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Israeli Forces Pull Out of Beit Hanoun
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Afghanistan
Five including NATO soldier killed in Afghan violence
The latest in a wave of attacks blamed on Taliban fighters in Afghanistan has left five people dead, including a foreign soldier, police and the NATO-led military force said on Tuesday. A Taliban-style suicide attack meanwhile wounded a district governor and two police guards near the border with Pakistan.

The soldier with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force was killed on Monday when a bomb struck a military vehicle travelling through Kandahar, the force said. “One ISAF soldier died and two were injured when the vehicle they were travelling in was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar yesterday,” it said in a statement. ISAF does not release the nationalities of its casualties before announcement from the soldiers’ home country.

An Afghan army soldier was killed the same day when another IED struck a military patrol in the Gereshk area of neighbouring Helmand province, ISAF spokesman Captain Andre Salloum said. “A vehicle went over an IED which was on the road. One vehicle was damaged and had to be destroyed,” he said.

In Khost meanwhile, Taliban insurgents attacked a highway police post just after midnight Monday, sparking off a gun battle that killed two Taliban and a policeman, provincial police said. Also in Khost, a suicide attacker on Tuesday detonated explosives strapped to his body near the vehicle of the chief of the Tanai district on the border with Pakistan, an official said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Fighting erupts in northeast Somalia
Somali militia loyal to the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) clashed with those who back the semi-autonomous state of Puntland in northeast Somalia on Monday, sparking fears of further territorial advance by the Islamist movement.

Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad Indhaade, defense chief of the SCIC that controls most of Somalia, reportedly said his forces came under attack on Monday near the town of Galinsoor, Mudug region, 780 km north of the capital Mogadishu. Mudug is one of the administrative regions occupied by Puntland. However, officials in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland denied any fighting took place.

"Puntland forces attacked our positions on Monday morning on the outskirts of Galinsoor," SCIC Vice-Chairman Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Umar said. Umar said the SCIC, who controls much of southern and central Somalia, including Mogadishu, repulsed the attackers who used heavy weapons and armored pick-ups near the border but did not pursue them. "We will exercise maximum restraint and will not let enemy provocations to lead to a wider war," he added.

Renewed fighting came barely a week after the Arab League- mediated reconciliation talks between the Somali rival groups collapsed amid fears that the lawless nation is on the brink of a war that could engulf the Horn of Africa region. Puntland, the semi-autonomous home region of Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, has been relatively peaceful, compared to southern Somalia, which has been in the grip of warlords and militias for years and has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

The fighting took place as the Speaker of the Transitional Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan is currently holding talks with the SCIC leadership in Mogadishu to try to avert a looming conflict. Adan, considered sympathetic to the Islamic courts, which the United States accused of having ties to al-Qaeda, said before the talks that he believed that "Somalis can pull themselves out of this crisis and they must do so themselves."

Islamist leaders say they will resume talks, but Adan's visit has not been welcomed by other members of the transitional government who see the speaker's move as worrying, amid concerns that it may lead to a power-sharing agreement that excludes the rest of the government. Critics said that Adan's decision to hold talks without the cooperation of the prime minister and the president is a direct challenge to their authority. The trip comes days after the government's peace talks with the Islamists collapsed in Khartoum, Sudan.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/08/2006 02:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Chad: Over 100 people killed in ethnic Conflict
(SomaliNet) Fights between Arabs and non-Arabs in southeast Chad last week left more than 100 people dead, being the latest bloodshed in a multi-ethnic region torn by violence, officials said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. According to reports, the blood shed took place in Chad's Salamat prefecture which borders Central African Republic near Sudan's west Darfur region, where three years of political and ethnic conflict have killed tens of thousands.

Chadian officials said disagreements in the Salamat prefecture between members of the non-Arab Kibede community and the Darsalim, an Arab group, escalated into a deadly conflict which destroyed homes and granaries last week. "The conflict between the Kibede and Darsalim communities a few days ago has caused 139 deaths between one side and the other and several injured have been admitted to hospital," a hospital official at the regional capital Am Timan said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egypt’s police finds more explosives in Sinai
ISMAILIA, Egypt - Egyptian police seized 250 kg (550 lb) of explosives destined for smuggling into the Palestinian territories, police officials said on Tuesday. They said the explosives were hidden in four big plastic sacks in the Rafah area near Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip.

Three men were spotted next to the explosives and ran away towards the Sinai peninsula once they saw police approaching, said the officials, speaking on a customary condition of anonymity.
Let 'em run. The Sinai is desert, right?
Egyptian police on Friday found 1.5 tonnes (3,300 lb) of explosives in two caches in Sinai. More than 100 people were killed in bomb attacks in tourist resorts in Sinai between October 2004 and April 2006.

Egypt has blamed the attacks on an Islamist militant group called Al Tawhid wal Jihad (One God and Jihad) and says the group is made up of Sinai bedouin with militant views.
Couldn't be proper Egyptians, nope, nope, certainly not, nope ...
Posted by: Steve White || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let 'em run. The Sinai is desert, right?

Hey, the terrorists were on foot and the police only had SUVs. Why bother trying? :-)
Posted by: gorb || 11/08/2006 3:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Have you ever seen Egyptians behind the wheel, gorb? It's my guess they were evenly matched.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/08/2006 11:48 Comments || Top||

#3  TW,

It must be the air in those countries. Israeli drivers are nearly as bad. The Tel Aviv–Haifa coastal road: Indianapolis 500, or Demolition Derby? You make the call.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 11/08/2006 17:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Have you ever seen Egyptians behind the wheel, gorb? It's my guess they were evenly matched.

I guess that's why they say "Allanu Akbar!" before they do anything. It's a lot easier to put your trust in God than it is to learn how to drive, I suppose.

Whatever the case, wouldn't the opportunity to run over a freebie pretty much trump the lack of driving skills? :-)
Posted by: gorb || 11/08/2006 17:27 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Qaeda claims Yemen oil attacks, vows more strikes
Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for September 15 attacks on oil facilities in the Arab state and vowed more strikes against the United States and its allies. "Let the Americans and their allies among the worshippers of the cross and their apostate aides ... know that these operations are only the first spark and that what is coming is more severe and bitter," the group said in a statement posted on the Internet.

"Let the Americans and their allies among the worshippers of the cross and their apostate aides ... know that these operations are only the first spark and that what is coming is more severe and bitter."
The authenticity of the statement posted on a Web site used by Islamist militant groups could not be verified. The statement, believed to be the first posting by Yemen's branch of Qaeda, was dated Ramadan 20, which corresponds to October 13.

Yemen had said that four bombers were killed on September 15, when security forces blew up four rigged cars before they reached oil and gas facilities in the eastern provinces of Marib and Hadarmout. A guard was also killed, a worker with Canadian oil company Nexen Inc. Commenting on the foiled attacks, the group said: "These operations came in response to directives from our emir (leader) Sheikh Osama bin Laden, may God preserve him, in which he ordered Muslims to hit the Western economy and stop the robbing of Muslims' wealth."

The group also urged Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh "to repent, return to his faith, apply Islamic law, renounce democracy, the religion of America, and abandon (his) alliance with the infidels."
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yemenis have campaigned for renunciation of terror by al Qaeda members. This betrayal - especially where it will effect revenues needed by the poorest Arab country, will be avenged. Culturally, Yemen - the center of Arab culture until Islam arose - has a culture that restrains brutality except where resort is deemed necessary. When a threshold of insolence is reached: anything goes. Someone will pay dearly for this terror.
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 11/08/2006 2:36 Comments || Top||


Yemen extradites two drug trafficking suspects to Saudi Arabia
Yemen on Tuesday handed over to Saudi Arabia two Saudi nationals wanted by Riyadh over drug trafficking charges, security sources said. The sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa the two men have been arrested in Yemen on a Saudi warrant sent to Yemeni security authorities under a security cooperation pact.

