Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Afghanistan

Blast accident in Kabul arms depot triggers alarm

2013-12-13

[Bangla Daily Star] An accidental kaboom in an arms depot shook central Kabul yesterday, with Afghan officials moving quickly to allay fears of an attack on the city that has often been targeted by krazed killers. The loud blast erupted close to the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... 's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters and in an area of the capital that houses many embassies and international institutions. ISAF confirmed that the kaboom occurred outside their headquarters, while the US embassy sounded its emergency "duck and cover" sirens to warn employees to seek shelter. "It was an accident, not an enemy act," Lutfullah Mashal, an official from the National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence agency, told AFP. "The blast happened in a depot for unwent kaboom! ordinance. It was totally an accident. There is no reported casualties, but there are some damages." The NDS said in a statement said that the depot contained explosives recently seized from snuffies and due to be taken to the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Group (DIAG) programme, which destroys illegal weapons and explosives. An NDS front man told local television that the depot stored boom jackets, explosives and unwent kaboom! bombs. The interior ministry also confirmed the kaboom was an accident.

Link

Afghanistan

Afghan Spy Agency Foils Kabul Suicide Attack, Arrests 5 Insurgents

2012-08-13

Five bully boyz planning a co-ordinated suicide kaboom in Kabul city were jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... by security forces on Saturday night, a front man for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said. "Five bully boyz were captured last night about 1:00am in the Shur Bazaar area of Kabul city," NDS front man Lutfullah Mashal said. "They wanted to attack the Parliament and President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... [and] Second Vice-President Mohammad Karim Khalili's house." He added: "Four of them are Afghan nationals and one is a Pak national." The group of bully boyz was armed with heavy weapons and boom jackets, AK-47 assault rifles, rocket launchers, hand grenades, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Isaf confirmed the capture of the would-be attackers. In a statement, Isaf said that an Afghan-led security force, supported by coalition troops, jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... multiple bully boyz during an operation in Kabul today. "The Afghan security force jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... the bully boyz as they were finalising plans for an attack in the capital," the statement said. The arrests come a week after five other bully boyz planning a co-ordinated suicide attack at a hotel in the Pul-e-Charkhi area of Kabul city were killed in a pre-dawn shootout. Separately, three other bully boyz were captured during an Afghan police operation in the Bagrami district east of the capital.

Link

Afghanistan

Five Dead as Kabul Suicide Attack Foiled

2012-08-03

[An Nahar] Afghan officials said Thursday that five bully boyz linked to the Haqqani network were killed in a pre-dawn gunbattle, claiming to have foiled a major attack on an area of Kabul home to Western embassies. A front man for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security intelligence agency told Agence La Belle France Presse that three vehicles loaded with explosives were seized, along with boom jackets, rockets, hand grenades and machine-guns. Lutfullah Mashal said forces discovered maps pinpointing intended targets in central Kabul, including the diplomatic enclave of Wazir Akbar Khan and nearby Shar-e-Naw, but refused to provide further details for security reasons. The bully boyz -- who also had all-enveloping burqas to disguise themselves as women -- had planned to seize a tall building from which to fire on their targets, he said. The scale of the preparations and the targets, as unveiled by Afghan officials, suggest an attempt at an assault along the lines of the biggest coordinated attack on the capital in 10 years of war, which occurred on April 15 this year. Then, three squads of suicide kaboomers -- described later by Western officials as members of the al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network -- took up positions in high buildings and fired on government offices, embassies and military bases. Seventeen hours of fighting left 51 dead, including 36 attackers. Acting on intelligence reports Thursday, security forces raided a house in the eastern Pul-e-Charkhi neighborhood and a shootout erupted after the bully boyz refused to surrender, Mashal said. "The shootout lasted for six hours and a total of five bully boyz were killed," Mashal said. Foreign ministry front man Sediq Sediqqi confirmed the corpse count was five and added that "all indications and evidence shows they were linked to Haqqani". The Haqqani network is a faction of the Afghan Taliban whose leaders are based in neighboring Pakistain, where Islamabad has come under immense U.S. pressure to wage an offensive against the group. The U.S. Senate last week passed a resolution urging the State Department to put the Haqqani network -- accused of a series of spectacular commando-style raids in Kabul -- on the U.S. list of terrorist groups. U.S. and Afghan officials say the network commands the support of Pakistain's intelligence agency, the ISI. The NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... commander in Afghanistan, U.S. General John Allen, held talks in Islamabad Thursday with The Mighty Pak Army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... , and said later that "significant progress" was being made in improving cooperation. No reference was made to the Haqqani network. The alleged attack was foiled in the capital after NATO reported an escalation in Death Eater attacks in recent months, and amid growing unrest in areas neighbouring Kabul. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said last week that attacks in the second quarter of this year were 11 percent higher than in the same period last year. The month of June alone saw the highest number of attacks in nearly two years, with more than 100 assaults a day across the country, including firefights and roadside kaboomings, the U.S.-led coalition said. In the latest attack, on Thursday, two NATO soldiers were killed by a roadside kaboom in southern Afghanistan, ISAF said.

