insurgents ambushed a U.S.-led coalition and Afghan patrol in the volatile south, sparking a battle and airstrikes that killed 25 suspected terrorists insurgents, officials said Monday. I wonder how many were injured, and when they will return to duty, and how effective they will be without body parts or modern medical substitutes.
The coalition said the joint forces were attacked while on a patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand province on Sunday. An estimated 50 Taliban reinforcement terrorists fighters came by foot and boat along the Helmand River from surrounding areas, the coalition said in a statement.
Nice of them to bunch up for us.
Coalition airstrikes bombed seven compounds, resulting in three secondary explosions from suspected weapons caches, I just love it when that happens.
it said. It said there were "several" confirmed terrorist militant deaths during the 14-hour battle and no reports of civilian injuries.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said the clash and airstrikes in Sangin killed 25 suspected Taliban, including a group leader identified as Mullah Younus. Running low on old Mullahs, so promoting Younus ones.
NATO is pushing ahead with Operation Achilles, its largest ever operation involving some 4,500 NATO troops and 1,000 Afghan soldiers. Achilles is centered in northern Helmand province, the country's opium heartland and a Taliban stronghold.
Violence in Afghanistan has increased sharply in the last several weeks. More than 1,600 people, have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press count based on U.S., NATO and Afghan officials. The dead have mostly been terrorists militants, but about 300 civilians also have died in the violence. A few may even have been innocent.
#6
Due to massive losses in top mgmt the One eyed Jack of WazooStan is desperately searching for talent...
WazooStan Times Picayune Advert
Top leadership talent wanted fight Ameriki and IngLish Infidels!
Goat Hearders and Jirga Jerks may apply..
Trainee must have at least one leg, know how to make extreme faces be able to grow a beard.
Dress Code: Trainee leader must supply his own pair man pajamas and a fluffy turban.
salary: one goat, free raisins and 72 virgins. terms: Trainee can Goat up when joined, but free Raisins and 72 Virgins are collected in the here-after.
ALL remuneration and Pashtoon Perks are guaranteed & insured by Allen Ltd(PTUI).
See Mahmoud in the first mud hut on the right for an application.
Glenmore: Coalition airstrikes bombed seven compounds, resulting in three secondary explosions from suspected weapons caches,
"I just love it when that happens".
lol
secondaries are way too much fun addictive for adults.
#7
Ahh, secondaries... I remember one attack in Vietnam that resulted in 50,000 secondaries. The taliwhacked don't seem to have that kind of firepower, and don't bunch up that much. Now if "something happened" in Wazoostain, we might get secondaries like that.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/21/2007 14:44 Comments ||
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#8
I live for the day when Wazoostain gets wacked...
Ten Afghan civilians perished as a bomber missed his target and detonated himself amid civilians in southeastern Afghanistan early on Sunday. Over three dozen more civilians sustained injuries in the attack that targeted a joint convoy of Afghan and Coalition forces in Gardez, capital of southeastern Paktia province. "Unfortunately we have a report today that at 9:40 a bomber blew himself up in the Gardez roundabout," the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement. "Ten civilians were martyred and about 30 others were wounded."
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said some of its soldiers were wounded in the attack but had no more details. Police chief of the province Abdul Rahman Sarjang said body of the bomber was mutilated beyond recognition, but some marks showed that he was a foreign citizen. "Hmmm... Mahmoud! Does this nostril look domestic to you?"
"Definitely imported, Ahmed. Ain't nobody around here with a nostril like that!"
Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the attack without telling who were targeted and said the bomber was an Afghan. "Really. He wasn't a Pak or a Chechen or an Arab. Trust us on that!"
"That don't look like no Afghan nostril to me!"
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the young man, who carried out the Sunday attack was a national. His name and place was not disclosed, citing some security reasons. "We claim responsibility for the (Gardez) attack. It was a suicide attack," Zabiullah Mujahid said. "Our Afghan mujahid (holy warrior) carried it out." "Just not very well. But the explosion's the important thing, not the target!"
Police chief Sarjang said the dead and injured were rushed to two public hospitals and some private clinics. He confirmed the killing of 10 civilians and injury of 30 others.
As details emerged about the blast, the governor of Ghazni province said Afghan and NATO forces killed about 30 Taliban militants and arrested 12 others in Qara Bagh district on Saturday night. "Unfortunately three police are missing and one is wounded," the governor, Merajuddin Patan, said.
A spate of attacks in the last week followed the death of the militants' top operational commander, Mullah Dadullah, in a raid last weekend. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for a bombing on Saturday in a crowded market in the northern city of Kunduz. Nine people, including three German soldiers, were killed. German troops patrol northern areas of Afghanistan, which have been relatively safe until recently. "The Taliban are striving to restart their activities in the province," said General Mohammad Ayub Salangi, the security commander in Kunduz province. "So keep an eye out for Paks!"
One of the 12 people injured in the Kunduz blast was in very serious condition while six others have been released from hospital, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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A roadside bomb said to be targeting the mayor of the Somali capital Mogadishu killed two people on Sunday and wounded two others, officials said. Roadside bomb explosion was detonated in Mogadishus Yaqshid district, north of the Somali capital.
Mogadishu mayor, Mohaamed Dheere told journalists that he survived from a grenade attack while his convoy was passing in north Mogadishu where government soldiers and officials are frequently visible. The attacker was on top of a tree when he threw a hand grenade at Dheeres convoy. He was shot dead by the bodyguards of the mayor while one suspect was apprehended, according to Dheere.
The blast came barely three days after the Somali prime minister's convoy was attacked in the same city and four days after four Ugandan peacekeepers died in a similar attack. "Two died and two were wounded. I think the bomb attack was targeting Transitional Federal Government (TFG) officials. All the casualties were civilians," a security source who did not wish to be named, said.
The mayor was going to his office in a convoy and the remote controlled bomb -- fashioned from a landmine -- exploded on a road in the north of the city, the source said. "Fortunately the bomb exploded before his vehicle passed," Mohamed Osman, a deputy mayor who was not part of the convoy, said by phone. "No one was hurt in the convoy. The man who detonated the bomb was captured as he was trying to flee. He was killed."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"No one was hurt in the convoy. The man who detonated the bomb was captured as he was trying to flee. He was killed."
I'd like to see more captures like this one in Afghanistan and Iraq.
About 135 Muslim extremists who spent more than a decade in Egyptian prisons have been released after signing statements renouncing violence, police said Monday.
The prisoners all belonged to al-Jihad, a group once headed by al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman Al-Zawahri. Egypt began releasing them two weeks ago, police officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Al-Jihad and the al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya group were both were accused of participating in the 1981 assassination of President Anwar al-Sadat. Al-Zawahri was jailed for his involvement in the assassination, but was released in 1984. He left Egypt and helped form al-Qaida with Osama bin Laden in the late 1990s.
Neither al-Jihad or al-Gamaa have been involved in attacks in Egypt since the 1990s.
Al-Gamaa first proposed a unilateral cease-fire in 1997 that went into effect in 1999. Most of its leaders, as well as hundreds of its members, have since been freed from prison.
Al-Jihad has long opposed reconsidering its radical views. But a few months ago, the group's jailed top ideologue, Sayed Imam Abdul-Aziz el-Sherif, led a review of al-Jihad's ideology and concluded it should unequivocally renounce violence.
El-Sherif, 57, left Egypt in 1986 to go to Afghanistan. He later wound up in Yemen where he was arrested in 2001 and handed over to Egypt in 2004. He is serving a life sentence and was not one of the militants released.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of militants from al-Jihad and al-Gamaa are still believed to be in prison, along with members of smaller networks. Egypt has never disclosed an official figure of militants or political inmates in its prisons.
Algerian security forces have arrested 12 suspected Islamic militants accused of links to triple bombings last month and other attacks claimed by al Qaeda's north African wing, official media said on Sunday.
Authorities arrested one member of the alleged logistical cell within two weeks of the April 11 bombings in Algiers. By following the suspect's testimony, they rounded up 11 others, the APS news agency reported, citing unidentified security officials. It did not indicate when the 11 others were detained. The suspects were also involved in truck bomb attacks on October 30 on two police stations that killed six people, it said.
Security forces seized more than nine tons of nitric acid and a large amount of an ammonia chemical, stored in two garages in the town of Tidjelabine, 30 miles east of the capital, and used for making bombs, the report said. Another stash of explosives and electronic triggers were found near Draa Benkhedda, further east.
Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, or GSPC, has said it was behind all of the attacks. The militant support network was acting under orders from the group's local leader, Harek Zoheir, also known as Sofiane Fassila, who masterminded these attacks, the radio added. The arrests allowed the seizure of more than 9 tonnes of acid and large quantities of chemical products and electronic components used for remote detonation of bombs, it said. Police also seized products used in making explosives in two garages in Boumerdes province, some 50 km (30 miles) east of the capital Algiers.