Saudi fugitives often flee to Yemen through its porous borders with the oil-rich kingdom. Last April, Saudi Arabia and Yemen exchanged 27 prisoners wanted in each other's countries for various criminal and terrorist charges. During 2005, Yemen extradited 69 men to Saudi Arabia wanted by Riyadh for suspected connections with terrorist attacks in the kingdom. Sana'a and Riyadh have in recent years closely cooperated to curb the movement of suspected terrorists or drug traffickers through their vast joint desert borders. Since 2002, Yemen and Saudi Arabia have swapped dozens of suspects, including men accused of links to terror bombings in both countries.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Barot gets 40 years for bomb plot
LONDON - A British judge sentenced a top Al Qaeda operative Tuesday to life in prison for a trans-Atlantic plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, the World Bank and landmark London hotels. Judge Neil Butterfield denounced Dhiren Barot’s plot to slaughter hundreds _ if not thousands _ of wholly innocent men, women and children,’ and called the plan sophisticated, deadly and under way. Seven others linked to Barot are to be tried in Britain next year.

Barot’s sentence provides for the possibility of parole after 40 years. It was not known if he intended to appeal the sentence.

'You have chosen to use your life to bring death and destruction to the Western world,’ Butterfield told Barot, who stared blankly as he heard the sentence in London’s Woolwich Crown Court. 'You were planning to bring indiscriminate carnage, bloodshed and butchery ... on an unprecedented scale. ... I am satisfied that unless you had been stopped it was only a matter of time before the grim reality of your plans were felt.’

The sentence was one of the harshest in Britain, given that the mass killings were thwarted before they occurred.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hopefully 40 years of being the B-Wing Bitch... bend over, son.
Posted by: Howard UK || 11/08/2006 3:35 Comments || Top||

#2  40 years in solitary, he oughtn't be allowed to preech to the prison Ummah.
Posted by: Seafarious || 11/08/2006 9:37 Comments || Top||

#3  What will happen to the Da Ali G Show now?
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 11/08/2006 11:32 Comments || Top||


How radical Islam turned a schoolboy into a terrorist
Quite how Dhiren Barot changed from an average schoolboy living in north west London to one of the most "senior and ruthless" terrorists British security services have come across is an example of the persuasive power of radical Islam. He grew up in a quiet London suburb after being brought to this country from Baroda, India, shortly after he was born in December 1971. He attended the sought-after Kingsbury High School where he was a studious but average pupil. Friends recall that he planned a career in hotel management and had normal teenage interests such as fashion and music. He left school in 1988 and obtained a City and Guilds qualification in tourism before going on to work in various travel agencies and hotels.

His only long-term job was as a ticketing clerk for an airline based in Piccadilly, where at one point he requested a transfer to Heathrow, but was turned down. Police also discovered that at one time he worked as a porter for a luxury group of apartments in London, and may have also had a job with a phone company.

After attending a lecture by the now-jailed cleric Abu Hamza, where he was told of the Mujahidin and the concept of jihad, Barot began to frequently discuss how to help "oppressed" Islamic people abroad.
But in his early twenties he abandoned his Hindu faith and plans for a career in hotel management and answered the call to jihad against the West, converting to Islam. After attending a lecture by the now-jailed cleric Abu Hamza, where he was told of the Mujahidin and the concept of jihad, Barot began to frequently discuss how to help "oppressed" Islamic people abroad.

In September 1995, he left his ticketing clerk job, saying that he was going on a prolonged trip overseas.
His journey took him to Pakistan and later to a terrorist training camp in Kashmir. There, he was given instruction in using weapons and explosives, a pattern that was to be repeated in a later trip to the Philippines.
But his journey was not a backpacking trip. It took him to Pakistan and later to a terrorist training camp in the disputed territory of Kashmir. There, he was given instruction in using weapons and explosives, a pattern that was to be repeated in a later further trip to the Philippines. "Class notes" that Barot appears to have taken showed he learned skills such as "how to blow up a bridge" and details on making poisons such as ricin and botulinum, the most toxic substance known to man.

When he returned to the UK it is thought he established links with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, thought to be the "principal architect" of 9/11. In the biographical section of a book he wrote in 1999, entitled The Army of Madinah In Kashmir, written under the alias Esa Al-Hindi, it said: "After training and spending time with the Mujahidin, he witnessed a side of Islam which cannot be found in the classrooms. It is the Islam that is felt by living and dying in the cause of Allah; loving Muslims and hating the enemies of Allah. Once this lifestyle was instilled in his blood, he began his career as a Mujahid."

Security sources say that he rose to become a leading al-Qaeda figure and one of the network's highest-ranking operatives in Britain. Security sources also allege that Barot enjoyed the confidence of key figures in the terror network to such an extent that he was entrusted with the planning of major operations.

The way al-Qaeda is structured, with a disparate collection of cells loosely allied to each other by their devotion to a radical interpretation of Islam, makes it near impossible to accurately define Barot’s place in the network’s hierarchy.
According to counter-terrorism sources, the conviction of Barot was "one of the most significant steps in the fight against terrorism in the UK since 9/11".
But there is no doubt that he was a major player, one of its senior and most experienced terrorist planners, who possibly had connections to that elusive inner circle at the very top. According to counter-terrorism sources, the conviction of Barot was "one of the most significant steps in the fight against terrorism in the UK since 9/11".

"He is one of the most senior well-trained and ruthless terrorists that we have dealt with," a source said. "His career as a terrorist stretches back to at least 1995, well before 9/11, the invasion of Afghanistan, or indeed the invasion of Iraq. This is one of the first occasions that the British public will be able to see for themselves the scale of the threat we face. His plans, had he not been arrested, would have caused the death of hundreds if not thousands of innocent people. His arrest and conviction means that al-Qaeda has lost an experienced, utterly dedicated and vicious terrorist."

Security sources believe that Barot was probably the person identified in the 9/11 Commission’s report as Issa al-Britani, which was an alias he often used.
Security sources believe that Barot was probably the person identified in the 9/11 Commission’s report as Issa al-Britani, which was an alias he often used. According to the report, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the principal architect of 9/11, claimed that he ordered al-Britani to Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia to learn about the jihad from notorious terror-plotter Hambali, the alleged mastermind of the Bali bombings. Sheikh Mohammed also claimed to have sent al-Britani to New York to check out potential targets there at the behest of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader. By the time Barot appeared on the radar of Western intelligence agencies he had been involved in terrorism for several years and was already a highly skilled operator, adept at evading surveillance or capture.

He was extremely well organised and clearly had considerable, independent financial backing. He was trusted by the al-Qaeda leadership to conduct their research and present the results back in Pakistan. It was not until 2004 that Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch and Britain’s intelligence agencies became aware that a senior al-Qaeda operative was working within the UK, and it took several months to identify that man as Barot.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Does this mean WHITNEY, OLIVER STONE, AEROSMITH, SLASH as VAL KILER in THE DOORS, or a TEXAS-SIZED ASTEROID etc. back in the 1960's is NOT to blame for OSAMA??? Well alrightey then.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/08/2006 4:30 Comments || Top||

#2  So he was attracted to evil rather than born to it, he deliberately chose evil, he he sought additional training in the accomplishment of evil, then he planned to inflict his own evil dreams on others. Hang him high -- this goes beyond actions that merit being the B-block girlfriend.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/08/2006 7:05 Comments || Top||

#3  How radical Islam turned a schoolboy into a terrorist.
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/08/2006 10:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Alot of these feckers dont want to work like the rest of us and choose Jihad instead.Easier option and gives them some purpose in life???!!!
Posted by: Cheregum Crelet7867 || 11/08/2006 10:31 Comments || Top||

#5  After training and spending time with the Mujahidin, he witnessed a side of Islam which cannot be found in the classrooms. It is the Islam that is felt by living and dying in the cause of Allah; loving Muslims and hating the enemies of Allah. Once this lifestyle was instilled in his blood, he began his career as a Mujahid."

