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Suspect in Bat Ayin attack in custody
Today's Headlines
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmm... can't quite make out her name...
... but I enjoy trying.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/27/2009 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  I think it says "Abbe Lane".
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 04/27/2009 1:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Happy Birthday: April 27th

Ulysses S. Grant - died 1885 (63) "General-in-Chief of the Union Army - 18th President of the United States"

Walter Lantz - died 1994 (94) "Cartoonist and Animator - Woody Woodpecker"

Jack Klugman - 87 "The Odd Couple - Quincy, M.E." (Now)

Sandy Dennis - died 1992 (54) "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Judy Carne - 70 "Joyce Botterill - Sock it to me!" (Now?)

Sheena Easton - 50 "Singer - For your Eyes Only" (Now)

On this day in history: April 27th
1521 – Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines led by chief Lapu-Lapu.
1667 – The blind and impoverished John Milton sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
1773 – The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
1805 – United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna.
1810 – Beethoven composes his famous piano piece, Für Elise.
1861 – President of the United States Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
1865 – The steamboat Sultana, carrying 2,400 passengers, explodes and sinks in the Mississippi River, killing 1,700, most of whom were Union survivors of the Andersonville and Cahaba Prisons.
1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.
1981 – Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
1994 – South African general election, 1994: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/27/2009 2:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Gams Gone Wild

"Jayne Mansfield may turn boys into men, but I take them from there" - Abigail Lassman



From Here to Eternity

Twelve O'clock High

The Crossing

The High and The Mighty

The Pink Panther

Pillow Talk

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/27/2009 4:12 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 04/27/2009 4:29 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan blasts, bullets kill 14
[Bangla Daily Star] Fourteen people, including 11 policemen, were killed in shootings and explosions across insurgency-plagued Afghanistan, authorities said Sunday.

A roadside bomb blast killed five policemen and two civilians in the Zhari district of southern Kandahar on Sunday, the interior ministry said in a statement. Two other police were injured, it said. The ministry said the police were on patrol "inspecting the opium fields".

"Planting mines by the enemies of Afghanistan indicates that there is close link between drug traders and the terrorists," it said.

Afghanistan produces 90 percent of the world's illicit drug supplies from its poppy crops which the government has a policy of eradicating.

Another three policemen were killed and two wounded in a similar incident in central Wardak province, just south of the capital Kabul, the ministry said.

The ministry blamed the attacks on the "enemies of Afghanistan" -- a term authorities use to refer to the remnants of the Taliban, who are leading an insurgency after the 2001 US-led invasion ousted them from power.

On Saturday, three other policemen were killed and two wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in eastern Khost province near the border with Pakistan, said senior police official Sher Ahmad Kochi.

A senior civil servant was killed in Kandahar on Sunday in a drive-by shooting by gunmen speeding past on a motorbike, an official said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Yes, bullets will do that, but only if you get them mad enough.
Posted by: Steven || 04/27/2009 13:16 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Israeli guards repel Somali pirate attack on cruise ship
[Haaretz Defense] An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits and drove them away, the commander said Sunday.

Cmdr. Ciro Pinto told Italian state radio that six men in a small white boat approached the Msc Melody and opened fire with automatic weapons Saturday night, but retreated after the Israeli security officers aboard the cruise ship returned fire.

Pinto said pistols were handed out to security staff and they opened fire on the pirates when they tried to clamber up the sides of the ship. "It felt like we were in war," Pinto said. "They tried to put up a ladder with hooks. They were climbing up, so we reacted. We started firing. When they saw us firing -- we even sprayed them with water with the firehose -- they gave up and went off," Pinto said.

The pirates followed the Melody for another 20 minutes, firing at it all the while, Pinto said.

"The passengers meanwhile were inside the cabin. There are no injuries. Only two people with scrapes," the captain said. "Someone slipped, fell. Just a few light scrapes."

Domenico Pellegrino, head of the Italian cruise line, said Msc hired the
Israelis because they were the best trained security agents, the ANSA news agency reported. Cruise line security work is a popular job for young Israelis who have recently been discharged from mandatory army service, as it is a good chance to save money and travel.

Civilian shipping and passenger ships have generally avoided arming crewmen or hiring armed security for reasons of safety, liability and compliance with the rules of the different countries where they dock.

Saturday's exchange of fire was one of the first reported between pirates and a nonmilitary ship. International military forces have battled pirates, with U.S. Navy snipers killing three holding an American captain hostage in one of the highest-profile incidents.

The Spanish warship SPS Marques de Ensenada was meeting up with the liner to escort her through the pirate-infested northern Gulf of Aden, the Maritime Security Center said. The cruise ship was headed as scheduled to the Jordanian port of Aqaba. The Melody was on a 22-day cruise from Durban, South Africa, to Genoa, Italy.

Another Italian-owned vessel remains in the hands of pirates. The Italian-flagged tugboat Buccaneer was seized off Somalia on April 11 with 16 crew members aboard.

On Saturday, the Foreign Ministry dispatched a special envoy, Margherita Boniver, to Somalia to try to win the release of the tug and crew. In a statement, the ministry also denied reports by relatives of the crew that an ultimatum had been issued by the pirates.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Pirates

#1  The Italian-flagged tugboat Buccaneer

It didn't live up to its name.
Posted by: phil_b || 04/27/2009 0:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Flamethrowers at the waterline.
Posted by: gorb || 04/27/2009 3:01 Comments || Top||

#3  All able bodied men.... pistols and cutlasses to the foredeck for further instructions! Now hurry!
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/27/2009 7:47 Comments || Top||

#4  "Pirate shooting" could be marketed as an unique cruise feature like sporting clay shooting off the back of the ship.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/27/2009 19:33 Comments || Top||


2 Somali Pirates Die in Hijacking of Yemeni Vessel
Yemeni officials say Somali pirates have seized an empty Yemeni oil tanker in a deadly clash with coast guards. The officials said two pirates were killed in the confrontation in the Gulf of Aden Sunday. Three other pirates and two coast guards also were wounded.