Link

Afghanistan

Pakistan is the Mother of Terrorism, Afghanistan the Victim: Afghan Analyst

2012-06-07

By George, I think he's got it! [Tolo News] Pakistain is the mother of terrorism while Afghanistan is the victim, an Afghan political expert and former Minister of Interior General Hadi Khaled said Wednesday. "Pakistain's government is now trying to change the ideology of its people by trying different political ways," Khaled told TOLOnews. "Pakistain is the mother of terrorism and Afghanistan has been the continuous victim." Khaled's comments come in the wake of strong reaction to US drone strikes in tribal regions of Pakistain, with the country's foreign ministry summoning US embassy officials to express their anger over the continuing strikes against snuffies in tribal regions bordering with Afghanistan. While recent drone strikes have apparently hit their targets, including most recently an Al Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi, considered the network's Number 2, the strikes are seen as a threat to Pakistain's illusory sovereignty and have also been known to kill civilians. "We have confirmation of [Al-Libi's] death," White House front man Jay Carney told news hounds in a news briefing at the White House on Wednesday declining to provide further details about the exact location of the incident. Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security front man Lutfullah Mashal has called the death of Al-Libi a major blow to Taliban, going so far as to say that his death could put an end to an ideological war. "The death of Al-Libi is very important and effective for the grinding of the peace processor. He was responsible for an ideological war; we hope it ends by his death." Mashal said Wednesday. Al-Libi was considered to be the general manager of Al Qaeda network and was responsible for day-to-day monitoring of the network's activities all over the world. US officials believe that Al-Libi was newly appointed as deputy of the Aimen Al-Zawaheri, the successor of the late Osama bin Laden ... who no longer has to waste time and energy breathing... after he was killed a year ago. Al-Libi was one of the three inmates who escaped the heavily guarded US-run Bagram prison in 2005, he survived a US drone strike in 2009 but finally he was killed last week with 14 other fellow members in a US drone strike in northern Wazirstan of Pakistain's tribal region.

Link

Afghanistan

Taliban Shadow Governor Detained as Poisoning Arrests Rise to 15

2012-06-07

[Tolo News] Fifteen people, including a deputy shadow Taliban governor and school teachers, were tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! by Afghanistan security officials in connection with the recent spate of school poisonings, officials said on Wednesday. Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) front man Lutfullah Mashal said that the NDS has proven documents that Taliban gun-hung tough guys were working in cooperation with members of Pakistain's intelligence agency to poison school students in the northern Takhar province. Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) front man Lutfullah Mashal said that the NDS has proven documents that Taliban gun-hung tough guys were working in cooperation with members of Pakistain's intelligence agency to poison school students in the northern Takhar province. "Fifteen people including Taliban's shadowed deputy provincial governor, teachers, students and education department personnel were tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! by the NDS officials," Mashal said at a presser. Mashal accused Jandullah and Mahazulla fronts and the Taliban for the poisonings, saying that the real motivators behind these terrorist groups to commit such "inhuman acts" were the regional spy agencies. "Because Taliban will have less credibility in the face of society, they don't claim responsibility, but we have proven documents showing this is the job of the thugs. Jandullah and Mahazullah fronts and Taliban group are behind these poisonings," Mashal told news hounds in a presser today. "Their aim is to promote fear among the people of Afghanistan; their main motivators are regional spy agencies." The Taliban released an official statement on Wednesday responding to the claims, saying they were not responsible. It is the second statement the group has made in as many weeks. They threatened to punish any of their people found poisoning school students. According to Mashal, two school girls are also among those set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! . He claimed one of them received 50,000 Afs from the Taliban to poison the water in her school. Officials at the Ministry of Education said that they will not surrender to the aims of the gun-hung tough guys and will continue their efforts to provide quality education for girls all over the country, particularly Takhar. "The enemies of this country are trying to lead this country into darkness. We will take the candle of education in our hands and carry it all over the country," one official said. Takhar schools have reported at least six cases of poisonings affecting hundreds of students since the middle of April. Two other cases have been reported in Ghazni and Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... s.