Government troops, on alert since the April bombings, have killed 26 militants in the past few days in Boumerdes and neighbouring Tizi Ouzou province, newspaper reports said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Al-Qaida is aggressively recruiting black Americans for suicide operations against the homeland, say FBI analysts who have reviewed recent videotaped messages from the terror group's leaders.
A speech released May 5 by Osama bin Laden's deputy confirms earlier fears that African-Americans are the No. 1 recruiting target for the next generation of attacks. Al-Qaida has been trying to lower its Arab profile to reduce the odds that its terror cells will be subjected to security scrutiny.
"Federal and local law enforcement authorities should be aware that al-Qaida terrorists may not appear Arab," warns a recent Homeland Security intelligence report obtained by WND. "Non-Arab al-Qaida operatives could find it easier to avoid unwanted scrutiny since they may not fit typical profiles."
Continued on Page 49
#1
"American voters had a chance to fire Bush in the last presidential election for invading Iraq, but they chose instead to reelect him. He suggests they forfeited their chance for protection from terrorism."
Oh well, so much for the hudna with the Blue States. I predict the next attack will be in SF, Portland, or some other liberal "Paradise".
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/21/2007 9:51 Comments ||
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#2
What was their excuse for the attacks during the Clinton years? The poignant fact to remember is there hasn't been a success attack on the homeland since September 11, 2001. The Z-man is praying for a blue state victory so they can successfully carry out the attacks the Bush Administration is preventing.
#4
Be patient, Doctor Z, we are getting to you and then you will get your 72 raisins. One by one and in groups, we are rolling you up. Toe tag for you, soon.
#7
What is the distinction between AQ and the Nation of Islam? Is the distinction (if any) one without a difference? Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
05/21/2007 10:59 Comments ||
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#8
If that's not a rethorical question, IIUC, the NOI is a *cult* whose prophet is not old mo' but its founder "elijah muhammad", includes UFO lore (apocalypse will be brung upon Humanity by UFOs), borrows its liturgy from protestantism, and is foremost a black supremacist movement (whitey being the creation of an evil sorcerer 6000 years ago, blacks being the primal race and the source of all knowledge and civilization, etc, etc), with religious trappings. It's islam-flavored, not islamic.
And on a more pragmatic level, the NOI is the original islamic mass-terrorist organization in the USA :
In addition to thne NOI, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_percenters and al fuqra, whose training camp in NY State was featured here a while back, and was involved in shaping the DC Sniper's mindset (who was initially a NOI convert).
#9
Lotp was on top of that, btw : islam as the ultimate "in yer face" to the Western (aka White Male) world order, from neomarxists in mexico (like the subcommandante marcos, who is supposedly a convert now) to black inmates in the USA, or latin women wishing to escape the vulgarity of modern Us culture and find refuge in a preset and heavily structured version of feminity.
#11
Z man also conveniently skips over the fact that most of the black slaves were sold to the slavers by muslims! so in essence he is asking them to bring back the old masters!
Posted by: DanNY ||
05/21/2007 16:56 Comments ||
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#14
It's the first time al-Qaida has identified Malcolm X as a fellow Islamic "struggler and martyr," analysts say.
Not that Islam wouldn't declare a ham sandwich as a "struggler and martyr," if it served their ends. Our government missed a golden opportunity by not trumpeting more loudly the Muslim on black violence in Darfur. Islam deftly tells the big lie over and over again only to be met with mute disengagement here at home. Our politicians are the very worst sort of fools.
#15
What is really funny about this is what the reaction of street gangs like the Bloods and the Crips would be to an NOI belt bomber : lots of dead NOIs all over the place. One of the reasons that street gangs can operate in urban ghettos is that the local cops are tired of trying to do much about said gangs and then getting undermined/betrayed/charged/jailed by the local politicians for taking out the troublemakers. So a basic "Stay in your area for your crimes and don't shoot at us" agreement operates in most major urban ghettos between the police and the gangs.
However, if the NOI starts urban terrorism, the LEO responds will be State Police and Fed, NOT local. No agreements there, and LOTS of Crips and Bloods wind up in detention awaiting questioning. Plus, while the state boys are running the neighborhoods, all that easy dope and ho money vanishes since the middle class white clients do NOT like being arrested for their partying.
All of which means that the major street gangs have every incentive to make the NOI go away permanently - meaning drive-bys on the local storefront mosques, and capping the bean-pie sellers on sight.
#16
Unless you were truely an Arab, you could never really be a moslem in their eyes. Yup, Darfur and MANY African countries to boot. How do you get 90% conversion rates? It takes it by brute force, and passes the humiliation on to you.
(Xinhua) -- Some 200 students of a religious school in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad were reportedly arrested Sunday night, according to witnesses. The witnesses quoted the imam at the Lal Masjid mosque as saying that they were ready to sacrifice lives but would not surrender.
Earlier Sunday, local press reports quoted Islamabad administration sources as saying that operation was likely against the Lal Masjid administration. They said roads to the mosque had been sealed and bearded people traveling in vehicles were taken out for body search. The Lal Masjid administration Saturday night freed two of the four policemen who were abducted Friday in return for four men detained by the police, the reports said, adding that the government agreed to release the four men Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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The Hyderabad City Police, which is probing Fridays bomb blast at the historic Makkah Masjid, has yesterday recovered a cell phone and a remote control that could have been used to detonate the bomb that claimed several lives and caused injuries to many others.
While a National Security Guards team from New Delhi had been searching the mosque area in the morning for picking up material clues on the blast, one of the workers deployed to clean up the big water pool (used by the people for ablutions before the prayers) found a cell phone and a remote control amid the fish in the pool.
The worker subsequently found some splinter pieces of the improvised explosive device that exploded when the Friday prayers were on at the 400-year-old mosque. An investigating officer said that the cell phone and remote recovered yesterday would help the police investigations by providing vital clues about the persons/ organizations behind the blast.
On the day of the blast, the police had detected two unexploded bombs from the mosque premises placed at a distance of 100 meters from the spot where the killer bomb had exploded. One of the unexploded bombs was found in a bag hung to the iron grills on the compound wall of the mosque.
The police had recovered a cell phone attached to the unexploded bomb. The cell phone had a prepaid SIM card of a popular service provider.
The SIM card was apparently purchased in Kolkata on May 2. The cell phone was also of a popular make.
The cell phone and remote control recovered yesterday were also sent to Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratories. Earlier, on Friday, the detected unexploded bombs and cell phone were handed over to the APFSL for detailed examination. The APSFL is also examining the pieces of exploded bomb and other materials seized from the mosque.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad and its twin city Secunderabad returned to normalcy yesterday after the bomb blast. Though it was a Sunday, many shops opened in the twin cities. The bazaars in the Old City came back to life with fruit vendors and pavement hawkers resuming their business.
Hotels, petrol bunks, cinema theaters reopened. However, banks, government offices and establishments remained closed on account of weekly holiday.
City Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said that the city is calm and peaceful and the situation is normal. The police set up metal detector doors at the main door of the mosque and allowed the people to offer the noon prayers only after frisking them thoroughly.
Tension prevailed for sometime at Lakdikapul in the city when about 300 activists of Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen, led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, staged a noisy demonstration at the Director-General of Polices office, protesting against the bomb blast at Makkah Masjid and the death of several youth in police firings. Waving the party flags and shouting slogans, the MIM activists demanded a CBI probe into the blast and police firings and the suspension of the police officials and men who resorted to firing on Friday.
The protesters, including MIM legislators, dispersed after staging the dharna for two hours.
It may be recalled that on Saturday night, Director-General of Police M.A. Basith had clarified that the death toll in Fridays incidents was 14, including nine in the blast and five in police firing.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Bombing a Mosque? How, predictably Islamic, watch for the wails of denial to start immediately (It was the JOOOOOOS of course)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/21/2007 6:12 Comments ||
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Nakal khors at Punjab University
As reported in daily Express, the Higher Education Commission urged action against the teachers of many jamiat (universities). Last year in Punjab University (PU) five teachers copied foreign researchers publications and printed their names on them to earn promotions and medals. The university formed three committees in one year and is reluctant to punish the teachers. The universitys Grants Commission has demanded the removal of these teachers.
Art gallery changed into performing arts hall
As reported in daily Jang, Madiha Gauhar, Usman Peerzada, Samina Ahmad, Khalid Abbas Dar and Asim Bokhari addressed a press conference at the Lahore Press Club saying that the government has reserved the auditorium of the National Art Gallery in Islamabad for the performing arts and any criticism by some visual artists has been misplaced. They said that the artists should show solidarity while people from Jamia Hafsa are rising in the country. Madiha Gauhar said that there is no hall in Islamabad and the auditorium was being used for useless activities like fashion shows.