I dont know there are plenty of Maddrasses you can learn this lifestyle in!!!!
Posted by: Cheregum Crelet7867 || 11/08/2006 10:34 Comments || Top||

#6  Long before all of this is over, Europe will sorely regret having banned capital punishment. It may well prove out that vigilantism and street executions will be all that saves them.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/08/2006 16:16 Comments || Top||

#7  (quote Excalibur)

It's absurd of you to single out Islam as a religion of violence. It's certainly not the only religion that has a violent past or that has homocidal extremists who claim to follow it.
Posted by: Deveran || 11/08/2006 19:23 Comments || Top||

#8  It's not the past so much as the present that is a matter of concern, Deveran. I'm sure that if we could, we'd stop the Crusaders from sacking Constantinople, or the Maccabees from conquering the Idumeans in 125BC, which led to Herod becoming king of the Jews a century later. But until those brilliant Israeli physicists invent a workable time machine, we're going to have to fight the war that Jihadi Islam insists on waging against us.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/08/2006 19:43 Comments || Top||

#9  Okay, Islam isn't the only religion w/a violent past but I am not real concerned w/the past at the moment. It's the present we're dealing with. Last time I checked it wasn't Jehova Witnesses, Budhists, or Catholics running 747's into the sides of buildings or VBIED's into school busses full of kids.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 11/08/2006 22:33 Comments || Top||

#10  Wouldn't it be interesting to know where Deveran is posting from? Somehow, boggling though it may be, I'll wager that the opinion expressed and the locale would correllate.

Reasonable-sounding though it may be, it does not stand up to reality, as BH6 so clearly points out, lol.
Posted by: .com || 11/08/2006 22:46 Comments || Top||

#11  Barot made a bad careen move. He should have stayed with hotel management. Screw the bugger. If he pulled this crap in a muzzie country, they would hang him high.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/08/2006 22:52 Comments || Top||


Europe
Building of Dutch newspaper publisher attacked with grenade launcher.
A print division of publisher PCM in Amsterdam was attacked by a rocket launcher last night. The explosive hit the building around 0030 local time. The powerful blast shook the whole building and could be heard in the surroundings. Nobody was hurt in the attack.
Authorities are looking for clues and witnesses as there is no known threat to the publisher. One of the newspapers printed in the building is the "Volkskrant" which is seen as a moderate left wing newspaper.
Posted by: Elmigum Unising7916 || 11/08/2006 03:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "One of the newspapers printed in the building is the "Volkskrant" which is seen as a moderate left wing newspaper."

and...??

Any reasons why "The Ranting People" should get attacked?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan || 11/08/2006 8:06 Comments || Top||

#2  List of newspapers that reprinted Jyllands-Posten's Muhammad cartoons
Netherlands . De Volkskrant . 12 cartoons . 1 February 2006
Posted by: ed || 11/08/2006 8:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Funny that it is in the gun-banning EU that rpg are used in terrorist or criminal attacks (three incidents I can think of without searching in France, one in Belgium, now one in Holland)... and not in the "gun violence riddled" USA.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/08/2006 8:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Anabaptists: Why do they hate us?
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/08/2006 9:56 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
The video made five months before 9/11 attacks
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/08/2006 05:16 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Posing as tourists, he and two accomplices walked the streets of the city’s financial district and filmed side entrances, security guards and cameras outside the New York Stock Exchange and other buildings.

Gee, how many times have we heard of "innocent tourists" from Muslim countries being "unfairly targeted" because they were on recon missions videotaping their vacations?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 11/08/2006 7:03 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pakistan 'suicide blast kills 35'
A suicide bomber has blown himself up at an army parade ground in north-west Pakistan, killing at least 35 soldiers, officials say.
About 20 people were wounded in the attack, which happened at a training ground in the town of Dargai in North West Frontier province.

Dargai is said to be a stronghold of a pro-Taleban militant group. An eyewitness, Aurangzeb, told the BBC he saw soldiers picking up scattered body parts minutes after the explosion.

"The victims were dying. Their shoes and caps were scattered all over the place," he said.

It appeared that most of the men who died were military recruits who had been doing morning exercises.

"This is a terrorist act that appears to be a suicide bombing and we are investigating," military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Hmmmmmm...

EFL
Posted by: Howard UK || 11/08/2006 04:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I suspect Al Q is going to read the American election as a mandate to kill as many Pak civilians as needed (notwithstanding that this somber hit a military target) in order to talibanize the country.

Posted by: mhw || 11/08/2006 13:13 Comments || Top||


Kashmir Korpse Kount
SRINAGAR, India - Two policemen and two Islamic militants were killed in separatist violence in Indian Kashmir, a police spokesman said on Tuesday. He said the two policemen were killed in raids on their houses by suspected militants in southern Doda and northern Kupwara districts late Monday.

The militants, one of them a former policeman, were shot dead by Indian troops during search operations in the same districts early Tuesday.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


'Bomb on Jet flight to London'
At 3.28 am on November 5, a man called the Jet Airways call centre at Andheri and warned the startled operator that Wednesday's Mumbai-London flight would be bombed. The man then said, "Lashkar-e-Taiba" thrice and hung up. The Home Ministry and the Intelligence Bureau have taken the call seriously.
A man called the Jet Airways call centre at Andheri and warned the startled operator that Wednesday's Mumbai-London flight would be bombed. The man then said, "Lashkar-e-Taiba" thrice and hung up.
Consequently, starting today, passengers travelling to the UK and the US, will undergo stringent security checks (see box). The checks will peak on Wednesday, but will continue for a few days more.

Said an airport official, "Since the man called from a London number and we cannot trace international numbers, we decided to take the call seriously and put the airport on high alert. The call also coincides with news of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's hanging and so assumes significance."

The Jet Airways spokesperson in New Delhi, AK Sivanandan confirmed that the airline had received the threat call and said a police complaint had been lodged with the airport police. Jet Airways operates two flights to London from Mumbai. Flight 9W 120, leaves Mumbai at 2.20 am every day, while 9W 118, which leaves only on Mondays, is a 1.20 pm flight. Since security will be tightened, delays are expected, but the airline has issued no advisory on reporting earlier than the mandatory three hours.

According to airport sources, while Mumbai airport does not have explosive detectors, Jet Airways employs explosive trace and vapour detectors. A top Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) official in New Delhi said that the Home Ministry and the Intelligence Bureau have been briefed on the bomb threat. "We have asked sky marshals to be on board on almost all the flights to the UK and the US. We do not know in the shape or size of the bomb, so we have to be prepared."

The Central Industrial Security Force responsible for airport security said, "We are on high alert and have briefed all airlines on the security procedures to be followed," said CISF senior Commandant Sanjay Prakash.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thricely I tell you, thricely... har har har...
Posted by: Howard UK || 11/08/2006 4:29 Comments || Top||


Rockets fired as Orakzai visits Wana
PESHAWAR: Suspected militants fired two rockets as NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai addressed a tribal jirga in Wana, South Waziristan, on Tuesday. No casualties were reported as the rockets missed their apparent target by a few hundred yards, but they did create panic in the 500 or so jirga participants that included the inspector general of the Frontier Corps and elders from the Masood, Wazir, Salman Khel, Dothani and Burki tribes. An eyewitness told Daily Times that the governor completed his speech after the rockets hit but did not stay for a luncheon hosted in his honour. He said that the governor pointed at the sight of the blast and said that these activities had harmed tribesmen. “They (militants) are a handful of people but every tribesmen is dubbed as a miscreant,” he quoted the governor as saying. He said that security forces responded to the rocket attack using heavy and light weaponry. The attackers fled the scene. The governor during his speech told the tribal jirga that the government had approved Rs 1.23 billion for the development of South Waziristan, double the allocation of previous years. Orakzai also approved a girl’s high school for the agency and directed the authorities to provide Rs 500,000 for renovation of Musa Neeka Shrine. He announced that 900 tribesmen would be inducted into the levies force.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Saddam lieutenant calls for Baath Party insurgents to stop: IbrahimThe Red
Iraqi government officials say Saddam Hussein's former second-in-command has called for Baath party leaders to end attacks.