Earlier Sunday, Kenyan maritime groups said Somali pirates had released another Yemeni freighter and its 15 crew members. The ship was seized in January with a cargo of petroleum products.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is this Coast Guard on Coast Guard action? I mean, the Somali pirates are just voluntary coast guardsmen hunting down fishermen who deplete the Somali coastal waters, and international ships who dump toxins in local waters. Of course, for some reason the pirates have to go 300-500 miles off shore to track down these miscreants, but still ...
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 04/27/2009 17:24 Comments || Top||

#2  "2 Somali Pirates Die in Hijacking of Yemeni Vessel"

It's a start....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/27/2009 20:51 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Bomb blast kills Algerian civilian
[Maghrebia] A civilian was killed and two others were injured in a bomb explosion on Saturday (April 25th) near Ain El Hamam, south-east of Tizi Ouzou, Tout sur l'Algerie reported. In other news Saturday, security services dismantled a terror support network in Khenchla and arrested 9 people allegedly linked to al-Qaeda, Ennahar reported. Information provided by a terrorist arrested in Tébessa led to the operation.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Bangladesh
NSI officer remanded
[Bangla Daily Star] A Chittagong court yesterday placed National Security Intelligence (NSI) field-level officer Akbar Hossain Khan on a seven-day fresh remand in a case filed in connection with the sensational Chittagong arms haul.

The Court of Metropolitan Magistrate Osman Gani granted the remand following a petition submitted by the investigation officer of the arms case Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Assistant Superintendent of Police Muniruzzaman for a 10-day fresh remand.

The investigation officer made the petition on April 23 and the hearing was held yesterday.

The prayer for fresh remand was made as the investigators failed to glean any remarkable information from Akbar during his two-day remand that ended on April 21.

Earlier, the owner and manager of transport agency Greenways identified Akbar as the person who hired seven trucks and a crane from them. Those vehicles were used for the transportation of the huge firearms and ammunition hauled at Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd jetty on April 2, 2004.

"The NSI officer did not provide any information, during the two-day remand, about who instructed him to hire the trucks and the crane," Muniruzzaman said.

On April 23, two more witnesses gave statements under Section-164 of CrPC indicating that Akbar was the person who hired the seven trucks and the crane from Greenways.

Sheikh Ahmed, a Kodomtali-based transport broker, and Salim Ullah, an accountant of Greenways were the two witnesses.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: HUJI


72 more BDR men shown arrested
[Bangla Daily Star] Seventy-two more suspected Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutineers were shown arrested yesterday and 10 of them were placed on a five-day remand each.
And the entire lot of them were promptly placed on heart failure watch.
For prevention or enjoyment?
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
New jet-powered UAV makes debut

The Avenger — a possible successor to the MQ-9 Reaper in the Air Force unmanned aircraft fleet — made its first three flights in April.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. designed the Avenger to improve upon the capabilities that have made its Reaper and MQ-1 Predator so effective, said Thomas Cassidy, president of the Air Systems Group for GA-ASI.

At 41 feet long with a 66-foot wingspan, the Avenger is slightly larger than the Reaper. But the real difference is propulsion: the jet-powered Avenger can fly 460 miles per hour, about twice as fast as its turboprop-equipped Reaper.

Just like the Reaper, the Avenger will carry 500-pound bombs with GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions with GPS navigations and laser guidance kits attached. In all, the Avenger can carry 3,000 pounds of weapons and sensors.

This unmanned aircraft is the first outfitted with a weapons bay, which will reduce the Avenger’s radar signature. It also has the flexibility to carry extra fuel tanks or a wide-area surveillance pod inside the bay. “If you hang the weapons from the wings like the Reaper and Predator, then it produces the bumps and corners on the edges that radar bounce off of that reveal the shape and size of the aircraft,” said Philip Coyle, an analyst for the Center for Defense Information.

The Avenger requires a caveat as the possible successor, though, because the Air Force hasn’t yet signed a contract for a next-generation unmanned aircraft.

In a statement, Air Force officials commended General Atomics for building the Avenger. But Capt. Stacy Orlowsky, a service spokeswoman, said it wasn’t a done deal to expect the Avenger to join the Air Force fleet.“If the Air Force establishes new UAS requirements, we anticipate an open competition to select the best material solution,” she said.

This isn’t the first time General Atomics has taken this approach. It developed the Reaper and Predator the same way — not waiting for contracts from any of the services.

Like the Predator and Reaper, the Avenger and its near-stealth capability could create another unending appetite from the services, said Tom Ehrhard, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

General Atomics will build an all-reconnaissance version of the Avenger when the Air Force completes development of a wide-area surveillance pod, Cassidy said.

The service is to install 10 wide-area surveillance sensors under the Reaper starting in 2010. Called Gorgon Stare, the sensors will allow airmen to film a 4-kilometer radius from 12 different angles. But it’s still too early to tell if this would be the pod installed under the Avenger, officials said.