Violence at Punjab University
As reported in daily Khabrain, a student in the English department in Punjab University was beaten by a student group for talking to a female student. According to the students, the university has 25,000 students and has been held hostage by a student tanzim for decades. The administration said that the student tanzim is not as powerful as before and 35 students were expelled who opposed the administration for creating the music department and holding book fairs at the university.
Nawaz Sharif has got the key
Afamous columnist wrote in daily Nawa-e-Waqt, that Benazir Bhutto has cleverly made herself a popular leader in Pakistan. But, if both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir are allowed to come back to Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif will attract a much bigger crowd than Benazir. Nawaz is no angel however, and he is obsessed with acquiring all powers for himself. He tried to impose his brother on Punjab and had no respect for the free press and the judiciary. But there is no doubt that in his cultural and social behaviour, he is much closer to the majority of Pakistanis.
Who is Khalid Khawaja?
In daily Nawa-e-Waqt lyrical columnist Irfan Siddique, wrote that he saw Khalid Khawaja in a mosque of his mohalla for the first time. After 9/11 when the wives and children of the Arab mujahideen were wandering and no one was ready to support them, he saw two people who were very anxious about them. One was ex MNA from Kohat, Jawed Ibrahim Paracha, and the other was Khalid Khawaja. Soon they formed a defense of human rights and Khalid Khawaja was made the chief coordinator. He was arrested by agencies on January 26.
The role of the media in Pakistan
As reported in daily Nawa-e-Waqt, the minister for information Mohammad Ali Durrani said that the media has got more freedom today as compared to previous governments. The executive editor of Nawa-e-Waqt Majid Nizami said that the media is not as free as is being suggested. Misinformation in the media is being spread because ministers are spreading confusions about the deal. Similarly a news channel gave the news that an open trial of the Chief Justice would be held by the Supreme Judicial council. Aamer Ahmad Khan of BBC said that the open trial news was mentioned by Qazi Hussain Ahmad who is not an ordinary vendor on the street but a responsible politician.
Beggars, vendors and shepherds are American agents
As reported in daily Express, suspicious Taliban people have distributed pamphlets in the Bajaur agency. The pamphlets said that beggars, vendors and shepherds are American agents and threatened harsh punishments if they didnt leave the Bajaur agency. According to an English newspaper no organisation accepted the responsibility for the pamphlet.
Ban on loudspeakers in Mauritius
According to daily Express, the head of the Muslim Citizen Council of Mauritius, Fawad Atini said that Muslims never objected to the fireworks of Chinese religious festivals, nor to the bells of Christian churches, then why has a ban has been imposed on using loud speakers from a mosque for Azaan. A local court banned the use of loud speakers of a Hayat ul Islam mosque on the complaint of a local non Muslim who said that the loud noise of the loudspeakers disrupted his routine life.
Research is essential in Islam
As reported in daily Jang, the founder of the Tehreek Minhaj ul Quran said that today there is a lot of knowledge but very little practice. And lots of people who are working on religion have closed their ties with research. He said the body of Islam should not be with arrows of lack of knowledge.
A boy with a tail in Mahabharat
As reported in daily Khabrain, in an Indian city, Bhatinda, a boy was born with an ugly growth similar to a tail in a hospital where a superstitious pundit declared him as an avatar of Hanuman. A crowd gathered to see the boy and the fraud pundit has started minting money by fooling people. The boy is trained by the pundit to bless the people while the child doesnt even know what he is doing.
Atlas Of Creation proves Darwin wrong
As reported in daily Nawa-e-waqt, a Turkish preacher, Adnan Auktar, alleged that with the help of the skeleton and pictures and quotes from the Holy Quran, the theory of Charles Darwin can be proved wrong. He also proved that there is no connection between Darwins theory and communism, and between fascism and terrorism. His book Atlas Of Creation is being distributed free of charge in France. His book is also translated into the Arabic and Malaysian languages.
Mercenaries and jihad soldiers
In daily Express, famous columnist Abdul Qadir Hassan wrote that enlightened moderation was formulated by an American Jew Henry Kissinger and has become the slogan of our government. Henry Kissinger studied the culture and religion of Islam and created this beautiful slogan to counter the challenge of Islam. Enlightened moderation attacks the Islamic commandment of jihad that is linked with extremism and terrorism. If a Muslim doesnt have passion for jihad then he is a mercenary who like the Muslim soldiers of the British era fought at different fronts in Burma and other places.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
with the help of the skeleton and pictures and quotes from the Holy Quran, the theory of Charles Darwin can be proved wrong
With a simple QuuQkr'an quote and a tree Jinn you can prove most anything.
The US Army tried to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr, the widely revered Shia cleric, after luring him to peace negotiations at a house in the holy city of Najaf, which it then attacked, according to a senior Iraqi government official.
The revelation of this extraordinary plot, which would probably have provoked an uprising by outraged Shia if it had succeeded, has left a legacy of bitter distrust in the mind of Mr Sadr for which the US and its allies in Iraq may still be paying. "I believe that particular incident made Muqtada lose any confidence or trust in the [US-led] coalition and made him really wild," the Iraqi National Security Adviser Dr Mowaffaq Rubai'e told The Independent in an interview. It is not known who gave the orders for the attempt on Mr Sadr but it is one of a series of ill-considered and politically explosive US actions in Iraq since the invasion. In January this year a US helicopter assault team tried to kidnap two senior Iranian security officials on an official visit to the Iraqi President. Earlier examples of highly provocative actions carried out by the US with
little thought for the consequences include the dissolution of the Iraqi army and the Baath party.
Continued on Page 49
Iraq's military is drawing up plans on how to cope if U.S.-led forces leave the country quickly, the defense minister said Monday.
The statement by Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi marked the first time a senior Iraqi official has spoken publicly about the possibility of a quick end to the U.S.-led mission.
It was unclear if the remarks were more than routine contingency planning.
"The army plans on the basis of a worst case scenario so as not to allow any security vacuum," al-Obeidi said. "There are meetings with political leaders on how we can deal with a sudden pullout."
The White House is negotiating with Democratic leaders in Congress over a war-spending bill for Iraq. President Bush vetoed the first version because it set timetables for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Last week, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, said senators in both parties are frustrated with the Iraqi government's lack of progress in meeting political goals and reconciling the country's religious and ethnic groups.
However, Bush expressed confidence in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in a telephone call from his ranch in Texas, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
"The president reaffirmed his confidence in the prime minister and noted the courage that he has shown in a challenging and difficult year," Fratto said.
"Obviously we want the Iraqis and the Iraqi parliament to move as quickly as possible," Fratto said. "Progress on advancing these initiatives is not moving as quickly as anyone wants -- and I think that includes Prime Minister Maliki and many members of parliament."
#1
Unfortunate, but sadly pragmatic. Hopefully the plan will never need to emerge from that dusty file drawer, much like the Pentagon's plans for invading Canada.
Azhar al-Dulaimi was killed on Friday during clashes with US troops as they tried to capture him in northern Baghdad, said Maj Gen William Caldwell. He was believed to be behind a raid in which guerrillas posing as US troops attacked a military base in Karbala.
One US soldier was killed and four others abducted and later gunned down. US forces had been hunting al-Dulaimi since the sophisticated January attack, in which English-speaking gunmen with American weapons and military uniforms attacked a joint US-Iraqi military headquarters in the Shia city.
"We found him finally Friday morning," Maj Gen Caldwell told CNN. "We went in on a precision operation to capture him and in the pursuing engagement that occurred, he was killed."
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/21/2007 15:14 ||
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#1
"We went in on a precision operation to capture him and in the pursuing engagement that occurred, he was killed."
Shot 458 times. Whoops. I see that Rock Island Arsenal is ordering $700 million of small caliber rounds this year. Shorting local gun shops and cop shops.
AoS note: put the source URL in the source box, NOT embedded in the text.
Some highlights:
Nine suspects in the kidnapping of the soldiers have been detained in the search over the past 24 hours in the Amiriya region in eastern Anbar province, as General Petraeus stated that at least two of the soldiers may be alive and there is good intelligence on who conducted the attack and kidnapping.