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's former vice-president, is now a fugitive with a ten (m) million-dollar bounty on his head.

Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say al-Douri issued the order through couriers sometime after Saddam was sentenced to hang on Sunday.

Reports of al-Douri's message come as Saddam calls for reconciliation in Iraq. Speaking in court during his second trial today, the former dictator urged Iraqis, Kurds and Arabs to "forgive, reconcile and shake hands."

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 11/08/2006 11:22 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Interesting...but I don't think the Shia are playing.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 11/08/2006 13:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey, this capital punishment thing may be working!
Posted by: Baba Tutu || 11/08/2006 13:54 Comments || Top||

#3  See what happens when the Democrats win elections?

Now, don't you see how all of this was Bush's fault from the beginning??

If the Dems had been in charge this would have been over years ago!!!!!!!!



hack
spit
hurl


Well, I tried to do it with a straight face.
Posted by: AlanC || 11/08/2006 14:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Ibrahim is trying to save his own neck but I don't think it's going to work. Not like he can settle down on a farm in Tikrit.

But if Saddam's hanging demoralizes the Ba'athists to the point that they drop the rods and end their resistance, then by all means let Sammy swing, the sooner the better.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/08/2006 14:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Hate to say it, but we should take the deal if it's for real. The sooner the fighting ends the better off Iraq will be. Also, Iraq needs its Sunnis just like post-war Germany needed its ex-Nazis.

And given the pummeling the Dems gave America last night, we would do well to wrap this up before 2008.
Posted by: Phans Omeash6249 || 11/08/2006 14:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Hate to say it, but we should take the deal if it's for real. The sooner the fighting ends the better off Iraq will be. Also, Iraq needs its Sunnis just like post-war Germany needed its ex-Nazis.

And given the pummeling the Dems gave America last night, we would do well to wrap this up before 2008.
Posted by: Phans Omeash6249 || 11/08/2006 14:35 Comments || Top||

#7  He's trying to save Saddam's neck too, and what a blessing that would be. This is about as sincere as Saddam was in killing his defence team to try and win a mistrial.
Posted by: Grunter || 11/08/2006 15:16 Comments || Top||

#8  but we should take the deal if it's for real

lol! Proving you can fool some of the people all of the time.
Posted by: anon || 11/08/2006 15:25 Comments || Top||

#9  lol! Proving you can fool some of the people all of the time.

Fair comment. Then again, that is how things are done in that part of the world.
Posted by: Elmomosh Claick9810 || 11/08/2006 15:43 Comments || Top||

#10  Saddam was sentenced to hang on Sunday

Elation followed by disappointment after I reread it. Oh well.
Posted by: gorb || 11/08/2006 16:57 Comments || Top||

#11  Then again, that is how things are done in that part of the world.

Works real well, doesn't it?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 11/08/2006 18:04 Comments || Top||

#12  The Ace of Spades King of Clubs,
The Ace of Spades King of Clubs...
Posted by: Lemmy || 11/08/2006 19:48 Comments || Top||

#13  I've been thinking. He knows that when Uncle Sam goes home, there will be no one to stop the slaughter of the Sunnis. Just like last time there was no one to stop him. God sometimes seems to have a very mean sense of humor.

Remember, they don't see the world through the Judeo/Christian eyes. Nor do they see the conflict between liberal and conservative like we do. What they see is that Democrats are going into power and that the democrats don't care what happens to the people of Iraq. The certainly didn't care in Vietnam.

The Baathists are on to the UN/liberal game, they played it and know the rules. It is a game of doing nothing but lunch while slaughter occurs- it was great when they had power - but now they do not.

Like adolescents who throw stones at policemen and try to start a mob - it's was all good fun to attempt to start a civil war while the Americans seemed to be serious about staying long enough to keep order establish a government.

The Americans may be leaving. I doubt there is a word for forgiveness in Arabic. It will be payback time for the Baathists for what they did after we pulled out the first time. I'd find irony in that except that I know many good Sunni people, who would be happy to join a peaceful Iraq, will get slaughtered right along with them.
Posted by: anon || 11/08/2006 20:21 Comments || Top||

#14  Reminds me of how extremely cooperative Ted Bundy got with the authorities as his execution date got close - lots of information about the locations of bodies with more promised. They dispatched him on schedule anyway.

It's nice to see the Baathists get desperate, but I hope the Iraqi government doesn't get distracted.
Posted by: Uneth Ebberese9488 || 11/08/2006 20:32 Comments || Top||

#15  Lemmy,

Re-sort that array, lol.
Posted by: bombay || 11/08/2006 20:39 Comments || Top||

#16  anon, nothing to add, ya' pretty much nailed it.
Posted by: twobyfour || 11/08/2006 22:18 Comments || Top||

#17  2X4 - thanks :-)
Posted by: anon || 11/08/2006 22:28 Comments || Top||

#18  "Saddam Hussein's former second-in-command has called for Baath party leaders to end attacks."

Doesn't seem to be having much impact:

Police in Baghdad found 29 bodies around the capital in the last 24 hours with gunshot wounds and signs of torture, an Interior Ministry source said.
Posted by: crosspatch || 11/08/2006 23:48 Comments || Top||

#19  My feeling is that the Baathists are just about tapped out. Saddam's sentencing is a good excuse for giving up and making the best deal they can. On the other hand, you have to remember who is making this claim. Quote: Iraqi government officials say Saddam Hussein's former second-in-command has called for Baath party leaders to end attacks. It might simply be disinformation aimed at sowing confusion among the enemy.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 11/08/2006 23:51 Comments || Top||


Fierce Battle In Ramadi
Updated: 14:53, Tuesday November 07, 2006

There has been fierce fighting between US troops and gunmen in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

The largely Sunni city, to the west of Baghdad, has been a hub of pro-Saddam sentiment.

There were no immediate reports of casualties but some of the fighting was captured in dramatic video footage.

The violence came two days after former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by a court in Baghdad after being convicted of murder.

Meanwhile, the US military said this month's casualties included two lieutenant colonels, among the highest ranking soldiers to die in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

Lt Col Eric J Kruger, 40, was killed last Thursday by a roadside bomb along with Lt Col Paul J Finken, 40, and Staff Sgt Joseph A Gage, 28. All three men were riding in the same Humvee in eastern Baghdad.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 11/08/2006 01:29 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's a bad news day.
Posted by: wxjames || 11/08/2006 18:49 Comments || Top||


57 Iraqi officials charged over prisoner abuse
Iraq’s Interior Ministry has charged 57 employees, including a police general, with human rights abuses over the alleged torture of hundreds of detainees at a prison in eastern Baghdad, a ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Police Brig. Abdel-Karim Khalaf said the charges marked the first time officers in Iraq’s post-occupation police force had been charged with the crime of torture. The names of the accused were being withheld pending their trials, but Khalaf said the general had already received administrative punishments under the force’s guidelines. Others charged included 19 officers, 20 noncommissioned officers and 17 patrolmen or civilian employees of the ministry, he said. All have been removed from their jobs, Khalaf said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Iraqi Forces search Fallujah hospital
(KUNA) -- Iraqi Security Forces searched the Fallujah General Hospital today as part of their continuous operations to maintain the security and safety of the citizens of Fallujah, the US army said in a statement on Tuesday. The hospital was searched after intelligence indicated that it was being used as a potential safe haven for insurgents, according to the statement.