The Avenger is designed to fly 20 continuous hours, or 22 with extra fuel tanks — a few less than the Reaper’s 25-hour flight time. Its operational altitude would be 10,000 feet higher than the Reaper with a ceiling of 60,000 feet.

Commanders have come to value unmanned aircraft’s ability to loiter over targets. The Avenger’s 20- to 22-hour flying time combined with the ability to fly twice as fast as the Reaper will increase that loiter time, depending on how far the target is from the Avenger’s home base, Coyle said.

Cassidy said his company might discover during testing that the Avenger is even faster than 460 mph.“One of the most important capabilities for a UAV is its ability to loiter, so you don’t care how fast it is then, but it does matter how fast it can get there and back,” he said.
Posted by: tu3031 || 04/27/2009 12:39 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Commanders have come to value unmanned aircraft's ability to loiter over targets."

Yeah, it is a lot easier for a pilot of a UAV to switch off with someone else so he can take a crap or get a meal than it would be with a manned craft. I couldn't imagine sitting for 22hours in one spot and being comfortable afterward.
Posted by: crosspatch || 04/27/2009 13:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, what the hell does it have to be fast for? So it can hurry up and loiter? It spends its time in racetrack patterns in the sky at the most fuel-efficient setting.

PS "Gorgon Stare" cool name!
Posted by: gromky || 04/27/2009 14:02 Comments || Top||

#3  The Avenger requires a caveat as the possible successor, though, because the Air Force hasn't yet signed a contract for a next-generation unmanned aircraft.

In a statement, Air Force officials commended General Atomics for building the Avenger. But Capt. Stacy Orlowsky, a service spokeswoman, said it wasn't a done deal to expect the Avenger to join the Air Force fleet."If the Air Force establishes new UAS requirements, we anticipate an open competition to select the best material solution," she said.

This isn't the first time General Atomics has taken this approach. It developed the Reaper and Predator the same way -- not waiting for contracts from any of the services.


Ph brother - where have we heard this before? Oh yeah, maybe when the Wright Broters had to go to France while the War Department was waiting for Langley to invent the airplane.

I wonder if the "open competition" will include allowing General Atomics squadron to blow the others out of the sky?

I wonder if the IDF has an order in for rush delivery, say - next week?

How far away are we from the Blackwater Navy acquiring a CCV to accomodate an air wing of these?
Posted by: Phineth the Anonymous8743 || 04/27/2009 14:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Sorry for the typos - impatience and disgust don't mix well.
Posted by: Phineth the Anonymous8743 || 04/27/2009 14:23 Comments || Top||

#5  The old "spad" was loved by a lot of commanders on the ground because it could loiter over a target with a lot of ordinance.

This is great stuff and is to me a variation on the old Ranger motto "We own the night"
Posted by: James Carville || 04/27/2009 14:39 Comments || Top||

#6  We need something like this to replace or compliment the tomahawk missions. Instead of a tomahawk smashing into a target and then going to heaven, the avenger can hit more than one target and then come home to moma.
Posted by: Wild Indian || 04/27/2009 16:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Yeah, what the hell does it have to be fast for? So it can hurry up and loiter?

Yes. Makes UAV asset availability and redeployment better.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/27/2009 16:33 Comments || Top||

#8  A small turbofan is also easier to shield from radar than the prop on a turboprop.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 04/27/2009 16:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Why not tow the plane up-to altitude like a glider does?

Surely that would massively increase the range?

Also could you increase the loiter time by basically getting as high as possible then gliding down with the engines off(/ lowest).
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/27/2009 17:24 Comments || Top||

#10  the avenger can hit more than one target and then come home to moma.

Damn... we've got a secret headquarters on top of a MUSEUM? (Lots of loiter time over nearby Turtle Bay-cool.)
Sorry, WI- couldn't resist.
Posted by: Free Radical || 04/27/2009 17:24 Comments || Top||

#11  It would be the most beautiful exhibit by far.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/27/2009 17:27 Comments || Top||

#12  #2 Yeah, what the hell does it have to be fast for?

Although not anywhere in the league of top speed for a fighter, it's (listed) 460 mph (assumably top) speed is approximately 60% of a fast B-2 Spirit (as advertised) at 70-degrees F.

In addition to loiter abilities, it is a nice and cheap (as compared to a manned a/c) little radar engager/fooler to allow our future Right Wing Extremists the opportunity to light up and destroy "enemy combatant" ground radars.
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 04/27/2009 17:43 Comments || Top||

#13  For the missions the MQ-9 Reaper performs, the additional speed and "stealth" of the Predator C aren't really necessary. There may be a need for it down the road, but it will be for different missions. For the time being, the AF is flat out building MQ-9s.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in February that the Air Force should maximize production of the MQ-9 Reaper with the intent of fielding 50 Predator / Reaper Combat Air Patrols (CAPs) by 2011. A CAP typically involves 4 MQ-9s to provide 24 / 7 coverage in the designated area. The AF plan is to eventually replace all MQ-1B Predators with Reapers. Between the Air Force production of MQ-9s and MQ-1Bs and the Army program for MQ-1C Sky Warriors, General Atomics, the manufacturer is running full tilt in its recently expanded new production facilities. The Air Force is buying them as fast as GA can build them.
Posted by: rwv || 04/27/2009 18:01 Comments || Top||

#14  This isn't for CAS but deep attack missions like the F-117 used to perform. Notice no surveillance/targeting turret on the underside. Stealth isn't needed to plink cavemen and props will always give longer loiter time than jets.
Posted by: ed || 04/27/2009 18:24 Comments || Top||

#15  I'd be VERY careful of making sure the Russians don't think this is a "knock-out first strike" nuclear UAV...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/27/2009 18:44 Comments || Top||

#16  Why not tow the plane up-to altitude like a glider does?