The Albu Issa tribe dominates the Amiriya region, and the tribe is split between pro-government elements which largely dominate the urbanized areas and the pro al Qaeda elements which rule in the rural regions. The pro government Albu Issa provide police to patrol in Amiriya, and a large segment of the Fallujah police force is made up of Albu Issa. The pro al Qaeda Albu Issa as well as the Zuba'a from Zaidon have close tribal ties to the Karbuli (or Quarghuli) tribe that is dominant in the region where the troops were kidnapped. An American military intelligence source informed us the Karbuli tribe is one of the original "Sinister Six" tribes which signed on to al Qaeda's political front, the Islamic State of Iraq, which also includes the Albu Issa, Zuba'a, and the Albu Fahd tribes. The Albu Fahd have rejected al Qaeda's Islamic State, while the Albu Issa has been split.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/21/2007 10:34 ||
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Posted by: DanNY ||
05/21/2007 16:49 Comments ||
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#3
An American military intelligence source informed us the Karbuli tribe is one of the original "Sinister Six" tribes which signed on to al Qaeda's political front, the Islamic State of Iraq, which also includes the Albu Issa, Zuba'a, and the Albu Fahd tribes. The Albu Fahd have rejected al Qaeda's Islamic State, while the Albu Issa has been split.
In a May 9 press briefing, Coalition spokesman Major General William Caldwell said that, although six months ago some said al-Anbar was lost, today -due to the patience, perseverance, and commitment of the people in that province -there are encouraging signs of security progress.
Increasing collaboration between tribal and Iraqi key leaders has resulted in numerous elected municipal councils and much more active community mayors. Successful tribal engagement has also brought a dramatic rise in recruitment for both the Iraqi Army (IA) and the Iraqi police from among the Anbari population. The last three basic training courses for the IA ran over 100% of capacity just to handle all of the new recruits in spite of al-Qaidas continuous campaign of murder and intimidation.
Recent combined operations in Ramadi with Iraqi security and Coalition forces, including the establishment of Iraqi police stations and joint security stations throughout the city, have proven successful in clearing the majority of the city of insurgents and al-Qaida in Iraq.
Iraqi Military Takes Charge of Training:
The Iraqi Army began issuing U.S. M-4 carbines and M-16 rifles to their soldiers this month. In order to account for the weapons issued, a series of biometrics, such as finger printing, eye retinal scans, and voice recordings are collected. Additionally, a photograph of the soldier with his weapon is taken, showing the serial number.
Iraqi Health Care Professional Enhance Skills:
Nearly 30 Iraqi nurses, doctors, medics, and laboratory and radiology technicians completed an eight-week Trauma Clinical Rotation Program at the Ibn Sina Hospital in Baghdad May 10. The day also marked the grand opening of the Iraqi Surgeon Generals Trauma Simulation Lab, where Iraqi health care staff will now train with state of the art equipment.
Iraq Makes Progress on Crucial Constitution Reform Plan:
The Iraqi constitutional reform committee sent to Iraqs Council of Representatives (CoR) a plan to reform the constitution, an important step towards implementing national reconciliation.
New Political Alliance in Iraq Parliament:
Members of Iraqs CoR are working to form a new political alliance that includes the Kurdish list. Member of Parliament Mahmoud Othman said Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called three weeks ago to form a political bloc with the participation of all Iraqi sects in order to support the government and renounce political sectarianism.
Iraqs Parliament Objects to Security Walls, Summons Maliki:
Iraqs CoR adopted a resolution objecting to the construction of security walls around Baghdad neighborhoods and calling on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to testify concerning security issues in the country. Harry and Nancy must be having an influence.
Electricity:
For the week of May 9-15, power from the grid met 37% of total demand nationally and 29% for Baghdad.
There are currently nine 400kV lines out of service, seriously impacting the power flows around the country. As a result, the system remains very fragile and experiences frequency drops that result in units tripping, as well as blackouts in several areas of the country. The energy Fusion Cell has been tasked to assist in providing security for the repair of the Mussayib-Baghdad south lines, the Baghdad West-Baghdad South line, and the Haditha-Baghdad West line. The Ministry of Electricity is responsible for repairing the Bayji Baghdad West #1 line, and the Baghdad North to Baghdad West line. The other line outages are likewise the Ministrys responsibility, and may be delayed as security issues are addressed.
UN Envoy Gambari Will Travel to Riyadh to Discuss Saudi Debt Relief:
Just back from the official launch of the International Compact with Iraq, a five-year plan for peace and development, Ibrahim Gambari, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons Special Adviser for the International Compact with Iraq and Other Political Issues, said that he will travel to Riyadh to discuss aid to Iraq with Saudi officials. There are all kinds of negotiations going on, particularly between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Kuwait and Iraq, Bulgaria and Iraq in terms of the details of their commitments, Gambari said.
Cautious Optimism on Inflation Continues:
The Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperations Consumer Price Index for April showed that overall inflation was 1.9% for the month, which put year-to-date inflation at 2.8%, which projects a pace well below the International Monetary Fund annual target of 30%. Core inflation (which excludes fuel and transport prices) was -0.9%, with year-on-year core inflation at 17.9%, down from 23.0% in March. There is cautious optimism that the Central Bank of Iraqs monetary tightening is having the desired effect.
CCCI Convicts 33, Sentences One to Death, One to Life Imprisonment:
The Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) convicted 33 individuals April 30-May 5 for violations of the Iraqi Terrorist Law, Penal Code, and Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Orders enforced by the Iraqi judiciary.
The trial court sentenced one individual to death April 30 after being found guilty of violating Iraqs Terrorist Law. The individual was captured August 24, 2006 near Ramadi by Multi-National Forces and subsequently admitted to being a foreign fighter from Algeria, belonging to Jaysh al-Islam, possessing a false identification card and conducting attacks against Coalition Forces (CF) in Iraq.
CCCI sentenced one individual to life imprisonment April 30 after being found guilty of violating Iraqs Terrorist Law. The individual admitted that he financed a ten-man insurgent group that was responsible for conducting at least six improvised explosive device attacks against Multi-National Forces in Iraq. The individual was captured November 17, 2006.
Since its establishment under an amendment to CPA Order 13, in April 2004, the Central Criminal Court has held 2,115 trials for suspected criminals apprehended by CF. The Iraqi Court proceedings have resulted in the conviction of 1,821 individuals with sentences ranging from imprisonment to death.
Japan Votes to Extend Iraq Mission:
Japans lower house of parliament approved a two-year extension of the countrys air force transport mission in Iraq. Prime Minister Shinzo Abes government has argued that the mission is needed to help stabilize Iraq and prevent the spread of terrorism. Japan backed the U.S.-led Iraq invasion and provided troops for a non-combat, humanitarian mission in southern Iraq in 2004-2006. Last year, it expanded its Kuwait-based operations to airlift UN and Coalition personnel and supplies into Baghdad.
UN Promises Support for Iraqi Constitutional Reform:
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq Ashraf Qazi reiterated the determination of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq to assist the Committee in its efforts to deal with the core constitutional issues at the heart of how Iraqs federal system will function, namely a balanced division of powers between the federal government and the regions, and a system for the fair distribution of oil revenues throughout Iraq.
Iraqi Parliament Votes for Legal Proceedings Against al-Jazeera:
The Iraqi Parliament voted May 9 to begin legal proceedings against al-Jazeera television after the Arabic news channel allegedly made insults against Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Several deputies suggested that the network be sued before the International Criminal Court in The Hague for what they said amounted to fueling sectarian violence in Iraq.
The move by parliament follows May 4 protests in Basrah and Najaf by hundreds of Shiites who were angered by a program on al-Jazeera in which the host questioned Sistanis leadership credentials.
The controversy has received extensive coverage by the Iraqi media, which some Shiite television channels devoting hours to the issue. They don't have Oprah, ya know.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/21/2007 06:22 ||
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BAGHDAD - Bombings killed seven US soldiers in Baghdad and a southern city, the US military said, as the countrys Sunni vice president spoke out against a proposed oil law, clouding the future of a key benchmark for assuring continued US support for the government.
Six of the soldiers were killed Saturday in a bombing in western Baghdad, the military said in a statement Sunday. Their interpreter was also killed. The other soldier died in a blast Saturday in Diwaniyah, a mostly Shia city 80 miles (129 kilometers) south of the capital where radical Shia militias operate. Two soldiers were wounded in that attack, the military said.
Those deaths brought the number of American troops killed in Iraq since Friday to at least 15 _ eight of them in Baghdad. So far, at least 71 US forces have died in Iraq this month _ most of them from bombs.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/21/2007 01:45 ||
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#1
I'm fed up with the bullshit excuses for not having more Predators in the sky. There are 3-4 of them airborne at one time over the entire country of Iraq, about 1% of what it would it take to really suppress IED emplacement.
The usual suspects squawk about the cost. Bullshit! A Predator flight (4-5 drones and their ground equipment) costs about $20 million to equip, 1/10 of what the war is costing every day. At present there are only 12 operating units in the entire Air Force, after 8 years of successful combat service.