The Iraqi Security Forces, with the support of Coalition Forces, entered the Fallujah General Hospital to ensure that the facility continues to be a safe place for the people of Fallujah to receive medical treatment. No insurgent activity was uncovered, it said. The hospital staff and patients cooperated with the Iraqi Security Forces and the visit was completed without incident.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Ashkelon Payback IDF Style - Israel bombs home of top Hamas militant

GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli warplane on Wednesday bombed and destroyed the home of a leading Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip, in a raid that caused no injuries because occupants were warned in time to leave, Hamas and security sources said. The attack on the Gaza City home of Ahmed el Jabari, second in command in Hamas' military wing, came a day after Hamas fired half a dozen rockets at Israel, including several that struck the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, but caused no injury. The Israeli army had no immediate comment.
The IDF needs to do this every time even a single rocket is launched. Even if it falls back into Palestinian territory, they still need to trash some Hamas thug's domicile. Preferrably with everyone inside.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/08/2006 04:09 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Har har har!

They still have some government folks that haven't been arrested?
Posted by: gorb || 11/08/2006 5:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Just an inconvenience. There are a lot of really nice abandoned Jewish houses Jabari and his mama can move into. Looks like the Israelis would rather go to the grave than kill those who seek to murder them. I'm sure the Pali historians will really nice thing about those compassionate Jews. Not.
Posted by: ed || 11/08/2006 8:15 Comments || Top||

#3  The jihadis will interpret compassion as weakness. I fear the jihadis are right.

If we persist in sending valentines to our enemies all our high-tech gadgets will not save us. This may come down to hand to hand, people.
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/08/2006 9:59 Comments || Top||

#4  We can develop and fabricate all kind of high-tech gadgets. The problem is that we do not have the will to use them. So they are useless, and we are perceived, rightly so, as a paper tiger.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/08/2006 10:41 Comments || Top||


Beit Hanoun: It was like a Sh*t Storm Tsunami (Feel Free to Point and Laugh)

57 graves dug for Palestinians killed in IDF Operation Autumn Clouds. Palestinians report hundreds of homes damaged
Great photos and video coverage at the link. Major whupass six packs were opened.
Israeli forces pulled out of a battered northern Gaza town on Tuesday after their biggest operation in the Palestinian territory in a year, leaving residents to bury their dead.
If you want to see us again, just launch another rocket.
“This is the worst raid we have ever witnessed,” Said Khalil Yazji, a 45-year-old resident and police officer. “The Israeli army has brought destruction into every single street and nearly into every single house. This is the tsunami of Beit Hanoun.”
Welcome to the wages of genocidal hatred you idiots. Learn peace and maybe someday you’ll have a home that stands for more than a year.
Israeli forces killed five gunmen and a civilian and wounded 13 people on Tuesday in raids on three other areas in the northern Gaza Strip, staging grounds for rocket attacks on southern Israel, militant groups and hospital officials said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the IDF operation in Gaza and said that Israel would not ensure its safety by shedding blood.
Maybe not, but they certainly ensured that there was a steep price tag attached to allowing your neighborhood to be a rocket launching base.
“The Israelis leave one area and enter another,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said. “We have spoken to the American administration and to the Europeans that such a situation cannot help restoring security and stability,” he said.
Something tells me that the Israelis are more intent on making the Palestinians feel their pain for a change instead of worrying about restoring any nonexistent “security and stability”.
If Israel wants peace and security, it has to stop shedding Palestinian blood,” Abbas explained.
As always, you’ve got it backwards there, Abu Mudhen. Stop all attacks on Israel and see how fast peace blossoms. You wouldn’t want that now would you? It might force you to begin taking responsibility for the complete and total lack of all economic growth in the Terrortories. Ooooh look! Something shiny explosive.
Beit Hanoun’s mayor, a member of the governing Islamic group Hamas, said some 40 homes were destroyed and 400 damaged during the fighting. The local weapons depot mosque was completely destroyed except for its tower.
Now ain’t that a shame. Where’re are ya gonna preach all your hate now?
A resident of the town, Muhammed Abu Uda said, “Every day of the operation we heard from the media what was happening, because we were closed up in the house, but what we saw this morning doesn’t come close to what we heard on the radio and television.”
Isn’t it wonderful when things exceed your expectations?
“It’s obvious that someone came and deliberately destroyed sidewalks. They destroyed potholes and we are drowning in sewage. There isn’t a home without a bullet hole in it, and that is in the best case – in the worst case the house is partly or completely destroyed,” Abu Uda said.
The IDF gives extra points for thoroughness.
He also said that more qassem deployment crews from other towns in the Strip arrived to try and get Beit Hanoun back to launching more rockets like normal.
“The local crews are drowning in work. All the roads are blocked, water and electricity infrastructure have crashed. There is no water, no electricity, and the roads are full of sand mounds and rocks the soldiers set up as blockades. Everything here is ruined and there is so much death,” Abu Uda explained.
Aren’t paybacks a b!tch?
Beit Hanoun was slowly becoming a large mourner’s tent as people went about the task of identifying the dead. Graves were briskly dug, following the murder of 57 Palestinians in last week’s operation.
Can’t let that bit of biased shit slip by. This wasn’t murder, it was reprisal for constant attacks on Israel.
Palestinians claimed that a four year old and twelve year old are among the dead, as well as three teenagers, but the IDF says that reports of civilian casualties have been exaggerated.
No kids, just puppies and fluffy baby ducklings, that’s all.
Many families still don't know if their loved ones are among the dead or have left the town. "There are 10-15 unclaimed bodies in various hospitals and people who don't know where their sons are rushing from hospital to hospital trying to see if he is among the dead," said Abu Uda, "but after all this and after the days of mourning are over we will be left with the scars this operations has left on the children. I just want to say – go explain to the people on your side that this operation will not stop the rockets."
If you gave a damn about your children you’d stop strapping semtex onto them and sending them next door. The constant teaching of hatred and genocide does more to scar your children than any Israeli operation. You just can’t bear to admit that being repaid in full kicked the living shit out of your entire town.

Posted by: Zenster || 11/08/2006 00:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Looks like the Israelis have learned that mercy breeds terrorists. Looks like the "Palestinians" have learned nothing. Looks like the MSM is still trying to direct public opinion along lines that will guarantee this conflict continues indefinitely.
Posted by: gorb || 11/08/2006 0:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Once again the Paleos go from invincible men of iron will and violence to helpless victims of incomprehensible brutality in world record time. They have turned it into an art form.
Posted by: Baba Tutu || 11/08/2006 0:59 Comments || Top||

#3  It’s obvious that someone came and deliberately destroyed sidewalks. They destroyed potholes and we are drowning in sewage. There isn’t a home without a bullet hole in it, and that is in the best case – in the worst case the house is partly or completely destroyed

Destroying the sidewalks and potholes (not sure how you could tell, but I'm willing to take this on faith) is an extremely nice touch.

Nice job this time IDF. Keep it up!

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 11/08/2006 2:05 Comments || Top||

#4  good inline comments Zen. Reap what you sow assholes.
Posted by: Frank G || 11/08/2006 7:33 Comments || Top||

#5  Every house had bullet holes? That sounds more like the results of local festivities than Israeli tanks. Of course, I'm just a little civilian housewife who touched a gun once, so conceivably I'm talking through my hat on the subject.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/08/2006 7:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Destroyed potholes, ya say? Would you care to elaborate on that? The term confuses me.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/08/2006 10:44 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm just a little civilian housewife who touched a gun once, so conceivably I'm talking through my hat on the subject.

LOL TW, love your 'delicate' humor... now don't forgit to wash that baad little hat'hand.
Posted by: RD || 11/08/2006 11:08 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm confused, RD. What are you babbling about?
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/08/2006 12:31 Comments || Top||

#9  Machine guns are popular accessories for the well-equipped modern tank. Often a big one co-axial with the main gun and a smaller, more personal one up on the turret.