Link

Afghanistan

Afghan victims buried as fingers point to Pakistan

2011-12-08

[Dawn] Afghans were Wednesday burying 59 people killed in unprecedented bombings against Shia Moslems as officials blamed Pak turbans, accusing them of trying to whip up Iraq-style sectarian violence. Investigators are poring over who was behind the coordinated attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul and northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif that the Taliban, the main faction leading a 10-year insurgency, have denied carrying out. An Afghan official claimed Wednesday that the bomber who attacked a shrine in Kabul was a Pak, affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group, which has been blamed for killing thousands of Pak Shias. An Afghan official claimed Wednesday that the bomber who attacked a shrine in Kabul was a Pak, affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... group, which has been blamed for killing thousands of Pak Shias. The faction, which is alleged to have links with Al-Qaeda, -- the terror group blamed for igniting sectarian war in Iraq -- has not previously grabbed credit for any attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan. Experts suggest that if Lashkar-i-Jhangvi or indeed any other Pak faceless myrmidons orchestrated the attacks, then elements in the Afghan Taliban may have played some part, possibly in facilitating the strikes. Haqqani pops to mind first, followed by Hekmatyar... Tuesday's blast on the holiest day in the Shia calendar marked the first major attack on a key religious day in Afghanistan. The twin blasts have prompted fears of a slide into sectarian violence in Afghanistan, which until now has avoided the kind of attacks that have pitched Shia against Sunni Moslems in Iraq and Pakistain. The victims were buried Wednesday in emotional scenes. Several hundred people marched through west Kabul with two of the bodies on the way to a burial ground, an AFP photographer said. The US embassy confirmed that an American citizen was among the 55 people killed in the Kabul attack but gave no further details. President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... scrapped a planned trip to Britannia, flying back to Afghanistan for an emergency meeting with security chiefs after attending Monday's Bonn conference on his country's future. He was later due to meet survivors of the attack in hospital. Lutfullah Mashal, a front man for Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security intelligence agency, confirmed that an investigation into the tragedy was now under way. Sediq Sediqqi, a front man for the Afghan interior ministry, said the attack was the work of "the Taliban and their associates", adding no-one else carried out such suicide kabooms in Afghanistan. An Afghan security official speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... said the bomber was from the Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... in Pakistain's border region and was connected to Sipah-i-Sahaba, a Lashkar-i-Jhangvi offshoot. The two are essentially the same outfit. Either that or they're one outfit with interchangeable memberships. Many Afghans traditionally blame Paks for fuelling much of the violence in their country. ... because without Pakistain Afghanistan would be an entirely different place. Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was one of the groups involved in the kidnap and beheading of Wall Street Journal news hound Daniel Pearl in Pakistain in 2002. It is notorious for suicide kabooms and attacks on Pak Shias. The Afghan source added the attack aimed to "inflame sectarian violence in Afghanistan" but did not provide any evidence to back up his claims. The official added: "This is not the work of the Taliban or if there is any Taliban involvement, it is very minimal." A Western security official speaking anonymously also suggested Pak involvement though stressed it was not clear whether this was "institutional". There are reported links between Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Pak intelligence. "We're particularly looking at TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban, the Pak Taliban) although at the moment we don't have any proof," he said. The source added he believed the attack "aimed to weaken Afghan society". A Pak security official speaking anonymously said Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was closely associated with the Pak Taliban. But he added: "This group is on the run and doesn't have the capacity to carry out attacks inside Afghanistan, particularly in Kabul." Pak security analyst Hasan Askari emphasised that there was no clear evidence at this stage of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi's involvement. "Lashkar people have ideological affinity with other turban groups operating in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, and they support each other but they (Lashkar) have to establish that their strength is increasing," he said. Some analysts have raised fears of more sectarian violence in Afghanistan following the attacks but Shia leaders have urged calm in the aftermath.