Personally, I suspect the Silk Scarf Lobby, the loose fraternity of glory hounds and Right Stuff poseurs who reflexively resent anything that does not take its pilot along for the ride. Rumsfeld, a one-time Navy airedale, was a made member.
#2
Predators are not the only UAVs around. Nor likely the most appropriate for urban surveillance (I do suspect a significant element of truth in AC's criticism however.) One problem with Predator in an urban environment is coordination of assets and prioritization of mission - units arguing over access time or Predators running into each other.) Ideally (IMNSHO) what you want are ultra-light ('disposable') UAVs controlled locally at the company level. I bet I could come up with a functional design that would cost under $10,000 a copy with parts from the local hobby shops (except for an explosive 'kamikaze' attachment for use on urgent high-value targets).
#3
Glenmore - I thought I'd seen hand-launched UAV's. Maybe I'm getting them confused with the flying model of a B-52?
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/21/2007 8:28 Comments ||
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#4
For a high profile area like Baghdad, there is no reason not to at least experiment with high altitude blimps. Just videotaping the entire city 24/7 would allow you to follow vehicles back to their place of origin.
The Aerostat Joint Program Office has had its budget doubled to almost half a billion dollars, even though the missile spotting high altitude blimp was canceled.
Even the Goodyear blimp could have a major impact.
This is known technology and not that expensive by military standards.
#5
Bobby, you have seen such UAVs. They pack up into a nice little container. Very popular for quick looks over the horizon in the battlefield. As I understand it, they don't have the loiter time for sustained surveillance though. Not sure if they have multi-wavelength sensors or not (need to.) I am pretty sure there is a lot of stuff 'in the pipeline' regarding UAVs, etc., but like most government projects it will drag on forever and get all sorts of expensive add-ons to provide contracts to every participating politician's favorite lobbying group.
#6
There have been one or two of those aerostat blimps at Baghdad airport for a couple years now. Not sure what their sensors or capabilities are.
The primary tactic against IEDs needs to be killing (not enticing into some political arrangement, not hiring away, not persuading) the organizers, builders, and emplacers (yes, incl. the guys paid by the day - ya kill those guys and people will find other ways to turn a dinar). The other main element needs to be disrupting (not maintaining) normal life as much as needed to mitigate the threat. Should have been standard practice to bulldoze the nearest buildings to any IED site. Much wailing and bad photos, and probably fewer IEDs over time, probably pretty quickly.
#8
The price of acquiring and operating the Predators is just part of the problem. You also have to train people to interpret what they see on the screen in front of them. It takes anywhere from six months to two years to get someone adequately trained to do that. Its also something that not everyone can do. The Air Force has about 1500 people trained to do that, total. Those 1500 people also man about eight stateside and overseas bases. It also takes from three to six months to become acclimated to your duty area of responsibility - to know the difference between a common, everyday activity and something suspicious. The good news is that you can data-link the imagery from the predators to anywhere in the world for the readout and reporting back, so you don't have constant turnover and a constant learning curve. We need more drones, I agree. We also need more people to interpret what those drones see, and a more timely link between the imaging system, the interpreter, and the unit receiving the report to act on it.
When I was in Vietnam, it usually took 12 to 18 hours to respond to an intelligence "find". I think the turn-around in Iraq is more on the line of two to three hours. It needs to be reduced to less than 30 minutes.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/21/2007 15:32 Comments ||
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#9
OP is absolutely right re: the manpower / training issue.
Other UAVs in theater or in progress:
Army Shadow 200s, similar to Predators. Battalion-level controlled. Some deployed, others in the pipeline.
Future Combat Systems planned UAVs are at 4 levels, from Type 1 for squads to Type 4 for brigade level. Contracts for Type 1 & 4 have been already awarded and they are being finalized for manufacturing now; type 1 is similar to the Raven and type 4 is a helo.
Contracts for Type 2 (company level) and type 3 (battalion level) are on hold as of February 2007. Designs for these 2 had not been decided, although the Type 2 will probably be a VTOL ducted fan "flying trashcan" model launched from a Humvee or Stryker, 2 airframes with one control station. Alternate design that DARPA evaluated was a rotor wing. Type 3 designs were likely to be an evolved version of the Shadow.
I just got back last night from a tech meeting that discussed some of the issues re: deploying and using these for recon, surveillance and targetting. The USAF's setup for Predator operation is, to quote one attendee, "designed by someone who never flew a plane". I.e. okay for the R/S/T mission in Iraq where there is little effective opposition, but inadequate for UCAV (i.e. offensive) operations. LOTS of work going into making this viable for pilots to operate remotely, since we are not yet at the point where these things can (or would be trusted yet to) operate fully autonomously.
RE: payloads, the manpackable miniUAVs are okay for e.g. short visual recons during ops. Cannot provide the power needed for longer surveillance flights and/or more sophisticated sensor packages. Lots of work going on to optimize this.
Finally, as we move to autonomously enabled unmanned vehicles (air, land, sea), a key factor becomes the software algorithms that allow joint / shared mission planning and execution. For example, one UAV picks up on a hostile in a truck, tracks it through the plane's area of operations, does a handoff to the next UAV automatically while also vectoring in ground forces (manned or unmanned). Again, a lot of progress on this but not ready for theater deployment.
A few years from now this stuff will be pretty amazing and transformational. The existing Predators are, frankly, old stuff with some significant flight time and other limitations. But we'll use them as long as we can while getting ready to field the real thing.
#10
"But we'll use them as long as we can while getting ready to field the real thing."
More, faster, please!
Posted by: DanNY ||
05/21/2007 16:46 Comments ||
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#11
I share the urgency, DanNY. So does every commander in theater, from what I can tell. But OP's right about the manpower bottleneck. We've currently got pilots doing 12 hr missions as it is.
#12
Thank you for what you and the others are doing, occasional observer. In the meantime, I suspect our wonderful troops will muddle through magnificently.
#13
This sounds like a situation where some older guys (40s & 50s) who have no previous military experience, but do have some flight training and computer experience and are physically fit would come in useful.
I fit those characteristics and I am ready and willing to serve! Please let someone get some sense and use ALL of our national resources in this war!
Posted by: DanNY ||
05/21/2007 17:05 Comments ||
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(Xinhua) - Eight Palestinians were killed and up to 12 wounded in an Israeli air strike on a family compound of a senior Hamas lawmaker in eastern Gaza city Sunday evening. Muawia Hassanin, spokesman for ambulance service, said the victims were relatives of Khalil al-Haiya, a senior lawmaker from Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Hassanin added that the there was an old man among the dead while a lady and two children are among the wounded. "The death toll is expected to rise due to some critical conditions among the injuries," Hassanin said.
Witnesses said at least one air-to-ground was fired into the family compound which is located a few meters away from al-Haiya's house. A source from Hamas, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Haiya was inside his house when the bombing happened, confirming that the former chief of Hamas' parliamentary bloc was unharmed.
The strike came hours after the Israeli Cabinet decided to step up operations against leaders of the ruling Hamas party and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War). The decision was taken after the two factions increased rocket attacks into southern Israel territories, causing damage to some houses and wounding a number of people in Sderot town over the past days. Last Thursday, Israel resumed air strikes against Hamas targets. After midnight, an air raid on a car killed three members of Hamas' military wing and a fourth 15-year-old boy has died in another Israeli shelling.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
When will this war on bunnies and orphaned ducks ever end?
Israel escalated its strikes against Gaza militants on Sunday, killing eight Palestinians in an aerial assault that struck the home of a prominent Hamas politician, medics and a source in the Islamist group said.
It was the first time in many months Israel appeared to have targeted a figure regarded as a politician of the Islamist militant group that rose to power a year ago but has been shunned by the West for refusing to recognize the Jewish state.
The attack punched a hole into the porch of the home of Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas lawmaker, in Gaza City's Sejaiyeh quarter, as family members and relatives gathered. Hayya was not there at the time and was safe.
Hamas's armed wing said six of those killed were civilians and two others were militants. A dozen or so other people were also wounded by the blast.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed there had been an air strike in Gaza, but denied Hayya's home had been targeted. "There was an air strike against a group of armed Hamas men," the spokeswoman said.
Israel's Army Radio described Hayya as a senior member of the group's military wing that orchestrates rocket attacks against Israel. The group denied that Hayya was a member of its armed wing.
Hundreds of supporters surrounded Hayya later as he visited the morgue at Gaza's Shifa Hospital. Many punched bloodied fists into the air and shouted for revenge. "It is a long march and I'm only a sacrifice for the people," Hayya said.