I believe that is where some UAV research is going. Combine with solar arrays on the wings and it will fly (slowly) higher during the day then drift slowly lower at night. Loiter times of weeks or months. Although payload will be small.
Posted by: phil_b || 04/27/2009 20:29 Comments || Top||

#17  TOT on Iran via Avengers?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/27/2009 20:50 Comments || Top||

#18  Say...400 mph*20 hours @60000 ft with a self-guided 3000lb weapon? It's a two stage launch platform not subject to ICBM rules.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/27/2009 22:59 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
SLN vs. Sea Tigers (video)
Video of Sri Lanka Navy patrol boats shooting up Sea Tiger boats. At 0:24 some guy is just plastering another boat with .50 cal tracers.
Posted by: gromky || 04/27/2009 15:17 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Militants say deal with Pakistan ‘worthless’
ISLAMABAD - Taliban militants said Monday their peace deal with the Pakistani government was "worthless" after authorities sent helicopters and artillery against hide-outs of Islamist guerrillas seeking to extend their grip along the Afghan border.

A collapse of the pact would likely please Obama administration officials pressing Islamabad hard for more robust action against extremists threatening stability in Pakistan and U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

President Asif Ali Zardari called for more foreign support for cash-strapped Pakistan to prevent any danger of its nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of al-Qaida and its allies.

......

Some terrified residents have fled the area clutching no more than their children and a few belongings. At least one soldier was killed Sunday.

A spokesman for the Taliban in their Swat Valley stronghold denounced the operation as a violation of the pact and said their fighters were on alert and waiting to see if a hard-line cleric who mediated the deal pronounced it dead.

"The agreements with the Pakistan government are worthless because Pakistani rulers are acting to please Americans," Muslim Khan, spokesman for Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, told The Associated Press.

A spokesman for Sufi Muhammad said the cleric was trapped in his home in the same area of Lower Dir attacked by troops Friday and that his supporters have been unable to contact him.

"We will not hold any talks until the operation ends," spokesman Izzat Khan said.
Posted by: Kofi Claitle6576 || 04/27/2009 08:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Twas worthless before the ink was dry.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/27/2009 13:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Apparently "militants" don't like it when the tables are turned on them.
Posted by: gorb || 04/27/2009 18:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Hmm, both sides seemed to have read the koran. It's a Meccan standoff.
Posted by: ed || 04/27/2009 18:39 Comments || Top||

#4  The deal with Pakistan is worthless? Damn, they stiffed you too?
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/27/2009 19:46 Comments || Top||

#5  "Until the operation ends" > read, somebody wins = loses, final victory = final defeat???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/27/2009 21:11 Comments || Top||

#6  A Meccan standoff. Ed makes his case for Snark o' the Week.
Posted by: Seafarious || 04/27/2009 22:22 Comments || Top||


Four die, four injured as hand grenade exploded in pick up at North Waziristan
[Associated Press of Pakistan] Four persons die including a minor boy and two women as a hand grenade exploded in a Datsun pick up they were boarding at Matcha Madhakhel area in Tehsil Datakhel of North Waziristan Agency here on Sunday. According to Political Authorities, the ill fated victims belonging to a same family were going to Kasha Madakhel from Matcha Madakhel for condoling the death of their relative.

During the journey, a minor child was playing with a hand grenade in the pick up and the explosive suddenly went off with a big bang ensuing death of four persons on the spot and injuries to others.

In all a total of eight persons were boarding the pick up out of which four died and four sustained injuries.

The dead are identified as Muslah-ud-Din, driver of the vehicle, two women and a minor boy.

While the injured are Sohail (9) son of Aakey Khan, Jamila (6) daughter of Javed, Javedullah son of Javed and Abdul Kalam (8).

The hospital authorities have declared the condition of injured as out of danger.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  A Datsun truck? How many years since they changed the name from Nissan to Datsun? How old was this truck? Could be a real collector's item was blown up there. Or do they still call them Datsuns if they're exported to Pakistan?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 04/27/2009 14:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Some lay flowers, others hand grenades.
Posted by: ed || 04/27/2009 18:41 Comments || Top||


Rocket fired at Quetta Cantt Station
[Geo News] A rocket, triggered from an undisclosed place, landed at Cantt. Station here, injuring a person on Sunday, police sources said. According to police sources, a rocket was fired some where from the outskirts of Quetta which hit slum area of Cantt. Station leaving one poor man Shair Muhammad critically wounded but no loss of life was reported. The local administration arrived on the spot after the incident and rushed the injured victim to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for medical attainment, local people said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Buner jirga asks Taliban to end display of arms
A Buner jirga asked the Taliban on Sunday to stop displaying arms and return vehicles seized from government and NGO officials working in the area, a private TV channel reported. The channel said the jirga was attended by tribal elders and representatives of political parties and the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi. Resolutions passed at the meeting demanded the immediate establishment of qazi courts in Buner and called on the Taliban to facilitate the return of peace.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Taliban hand over body of Polish man
The body of a Polish man - who was beheaded in February by the Taliban - was handed over to the local administration on Sunday, officials said.

AFP reported that forty-two-year-old geologist Piotr Stanczak was working in Pakistan for a Polish oil and natural gas exploration company when he was seized by the Taliban last September. Stanczak's abductors killed his driver and bodyguard.

