Thought you might be interested in the following e-mail I received from ISAF.
Mr. Simmins,
It is ISAF's policy not to release enemy losses. This is not a measure of success for us.
Press Office
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Simmins [mailto:chuck@simmins.org]
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 8:20 PM
To: PRESSOFFICE
Subject: PR# 2007-563
Has there been an assessment of enemy losses in this strike? How many?
In addition, does NATO have a policy against releasing the numbers of enemy losses in their press releases? I see NATO spokesmen quoted often with numbers but rarely do those numbers appear in the actual press releases. A possible implication is that battle damage assessment and after action reporting may not be as rigorous as one might wish. Putting numbers on paper, on a web site, allows them to be cited as a source by the on-line media.
Thank you for your assistance.
Chuck Simmins
Terrorist Death Watch
http://terroristdeathwatch.com
America's North Shore Journal
http://northshorejournal.org
#4
Or at least they'll poke their heads in periodically to see how Mr. Simmons thinks they're doing, as proxy for the outside world. It was this kind of thing that formed the basis for Dan Darling's illustrious career, I do believe. :-)
#8
Dear NATO, we don't consider this a measure of success either, but we want to keep score.
Why bother saying that large numbers were killed or numerous found dead ?
Why not just say death was evident after the battle, or something vanilla like that ?
#10
Nato has "Westmoreland Body Bag Complex". Probably started by Wes Clark and resupplied by Jim Jones. What Chuck's follow-up question should be is "Okay, what is your measure of success"? And while we're at it, I thought since you are NATO and thereby proxy USA, it was DoD policy to avoid "metrics" of any kind. Wait until Harry Reid finds out we are using metrics in Afghanistan but are against them in Iraq.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/24/2007 16:02 Comments ||
Top||
#11
The problem is that sites that track losses can cause in increase in the killing. Take for example a site such as icasualties.org where they track civilian deaths reported in the media. Many news outlets use this as a yardstick to gauge success of operations in Iraq and so it gives the enemy a direct incentive to carry out mass casualty attacks in order to "keep the numbers up". It doesn't take any particular skill or courage or great support organization to blow up a crowded shopping area so numbers of civilian casualties don't in any way relate to the overall success of an insurgency. It only relates to the success in blowing up crowds of civilians and sites like icasualties.org cause more civilian deaths simply by posting the numbers of them.
The same could be said with military casualties. Sites tracking allied dead probably provide a "scoreboard" for the enemy to use. And it could be that if we began to tally enemy dead, more attention would be payed to simply killing people to "get the numbers up" than to killing the RIGHT people in order to do the most damage to their organization.
Overall, I am opposed to "body count" sites of every stripe because body counts are not a reliable indicator for counter-insurgency.
#12
How about "Count Down" sites where they start with the number of available muzzie terrorists "insurgents" and reduce by every encounter? The ol' Paki family trees won't have too many branches, even compared to the previous gene pool
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/24/2007 19:07 Comments ||
Top||
#13
c: And it could be that if we began to tally enemy dead, more attention would be payed to simply killing people to "get the numbers up" than to killing the RIGHT people in order to do the most damage to their organization
Some people have claimed that - and that's what I thought happened in Vietnam. Then I read somewhere else that our numbers for enemy dead were lower than what the Communists estimated to be their military dead. Rules of engagement and the fact that the average American soldier isn't the savage you see portrayed in Hollywood movies prevented Vietnam from becoming an unending series of My Lais.
KABUL, July 23 (AP) - (Kyodo)Dozens of suspected Taliban militants have been killed in battles with Afghan-Coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led forces said Monday. Afghan and Coalition forces routed a large number of Taliban fighters during a patrol in the northern province of Helmand in an overnight battle, the U.S.-led Coalition said in a statement.
I see the dreaded Summer Offensive is off to a fine start.
"More than four dozen insurgents had been confirmed killed by Afghan army at the scene, including what intelligence suggests were two mid- level Taliban commanders," it said, adding there were no Afghan or Coalition casualties. The militants also tried to shoot down a Coalition aircraft with a surface-to-air missile but failed, the statement added.
They keep putting their faces in the way, eventually we'll bruise our knuckles.
Meanwhile, 14 militants, including a commander, were killed in an Afghan police operation in Zabul Province in southern Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Very nice number returns!!! Plow the field, reload, and get that next cigar ready boys!
#2
Either these clowns are poorly led and poorly trained, we are getting actionable intel, or we are just getting better at killing them. I'm sure it's somewhere in the middle of that triangle.
#3
Come on, people. You know these were all innocent civilians, mostly women and children. Oh, and baby ducks - the alleged SAM was actually their mother defending them.
Either these clowns are poorly led and poorly trained, we are getting actionable intel, or we are just getting better at killing them. I'm sure it's somewhere in the middle of that triangle.
I am thinking that it is all three.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/24/2007 12:44 Comments ||
Top||
#9
These are all women, children and baby duck militants, right?
Posted by: NYT Reporter ||
07/24/2007 17:45 Comments ||
Top||
Nine Algerian soldiers were injured when a bomb was detonated near their vehicle in eastern Algeria on Monday, an army statement said. It said the soldiers were injured in the bomb that was planted by terrorists near a military barracks in Buoura State, 120 kilometers east of Algiers. The wounded were rushed to hospital and seven of them have been already discharged while the remaining two suffered serious injuries, it added.