Hamas's armed wing vowed its "response will be like an earthquake" and its gunmen launched more rockets at Israel, hitting several places but causing no casualties.
TANK GUNNERS ENTER THE FRAY
Israeli tank gunners responded by firing several volleys at additional targets in Gaza, including the home of a Hamas militant in Beit Lahiya, wounding him and four of his children, Palestinian security sources and medics said.
The Israeli army had no immediate comment.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said earlier his security cabinet had decided to step up strikes against militant leaders involved in rocket attacks against southern Israel, stopping short of ordering a wider offensive in the coastal strip.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned both the decision and the ensuing Israeli attacks.
"This escalation will lead the Middle East to more violence and instability," the aide, Nabil Abu Rdainah, said.
Ministers had resolved to "intensify operational steps...by striking at terrorist infrastructure and those who operate the Qassam attacks," Olmert told reporters, using Hamas's name for the makeshift rockets.
Olmert said military operations would focus on the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants whom he accused of being responsible for an escalation in rocket firings in the past week.
"If these strong steps don't bring about calm, the cabinet will meet to weigh additional, more drastic steps," he added.
Sunday's air strike raised to 27 the number of Palestinians Israel has killed in Gaza since it stepped up air raids in response to heightened rocket attacks that have wounded a dozen Israelis in the past week.
Israel killed three suspected Hamas militants in a Gaza air strike earlier on Sunday.
Hayya, the apparent target of Israel's strike, had earlier played a role in announcing a deal calling a formal end to the deadliest fighting between Hamas and rival
Fatah gunmen since a unity government deal in March, battles in which 49 were killed.
#2
Very positive responses, especially tank fire. These silly asses have to be clubbed in the head just to get their attention. If they think they can get away with rocket assaults on Israel they will continue until strong medicine is applied to the open wound.
(Xinhua) -- The northern most entry point to the Tamil Tiger rebel territory from areas of government control is to be re-opened on Monday, officials said Sunday. The Omanthai point has been closed since Wednesday when the military claimed that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels fired mortar and artillery fire in the area prompting the military to hit back.
Davide Vignati, the spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that they had received safety guarantees from both the military and the rebels to ensure the safety of the ICRC personnel at Omanthai checkpoint. The ICRC personnel had withdrawn from Omanthai when the clashes escalated last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the military said that at least three rebels were killed in northern Jaffna peninsula's Muhamalai forward defense line on Saturday night. The LTTE rebels tried to infiltrate into military camp in the area when the Army fired at the rebels.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) - Lebanese troops tightened a siege of a Palestinian refugee camp Monday where a shadowy group suspected of ties to al-Qaida was holed up, pounding the camp with artillery a day after the worst eruption of violence since the end of the country's civil war. Lebanese officials said one of the men killed in Sunday's fighting was a suspect in a failed German train bombing - a new sign that the camp had become a refuge for militants planning attacks outside of Lebanon. In the past, others in the camp have said they were aiming to send trained fighters into Iraq.
Saddam El-Hajdib was the fourth-highest ranking official in the Fatah Islam group, an official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. El-Hajdib had been on trial in absentia in Lebanon in connection with the failed German plot and is the brother of another suspect in custody in Germany.
Meanwhile, another attack in a Christian neighbourhood of Beirut late Sunday raised fears of growing instability across Lebanon. The violence between the army and the Fatah Islam group in the northern port city of Tripoli and the adjacent Nahr el-Bared refugee camp has killed at least 27 soldiers and 20 militants, security officials said Monday. The clashes are a significant blow to a country already mired in a dire political crisis between the western-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition.
Little is known about the ideology and backing of the Fatah Islam group. Some officials in Lebanon believe it has ties to al-Qaida, and the group has said it follows an al Qaida ideology. But other Lebanese officials claim it is simply a Syrian-backed group sent by Damascus to destabilize the country after Syria's forced withdrawal from Lebanon in April 2005.
Hundreds of troops, backed by tanks and armoured carriers, surrounded the camp early Monday, as black smoke billowed into the air. The militants responded at daybreak by firing back with mortars. The clashes between army troops surrounding the camp and Fatah Islam fighters began Sunday after a gunbattle raged in a neighbourhood in Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni city known to have Islamic militants, witnesses said.
Meanwhile, in Beirut late Sunday, an explosion across the street from a busy shopping mall killed a 63-year-old woman and injured 12 other people in the Christian sector of the Lebanese capital, police said. The bomb left a crater about one-metre deep and three-metres wide, and police said the explosives were estimated to weigh 10 kilograms. The blast - heard across the city - gutted cars, set vehicles ablaze and shattered store and apartment windows. Beirut and surrounding suburbs have seen a series of explosions in the last two years, many targeting Christian areas. Authorities blamed Fatah Islam for Feb. 13 bombings of commuter buses that killed three people, but the group denied involvement.
Syria has denied involvement in any of the bombings, but Lebanon's national police commander Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi said Sunday that Damascus was using the Fatah Islam group as a covert way to wreak havoc in the country, with people assuming it's al-Qaida. "Perhaps there are some deluded people among them but they are not al-Qaida. This is imitation al-Qaida, a 'Made in Syria' one," he told The Associated Press.
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. TV station reported Sunday that among the dead militants were men from Bangladesh, Yemen and other Arab countries, underlining the group's reach outside of Lebanon. A senior Lebanese security official said a high-ranking member of Fatah Islam, known as Abu Yazan, was among those killed. Hundreds of Lebanese applauded the army's tough response in the refugee camp in a sign of the long-standing tensions that remain between some Lebanese and the estimated 350,000 Palestinians who have taken refuge in Lebanon since the creation of Israel in 1948.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said the fighting was a "dangerous attempt at hitting Lebanese security." Mainstream Sunni Muslim leaders, clerics and politicians threw their support behind the army, as did the Palestine Liberation Organization representative in Lebanon. It also underlined the difficulty authorities have in trying to defeat the country's armed groups which control pockets across Lebanon.
Fatah Islam is an offshoot of the pro-Syrian Fatah Uprising, which broke from the mainstream Palestinian Fatah movement in the early 1980s and has headquarters in Syria, Lebanese officials say. It is believed to be led by Shaker Youssef al-Absi, a Palestinian who was sentenced to death in absentia in July 2004 by a Jordanian military court for conspiring in a plot that led to the assassination in Jordan of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley. Al-Qaida in Iraq and its former leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were blamed for the killing.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/21/2007 07:42 ||
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#1
The MSM has is in a vocabulary quagmire as they "pound" out these stories.
#2
Here's hoping the Lebanese are going to use the al-q infestation as a valid reason to just excise the entire "refugee-camp" tumor once and for all...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/21/2007 8:50 Comments ||
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#3
EXCAL :) LOL. I love when the MSM doesn't have a clue and needs a score card to sort out the bad guys from the bad guys.
lol! Do you mean like this line? The clashes are a significant blow to a country already mired in a dire political crisis between the western-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition.
#5
I find the whole thing amazing: the Lebanese army is actively fighting not only the Palestinians in the camps, but Hizb'allah as well. This is the same Lebanese army that is supposed to be riddled with Shiite Hizb'allah supporters throughout the ranks, that Hizb'allah leadership only last summer claimed that should the army tried to fight them a majority of the soldiers would refuse, that stood by while Syria rearmed Hizb'allah with Iranian weapons smuggled underneath vegetables. The same Lebanese army that was helpless when attacked by Palestinians from the camps not long ago, who'd extended their control beyond the camp gates to the point of attacking with impunity army units patrolling nearby neighborhoods.
#7
I wuz just watching Fox in the breakroom. They were showing video of some of the fighting. This isn't just a fire-fight, it's pretty heavy. Lots of smoke, explosions, and bodies.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/21/2007 13:47 Comments ||
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#8
The New York Times, which occasionally gets things right, has this to say link :
On Sunday, Lebanese citizens, who hold the Palestinians responsible for sparking the civil war in 1975, cheered the army on the streets of Tripoli and outside the camp.
Fatah al-Islam has been a growing concern for security authorities in Lebanon and much of the region. Intelligence officials say that the group counts between 150 and 200 fighters in its ranks and that it subscribes to the fundamentalist precepts of Al Qaeda.
The groups leader, Shakir al-Abssi, is a fugitive Palestinian and former associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia who was killed last year in Iraq. In the six months since he arrived from Syria, Mr. Abssi has established a base of operations at the Nahr al Bared camp, the scene of the fighting on Sunday.