Stanczak was decapitated on February 7, which was filmed by his captors and provoked a furious reaction from Warsaw, which slammed Islamabad's 'apathy' over tackling terrorism.

Stanczak's body was handed over to the local administration in the town of Razmak, located about 65 kilometres south of Miranshah.

Razmak police official Razaullah Khan told AP, "A car stopped by the paramilitary camp around noon today (Sunday), leaving the casket on the ground near the wall."

A security official, on condition of anonymity, said the body was flown out of the area by helicopter but would not disclose the destination for security reasons.

In Islamabad, Adviser on Interior Rehman Malik said the body would be handed over to the Polish embassy officials today. However, Malik would not confirm if Stanczak had been beheaded.
"Yeah. We're not sure he had a head when they kidnapped him."
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  A security official, on condition of anonymity, said the body was flown out of the area by helicopter but would not disclose the destination for security reasons.

yeah. Now they get all concerned with security.
Posted by: Frank G || 04/27/2009 5:49 Comments || Top||


Scores of militants killed in FC operation in Dir
[Associated Press of Pakistan] On the request of provincial government of NWFP and the local inhabitants of Dir, Frontier Corps started operation on early Sunday against suspected militants hideouts in Islampura and Lal Qila in Lower Dir. According to ISPR, heavy exchange of fire took place at Kala Dag whereby reportedly scores of militants have been killed including an important local Commander.

One security personnel embraced Shahadat while four others sustained injuries. According to the reports intense exchange of fire was continuing at Lal Qila till filing of this report.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


40 infiltrators killed in Kupwara and Gurez by Indian Army
SRINAGAR: Forty militants, who infiltrated the Line of Control, have been killed in the Kupwara and Gurez sectors in the past few days. But more are waiting to cross over, Army authorities said on Saturday. Two major infiltration bids had taken place in the two areas. A massive combing operation was on in the Gurez sector. "You will soon come to know of the details," Brig. Gurmeet Singh, Brigadier-General Staff at the Srinagar-based 15 Corps headquarters, told a press conference.

Twelve were killed in Gurez. According to the lone captured militant, Syed Moinullah Shah from Pakistan, eight more were buried under an avalanche.
Brig. Singh put the number of militants killed in the Hafruda forests in Kupwara at 25. Twelve were killed in Gurez. According to the lone captured militant, Syed Moinullah Shah from Pakistan, eight more were buried under an avalanche.

Initially, both the Brigadier and Moinullah said, 120 people had crossed over into Gurez, but most of them were guides and porters who went back. "Their [guides'] mentors want them to come back. Only then are they paid," the Brigadier said. The other militants were now confined to a small area. Effective intelligence helped the Army track down the infiltrators.

The weapons, the method of communication and logistics suggested that the militants were backed by the armed forces across the LoC, Brig. Singh said. "There are a large number of militants waiting on active launching pads and are perhaps waiting for the snow to melt. But the infiltration has happened a little early." He said there was 6 to 48-foot snow in the area and "we have seen 89 avalanches this winter".

A huge cache of arms and ammunition was displayed before the media. It included 48 AK 47 rifles, 13,000 rounds, an RPG launcher, 14 RPG shells, 445 grenades of UBGL, six Chinese grenades and 32 kg of explosives.

The captured Hizb-ul Mujahideen militant said there was no Taliban presence in Kashmir. "They are not here, they are in Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.

Asked whether the infiltrators trained Kashmiri militants, Moinullah said: "No. They have a separate set-up. We have no connection with the groups fighting in Kashmir." He maintained that the militants who crossed over belonged to four groups -- Hizb-ul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba and HM (Pir Panjal Range).

Moinullah, who was captured by the Army after a local Kashmiri informed it of his presence, hails from Katel Panjil in Dir district of the NorthWest Frontier Province. He was motivated at a programme organised by the Hizb in which "atrocities against Kashmiris by Indian forces" were highlighted.

"I wanted to join jehad here and help Kashmiris. But I found everything normal here and people going about their business... There is no need for jehad here as I did not see any "zulum" (oppression) by Indian forces," he said.
Posted by: john frum || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Woman shot dead during US house raid in Iraq
[Khaleej Times] A woman and a policeman were shot dead during a US raid on a house in the southern Iraqi town of Kut early on Sunday, according to an Iraqi security official and a local medic.

The Iraqi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said US forces arrested five people in the raid, including a police captain and a tribal leader, all from the same family.

A medic at a nearby hospital said it had received the body of a woman who had been shot in the stomach and the shoulder and a man who had been shot in the head.

A US military spokesman confirmed that a woman was killed during the raid, saying "she was in the area during the engagement with a suspect, moved into the line of fire, and was struck by gunfire."

The spokesman would not immediately provide further details on the target of the operation or say whether anyone had been arrested, citing security reasons.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Mahdi Army


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli who spied for Iran gets 4 years in jail
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday morning sentenced a 55-year-old Israeli to four years of imprisonment on charges of spying for Iran.

The man, whose identity was held due to a court-imposed gag order, was convicted in a plea bargain in February on charges of contacting a foreign agent, relaying information to the enemy and fraudulently obtaining goods.

The Iranian-born man was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport on May 8, 2008 by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Israel Police's Serious and International Crimes Unit.

Police said the suspect, who reportedly lives abroad, told his interrogators that he visited the Iranian consulate regularly in Istanbul.