Meanwhile, the army said government forces stopped a truck loaded with food trying to enter the Merzaneh forest, at the outskirts of Bumerdas and Tizi Ouzou States. Two persons on board the truck were arrested, said the army, and added that truck was destined for terrorist groups.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
Tajikistan said on Monday it had foiled a plot to carry out terrorist attacks against nightclubs and markets in the Central Asian republic and arrested seven Uzbek citizens over the case. Tajikistan, a Muslim nation bordering Afghanistan, is still recovering from a 1992-97 civil war between guerrillas and a secular government that killed more than 100,000 people. It has been calm since the 1997 peace settlement. Tajikistans first deputy interior minister, Sharif Nazarov, told reporters the Uzbeks were members of a militant group calling itself the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), active in the region in the late 1990s. They admitted to having been plotting a string of acts of terror in (the capital) Dushanbe, particularly night clubs and markets, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Armed Chechen separatists attacked a Russian military vehicle wounding five soldiers in Chechnya's capital city Grozny, Russian Interfax News Agency reported here on Monday. The agency quoted military sources as saying a group of gunmen attacked the vehicle wounding five Russian soldiers.
In another inicident, an explosive device blew up in the capital wounding one Russian soldier.
Russian authorities are pursuing investigations to identify and locate the culprits of the recent attacks.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
#1
hmmmm, thought the russkies had put chechnya too rest
Spain has arrested a former intelligence agent on suspicion of spying for another country, the head of Spanish intelligence said.
While working for Spanish intelligence, this person sold sensitive information to that country, Alberto Saiz told a news conference.
Saiz did not identify the country, but Cadena Ser radio said it was Russia.
Saiz did not identify the country, but Cadena Ser radio said it was Russia. If true, the revelation could become another point of contention between Western Europe and the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which is already locked in a dispute with Britain over the poisoning death in London of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.
Saiz, head of Spain's National Intelligence Center, called the case unprecedented for the Spanish intelligence services. He said the former Spanish agent was arrested on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. The state-run news agency Efe identified him as Roberto Flores Garcia.
Saiz said the agent had sold classified information - dozens of identities of agents and data on Spanish procedures, internal structures and counterintelligence activities - to a foreign country from December 2001 until February 2004.
Saiz gave assurances that neither the national security of Spain nor that of NATO or the European Union had been compromised. He said he ordered an investigation in July 2005 and a report came back to prosecutors only three weeks ago.
Spanish security forces continued their search on Monday for a suspected member of the Basque terror organisation ETA who abandoned a taxi last week and left behind a gym bag containing explosives, officials said.
Civil Guards were manning checkpoints on roads and highways in and around the resort town of Torreblanca where the suspect jumped out of the taxi to avoid a police roadblock on Thursday.
In recent weeks Spanish authorities have said they have thwarted at least three plans by ETA to carry out terror attacks.
Authorities said that traffic was heavy as thousands of vehicles were leaving the area following the weekend FIB rock festival held in Benicassim.
Investigators told reporters they were looking for Ander Múgica Andonegi who the taxi driver identified as the person who fled from his vehicle. Police are also searching for Aitor Zubillaga Zurutuza who the cabbie said was with Múgica when he picked him up at the Castellon train station.
Police said they did not know what ETAs intended target was, but noted that the organisation has carried out summer attacks at tourist resorts in the past to harm Spains lucrative tourism industry.
ETA declared a ceasefire in March 2006 but grew frustrated with the ensuing peace process with Spain's Socialist government, set off a car bomb that killed two people in December 2006 and last month formally declared the truce over.
In recent weeks Spanish authorities have said they have thwarted at least three plans by ETA to carry out terror attacks.
In June, investigators found a car loaded with 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of explosives in southwestern Spain near the Portuguese border.
On July 4 Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said ETA had intended to cause casualties in a bomb attack it had planned for the end of June. The attack was thwarted when authorities in France intercepted a van packed with explosives.
Earlier this month, police detained an alleged ETA member in the northern Spanish coastal city of Santander who had plans to carry out a terror attack using a car bomb.
While Washington is mired in political debate over the future of Iraq, the American command here has prepared a detailed plan that foresees a significant American role for the next two years.
The classified plan, which represents the coordinated strategy of the top American commander and the American ambassador, calls for restoring security in local areas, including Baghdad, by the summer of 2008. "Sustainable security" is to be established on a nationwide basis by the summer of 2009, according to American officials familiar with the document.
The detailed document, known as the Joint Campaign Plan, is an elaboration of the new strategy President George W. Bush signaled in January when he decided to send five additional American combat brigades and other units to Iraq. That signaled a shift from the previous strategy, which emphasized transferring to Iraqis the responsibility for safeguarding their security.
That new approach put a premium on protecting the Iraqi population in Baghdad, on the theory that improved security would provide Iraqi political leaders with the breathing space they needed to try political reconciliation.
The latest plan, which covers a two-year period, does not explicitly address troop levels or withdrawal schedules. It anticipates a decline in American forces as the "surge" in troops runs its course later this year or in early 2008. But it nonetheless assumes continued American involvement to train soldiers, act as partners with Iraqi forces and fight terrorist groups in Iraq, American officials said.
The U.S. seen in Iraq until at least '09U.S. and Iran resume Iraq talks amid heightened tensionsU.S. officials admit delays in issuing visas to Iraqis
goals in the document appear ambitious, given the immensity of the challenge of dealing with die-hard Sunni insurgents, renegade Shiite militias, Iraqi leaders who have made only fitful progress toward political reconciliation, as well as Iranian and Syrian neighbors who have not hesitated to interfere in Iraq's affairs. And the White House's interim assessment of progress, issued n July 12, is mixed.
But at a time when critics at home are defining patience in terms of weeks, the strategy may run into the expectations of many lawmakers for an early end to the American mission here.
The plan, developed by General David H. Petraeus, the senior American commander, and Ryan Crocker, the American ambassador, has been briefed to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral William Fallon, the head of the Central Command. It is expected to be formally issued to officials here this week.
#2
i am tired of traitors like the NYT doing everything they can to hurt our effort.
btw: interesting post on the belmont club about the effects of the press on the counterinsurgency Here
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
07/24/2007 12:48 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Darth, given the continued incompetence of W's staff and his inability gain any traction, I would guess it's a trial balloon to test public opinion. However, it could very well be a leak from a staffer or the Pentagon to subvert W. I dunno.