What began as a raid Sunday on several homes in Tripoli in pursuit of suspected bank robbers connected to Fatah al-Islam quickly escalated into an open confrontation with the group at their stronghold in the camp. Three soldiers and four militants were killed in the early morning confrontation, said a Lebanese security official who was not authorized to speak publicly. Hours later, they said, militants tied to the group attacked an army patrol in the Koura region south of Tripoli, killing four more soldiers. The gunmen also attacked soldiers who were passing by and were unaware of the fighting, said Lebanons information minister, Ghazi Aridi.
Residents of Tripoli expressed support for the armys efforts. This should have happened from the start, said one man, who stood in a crowd of onlookers as the tanks fired into the camp. The crowd shouted, God is great, and God protect the army, with each shell fired. We wish the government would destroy the whole camp and the rest of the camps, said another in the crowd, Ahmad al-Marooq. Nothing good comes out of the Palestinians.
Residents of the camp said that water and electricity had been cut off.
#10
We wish the government would destroy the whole camp and the rest of the camps, said another in the crowd, Ahmad al-Marooq. Nothing good comes out of the Palestinians.
Aha, yet another bid for genocide.
It warms my heart.
I asked you to take a week off due to your comments Sunday. Do I need to make it a request?
#11
We wish the government would destroy the whole camp and the rest of the camps, said another in the crowd, Ahmad al-Marooq. Nothing good comes out of the Palestinians.
Heh.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/21/2007 18:49 Comments ||
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#12
We wish the government would destroy the whole camp and the rest of the camps, said another in the crowd, Ahmad al-Marooq. Nothing good comes out of the Palestinians.
Boy nails it in one.
Posted by: Mac ||
05/21/2007 19:04 Comments ||
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Lebanon's army battled militants who threatened to open "gates of fire" after clashes which killed 21 people, 13 of them soldiers, on Sunday. If you're "refugees" in somebody else's country and you threaten to open "gates of fire," they're absolutely justified if they kill you all to the last man, woman, and child. Or they could just kick your collective backside far enough out of their country that you won't bother them again. Antarctica's nice this time of year. Relatively.
It was Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, and was triggered when security forces raided homes in Tripoli to arrest suspects from the Fatah al-Islam group accused of robbing a bank a day earlier. A Lebanese military source said the army shot down a high-ranking officer within the Fatah Al-Islam group. The military source told added that the man, known as Abu Mayzen, was the third assistant to the group leader Shaker Al-Absi. We're waiting to hear about his demise, too...
The man, who is believed to be behind explosions that targeted civilian buses in the Meten town of Ain Alaq earlier this year, was one of several militants shot down in one of the city's streets during mopping-up operations by Lebanese law and order forces. According to latest reports, the law and order forces had succeeded in restoring law and order to the city and various other northern Lebanon trouble spots, where the group was also active, including Akkar. However, members of the group who had left the refugee camp have escaped and are now on the run in neighboring villages and bushes. Making for Syria and home over the backroads, are they?
Meanwhile, Tripoli residents were cautioned to stay away from trouble spots for their own safety. We comment occasionally on the fact that it's been 60 years and the Paleos are still "refugees." Then something like this happens to remind us that even only somewhat normal societies like Leb don't need to make this kind of mindset welcome. There's a reason the Paleos haven't been welcomed as permanent settlers, and that reason is Gaza. And Ein el-Hellhole. And all the other places festering with mindless "militancy." And their behavior in Kuwait. And Iraq. And Jordan ...
Elsewhere in Lebanon, cautious calm prevailed as Lebanese army troops were taking serious measures to enforce the law through setting up checkpoints on highways and coastal roads converging on the capital Beirut, specifically the Damascus Road. Vans and buses were submitted to meticulous searches by the army. Trying to make sure the dishpits don't explode downtown in the capital.
A cabinet minister said the fighting with the group seemed timed to try to derail U.N. moves to set up an international court to investigate political killings in Lebanon.
A cabinet minister said the fighting with the group seemed timed to try to derail U.N. moves to set up an international court to investigate political killings in Lebanon.
Comes as a surprise, huh? Who'da ever expected something like that?
Thirteen soldiers were killed at Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli and in an attack on an army patrol in al-Qalamoun, just south of the city, a security source said. Four Fatah al-Islam militants were killed in the camp, which is home to 40,000 Palestinian refugees. Medical sources in the camp said four civilians, including two children, had also been killed and 45 wounded. [Tap! Tap!] Damned sympathy meter appears to be dead! Maybe it's the batteries.
Fatah al-Islam said the army had launched an unprovoked attack. "Yeah! We wudn't do nuttin'! We wuz just standin' around with our AKs and our bandoliers, when -- Bang! -- they jumps us outta nowhere!"
"We warn the Lebanese army of the consequences of continuing the provocative acts against our mujahideen who will open the gates of fire ... against (the army) and against the whole of Lebanon," it said in a statement. "Fearsome bastards, ain't we? Youse should tremble in yer boots!"
The army had tightened its grip around Nahr al-Bared camp since authorities charged Fatah al-Islam members with two bus bombings in a Christian area near Beirut in February. Three civilians were killed by the bombs. Don't forget the bank heist yesterday, either.
Cabinet minister Ahmad Fatfat, speaking in Tripoli, linked the clashes to what he said were efforts to derail U.N. moves to set up the international tribunal for suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. A U.N. probe has implicated Syria and Lebanese officials in the Hariri killing. Damascus denies any involvement in the killing. It also denies any link to Fatah al-Islam which, according to its leader, has no organisational links to al Qaeda but agrees with its aim of fighting 'infidels'. Just another Syrian front organization. Syrian intel is to Fateh al-Islam as ISI is to the Taliban.
Syria closed two of its border crossings into northern Lebanon because of the security situation there, according to an official Syrian statement. The main crossing remained open. An official source of the Syrian Interior Ministry told the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that the closure of the border exits of Al-Arida and Al-Dabbousiah was for security reasons. The border checkpoints will remain closed until resoration of normal security conditions in northern Lebanon.
Fatfat told Lebanon's pro-government Future TV: "There is someone trying to create security chaos to say to world public opinion: 'Look, if the tribunal is established, there will be security trouble in Lebanon'." I think the International Community is aware of that fact. They're probably even aware of who's behind the security trouble, though they're also probably trying not to be. The International Community works hard to keep its ability to tie one event to another in a stunted condition.
The United States, France and Britain last week circulated a draft U.N. resolution that would unilaterally set up the court, which is at the heart of a political crisis in Lebanon.
The rattle of assault rifles and machineguns could be heard, and thuds from explosions rocked the Nahr al-Bared area after the fighting broke out before dawn. Residents were trapped indoors and called for a ceasefire to evacuate the wounded. They always do that. Eventually the ceasefire always comes, at which point the bad guyz have the opportunity to rearm and keep the festivities going interminably.
The army sent in reinforcements to the outskirts of the camp where smoke could be seen rising into the air. The army is not allowed into Palestinian camps under a 1969 Arab agreement. When Arabs agree it's usually on something that stunningly stoopid.
An army statement said the clashes began when Fatah al-Islam attacked army posts around the camp and in northern Tripoli. Security forces had also been trying to arrest Fatah al-Islam members, security sources said. A group of suspected Fatah al-Islam members had been detained, the sources said. Which'd be why they attacked, of course...
Security forces clashed with militants in Tripoli itself while trying to arrest Fatah al-Islam members holed up in a building in the predominantly Muslim city, which is Lebanon's second largest. Smoke rose from a building in the city. Fatah al-Islam was formed last year by fighters who broke off from the Syria-backed Fatah Uprising group.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
ASIA TIMES > THE SECOND COMING OF SALADIN. Conditions are about right for a Hero = Messiah. Not a rich-boy or oil scion either, but a cross between MOHAMMED BUNDY + GENGHIS KHAN, ETAL.
#3
*I* think all the smart wackos have gone off to fight the infidel Crusaders in The Land Between Two Rivers, leaving the less-than-the-sharpest-knife-in-the-drawer types to fend for themselves in Lebanon and Gaza.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/21/2007 6:34 Comments ||
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#4
Inbreeding
Posted by: john ||
05/21/2007 6:58 Comments ||
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#5
Keeps the Leb Army in target practice. Heavy on the shelling please.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/21/2007 6:58 Comments ||
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#6
actually the Pals have been pretty well behaved in Jordan SINCE 1970, when the Jordanian Army dealt with the "militants" in fact Jordan has shown you dont need to keep them in camps as "refugees" Places like ein hell hole exist because countries like Lebanon dont want to absorb the Pals (given Lebs precarious ethnic balnace, understandable, maybe, but still)
Theres no justification whatsoever for deliberately killing all members of any ethnic group to the last man, woman and child. You kill the killers, maybe you kill the individuals who support them. And thats it.