"The suspect agreed to cooperate with Iranian intelligence officials. He gave them names of people he knew and claimed they were working for Israeli security forces," police said.

The suspect was formally charged in May 2008 with agreeing to cooperate with Iranian intelligence and having divulged details about Israeli security system employees. The Tel Aviv District Court agreed to a request by the district attorney to hold a trial behind closed doors.

According to Ephraim Kam, deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, Iran is deeply concerned by the prospect of an Israeli military strike on its nuclear sites and is employing all possible means to glean information on Israel.

"Without question, we are the primary target of Iran's spying efforts. They're scared of an Israeli operation," Kam said. "The Iranians also try to use Arab Israelis and Palestinians, who are their preferred channel. They are also using Hizbullah and Hamas to eavesdrop."

Ra'anan Gissin, a strategic analyst who was previously a spokesman for former prime minister Ariel Sharon, said that "Israel has turned into the No. 1 intelligence target for Iran because we are the main obstacle to Iranian dominance in the Middle East."

He added that "they follow Israel very closely. Having a man on the ground can help them keep track of the general level of alertness here, and to hold evaluations of possible Israeli responses."
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  "they follow Israel very closely. Having a man on the ground can help them keep track of the general level of alertness here, and to hold evaluations of possible Israeli responses."

I'll bet 12 to a dozen that the Israeli's follow Iran more closely and has more "men" on the ground and a greater level of alertness to what Iran is doing than any other country on the face of the earth.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 04/27/2009 11:27 Comments || Top||


Suspect in Bat Ayin attack in custody
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The suspected murderer of 13-year-old Bat Ayin resident Shlomo Nativ was arrested earlier this month by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF, it was announced on Sunday.

Mousa Tiet allegedly infiltrated the settlement in Gush Etzion on April 2 while carrying a knife and an ax. He attacked Nativ with the knife and killed him. He then attacked and wounded seven-year-old Yair Gamliel with the ax.

On April 14, the Shin Bet succeeded in locating and capturing the 26-year-old Tiet, a resident of Khirbet Tzafah, 2 km. south of Bat Ayin.

The Shin Bet said that during his interrogation, Tiet confessed and reenacted the attack for investigators, and revealed the location of the murder weapon, which he had hidden near the scene. Tiet told investigators he had planned and carried out the attack for "religious purposes" and in order to die a shahid, or martyr.

He said he had purchased the weapons and hid them in a valley near Bat Ayin. On the morning of the attack, he collected them and infiltrated the settlement, first stabbing Nativ and then attacking Gamliel. He tried to attack a third child, who ran away.

When residents tried to apprehend him, Tiet fled to his village. He told interrogators that he had destroyed some of the evidence and continued with his regular life out of the belief that he would not be captured.

On Sunday night, the IDF imposed a closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip that will last until the end of Independence Day on Wednesday. During this time, the army will facilitate crossings by Palestinians only for humanitarian purposes. Commercial crossings will also remain open.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Can one be a Shahid if they die of porcine bunga-bunga?
Posted by: gorb || 04/27/2009 3:04 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Arson and bombings across Thailand's southernmost province
Terrorists Presumed insurgents attacked public utility towers and pylons as well as a school in five districts of Thailand’s southernmost province of Narathiwat, burning facilities and temporarily disabling some services.

Bukit Pracha Upatam School in Cho-airong district was burned by unidentified men while volunteer security personnel were at prayers. Government workers quickly rushed to the school to fight the blaze, but the wooden structure was totally destroyed as it was old, dry and contained many flammable school materials. At the same time, a number of local homes were torched in Bacho district.

Electrical transformers were shot and mobile telephone signal towers in Waeng, Ra-Ngae, and Chanae were set afire, cutting the communications system of the government. The terrorists insurgents strewed spikes on the road to obstruct security forces pursuit and access to the scenes.

And according to this report:

Police said on Monday that bombs were planted in two locations in Waeng district. In Joh Airong district, terrorists insurgents set fire to a school and planted bombs in four places. The jihadis militants set fire to two transmission posts for cell phones in Ra-ngae district. In Bacho, they destroyed a power plant, causing a blackout of the entire district. A transmission post for cell phones was also burnt down in Janae district, and cell phone signals were cut in some areas.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/27/2009 06:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  CHINESE MIL FORUM Poster thread > FREE CHINESE STATE IN MALAYSIA???

* WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC POSSIBLE INDIRECT RECOGNITION OF TAIWAN'S SOVEREIGNTY BY THE USA AGZ CHINA: ARMED US MARINE UNITS MAY BE PERMANENTLY STATIONED ON US DIPLOMATIC COMPLEXES ON TAIWAN; + US MEDIAS: OUTER MONGOLIA TO BE RETURNED TO CHINA BEFORE 2012?; + JAPANESE MEDIAS: JAPAN DESIRES DISPUTED DAOYU/SENKAKU ISLANDS TO BE FORMALLY INCLUDED IN THE US-JAPAN SECURITY TREATY [US Military intervention agz China in case of Sino-Nippon War over disputed islands in the China Seas] + US, WORLD FINANCIAL CRISES AND RUSSIAN COUNTERATTACK FORCES THE USA TO PAY ATTENTION TO LATIN AMERICA. NO GUARANTY THAT POTENT FOREIGN MILITARY FORCES WILL NOT BE SET UP AGZ THE USA IN AMERICA'S OWN BACKYARD [North-South Americas].

Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/27/2009 22:11 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka rejects rebel ceasefire
[Bangla Daily Star] Sri Lanka yesterday rejected a ceasefire declared by Tamil Tiger rebels, as the United Nations said the ongoing fighting was preventing essential aid from reaching thousands of trapped civilians.

Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said there was no need for a truce as the military was on the verge of defeating the separatist forces, who have fought for 37 years for the creation of an independent Tamil homeland. "What is the need for a ceasefire when they are running away? They should first lay down arms, surrender and let the people go," Rajapakse said.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are accused of holding thousands of civilians hostage, said its ceasefire was "in the face of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis" and in response to international appeals. "All of LTTE's offensive military operations will cease with immediate effect," the rebels said in a statement.

A rebel spokesman, S. Puleethevan, said the Tigers would maintain their ceasefire only if the government reciprocated. "It is purely for humanitarian purposes and the duration will depend on the response of the Sri Lankan government," Puleethevan told AFP by telephone from the last patch of rebel-held territory in the northeast of the island.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes, on a visit to Sri Lanka, had earlier on Sunday appealed to both sides to stop the violence, saying that recent fighting had taken "a terrible toll" on civilians.

The UN believes up to 50,000 non-combatants are trapped in a strip of jungle where Sri Lankan soldiers have surrounded the remnants of the once powerful LTTE. "We need a new humanitarian pause to get aid and aid workers into the combat zone," Holmes said in a statement.

The United States and the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations have repeated calls for a ceasefire, but the Sri Lankan government is determined to drive home its military assault and finally wipe out the rebels.

The Tigers controlled a third of the island in late 2006 but are now penned into a coastal area measuring just 10 square kilometres (four square miles). Their founder and leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, is believed to be among the remaining Tiger fighters who have made a last stand, but the rebel spokesman declined to confirm the reports.

Streams of people have left rebel territory over the last week after the latest military advances, and the UN says 100,000 Tamil civilians who have fled the conflict zone are being detained in government-run camps. The government says the camps are necessary as it searches for former Tiger fighters hiding among civilians.

Soldiers captured another village on the edge of the Tigers' territory and freed about 500 people held hostage, the government said on Sunday.

The military successes have come at a huge cost, rights groups say, with the UN estimating as many as 6,500 non-combatants may have been killed and another 14,000 wounded in the fighting so far this year.

The United States has warned that Sri Lanka's leaders risked sowing the seeds of further ethnic conflict on the Sinhalese-majority island. "It would compound the current tragedy if the military end of the conflict only breeds further enmity and ends hopes for reconciliation and a unified Sri Lanka in the future," the White House said in a statement.

Paul McMasters, a British surgeon working for medical aid charity Doctors without Borders (MSF), said his team in a state-run hospital near the war zone had been overwhelmed by injured civilians. "It's so crowded that the nurses cannot physically walk around the ward," he said, estimating 320 patients were in one 45-bed ward. "There are simply too many people to treat them all."
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The United States has warned that Sri Lanka's leaders risked sowing the seeds of further ethnic conflict on the Sinhalese-majority island.

Uh huh. Yeah. Kill 'em all and see how many stand up to replace them.
Posted by: gorb || 04/27/2009 3:03 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran: WeŽve arrested spies for Israel
[Jerusalem Post Front Page] Iranian authorities have arrested a group of people linked to Israel who are suspected of planning bombings ahead of the Islamic republic's presidential election on June 12, Reuters cited the country's intelligence minister as saying on Sunday.

"A group of deceived elements... who wanted to carry out explosions, particularly before the June election, was arrested," Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei was quoted as telling Iranian radio.

State radio did not say how many people had been arrested or give any other details.

Iran often accuses Israel and the United States of seeking to undermine the Islamic republic. Last year, an Iranian businessman was hanged after he was convicted of spying on the military for the Jewish state.

The would-be bombers were "related to the Zionists," Mohseni-Ejei said.

On Thursday, Lebanon charged a retired general, his wife and his nephew, a government security agent, with spying for Israel.

The general and his wife were arrested on April 11, and their nephew was detained several days later, said Lebanese security officials said.

Authorities were still searching for a fourth suspect who, together with the family members, provided information to Israel about Lebanese and Syrian military and civilian installations, according to charges filed by Saqr Saqr, the military prosecutor.
Posted by: Fred || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Orange smugglers!
Posted by: mojo || 04/27/2009 15:52 Comments || Top||

#2  ION IRAN WAFF > GULF COOPER COUNCIL [GCC] CRITICIZES IRAN FOR MAKING ANOTHER ARROGANT STATEMENT: THREE ISLANDS ALSO CLAIMED BY THE UAE WILL STAY IRANIAN FOR GOOD [Iran proclaims PERMANENT/TOTAL SOVEREIGNTY to disputed islands under THREAT OF WAR AGZ UAE + ANY + ALL CHALLENGERS].

Iran does a CHINA = PAN-CHINA SEAS "Disputed Islands" thingy save in the Persian Gulf.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/27/2009 21:44 Comments || Top||

#3  OOPSIES, my bad, almost forgot to add ARTICLE [same]> IRAN makes clear it never give up it claim of National-Econ sovereignty to 1/5th OF THE CASPIAN SEA AGZ RUSSIA.

Russia says Iran is only entitled to 11% of Caspian > Iran in response "flips the Bird" to Russia. D *** NG IT, AS USUAL THERE WILL BE NO PERSO-RUSSIAN BEACH BARBECUE + PERSO-RUSS BEACH BABES, ETC. ON THE CASPIAN AGAIN THIS YEAR [and prob for the next five and ten]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/27/2009 21:50 Comments || Top||


Administrative note on the swine flu story
As the swine flu story unfolds in the next few days, those who wish to post about new information or events should note these guidelines:

All swine flu stories should appear in the category, 'Signs, Portents and the Weather'.