#5
Typically, when you know a leak exists, you release different copies of the same document, with subtle differences between them. While they usually catch on to this and paraphrase instead of using the exact text, often a subtle difference will slip through.
You may not nail the leaker the first time, but when you do...
#6
Despite how it got out, isn't it classic Bush+Cheney. Feint left, run right. They have no intention of any draw down or change of tactics anytime in the near ( 5 years ?) future. Saigon in spring 1965. Just need a little more time and a few more troops. Something is bound to work. Ha ! Talk about throwing gas onto a raging fire. The Pelosi/Reid combo is already catching hell from their base about not halting the war. This ought to lift them right off the launch pad. Pressure will now be on stopping the military budget funding. It's all they can really do now. Repurcussions will show up in Nov. 2008. Bush obviously could care less, but the Pubs who are incumbents will suffer.
#7
Interesting that Bush has never declared surrender and that this plan is focused on success. Could it be that Bush has not yet given in to the Democrats demands to declare that we hav lost and shall leave immediately?
/s
#8
I'd be surprised that the NYT has sources that close in DoD. Most of their other seditious reporting came from civvies like NSA (well, okay somewhat civvie) and CIA (classic roster of eastern establishment elitist alphas). My money says it is a plant - trial balloon - test the long haul waters. Politically it makes negotiating sense. You want us to withdraw by April? Why, heck we're planning on staying 2 more years. You'll settle for end of September 08? Okay, that gives us the time to leave successfully as measured by election malaise in 11/08 and gives some cover to the ticket of Thompson/Giuliani.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/24/2007 16:09 Comments ||
Top||
#9
I don't care about anyone's safety. Just give me my d@mn Pulitzer already!!!
Posted by: NYT Reporter ||
07/24/2007 19:12 Comments ||
Top||
#10
eastern establishment elitist alphas
What delicious scorn dripping from every syllable, Jack is Back. Yummy.
Defense lawyers at the terrorism trial of Jose Padilla on Monday challenged the accuracy of some translations and interpretations used by prosecutors. In the first day of defense testimony, lawyers argued that some expressions used by terror suspects in conversations wiretapped by the F.B.I. were not code words for waging jihad, or holy war, but rather were common Arabic euphemisms for activities like collecting donations for Muslim orphans overseas and fluffy bunny petting zoos and multicultural tolerance street fairs.
A professional Arabic translator, Kamal Yunis, told a defense lawyer, Jeanne Baker, that the surreptitiously recorded remarks made by her client, Adham Hassoun, also a terror suspect, were not about buying arms or supporting jihad, as translators and F.B.I. agents had testified for the prosecution, but were references to fund-raising for children whose parents were killed in conflicts like those in Kosovo, Lebanon and Somalia.
Mr. Yunis said that a phone call in 1997 with a Lebanese religious leader in which Mr. Hassoun expressed a desire to send you two eggplants was an expression understood by both men to mean $2,000 in donations for Muslim children abroad. Translators had testified for the prosecution that the eggplants were rocket-propelled grenades bought with Muslims donations. Mr. Hassouns references to football were another way to say someone was kicked around, Mr. Yunis testified, contradicting translations by prosecution experts who said football referred to jihad.
Mr. Hassoun and another defendant, Kifah Jayyousi, were heard using those and other unusual expressions in thousands of hours of calls collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation over nearly 10 years.
The three men are accused of providing money, equipment and other support to terrorist organizations abroad. A prosecutor, Russell Killinger, questioned Mr. Yuniss credentials. Questioning his honesty might be even more pertinent.
#1
Mr. Yunis said that a phone call in 1997 with a Lebanese religious leader in which Mr. Hassoun expressed a desire to send you two eggplants was an expression understood by both men to mean $2,000 in donations for Muslim children abroad.
According to my ownmore than extensivefood experience, shipping a pair of eggplants overseas is neither cost-effective nor a timely way of remitting vegetative substances to those abroad. What's more, if the intention was something so innocuous as "collecting donations for Muslim orphans overseas", why was it necessary to couch any mention of that act in such oblique terminology? The euphemistic nature of such a reference can only be implicit. Given the patently ridiculous nature of this code-name, it is safe to assume the worst.
Padilla's lawyer desperately needs a legal smackdown by the presiding judge.
#3
When you don't have the facts, you argue the law. When you don't have the law, you argue the facts. When you have neither, you persecute the prosecutor.
#5
Think how tedious it must be for the jurors to have to sit through this nonsense. I'd be so pissed off at having my time wasted that I'd refuse to deliberate more than five minutes.
#8
Think how tedious it must be for the jurors to have to sit through this nonsense. I'd be so pissed off at having my time wasted that I'd refuse to deliberate more than five minutes.
Let's all hope that the jurors have as much sense as you, treo.
A top Taliban commander who had became one of Pakistan's most wanted men since being released from U.S. custody in 2004 died Tuesday as security forces raided his hide-out, officials here said.
Pakistani officials said Mehsud blew himself up with a grenade early Tuesday morning rather than surrender as security forces closed in on his hideout in Zhob
Abdullah Mehsud had earned a fearsome reputation by orchestrating brazen attacks and kidnappings, and was regarded as one of the masterminds of an insurgency that has spread from Afghanistan into Pakistan and grown more intense in recent weeks.
Pakistani officials said Mehsud blew himself up with a grenade early Tuesday morning rather than surrender as security forces closed in on his hideout in Zhob, a town in Baluchistan province that lies only 30 miles from the Afghan border. The town also sits near Waziristan, a tribal area where the Pakistani military has been engaged in intense clashes with extremist fighters. The claim of suicide could not be independently confirmed.
The prisoner spent 25 months in the American detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But he apparently concealed his identity from his captors, and was released in March 2004.