#7
The camps are off limits to the Lebanese Army and Government as I understand it. So you end up with a terrorist training refugee camp. Let's see, the bank robberies were merely alms for the poor. Damn, they have a Chinese menu of terrorists groups in Lebanon.
#8
To be fair, first they were refugees fleeing the fighting, and hoping to profit from following the triumphant Arab armies back in 1948. They were locked up in the camps by their loving Arab brothers, who then -- with the help and financial aid from the U.N. -- proceeded to indoctrinate them with hatred and the idea of self sacrifice in order to make them the shock troops of the upcoming conquest... so successfully that they quickly became a danger to all around them. Yes, the Palestinian "refugee camps" are now a poison in the body of any nation hosting them, but then those nations have worked awfully hard over the decades to create that. Had they allowed the Palestinians to live and work like everyone else -- remembering that most fled back to the villages they'd left only a few years before (if I recall correctly, to be able to claim oneself as Palestinian, the relevant ancestor had only to have arrived there by 1945).
#10
"We warn the Lebanese army of the consequences of continuing the provocative acts against our mujahideen who will open the gates of fire ... against (the army) and against the whole of Lebanon," it said in a statement.
Okay...let's just remind these dumbfucks whose country it is - hopefuly by the unrestricted usage of heavy artillery barrages and bulldozers to explain just exactly the consequences of someone coming to believe they are the ones in charge when in fact they should be grateful for the refuge, less than acceptable (to the Paleostinians nd the leftists) though it be, that they have received and the enormous sums of money that have been channeled their way by countries around the planet.
Has anyone ever done an accounting of the enormous sums that these sonsofbitches have received over the last 60 years and still managed to remain "refugees"?
#11
To be fair, first they were refugees fleeing the fighting, and hoping to profit from following the triumphant Arab armies back in 1948.
I think that may be a little too fair, tw. The only reason they left was due to promises that they would then return in triumph to reclaim land from all the dead Jews that the Arabs were supposedly going to wipe out. It was largely a voluntary abandonment of their own property. This is one major reason why "right of return" sucketh such a mighty wind.
As to the dustup in Lebanon; Leave it to the Palestinians to achieve a tipping point with their own facilitators. These ingates know no bounds. I can only hope that the Palestinians finally cause enough trouble for their hosts where they get themselves killed in large numbers. The sooner this charade of refugee status is ended, the better. The Arab world has bound up this supperating wound with filthy rags to purposefully make it fester. Like some Indian beggar thrusting his sores in your face, they continue to parade imaginary injustice to the Palestinians as some sort of righteous cause. This farce needs to end and end soon. The Arab facilitators of this intolerable psychodrama need to be brought to account for inflicting these savages upon our world.
#12
There has always been some dink such as Arafat for example to exploit the gullible, stupid and willing. As I recall Arafat became very rich while caring little for his fellow Paleos.
An explosion rocked a Christian neighborhood in the Lebanese capital Beirut late Sunday, killing one person and injuring nine, police said. An explosive device was reportedly placed under a car in a parking lot near a shopping mall in the Christian neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh. Dozens of cars were destroyed or burned and panic-stricken Lebanese were on the streets surveying the damage the loud explosion caused. Black smoke billowed over the area and Lebanese troops cordoned off the area, preventing anyone from approaching the scene in order to pave the way for ambulances.
Red Cross volunteers at the scene said that they transferred the body of a woman who had died after the wall of her apartment fell on her. 'We transferred at least nine wounded with slight injuries with shattered glass,' a Red Cross volunteer said.
The explosion came a few hours after more than 40 people were killed in northern Lebanon in fierce fighting between the Lebanese army and al-Qaeda-linked militants who ambushed soldiers near a Palestinian refugee camp. The battles had quietened by Sunday evening but tensions remained high. The streets of Tripoli were left deserted - the site of earlier gun battles that killed 23 army soldiers and some 19 al-Qaeda fighters, according to the latest casualty reports.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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Lebanese troops battled Islamist militants based in a Palestinian refugee camp on Sunday and 48 people were killed in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war.
Twenty-three soldiers and 19 militants died in the clashes, which erupted before dawn on the edge of the Nahr al-Bared camp and in the nearby Sunni Muslim city of Tripoli in north Lebanon.
A cabinet minister said the fighting with Fatah al-Islam, which the government says is backed by Syria, seemed timed to try to derail U.N. moves to set up an international court to try those suspected of carrying out political killings in Lebanon.
Four of the soldiers were killed in an attack on an army patrol in al-Qalamoun just south of Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, security sources said.
They said 15 militants were killed when troops stormed buildings they had occupied in Tripoli and four in the camp, home to 40,000 refugees. Medical sources in the camp said six civilians, including two children, were killed and 60 wounded.
The army was blasting militant positions in the camp with tank, mortar and machinegun fire, a military source said. More than 20 soldiers were wounded overall, the source added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/21/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Twenty-three soldiers and 19 militants died in the clashes
One wonders what Lebanese Army is made of.
As someone suggested in another thread, I would hire a ship to Antarctica and relocate the whole of Paleo camps.
#3
this isnt Fatah. "fatah" means struggle or something in Arabic, and they are Fatah Islam - ths struggle of Islam, or whatever. No more connected to the Abbas/Arafats Fatah then the United States is to the United Kingdom, or the United Colors of Benneton.
#4
Fatah (Arabic: فتح); a reverse acronym from the Arabic name Harakat al-Tahrir al-Watani al-Filastini (literally: "Palestinian National Liberation Movement") is a major secular Palestinian political party and the largest organization in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a generally secular multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the center-left of the spectrum. It is mainly secular and nationalist although not predominantly socialist.
The reverse acronym was chosen because it is similar to the word fath, "conquest" (after the first Arab-Muslim conquests).
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Ten Afghan civilians perished as a bomber missed his target and detonated himself amid civilians in southeastern Afghanistan early on Sunday. Over three dozen more civilians sustained injuries in the attack that targeted a joint convoy of Afghan and Coalition forces in Gardez, capital of southeastern Paktia province. "Unfortunately we have a report today that at 9:40 a bomber blew himself up in the Gardez roundabout," the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement. "Ten civilians were martyred and about 30 others were wounded." 
A roadside bomb said to be targeting the mayor of the Somali capital Mogadishu killed two people on Sunday and wounded two others, officials said. Roadside bomb explosion was detonated in Mogadishus Yaqshid district, north of the Somali capital. 
Algerian security forces have arrested 12 suspected Islamic militants accused of links to triple bombings last month and other attacks claimed by al Qaeda's north African wing, official media said on Sunday. 
(Xinhua) -- Some 200 students of a religious school in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad were reportedly arrested Sunday night, according to witnesses. The witnesses quoted the imam at the Lal Masjid mosque as saying that they were ready to sacrifice lives but would not surrender. 
The Hyderabad City Police, which is probing Fridays bomb blast at the historic Makkah Masjid, has yesterday recovered a cell phone and a remote control that could have been used to detonate the bomb that claimed several lives and caused injuries to many others. 
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The US Army tried to kill or capture Muqtada al-Sadr, the widely revered Shia cleric, after luring him to peace negotiations at a house in the holy city of Najaf, which it then attacked, according to a senior Iraqi government official. 
"We found him finally Friday morning," Maj Gen Caldwell told CNN. "We went in on a precision operation to capture him and in the pursuing engagement that occurred, he was killed."
BAGHDAD - Bombings killed seven US soldiers in Baghdad and a southern city, the US military said, as the countrys Sunni vice president spoke out against a proposed oil law, clouding the future of a key benchmark for assuring continued US support for the government.
(Xinhua) - Eight Palestinians were killed and up to 12 wounded in an Israeli air strike on a family compound of a senior Hamas lawmaker in eastern Gaza city Sunday evening. Muawia Hassanin, spokesman for ambulance service, said the victims were relatives of Khalil al-Haiya, a senior lawmaker from Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Hassanin added that the there was an old man among the dead while a lady and two children are among the wounded. "The death toll is expected to rise due to some critical conditions among the injuries," Hassanin said. 
Lebanon's army battled militants who threatened to open "gates of fire" after clashes which killed 21 people, 13 of them soldiers, on Sunday. 
An explosion rocked a Christian neighborhood in the Lebanese capital Beirut late Sunday, killing one person and injuring nine, police said. An explosive device was reportedly placed under a car in a parking lot near a shopping mall in the Christian neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh. Dozens of cars were destroyed or burned and panic-stricken Lebanese were on the streets surveying the damage the loud explosion caused. Black smoke billowed over the area and Lebanese troops cordoned off the area, preventing anyone from approaching the scene in order to pave the way for ambulances.
Lebanese troops battled Islamist militants based in a Palestinian refugee camp on Sunday and 48 people were killed in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war.