P.S. I like the part about blowing up the potholes. That's some thorough whupass!
Posted by: SteveS || 11/08/2006 14:07 Comments || Top||

#10  Well, maybe there's a bright side to all of this for the Paleos. Maybe they could just pave over all those potholes with steel plates, like they do here in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Atlanta, lol!
Posted by: BA || 11/08/2006 14:39 Comments || Top||

#11  Government funding for roads is running scarce these days, potholes probably there before anyway!
Posted by: addy || 11/08/2006 15:09 Comments || Top||

#12  Possib;y a mistranslation,
Perhaps they mean Outhouses (ShitHoles-PotHoles?)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/08/2006 19:05 Comments || Top||

#13  Potholes = Manholes or maybe septic tanks? They may even have above ground waste storage tanks that were cracked during the onslaught.

Man alive! Am I ever going to lose some sleep worrying over this. I'm hoping that the IDF makes this general policy for all rocket assaults. At some point, they must crush the Palestinians' will to support this insanity. If this cannot be done, they need to inflict such dramatic damage to their infrastructure that, eventually, they simply cannot launch anywhere near the assaults they once did.

Once again the Paleos go from invincible men of iron will and violence to helpless victims of incomprehensible brutality in world record time.

I've got to hand it to Baba Tutu. This one observation really nails the old domination - victim flip-flop that the Arabs are so fond of. These Lions of Islam™ are the world's fiercest warriors until someone coldcocks them in a fair fight, then suddenly they are the most abject whiney woe beset miserable bunch of pathetic squalling bastards anyone's ever seen.

We need to keep them in the latter state ... permanently.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/08/2006 20:00 Comments || Top||


Two Paleos Killed in Gaza City
GAZA CITY - A Palestinian woman and a man were killed by Israeli fire east of Gaza City, medics said, following the killing of two militants earlier Tuesday in the north of the coastal strip.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israeli Forces Pull Out of Northern Beit Hanoun
Israeli forces ended a bloody weeklong operation in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun early Tuesday, leaving behind a swath of destroyed homes, uprooted trees and streets muddied with sewage water from pipes destroyed by tanks and bulldozers. Nearly 50 Palestinians, most of them militants, and an Israeli soldier were killed in the offensive designed to curb Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli towns. But hours after the troops pulled out, militants began firing rockets again from a field in the town. There were no reports of injuries, but eight Palestinians were killed in clashes in nearby areas, including three killed in a tank strike on a lawmaker's home.

The army said it uncovered many weapons and arrested dozens of militants in the operation. Forces took up new positions outside the town, and did not leave the Gaza Strip completely, the military said.

"If I was against the rockets, now I will encourage people to launch rockets from every spot, from everywhere because rockets are not a pretext for what is going on here," Yazgi said. "This is an act of terror."
In the dawn light, hundreds of Beit Hanoun residents who spent most of the last week holed up inside their homes as troops and militants battled in the streets milled around inspecting the damage the army left behind. Hundreds climbed over large sand embankments blocking the entrances to the town, making their way in and out of the area that had been a war zone. Women stood outside homes whose outer walls had been damaged by tanks that also ripped up asphalt and cars as they rumbled through streets. Telephone and electricity wires lay exposed on the ground, and the wall around the town cemetery was in ruins, with several tombstones uprooted. Some residents tried to fix the tombstones, while others dug fresh graves for those killed in the fighting.

Khalil Yazgi, 45, looked on as children and women picked through the rubble of the four-story structure that had been home to his extended family of 50. All that remained was a staircase and the exposed rooms of an apartment. "If I was against the rockets, now I will encourage people to launch rockets from every spot, from everywhere because rockets are not a pretext for what is going on here," Yazgi said. "This is an act of terror."
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  rockets= destruction of everything you own, so of course, the death cult starts shooting them again, then whines about the consequences
Posted by: Frank G || 11/08/2006 7:35 Comments || Top||

#2  But hours after the troops pulled out, militants began firing rockets again from a field in the town.

The IDF should have gone back in and bounced the rubble with some air strikes. These shitheads just do not learn.

"If I was against the rockets, now I will encourage people to launch rockets from every spot, from everywhere because rockets are not a pretext for what is going on here," Yazgi said. "This is an act of terror."

That's a big "If" there, Yazgi. First off, you obviously weren't opposed to the rockets to begin with. Second, the rockets aren't a "pretext", they are the reason you and your extended family of 50 terrorists are all sleeping under the stars right now. Third, firing your damned rockets into civilian territory is "an act of terror". Just because you were terrified while getting your ass righteously kicked and kicked hard isn't terror, its paybacks that are richly deserved by thankless shits like you. Keep it up and you'll have nothing to show for your lifetime of genocidal hatred.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/08/2006 13:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Gotta stop poncing in and out of the issue, the air strikes I like a lot! Maybe shell them a little as well, and then if it happens again. Jees it needs to be a full scale war just someone destroy someone. Stop poncing round each other fire! It's rediculous
Posted by: addy || 11/08/2006 15:17 Comments || Top||


Four Kassam rockets fired at Ashkelon
Hours after the IDF wrapped up Operation "Autumn Clouds" in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, aimed at cracking down on the firing of Kassam rockets at southern Israel,
Two Kassam rockets were fired at the western Negev town of Sderot. No injuries or damage were reported.
Palestinian terrorists fired five rockets towards Ashkelon on Tuesday evening. One rocket landed near a city school, two rockets in the southern industrial zone, and the fourth rocket hit an open field. Earlier, two Kassam rockets were fired at the western Negev town of Sderot. No injuries or damage were reported.

Despite leaving Beit Hanun, army forces were still operating in northern Gaza.
During clashes on Tuesday, troops killed nine Palestinians in several exchanges of fire.
During clashes on Tuesday, troops killed nine Palestinians in several exchanges of fire.

Three Palestinians were killed in an IAF aistrike in the Beit Lahiyeh area, according to Palestinian sources.

Four Palestinians were killed in the tank-shell blast. The tank opened fire after Palestinian gunmen launched two rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at soldiers. The IDF said it was responding to the attack and did not target a specific house.
Reportedly fighter jets fired a missile towards a group of Palestinian gunmen. Earlier, IDF tanks reportedly fired two shells at the home of the Hamas lawmaker who organized a women's protest that allowed gunmen to escape from a northern Gaza mosque under Israeli siege. The lawmaker, Jamila Shanti, said she was told her sister-in-law was killed in the attack, east of the town of Jebaliya. Israel Radio reported that four Palestinians were killed in the tank-shell blast. The army said a tank opened fire after Palestinian gunmen launched two rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at soldiers. It said it was responding to the attack and did not target a specific house.

Simultaneously,
An IDF unit operating near Dugit shot and killed two armed Palestinians Tuesday morning.
an IDF unit operating in northern Gaza, near the area of the former settlement of Dugit, shot and killed two armed Palestinians Tuesday morning. The gunmen reportedly were members of Islamic Jihad.

On Tuesday afternoon, the IAF hit a group of armed Palestinians in the Jabalya area of the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources reported that a woman was lightly wounded in the airstrike.

Palestinians fired an anti-tank missile towards an IDF armored vehicle in northern Gaza. No one was wounded but the vehicle sustained damage.
Earlier, Palestinians fired an anti-tank missile towards an IDF armored vehicle in northern Gaza. No one was wounded but the vehicle sustained damage.

Only a few hours earlier the IDF announced it had withdrawn from Beit Hanun, ending Operation Autumn Clouds, a six-day anti-terror sweep aimed at eradicating Kassam rockets from the northern Gaza Strip. The army said troops redeployed inside the Gaza Strip but outside Beit Hanun, in the northeast corner of the territory. Residents reported troops and tanks withdrawing from the town overnight. At least 58 Palestinians were killed during the operation. Five Palestinians were killed Monday in separate incidents in the northern Gaza Strip.