Mehsud, who was believed to be 31, was captured by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in late 2001, after the United States launched an invasion to topple the Taliban regime. The prisoner spent 25 months in the American detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But he apparently concealed his identity from his captors, and was released in March 2004. Mehsud later bragged that he had convinced Americans at Guantanamo that he was Afghan, not Pakistani. Almost as soon as he was freed, the one-legged fighter -- he lost his other leg to a landmine -- resumed waging war, Pakistani officials say. The government of Pakistan placed an $84,000 bounty on his head after his followers kidnapped two Chinese engineers in October 2004. One of the engineers survived, while the other died during the rescue operation.
Mehsud, who operated both in Afghanistan and in the tribal areas of Pakistan, was believed to have ties to al Qaeda. It was not known if he had a role in the recent spate of attacks, though he was suspected in connection with a car bombing last week that targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in Baluchistan. The engineers survived, but 30 Pakistanis were killed.
Thirty-five militants and two soldiers have been killed in heavy fighting in a northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, the army said on Monday.
ISPR Director General Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP that at least 30 of the rebels had died in a series of clashes in the North Waziristan tribal agency since late Sunday night. Another five insurgents were killed after rebels attacked a check post in the same district on Monday evening with rockets and guns, Arshad said, adding that the battle was continuing. Two soldiers had been killed and another 12 injured in the violence over the past 24 hours, he added, but gave no further details.
The latest clashes in the lawless North Waziristan tribal agency bordering Afghanistan came as pro-Taliban groups there warned Pakistani soldiers to quit fighting or face new suicide attacks. A wave of suicide attacks has claimed over 200 lives in Pakistan since President Pervez Musharraf ordered a raid on Lal Masjid in Islamabad on July 10-11 and vowed to uproot extremism. Washington has intensified pressure on Pakistan to step up military action, warning it may launch strikes there comments Pakistan called irresponsible and dangerous. US national intelligence chief Mike McConnell earlier said he believed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was alive and sheltering in the frontier zone, a charged Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam denied on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
US national intelligence chief Mike McConnell earlier said he believed Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was alive and sheltering in the frontier zone , a charged Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam denied on Monday. afp
#2
This casualty ratio kind of suggests some of the soldiers may speak an unusually American-accented Urdu. Bush just recently said we might be taking the battle into Pakistan.
#4
The hit of Iranian "drug smugglers" on the Revolutionary Guard the other day had a similar imbalance, 11-0. Things out there are never what they seem.
A big fire erupted on Tuesday in a presidential complex housing British military forces in downtown Basra, eyewitnesses said. The fire broke out after the presidential complex has been attack by mortar shells by unknown gunmen.
The eyewitnesses from Al-Baradiya residence said armed men attacked the complex using mortar shells which resulted in a big cloud of smoke over it and fires inside the complex. Sirens were heard inside the complex and it is still difficult to determine British human and material losses stationed there, eyewitnesses said. British forces have yet to make a statement about the incident.
. . . The battalion Im embedded with here in Baghdad hasnt suffered a single casualty not even one soldier wounded since they arrived in the Red Zone in January. The surge in this part of the city could not possibly be going better than it already is. Most of Grayaats insurgents and terrorists who havent yet fled are either captured, dormant, or dead. . . .
We slowly rolled into the market area. Smiling children ran up to and alongside the convoy and excitedly waved hello. It felt like I was riding with a liberating army.
Grayaats streets are quiet and safe. It doesnt look or feel like war zone at all. American soldiers just a few miles away are still engaged in almost daily firefights with insurgents and terrorists, but this part of the city has been cleared by the surge.
Before the surge started the neighborhood was much more dangerous than it is now.
We were on base at Camp Taji [north of the city] and commuting to work, Major Jazdyk told me earlier. The problem with that was that the only space we dominated was inside our Humvees. So we moved into the neighborhoods and live there now with the locals. We know them and they know us.
Lieutenant Lawrence Pitts from Fayetteville, North Carolina, elaborated. We patrol the streets of this neighborhood 24/7, he said. We knock on doors, ask people what they need help with. We really do what we can to help them out. We let them know that were here to work with them to make their city safe in the hopes that theyll give us the intel we need on the bad guys. And it worked. . . .
We dismounted our Humvees and set up a vehicle checkpoint on the far side of the market area. Curfew was going into effect. Anyone trying to drive into the area would be searched.
Dozens of Iraqi civilians milled about on the streets.
Salam Aleikum, said the soldiers and I as we walked past.
Aleikum as Salam, said each in return.
They really did seem happy to see us.
Children ran up to me.
Mister, mister, mister! they said and pantomimed the snapping of photos. I lifted my camera to my face and they nodded excitedly. . . .
Everyone was friendly. No one shot at us or even looked at us funny. Infrastructure problems, not security, were the biggest concerns at the moment. I felt like I was in Iraqi Kurdistan where the war is already over not in Baghdad.
It was an edgy Kurdistan, though. Every now and then someone drove down the street in a vehicle. If any military-aged males (MAMs as the Army guys call them) were in the car, the soldiers stopped it and made everybody get out. The vehicle and the men were then searched.
Everyone who was searched took it in stride. Some of the Iraqi men smirked slightly, as if the whole thing were a minor joke and a non-threatening routine annoyance that they had been through before. The procedure looked and felt more like airport security in the United States than, say, the more severe Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza.
What are you guys doing out after curfew? said Sergeant Lizanne.
Im sorry, sorry, said a young Iraqi man in a striped blue and tan t-shirt.
There is no sorry, said Sergeant Lizanne. I dont give a shit. The curfew is at the same time every night. I dont want to have to start arresting you.
Why are you stopping these guys, I said to Lieutenant Wolf, when there are so many other people milling around on the streets?
Because theyre MAMs who are driving, he said. Were going easy on everyone else. Weve already oppressed these people enough. They have a night culture in the summer, so if they arent military aged males driving cars we leave them alone. We were very heavy-handed in 2003. Now were trying to move forward together. At least 90 percent of them are normal fun-loving people.
Do they ever get pissed off when you search them? I said.
Not very often, he said. They understand were trying to protect them.