All are classified as 'non-WoT' unless there is a clear link to terrorism.

Please scan for duplicates before posting. And weed out all the duplicative stuff before posting, because the news services sure won't.

Thank you!

AoS
Posted by: Steve White || 04/27/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think a 3rd grader is doing the editing for AP now. I read a story that repeated the same information (almost the same wording) 3 paragraphs apart. May I'm insulting a 3rd grader...
Posted by: tipover || 04/27/2009 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Doc Steve, please contribute Medical Disinfectant to the BS and Fog the MSM will be spreading.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/27/2009 1:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Now that the GWOT is over, the intelligence community can concentrate on more important issues related to national security.


NIPR: http://www.intelink.gov/wiki/2009_Swine_Flu_Outbreak
SIPR: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/2009_Swine_Flu_Outbreak
JWICS: http://www.intelink.ic.gov/wiki/2009_Swine_Flu_Outbreak

Posted by: Besoeker || 04/27/2009 7:59 Comments || Top||

#4  A potential pandemic IS an intel community concern. It's quite possible, for instance, that a flu pandemic could bring down the Mexican government or create sufficient chaos in nuclear Pakistan to put their weapons in Taliban hands.
Posted by: Boss Thretle4186 || 04/27/2009 9:06 Comments || Top||

#5  If decades of corruption and drug trafficing have failed to bring down the "governments" of Mexico and Pakistan, I doubt the flu will have much of an effect.

Never wishing to "let a serious crisis go to waste," Barry is jumping on the issue to once again, make a case for socialized medicine. Sorry, but I'm just cynical enough to believe Barry and Napolitano would welcome the Swine Flu if it suited their desired social-medical outcomes.

Posted by: Besoeker || 04/27/2009 9:24 Comments || Top||

#6  For those who are tracking this, please keep an eye out for US military mentions. Apparently this strain of H1N1 is far enough away from the typical that at least in Mexico, it is causing some "cytokine storm" effects. That is, mortality is highest among males ages 25-44.

Importantly, this might be exclusive to Mexico, as while the US frequently gets a flu season, the warmer temperatures in Mexico mean that they have avoided much of the immunity common in the US because flu is much less common South of the border.

This means that in the US, this swine flu might be relatively mild by our standards, but in Mexico, it is much more lethal.

The telling point will be if there are any lethal cases on US military bases, where there is a concentration of young men. If there are reports of military deaths, this strain becomes operationally important.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/27/2009 10:19 Comments || Top||

#7  The "darn it" moment comes when you consider it less likely a Muzzie will end up getting Swine Flu than we will.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 04/27/2009 11:17 Comments || Top||

#8  I am wondering now, if I haven't already had the flu for this year - I felt like death for two weeks, exhausted, feverish, horrible cough and congestion like you wouldn't believe, finally had to go and get treated at BAMC. I did a long essay about the 1918 pandemic here
and one of the curious things that I found buried in Gina Kolata's book was that people who had the flu in the spring of 1918 didn't seem to catch the later version. (There was an Army unit in Hawaii which all came down with it in the spring of 1918, but sustained nary a casualty from the fall version.) Might we hope also that people who have already had this years' flu might be relatively resistant again?
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 04/27/2009 13:47 Comments || Top||

#9  Try to think positively Sgt. Mom. Book sales usually skyrocket following an author's demise.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/27/2009 14:13 Comments || Top||

#10  I watched CSPAN call-ins this morning and one guy was certain he had this flu. Another guy was convinced it was a terrorist plot. Another thought it was a prelude to closing the border. There are a lot of notions and rumors out there. Most likely the deaths in Mexico have something to do the availability of quality medical care, sanitation, crowding, and the fact that some people have compromised immune systems and respiratory systems.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/27/2009 19:43 Comments || Top||

#11  John, if the deaths are in Mexico City, I think general respiratory problems could be a contributing factor. The last time I was in Mexico was 1968, and some days you could chew the atmosphere even then.

What I want to know is, the CDC-type flu experts have said that this bug has elements of various flus from (I think) Europe, Asia, and North America, so - do they know why? Any chance it's man-made?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/27/2009 21:00 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2009-04-27
  Suspect in Bat Ayin attack in custody
Sun 2009-04-26
  North Korea reactivates its nuclear program
Sat 2009-04-25
  US may use daisy-cutters 'if Pakistan shows reluctance'
Fri 2009-04-24
  73 killed in twin suicide blasts in Baghdad
Thu 2009-04-23
  Abu Omar al-Baghdadi nabbed
Wed 2009-04-22
  Turkish police detain 37 in anti-Qaeda raids
Tue 2009-04-21
  Lanka gives Tigers 24 hours to hang it up
Mon 2009-04-20
  Iraq arrests children recruited by Al-Qaeda
Sun 2009-04-19
  Parliament approves Islamic law in Somalia
Sat 2009-04-18
  Pakaboom kills 27
Fri 2009-04-17
  Mufti Hannan, 13 other Huji men indicted
Thu 2009-04-16
  Lal Masjid holy man makes bail
Wed 2009-04-15
  Pak police told to give Talibs a free hand
Tue 2009-04-14
  Zardari officially surrenders Swat
Mon 2009-04-13
  Somali insurgents fire mortars at U.S. congressman

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