Four Hamas gunmen were killed by IDF snipers and IAF helicopter missile strikes, including two who were shot as they approached troops with RPG rocket launchers. Two civilians were killed as well.
Four Hamas gunmen were killed by IDF snipers and IAF helicopter missile strikes Monday, including two who were shot as they approached troops with RPG rocket launchers. Two civilians were killed as well. Earlier, a female suicide bomber blew herself up near troops in Beit Hanun Monday afternoon, lightly wounding a soldier, the IDF reported. Soldiers identified the bomber in time and shot her before she could come closer. The army received an intelligence warning from the Shin Bet prior to the attack.

Two gunmen were wounded as they attempted to fire Kassams, the army and PA security officials said. Palestinians managed to fire anti-tank missiles at an armored vehicle, without causing any harm, the IDF said. The attack by the female bomber was the first against the IDF since it entered Beit Hanun on Wednesday in a bid to curb the Kassam attacks. Snipers and IAF missiles have succeeded in preventing Palestinian gunmen from using shoulder-fired missiles and roadside bombs.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Palestinians managed to fire anti-tank missiles at an armored vehicle, without causing any harm

Good for the Palestinians! For once I'm with them all the way! :-)
Posted by: gorb || 11/08/2006 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  One quarter of Israel's power comes from a plant in Ashkelon. If it is hit, the IAF will unleash hell.
Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 || 11/08/2006 2:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Israel needs to cut all power to Gaza
Posted by: Frank G || 11/08/2006 7:38 Comments || Top||

#4  And don't forget the water. Let the Paleos live on saline well water and sewage. The Israelis can stop this Paleo terrorist nonsense right now, they just need the will to flip the switch off and close the valve. Let Egypt and the Saudis take care of the Paleos.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/08/2006 10:48 Comments || Top||

#5  Israel needs to start clearing the Gaza Strip of anything larger than a lentil. Leave nothing for the paleostains to hide behind, under, or in. Use whatever works, including napalm, fuel-air explosives, flamethrowers, tanks, artillery, and the kitchen sink. Do it 10 feet a day, starting at the northernmost edge and work south. That's the only way to clean out the scum that launch rockets at Israel's cities and villages. From what I've read, it's very effective - just ask the victims of Genghis Kahn.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 11/08/2006 13:12 Comments || Top||


Female terror cell found in W. Bank
The Shin Bet uncovered a female terrorist network which operated in the West Bank in August and September, it was released for publication on Tuesday. The women, from the Islamic Jihad movement, were allegedly affiliated with two terror cells - in Kafr Nima and Kafr Ein - which were reportedly responsible for several shooting attacks in the Ramallah area and for setting up an explosives laboratory in the city.

One of the women arrested, Wadaha Fakhaa, 34, is suspected of transferring funds to one of the cells. Fakhaah, who heads one of the Islamic Jihad offices in Ramallah, was arrested on August 3, and told her interrogators that she had received money from the organization's headquarters in Syria, which she then passed on to fund terror cells via two other female Islamic Jihad activists who acted as couriers. The suspected couriers, Havah Hamidaat and Palastin Zobah, both 21, worked in the Islamic Jihad offices in Ramallah that deals with the movement's prisoners. They were arrested on August 20, and confessed to the charges.

In addition to the two couriers, Fakhah was aided by several Islamic Jihad operatives from Ramallah, who were used to channel funds from Syria to terrorist groups. Two of the operatives, Afat Halifa, 21, and Zahiyah Goanma, 40, were arrested by the IDF and the Shin Bet in September and told their interrogators that they had each received a commission of 100 dollars for all the money transfers they helped to perform. The funds were channeled to fund Islamic Jihad terrorist attacks.

The sixth woman arrested was Raanah Hadir, 26, who allegedly led Islamic Jihad's student wing at Hebron University. Hadir is also suspected of being active in channeling money to terrorist groups and to families of suicide bombers.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The "Brides-of-Allah".
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/08/2006 7:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Are they hot?
Posted by: Spusing Cromoque2615 || 11/08/2006 12:17 Comments || Top||

#3  "#2 Are they hot?"

I highly doubt it, at least not until they activate their suicide vests.
Posted by: Oregonian || 11/08/2006 14:17 Comments || Top||


IDF arrests five Palestinians in Ramallah
The IDF arrested five Palestinians in Ramallah on Tuesday, including a wanted Tanzim operative who was involved in shooting attacks in the area. The five were taken in for questioning.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Foreign left-wing activist arrested in W. Bank
Samaria District Police arrested a foreign left-wing activist on Tuesday, who police claimed violated a closed military zone order near Hill 725 in the West Bank. The activist entered the area with a group of Palestinians in order to harvest olives. The IDF had declared the area a closed military zone and the group were ordered to leave. However, the man allegedly refused to vacate the area and was detained by police.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Send him back home---in 5 kilo packages.
Posted by: gromgoru || 11/08/2006 13:04 Comments || Top||


Israel frees Pakistani terror suspect
The Shin Bet Security Service on Monday released from jail a Jordanian-born Pakistani who had been detained in Israel for 50 days on suspicions of involvement in a terror network affiliated with global jihad. Marwan Ibrahim Ali Jabur, whose parents are Palestinian, spent the last two and a half years under detention in Pakistan, the United States, Jordan and Israel. He was released to relatives in the Gaza Strip a day before the court was scheduled to consider extending his remand.

As revealed in Haaretz last week, Jabur was first arrested in Pakistan in May 2004, where he was interrogated under difficult and torturous conditions. He was transferred to US forces after 15 days and flown to an unknown location, which he described as a place where “music was playing 24 hours a day and the soldiers would beat us nonstop”. This description indicates Jabur was apparently held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba, where the United States holds Al Qaeda operatives. From there he was flown to Jordan under American escort, where he spent a month and a half under interrogation before being imprisoned at the Shin Bet Security Service wing at the Kishon jail.

Jabur was born on in 1976 Amman, Jordan, to Palestinian refugees from the Gaza town of Khan Yunis, grew up in Saudi Arabia, and moved to Pakistan at the age of 19 to study mechanical engineering.
The Shin Bet confirmed it was holding him on suspicion of terror activity and has stated his custody was subject to court approval. All information came from the statement Jabur signed and the conversations he conducted with Mahajna and another lawyer, Maher Talhami, who is also dealing with the case.

Jabur was born on in 1976 Amman, Jordan, to Palestinian refugees from the Gaza town of Khan Yunis, grew up in Saudi Arabia, and moved to Pakistan at the age of 19 to study mechanical engineering. There he met and married a Pakistani woman and they had three children. He became a Pakistani citizen - he holds both a Pakistani passport and a Palestinian ID. He completed his engineering internship in France, after which he returned to Pakistan and visited Afghanistan several times.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
3 killed in separate attacks in Jolo
Three persons, including a soldier and a militant, were killed while a junior officer was wounded in separate attacks last week in the island province of Sulu where military offensive continues against the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf that is sheltering three Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists. The Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) reported that the slain soldier and the junior officer were ambushed last Saturday by members of the Abu Sayyaf's urban terrorist group (UTG) in Barangay Kakuyagan, Jolo town.

The UTG is the Abu Sayyaf's assassination squad targeting government operatives in urban centers in the different parts of Mindanao. The report disclosed that the soldiers were returning to their base from downtown Jolo when UTG members ambushed them. The Wesmincom reported that the soldiers managed to return fire, killing one of the attackers. The others fled to different directions.

The identities of both the slain and wounded soldiers were withheld. The officer holds the rank of captain and all of them belong to the Army's 35th Infantry Battalion. The soldier, who holds the rank of corporal, died last Sunday at the hospital.

The third fatality was a court employee in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province. The victim came from his office when unidentified gunman shot him last Friday. He was declared dead on arrival by attending physicians in the hospital.