Link

Afghanistan

Suspected suicide bomber killed near Afghan loya jirga site

2011-11-15

[Dawn] A suspected jacket wallah was rubbed out Monday near the site of Afghanistan's loya jirga or traditional meeting which will take place this week, officials said. "No one was killed but the bomber," said interior ministry front man Sediq Sediqqi. He added that the man had been carrying explosives in a bag. Lutfullah Mashal, front man for Afghanistan's intelligence service the National Directorate of Security, said the man's bag blew up as he was shot. "A suicide bomber who wanted to enter the polytechnic university (where the loya jirga will take place) was identified and rubbed out by security forces," Mashal said. "He was carrying the explosives in a laptop-type bag. It went kaboom! as he was shot. He's dead and no one else is hurt." The Taliban claim to have got hold of top secret security plans for the loya jirga, which starts Wednesday and will discuss Afghanistan's long-term relations with the US and peace strategy. But Afghan and Western officials have dismissed the claims as propaganda.

Link

India-Pakistan

Pakistan wants Afghan action on Fazlullah

2011-10-18

[Dawn] Pakistain said on Monday that Afghan and US-led forces had failed to hunt down a Taliban holy man responsible for a spate of cross-border raids despite repeated requests from Islamabad, a complaint likely to deepen tension between the neighbours. This is the very same Mullah Fazlullah the Paks were unable to catch when he was terrorizing Swat. Well, holy men sometimes do miraculous things. You infidels might negate that by your presence. Plus he and his buddies shot at us in Swat. The attacks in which bully boyz loyal to Maulvi Fazlullah took part killed about 100 members of Pakistain's security forces, angering the army which faces threats from multiple beturbanned goon groups. "The problem refuses to go away," Mighty Pak Army front man, Major-General Athar Abbas, told Rooters. Fazlullah was the Pak Taliban leader in Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... Valley, about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Islamabad, before a 2009 army offensive forced him to flee. Also known as FM Mullah for his fiery radio broadcasts, he regrouped in Afghanistan and established strongholds, and poses a threat to Pakistain once again, said Abbas. The mullah had a portable FM broadcaster. Whenever he felt the urge he would pick up the microphone, turn on the power, and rant. Pakistain's intelligence agencies were somehow incapable of getting a fix on the transmitter. 30 years ago, using less sophisticated equipment than is currently available, that sucker could have been fixed within 200 yards within five minutes of the time he started transmitting. You're forgetting the djinns. Terrible source of interference, those djinns. Fazlullah, a leading figure in the Pak Taliban insurgency, is based in Kunar and Nuristan provinces in Afghanistan, said Abbas. He is a prime example of the classic problem faced by Pakistain's military. To whit, incompetence. Militant leaders can simply melt away in the rugged mountainous frontier area in the face of army offensives. ... even while transmitting a couple thousand watts of identifying radio signal... In Kabul, National Directorate of Security front man Lutfullah Mashal said "terrorist groups usually come from the other side of the border and do some attacks". "One thing for sure I can say that no one is regrouped or settled here in Afghanistan," he added. "We got problems of our own, with bad guys coming across the border and exploding. If we got bad guys coming across the border minding their own business then we're not interested. If they're attacking in the other direction we'll get around to it when we have time. Right now we ain't got time." Ties between Kabul and Islamabad, marred by mistrust in the best of times, have been heavily strained in recent months. First, Afghanistan complained that Pakistain was shelling Afghan border areas in response to beturbanned goon raids. More recently, Afghan officials accused Pakistain's spy agency of involvement in the suicide kaboom liquidation of the chief Afghan peace envoy with the Taliban. Pakistain denied the accusation. "No, no! Certainly not!" "With this new element, friction will increase. The problem is the issue is highly politicised given the state of affairs in the region, with accusations coming from both sides," said Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Pak Institute of Peace Studies. "What was simply a border security issue is now politicised, and will impact bilateral relations." Multiple Threats Fazlullah, who Swat residents said ordered beheadings, public executions and the bombing of girls' schools, is the last thing Pakistain needs. It is battling a Taliban insurgency, and has been facing stepped up US pressure to attack Afghan beturbanned goon groups who cross the border to attack Western forces in Afghanistan since US special forces in May killed the late Osama bin Laden ... who now dances with worms... in a Pak town, where he had apparently been living for years. "Now Fazlullah and his group are trying to re-enter Swat through Dir," said Abbas, referring to a border region in northwest Pakistain which was relatively stable before the holy man's men recently staged attacks there on security forces. The United States wants Pakistain to help stabilise the unruly, mountainous border region once described by President Barack B.O. Obama as the most dangerous place in the world. Doing so would require Pakistain to break up complicated and powerful networks that include al Qaeda, the Afghan and Pakistain Taliban and Arab fighters. Critics say Pakistain has created chaos in the area by using bully boyz as proxies in Afghanistan to block the influence of old rival India, allegations it denies. Pak officials have urged the United States to focus on defeating its enemies in Afghanistan instead of blaming Islamabad for its failures. Asked about Pakistain's complaint about Fazlullah, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmie Cummings, a front man for NATO's ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said: "We are working with Pakistain to achieve our shared goals of lasting stability and security in Afghanistan and the broader region." Residents of the Swat Valley, once a tourist destination with cascading rivers and forest-clad slopes, are still haunted by memories of a life of fear under Fazlullah. The Taliban capitalised on a widely criticised government peace deal with the Taliban to take control of Swat, home to more than a million people. In April 2009, the United States termed the agreement an abdication to the Taliban. "There is no village in Swat where Fazlullah's men did not murder someone's brother or father or son. There is no place where they did not destroy homes and families. Most people of Swat are against the Taliban," said Nisar Khan, a 40-year-old farmer in Swat. "We are now armed; we have weapon permits from the army. There are many soldiers here."