This is not what I expected in Baghdad, I said.
Most of what were doing doesnt get reported in the media, he said. Were not fighting a war here anymore, not in this area. Weve moved way beyond that stage. We built a soccer field for the kids, bought all kinds of equipment, bought them school books and even chalk. Soon were installing 1,500 solar street lamps so they have light at night and can take some of the load off the power grid. The media only covers the gruesome stuff. We go to the sheiks and say hey man, what kind of projects do you want in this area? They give us a list and we submit the paperwork. When the projects get approved, we give them the money and help them buy stuff.
Not everything they do is humanitarian work, unless you consider counter-terrorism humanitarian work. In my view, you should. Few Westerners think of personal security as a human right, but if you show up in Baghdad Ill bet you will. Personal security may, in fact, be the most important human right. Without it the others mean little. People arent free if they have to hide in their homes from death squads and car bombs. . . .
Photos and much more at the link.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2007 17:14 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Interesting...I somehow navigated yesterday to a web site of someone who really has a problem with Totten. As I recall it was some guy who claimed to be a biology-scientist from Minnesota. He is a proud, liberal atheist...or atheist liberal, whatever. I dunno.
I scrolled down, and the guy must have spent a couple of hours putting that post together. It was pretty funny. I guess he is on some sort of crusade. I lost interest after about 4 minutes of reading. Lots of I thinks and he said-she said, etc., etc., ad nauseum. I forgot the site and who he was.
HILLA, Iraq (AFP) - A suicide car bomb exploded across the street from a children's hospital in the Iraqi city of Hilla on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 69, police and medical officials said.
"Most of the wounded were women and children, and the blast destroyed 15 vehicles and about 20 nearby shops," said Lieutenant Eid al-Shammari of the local police.
Doctor Mohammed Dhia, head surgeon at the Hilla hospital confirmed the casualties, adding that 25 of those wounded had serious injuries, including severe burns.
(I wonder how these events are reported, if they are reported, in Al J and other arabic papers. Probably they find a way to hint that the US did it)
July 24, 2007: The surge has basically been chasing the terrorist and criminal gangs around the suburbs of Baghdad, or even into northern or western Iraq. This has taken its toll. Time spent in flight cannot be spent planting IEDs or killing people. Putting all these guys on the road, also makes them more susceptible to capture. A lot of important terrorists have been captured this way. The chief liaison between al Qaeda headquarters and al Qaeda in Iraq was nabbed, as well as many mid-level terrorist cell leaders.
What most of the troops, and Iraqi civilians, notice is the lower level of violence. Since the surge offensive began four months ago, Iraqi (military and civilian) deaths have declined by more than 50 percent, and American casualties are down by over a third. U.S. troops are still taking the lead in moving into hostile areas, and being exposed to ambush and IEDs. But U.S. tactics and training have made enemy efforts much less lethal. This has helped demoralize an increasing number of terrorists. Many are tired of killing Iraqi civilians, and the increasing difficulty at getting at American troops. Look at this from the Iraqi perspective. In a very good month, Iraqis make a hundred or more attacks a day on American troops, and kill, on average, about four of them. While the terrorists make a big deal out of every American killed, they know that most of their attacks were not only failures, but got a lot of their buddies killed. On average, 10-20 terrorists die for every American killed. This has been going on for years, and an increasing number of Iraqi fighters are demoralized and quitting. Many either become informers, or surrender and speak freely. This is resulting in fresher intelligence, and raids that are catching terrorist cells preparing for operations, and in possession of weapons, bombs and incriminating documents.
There are several wars going on in Iraq. Up north, Turkish and Iranian troops are fighting with PKK (Kurdish secular separatist terrorists). The PKK takes refuge in northern Iraq, where the local Kurds tolerate, or support, the PKK. Turkey has put pressure on the U.S. to either get the Kurdish government in the north to round up or expel the PKK, or tolerate a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq to do that. The U.S. has told the Iraqi Kurds that they have to deal with the PKK, or something very bad (for the Kurds) will happen. And soon.
With the Sunni Arab threat diminishing, pro-Iranian Shia Arab groups are more often becoming the target of American military action. The Iraqi government is reluctant to go after these groups because the government is run by a coalition of Shia Arab parties. That said, the government has been less and less willing to protest attacks on Shia Arab militias. This is linked to more American evidence that Iran is supporting and supplying these groups. The Iraqi government knows that Iran wants a religious dictatorship running Iraq. Self interest does have its good side.
As could be expected, there's still no love lost between the Shia and Sunni Arab communities. The attitude in the Sunni Arab community alternates between despair and desperation. The despairing have been leaving, the desperate either fighting or trying to make a deal. Nearly half the 2003 Iraqi Sunni Arab population has left the country. That makes Sunni Arabs only about ten percent of the population. Many Kurds and Shia want them all gone, but as long as the Americans are there, such a mass expulsion won't happen. This gives the Sunni Arabs a chance to cut a political deal with the majority Kurds and Shia Arabs. There's not much love in that department. Amnesties and oil revenue are not being offered in large quantities. The Sunni Arabs are being less demanding. The Sunni Arab "resistance" is crumbling, worn down by casualties and hatred directed at them for all the murders they commit. Not a good time to be Sunni and Arab in Iraq.
#4
50% left? If true, that's the first time I've seen such a drastic diminution of the sunni component of iraq mentioned. Which would mean most if not almost all of the "iraqi refugees" popping up in stories about migrants in France, Germany, the USA,... are sunni iraqis, aka the sadamites and/or their special friends/supporters. Talk about letting pleasant characters in.
#7
Zenster speaks: We need to make it a bad time to be Muslim. Period.
I no longer refer to them as Muslims or Moslems, I call them Mohammedans. Followers of the False Prophet Mohammed. I also refere to Islam now as Mohammedanism. We have to reduce and belittle the so-called religion Islam at every turn.
Soon enough this will apply to all Muslims in general.