Military troops have been pursuing the Abu Sayyaf, which has been sheltering three JI men, for the past three months in the hinterlands of Sulu. Two of the three JI members namely Umar Patek and Dulmatin were tagged as the masterminds in the 2002 bombing of a resort in Bali, Indonesia that killed 202 people. The third is said to be a Singaporean national. They slipped into the country via the southern backdoor to escape the pursuing lawmen in Indonesia.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Philippine troops seize al-Qaida explosives
Philippine troops on Tuesday seized explosive chemicals that were allegedly to be used by al-Qaida-linked Muslim terrorists in planned bomb attacks in the country's troubled south, the military said. The chemicals, consisting of 125 kilos of ammonium nitrate, were seized aboard a truck that passed by a military checkpoint in the coastal village of Rio Hondo in Zamboanga City, 875 kilometres south of Manila, according to Major Eugene Batara. The truck driver, identified as Jasimin Sahid, was detained for interrogation. The seizure brought to more than 900 kilos the total amount of ammonium nitrate confiscated in Zamboanga City since October.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They lost a 40 foot container of the stuff in 2002. Looks like some of it is showing up. Most went to fishermen, gotta fish the easy way.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 11/08/2006 20:16 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Al Qaeda: The Next Generation
EFL

A madrassa in Chingai, Pakistan -- a small village near the northwestern border with Afghanistan -- was destroyed and at least 80 people were reportedly killed by a powerful airstrike Oct. 31. There have been reports that Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 man, was the intended target. Most of those killed are thought to have been teachers and students from the madrassa; however, the results of forensic tests to identify many of the victims are still pending, and al Qaeda militants eventually could be identified as among the dead.

The madrassa that was struck was located a little more than a mile from the village of Damadola, the site of an airstrike in January that was also intended to kill al-Zawahiri. (He was not present at the time of the January attack but four other senior al Qaeda operatives reportedly were killed.) If al-Zawahiri indeed was the target of the Oct. 31 strike, it is clear that intelligence has led the U.S. and Pakistani governments to believe he is moving about in a very specific area of northwestern Pakistan.

If al-Zawahiri survived this latest strike -- and if, as in the past, he wants to offer continued "proof of life" to his supporters and needle the United States -- he will be producing a video or audiotape quite soon.

In fact, in the past there has been a discernible and consistent lag of about two to three weeks between the events that trigger al-Zawahiri's videos (which he mentions in his messages) and the release of As-Sahab productions. For instance, in the Damadola case, the strike occurred Jan. 13 and a video of al-Zawahiri -- taunting the United States for having missed him -- was released Jan. 30. Similarly, the tape eulogizing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was released June 23; the militant leader in Iraq was killed June 6. Using this pattern as a guide, we would expect As-Sahab productions to send out a banner ad, announcing a forthcoming video, to jihadist Web sites and message boards late this week or early next week, with the video airing a day or two later.

In the interim, however, there is a question to be pondered: What if "proof of life" does not emerge? There long have been rumors that Osama bin Laden is dead or dying, and it is significant that al-Zawahiri -- who, some personal acquaintances have said, prefers the No. 2 position to the role of top leadership (believing it to be more powerful) -- has been the public face of al Qaeda for quite some time. So far this year, he has appeared in a dozen As-Sahab productions (compared to only five for bin Laden, whose spate of voice recordings in the first half of the year constituted an uncharacteristic media blitz). Supposing that al-Zawahiri could have been killed by the recent airstrike -- or will killed be by a future airstrike in the same region -- who might emerge to fill the power void?
continued at the link
Posted by: ryuge || 11/08/2006 02:41 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorry, didn't realize this was a premium membership article. I got in through a Google news link.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/08/2006 2:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Interesting post, Ryuge. One imminently anticipates the old man deigning to leave the Penthouse suite at the Quetta Hilton to film another spittle-flecked tirade against the West and the Joooos.
Posted by: Howard UK || 11/08/2006 4:04 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Britney Spears Files for DivorcePalestinian leaders fail to agree on joint rule57 Iraqi officials charged over prisoner abuseSaddam returns to the dock to face charges over Kurdish genocidePak minister calls for single Kashmir govtQaeda claims Yemen oil attacks, vows more strikesIsraeli Forces Pull Out of Northern Beit HanounJapan, US plan joint air, naval drills from tomorrow
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Stock market will be very interesting this morning.

They were betting on a split government.
Posted by: anonymous2u || 11/08/2006 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  What's good about it? Iin the eyes of the jihadists, we just surrendered. THAT is our reality.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 11/08/2006 1:52 Comments || Top||

#3  The reality is that we have 2 years that are going to be very interesting here at Rantburg. Then, 2 years from now, we get to do it all over again - and with any luck at all the real America will get to see exactly what the Dhimmi's are all about and have a belly full of it.

I predict that Republicans will sweep back to control in '08.

That's the beuty of our system. Things don't remain the same forever and no single party can bring down the entire country.

Do not despair.

Posted by: FOTSGreg || 11/08/2006 2:01 Comments || Top||

#4  It's bad yes. But they can't get anything really done without getting past the Senate AND Bush. So there's still that.
Posted by: Charles || 11/08/2006 3:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Unfortunately, the way things are going in Montana and Missouri (and VA, probably), they'll have the Senate too, 51-49. Time for W to start using all those vetoes he's been saving up.
Posted by: Jonathan || 11/08/2006 4:45 Comments || Top||

#6  Checking the votes this morning. Minnesota, Minneapolis has sent the first Mooslum (with ties to CAIR) to Congress. Anyone else see a security problem here?

The lake is still and weather warm. Maybe not suck a bad day.

Waiting to hear how the Muslim terrorist are going to comment on the Dhimmicrap's wins.
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/08/2006 6:50 Comments || Top||

#7  I predict the Republic will survive this. And it will be interesting.

Pelosi is going to have her hands full with all her prima dons trying to lead the party off a cliff and lots of new congresscritters trying to figure out how to explain to their constituents in two years that they aren't one of the menagerie like the House leadership that will hog the nightly news from here on out.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 11/08/2006 7:27 Comments || Top||

#8  This must be Betty Grable as a near child--not the heart throb and pinup queen of the troops during WWII.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/08/2006 10:28 Comments || Top||

#9  I believe that's Betty in her jail-bait period.
Posted by: Fred || 11/08/2006 11:18 Comments || Top||

#10  Hope you're right FOTSGreg.

But, hey, we have Betty to keep things in perspective, right?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/08/2006 11:40 Comments || Top||

#11  The best news today is that the Ranger up girl is back!
Posted by: USN, ret. || 11/08/2006 14:35 Comments || Top||

#12  Agreed, USN, agreed! Much easier on the eyes that San Fran Nan 24/7 to boot!
Posted by: BA || 11/08/2006 14:43 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2006-11-08
  Israeli Forces Pull Out of Beit Hanoun
Tue 2006-11-07
  Al Qaeda terrorist captured in Afghanistan
Mon 2006-11-06
  Pakistani AF officers tried to kill Perv
Sun 2006-11-05
  Saddam Sentenced to Death
Sat 2006-11-04
  More Military Humor Aimed at Kerry
Fri 2006-11-03
  Turkey: Muslim vows to 'strangle' Pope
Thu 2006-11-02
  US force storms Allawi's Home
Wed 2006-11-01
  NYC Judge Refuses to Toss Terror Charges Against Four
Tue 2006-10-31
  Lahoud objects to int'l court on Hariri murder
Mon 2006-10-30
  Pakistani troops destroy al-Qaida training grounds
Sun 2006-10-29
  Aussie 'al-Qaeda suspects' facing terror charges in Yemen
Sat 2006-10-28
  Taliban accuse NATO of genocide, bus bombing kills 14
Fri 2006-10-27
  Hilali suspended from speaking at Lakemba
Thu 2006-10-26
  US-Iraqi forces raid Sadr city, PM disavows attack
Wed 2006-10-25
  Iran may have Khan nuke gear: Pakistan


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