Link

Afghanistan

'Plot to kill Rabbani hatched in Pakistan'

2011-10-03

[Dawn] Afghanistan's intelligence agency said on Saturday it had handed Pakistain evidence that the Taliban leadership plotted the recent liquidation of former president and government peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan... on Pak soil. The Afghan interior minister, giving testimony in parliament, also said a criminal mastermind of the plot, Hameedullah Akhondzada, had been set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock. The minister said the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had played a role in the killing. Rabbani, who was head of the High Peace Council charged with trying to reach a negotiated settlement to the war, was killed at his home in Kabul on Sept 20 by a jacket wallah claiming to be carrying a message of peace from the Taliban leadership. "Without any doubt ISI hand has been involved," Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi told politicians on Saturday, while discussing Rabbani's killing. "We have jugged Hameedullah Akhondzada who confessed that it was nothing but a plot." Mr Mohammadi said a fact-finding mission was leaving for Pakistain on Saturday to investigate further, and Islamabad had been given a list of those involved. Spokesperson for the Foreign Office Tehmina Janjua said Pakistain had not received any information, although Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... had conveyed to Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... an offer of cooperation in the investigation. "Pakistain's offer to investigate stands. As yet, no dossier has been received," she said. Akhondzada has been named by the Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), but it has given no details of his identity. Acting NDS chief Rahmatullah Nabeel also said Akhondzada had been jugged, but gave no details. Rabbani was the most prominent surviving leader of the ethnic Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance of fighters and politicians and his killing was seen as a heavy blow to hopes of peace talks and has brought fears of worsening ethnic rifts among Afghans fighting the Taliban-led insurgency. The NDS front man, at a separate news conference, said the mid-Sept suicide kaboom that killed Rabbani was plotted in an upmarket suburb of the Pak city of Quetta. The Taliban leadership council is known as the Quetta Shura and is believed to be based in that city, although the krazed killer group says it operates only from Afghanistan. Pakistain denies the existence of any Taliban Shura in Quetta. "A confession from those we jugged in regard to Rabbani's liquidation shows a direct involvement of the Quetta Shura," NDS front man Lutfullah Mashal said, adding that one of those set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock was a key player in the plot. "(He) provided evidence and documents which we have submitted to the Pakistain Embassy. Based on mutual cooperation and diplomatic ties with Afghanistan, Pakistain is obliged to take action," he told a news conference in Kabul. Rabbani's liquidation was plotted in Quetta's Satellite Town, an expensive area home to many officials and the city's elite, Mr Mashal said, adding that a commission had been set up to investigate the killing, and further details would be given soon. Hours after Rabbani was killed, a front man for the Taliban grabbed credit for his death while talking to a Rooters' news hound in Pakistain from Qazi's guesthouse an undisclosed location. However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the front man later issued statements denying that he had made a claim of responsibility and said the Taliban were not willing to comment on Rabbani's liquidation.