From your lips to Gods ear!
Posted by: Natural Law ||
07/24/2007 17:41 Comments ||
Top||
#8
We have to reduce and belittle the so-called religion Islam at every turn.
It's hard to argue with your logic. Infidels owe it to themselves to puncture Islam's self-inflated sense of exaltation whenever possible. More cartoons!
#10
Which would mean most if not almost all of the "iraqi refugees" popping up in stories about migrants in France, Germany, the USA,... are sunni iraqis, aka the sadamites and/or their special friends/supporters.
I'd think Baathists and Chaldean Christians based what I've seen, a5089.
At least 23 people were killed on Monday in Iraq, including 12 in two car bomb attacks in Baghdad, security officials and medics said.
The two blasts occurred within minutes of each other, both of them involving explosives-laden cars in central Baghdads Karrada neighbourhood one on a road and the other targeting a passing police patrol.. At least 12 people, including three policemen, were killed and another 38 were wounded in the attacks, security officials and a medic at the capitals Ibn Nafis hospital said.
Later, a third car bomb rocked an area near Baghdads Green Zone, killing one person and wounding another three. Iraqi security officials said the bomb exploded just 400 metres from the heavily fortified zone, which houses the US and British embassies, and the Iraqi parliament. The car exploded outside a restaurant on the road leading to the zone. At least one person is killed and three wounded, a security official said, adding several shops were damaged.
A civilian was killed and another seven wounded in a separate roadside bomb blast that struck a minibus in central Baghdads Kifah street, security officials said. In another attack on Monday, five Iraqi soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb near the Iranian border.
Iraqi army lieutenant Muntadhar Mohammed said the bomb targeted the military patrol between the towns of Badra and Bela Druz. All five members of the patrol were killed in the early morning attack, Mohammed said.
In Amara, gunmen shot dead a former Baath party member, police said. Gunmen also killed a man and wounded his wife when they shot at the couples car on a highway near the town of Iskandiriyah, south of Baghdad, a local police officer said. Another policeman was also killed in an armed assault at a police checkpoint in central Iskandiriyah, he said. He said police also found three corpses of men who were tortured and shot dead in the eastern part of the town. It was not known when they were killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
U.S. and Iraqi forces blocked access to a town on the northeast outskirts of Baghdad where Shiite gunmen were dug in for a third day Monday behind earthen barriers. Police issued calls for residents to leave the town, and some said they were running out of food and fuel. The blockade of Husseiniyah came as at least 16 people died when four car bombs rocked the center of the capital. Three of the blasts took place in one 30-minute span, as the relentless Baghdad summer sun pushed temperatures to 115 degrees.
Police, morgue and hospital officials reported a total of at least 59 people killed or found dead nationwide, and the American military announced the deaths of three soldiers and a Marine.
The continued fighting and deaths of Iraqis and American forces in the sixth month of the American bid to calm Baghdad and the center of the country illuminate the stubborn resistance to a political solution in Iraq, where the government and legislature appear determined to press for sectarian advantage rather than Iraqi unity.
The Shiite-dominated parliament said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki should intervene to end the crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces on Husseiniyah. The town is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and straddles the highway to Baqouba, where U.S. forces are in the second month of a drive to cleanse that region of al-Qaida in Iraq.
State-run Iraqiya television said the Husseiniyah blockade "would have serious consequences on people's lives there."
Yup. That's the intent all right.
A 51-year-old woman resident, who would give her name only as Um Bassem, said police, apparently expecting a major outbreak of fighting, had issued calls for residents to leave Husseiniyah if they could. "My husband offered to take us out and return to protect our house and belongings, but we refused to leave because we would be so worried about him," Um Bassem told an AP reporter in the area. She said food stocks were becoming low. "We decided to stay home in two rooms at the back of the house. We can't leave because we have valuable things and we fear looters," she said.
Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, spokesman for U.S. forces north of Baghdad, said American and Iraqi forces were now allowing "commercial vendors to bring food to the south of Husseiniyah. Civilians are authorized to walk to these vendors to buy food. Donkey carts may be used, but no vehicle movement is authorized. We are also allowing civilians that need medical aid, to walk to the Hamid Shaub Hospital for free treatment."
Trouble broke out in Husseiniyah when U.S. forces took small arms fire shortly before midnight Friday and ordered an airstrike on the building from which the gunmen were shooting. The military said helicopters fired missiles at the building and three gunmen fled to a second building. U.S. aircraft then bombed the second structure, setting off at least seven secondary blasts believed caused by explosives and munitions stored inside the building, the military said, adding that Iraqi police told American forces six militants were killed and five wounded.
The military account contradicted reports from Iraqi police and hospital officials contacted by The Associated Press. Those officials said 18 civilians had been killed and 21 wounded in the attacks at 2 a.m. Saturday. AP Television News videotape showed wounded women and children lying in hospital beds, and white pickup trucks carrying at least 11 bodies wrapped in blankets to the morgue. Men unloaded the bodies, including several that were small and apparently children.
Relatives said the dead were killed in the airstrike. The conflicting accounts could not be reconciled.
Donnelly said militant gunmen "are using civilians as protection and have no regard for the innocent.
"Currently there are berms (earthen barriers) placed to impede movement to/from the city by the militia group, who have fired on CF (Coalition Forces) over the past day(s). The intent of these berms remains unclear, but it is impeding movement in and out of the town for sure," he said in response to an e-mail asking for details.
Posted by: lotp ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
If anyone doubts that resolution of Iraq's problems are a matter of deciding ethnic cleansing over ethnic cleansing, should take look a this quote from the article:
"The Shiite-dominated parliament said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki should intervene to end the crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces on Husseiniyah. The town is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and straddles the highway to Baqouba, where U.S. forces are in the second month of a drive to cleanse that region of al-Qaida in Iraq."