Link

Afghanistan

Britain Detains Two Britons in Afghanistan over Suspected Cooperation with Taliban

2011-07-22

[An Nahar] British forces have jugged two British nationals in Afghanistan, authorities in London said Thursday, amid reports they were suspected of plotting against Britannia or fighting with the Taliban. "We can confirm that British forces have jugged two individuals in Afghanistan who claim to be British nationals," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Clive! Nigel! How could you! A Foreign Office spokeswoman added: "We can confirm that two British nationals have been jugged in Afghanistan." Neither ministry would say what they were suspected of doing, amid differing reports in the British media. The Times reported that the two men, who have dual nationality, were jugged at a hotel near the Iranian border as part of a counter-terrorism raid to thwart a possible attack against British interests. After the dramatic swoop at the International Trade Center hotel in the city of Herat, helped by members of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan intelligence service, they were taken into custody in Helmand, ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... it said. A senior Afghan official, who declined to be named, told the paper: "The British asked for our help to arrest these two individuals. The NDS was providing logistical support." The official said the individuals were "not Afghans", Then what is their second nationality, pray tell? adding: "It was terrorism-related. It was a UK-led operation." Questioned about the report, a front man for the NDS, Lutfullah Mashal, told Agence La Belle France Presse: "We are not aware, we are not involved." The Interior Ministry also denied knowledge of the case and said it was not holding the men. The Sun newspaper and the BBC reported that the Britons held were suspected of fighting for the Taliban. The Sun said two men wearing Afghan dress were jugged in Helmand, and were being held at a military base. A source told the newspaper: "Helmand is not a holiday destination. The authorities will be very concerned they were wandering about. The first thing they will want to know is what they were doing here." NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... forces in Afghanistan normally hold suspects for a maximum of four days before releasing them or handing them over to the Afghan authorities, but a Foreign Office spokeswoman said this could be extended. "George, send out for the mustache wax and the #7 pliers. And put the kettle on -- we'll definitely be wanting our tea later." "The UK has a national policy of detaining beyond 96 hours in exceptional circumstances, in particular where it could provide information that could help protect our forces or the local population," she said. Britannia has about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan as part of international forces fighting the Taliban insurgency. Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... announced earlier this month that Britannia would withdraw 500 troops by the end of next year, but would keep soldiers there in a training role until at least 2023. His announcement came a fortnight after President Barack B.O. Obama announced a big drawdown of U.S. forces in the war-torn country.

Link

Afghanistan

Afghan Intelligence Organisation Captures Taliban Executioner

2011-04-14

[Tolo News] A former Taliban executioner has been jugged by Afghanistan's national directorate of security (NDS) in southern Helmand province, officials said on Tuesday. The man, Mullah Joma, was jugged in an special operation carried out by NDS in Helmand province, NDS said. Mullah Joma, 30, has admitted beheading many people while working with the Taliban. He has also admitted being involved in the public execution of three men in March last year who were accused of spying to foreign soldiers. Joma admittedly has worked for the Taliban since 2009. Lutfullah Mashal, a front man to NDS, said Joma's job has been to behead suspicious people who were jugged by the Taliban. "His job was to behead suspicious people jugged by the Taliban on allegations of cooperating with the Afghan cops and foreign troops," Mr Mashal said. Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... a Pak would-be jacket wallah has surrendered to the NDS and has admitted to have received training in an ISI centre in Miranshah. The man has said he was sent to Afghanistan by ISI along with two others to carry out attacks against Afghan police and national army. "I am a poor man. I decided not to do it and surrendered myself to Afghan forces," said the man. NDS also said a Pak terrorist who was involved in plotting the recent attack on Jalalabad airport has also been jugged. The man has admitted that 12 other Pak nationals were involved in the attack on Jalalabad airport. The 12 Pak faceless myrmidons are said to have been killed in the counter-offensive of the Afghan forces who resisted the attack on the airport.

Link

Afghanistan

NDS Arrests 7 Would-be Suicide Bombers

2011-03-28

[Tolo News] Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) has jugged seven would-be jacket wallahs who were planning to mar the New Year celebration. Well done! At a news conference in the capital Kabul NDS Spokesperson Lutfullah Mashal said all the seven would-be suicide bombers are linked with the Haqqani Network, an Death Eater group active in Pakistain's tribal belt. Mahmudullah the Weasel strikes, possibly again. Mr Mashal said air raids by US unmanned planes in Pakistain's lawless tribal areas have forced Death Eaters to relocate in Korm Agency that could end up to threatening security in a number of provinces, including Nangarhar, Pashtun-infested Logar, Badakhshan and even Kabul. "They plan was to carry out suicide kabooms against security forces, officials and civilians at a shrine in the west of Kabul," Mashal said. "Fortunately, security forces tossed in the calaboose them and they were not able to carry out their attacks during the New Year celebration." Mashal also said two brothers, involved in a suicide kaboom in January that targeted a bath house in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar, have also been tossed in the calaboose. He said intelligence forces have also tossed in the calaboose plotters of Nangarhar suicide kabooms.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More