There can be no Congressional consensus on continuation of the intervention in Iraq, that is based on security guarantees based on protection of all Iraqis. Ethnic cleansing is a must. Residual rhetoric on the issue, all stems from Clinton's support of the Kosovo Islamodrug dealers.
#2
There can be no Congressional consensus on continuation of the intervention in Iraq, that is based on security guarantees based on protection of all Iraqis. Ethnic cleansing is a must. Residual rhetoric on the issue, all stems from Clinton's support of the Kosovo Islamodrug dealers.
#3
"at least seven secondary blasts .... Iraqi police and hospital officials contacted by The Associated Press said 18 civilians had been killed and 21 wounded in the attacks. AP videotape showed wounded women and children."
They may have been civilians, but if they were really from this event and not file footage, then at least a lot of them were killed by the secondaries, and thus not 'innocent.'
#4
Tater has been a problem from the git go. He is part of the problem in Iraq--along with his Iranian supporters. He is a strong argument in favor of targeted assassinations.
Operation Phantom Thunder and the Baghdad Security Plan continue to place pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq, allied Sunni insurgent groups, the Mahdi Army and the Iranian-backed Special Group. In Baghdad, junior al Qaeda in Iraq operatives are reportedly cooperating with Coalition forces and a series of car bombs hit a Shia area of the capital. In the Belts, U.S. and Iraqi forces maintain aggressive operations against al Qaeda and insurgent cells as both Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in and around Taji have banded together to fight the Mahdi Army and al Qaeda. Meanwhile, the U.S. captured two more members of the Special Group and have indicated that Iran is now smuggling Chinese made weapons into Iraq.
Baghdad
The London Times reported that junior al Qaeda in Iraq foot soldiers are turning on their leaders and acting as informants in the Baghdad district of Doura. "The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheiks have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement," the Times said. The low level operatives have become disgusted with al Qaeda's tactics of brutality.
A series of four bombings over the past two days resulted in 14 killed and 37 wounded. Sunday's attack near the al-Khilani square in central Baghdad consisted of a motorcycle bomb; two were killed and 18 wounded in the strike. Three car bombs ripped through Shia neighborhood in Karradah. One bomb was aimed at a police patrol and another hit an outdoor market. Twelve were killed and 19 wounded in the attacks.
Salahadin
U.S. forces continue the process of turning tribal leaders and Sunni insurgent groups against al Qaeda in Iraq. The latest success came in Salahadin province, where 25 Sunni and Shia tribes in and around the city of Taji banded together to fight both al Qaeda in Iraq and the Mahdi Army. Taji is just 12 miles north of Baghdad and sits along the strategic supply lines to the northern provinces.
Salahadin tribes formed the Salahadin Awakening in late May, and al Qaeda in Iraq has targeted the group in an effort to destroy disrupt its activities. Yesterday, five senior tribal leaders were killed and 12 wounded when a suicide bomber penetrated a meeting of the Taji council. The Mahdi Army has attacked family members of the group as well.
Iraqi army forces are targeting al Qaeda's network in the Taji region. Iraqi troops conducted an air assault northwest of Taji on July 20. The target was "a suspected Al Qaeda in Iraq leader suspected of numerous crimes including a recent attack that destroyed a bridge on a primary Iraqi transportation route" in the Habbaniyah area in Anbar province.
"He is also allegedly responsible for facilitating foreign fighters and the planning and execution of multiple improvised explosive device attacks in Ramadi and other areas. The insurgent leader and his cell are also suspected of murdering and intimidating Iraqi citizens, conducting oil smuggling operations, and committing a string of highway robberies in an effort to fund al Qaeda activities."
U.S. soldiers also freed three Iraqis being held hostage at an insurgent safe house south of Samarra. Four insurgents were captured during the raid.
Diyala, Babil and Anbar
Operations against al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups are ongoing in the belts of Diyala, Northern Babil and Anbar province. In the city of Miqdadiyah in Diyala, Coalition forces killed nine insurgents and captured eight during a series of raids and patrols. An insurgent safe house and several weapons caches were also found in the region.
In northern Babil province, the recently launched Operation Marne Avalanche in the Iskandariyah region has resulted in four insurgents killed and 37 captured over the course of four days. In a separate operation Iraqi soldiers arrested a member of an al Qaeda kidnapping ring on July 18.
In Anbar province, tribal leaders in the city of Zaidon have turned on al Qaeda and established local security forces.
Iranian-backed Special Group
The Iranian-backed, Qods Force-directed Special Group continues to remain a high priority for Coalition and Iraqi forces. On Sunday, Coalition forces captured "two suspected terrorists that may be affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) from Iran in a raid Sunday near the Iranian border East of Baghdad," Multinational Forces Iraq said. "The suspects may be associated with a network of terrorists that have been smuggling Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs), other weapons, personnel and money from Iran into Iraq."
On July 22, U.S. troops found a cache that contained an explosively formed penetrator and parts to make more, along with home made explosives, in the West Rashid district in Baghdad. Also, Iran is believed to be smuggling Chinese made rockets into Iraq, Admiral Mark Fox said in a recent briefing.
Al Qaeda
The daily raids against al Qaedas leadership and facilitator cells resulted in one al Qaeda operative killed and 26 captured over the past two days. Sunday's operations in Baghdad, Mosul, Fallujah, and Yusifiyah resulted in one al Qaeda operative killed and 14 captured. Twelve al Qaeda operatives were captured on Monday during raids in Mosul, Baghdad, Yusifiyah, and Tarmiyah.
The US Army said its forces freed three Iraqi civilian hostages, who were held in a home in Samaraa, and arrested four of their kidnappers. A US Army release said US soldiers witnessed the kidnapping of two of the civilians, chased the kidnappers to a home, freeing two hostages and a third person who was a captive there.
The US army announced on Monday it has killed and arrested nearly 51 militants in a wide-scale military operation in Anbar city west of Iraq. An army statement said that a US F-16 jet raided last Saturday a truck of the militants destroying in total.
The statement added that the operation in the Euphrates delta in the past four days killed four terrorists and arrested 37 others including five highly wanted by the authorities. The army did not name the five highly wanted arrestees.
#1
I've noticed that in many of these reports the number arrested is very high as compared to the number killed. Does that mean they are being surprised or they are not resisting to the death?
#2
Killed 'em first?! B*A*N*G - "You have the right to remain silent...." Beats the he## out of providing them the almost cruise-class accomodations at Gitmo! Excellent.......
#3
The reason we are arresting and not killing has more to do with the "overlawyered" ROEs and need for humint residing in detainees. Much as I would prefer to kill them on the spot, the reason the counter-insurgency is working so well is the G2 we are getting from the "surrenderees".
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/24/2007 9:58 Comments ||
Top||
#4
"You have the right to remain dead. You have the right to assume the ambient room temperature. You have the right to turn into simple organic compounds."
BAGHDAD - At least 17 people were killed and dozens more wounded by a wave of car bombings in central Baghdad on Monday, most of them in a predominantly Shiite district, police and witnesses said.
Three of four separate car bombings tore through Baghdads Karrada district on the eastern side of the Tigris River, two of them exploding almost simultaneously near a government office and a busy market area about 500 metres away. One went off near a Karrada office which issues identity cards to Iraqis. Police said that bomb appeared to target a passing police patrol and that three police officers were among six people killed. Twenty more people were hurt.
It was a horrible scene, suddenly fire spread all over the area. I saw two charred bodies of policemen inside their car and the wounded were lying on the ground, only their hands moving and asking for help, Abu Nour, a 45-year-old supermarket owner, told Reuters. We were terrified, we could see only fire, destruction and death. I started to hate life, he said.
Television pictures showed a line of burning cars in a narrow street leading to the identity card office as residents and shoppers ran for cover.
Four more people were killed and another 18 wounded in the almost simultaneous blast nearby in an area close to one of the main bridges leading across the Tigris river to the heavily fortified Green Zone. Less than an hour later another car bomb, again apparently targeting a passing police patrol, detonated in Karradas al-Wathiq square, killing three people. Two policemen were among the dead.
Four more people died soon after when a car bomb exploded at lunchtime outside Seerwan, Baghdads most popular kebab restaurant, across the Tigris next to the Green Zone.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
How are the numbers shaping up compared to June's statistics?
(IsraelNN.com) Hamas and Fatah terrorists clashed in the Samaria city of Shechem Tuesday afternoon, according to Palestinian Authority sources, after anti-Fatah flyers were posted at the an-Najah University campus.
One Hamas operative was critically wounded and five other terrorists from both sides with varying degrees of injuries, according to the source. Given the state of medicine in Paleoland, we can hope for some small---but measurable---improvement in the World
#2
Yes. Because these were their names long before there was such a thing as an Arab. And these will still be their name when nobody but professional historians know that the word Arab means.
At least three Israeli settlers were injured by a missile attack carried by Al-Quds Brigades. In a press release, the brigades said that one its groups managed to launch a Quds-3 type missile against the city of Ascalon, part of Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1948. According to the release, Israeli sources admitted that the injuries took place when missile landed at a house in an Israeli kibbutz in the city's southern part. The attack, added the brigades, was in retaliation of Israeli escalation against Palestinians.
The brigades are the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement
Palestinian MP Ashraf Jum'ah was injured on Monday after being attacked by unknown gunmen in Rafah in southern Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen shot at Jum'ah and hit him with rifle butts at his office, adding he was transferred to the city's hospital for treatment. The gunmen's identities are known in Rafah, noted the eyewitnesses. Rafah is currently witnessing a state of turmoil as hundreds of Fatah's supporters are currently protesting the attack throughout the city's streets. A number of Jum'ah's aides were injured during the attack which was blamed on Hamas' executive force, said medical sources.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KABUL, July 23 (AP) - (Kyodo)Dozens of suspected Taliban militants have been killed in battles with Afghan-Coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led forces said Monday. Afghan and Coalition forces routed a large number of Taliban fighters during a patrol in the northern province of Helmand in an overnight battle, the U.S.-led Coalition said in a statement.
Spanish security forces continued their search on Monday for a suspected member of the Basque terror organisation ETA who abandoned a taxi last week and left behind a gym bag containing explosives, officials said. 
While Washington is mired in political debate over the future of Iraq, the American command here has prepared a detailed plan that foresees a significant American role for the next two years.
A top Taliban commander who had became one of Pakistan's most wanted men since being released from U.S. custody in 2004 died Tuesday as security forces raided his hide-out, officials here said.
Thirty-five militants and two soldiers have been killed in heavy fighting in a northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, the army said on Monday. 
July 24, 2007: The surge has basically been chasing the terrorist and criminal gangs around the suburbs of Baghdad, or even into northern or western Iraq. This has taken its toll. Time spent in flight cannot be spent planting IEDs or killing people. Putting all these guys on the road, also makes them more susceptible to capture. A lot of important terrorists have been captured this way. The chief liaison between al Qaeda headquarters and al Qaeda in Iraq was nabbed, as well as many mid-level terrorist cell leaders. 
The US Army said its forces freed three Iraqi civilian hostages, who were held in a home in Samaraa, and arrested four of their kidnappers. A US Army release said US soldiers witnessed the kidnapping of two of the civilians, chased the kidnappers to a home, freeing two hostages and a third person who was a captive there.
Palestinian MP Ashraf Jum'ah was injured on Monday after being attacked by unknown gunmen in Rafah in southern Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen shot at Jum'ah and hit him with rifle butts at his office, adding he was transferred to the city's hospital for treatment. The gunmen's identities are known in Rafah, noted the eyewitnesses. Rafah is currently witnessing a state of turmoil as hundreds of Fatah's supporters are currently protesting the attack throughout the city's streets. A number of Jum'ah's aides were injured during the attack which was blamed on Hamas' executive force, said medical sources.
