American-led forces were shot at while on patrol in Afghanistan and believe they killed "several terrorists" when they returned fire, a U.S. military spokesman said Sunday. After weeks of no reported combat with Al Qaeda or Taliban fighters, Maj. Bryan Hilferty said a joint patrol of Afghan soldiers and U.S. special forces came under fire Saturday. He would not say where the attack happened, but said no Afghans or Americans were hurt. The incident occurred before dawn, and the allied soldiers called in an AC-130 gunship to drive off the attackers, Hilferty said at this base north of Kabul. The Bad Guys are still not too good at this guerrilla war thing. They may get better, but losing Abu Zubaydah and Haqqani getting hurt again probably hasn't helped.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/14/2002 ||
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Overnight Saturday, unidentified people fired three rockets at the U.S.-controlled airstrip outside the southeastern city of Khost, according to a local leader, Fazal Mir. The area near the Pakistani border is believed to be among the last major pockets of Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Mir said by phone that the rockets were fired from close range about midnight. The building that was hit did not house any Americans, but three Afghans were injured and one is in critical condition, Mir said. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack. Still ineffectual fire that doesn't do any real damage. That doesn't mean they're not training up to it. It also doesn't mean it's Talibs or al-Qaeda. FoxNews on the teevee sez it's a fight between rival Pashtun factions over who's gonna be in charge.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/14/2002 ||
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Venezuela's ousted President Hugo Chavez has made a dramatic return to power, two days after being forced out by the country's military. He formally resumed his presidential powers in a televised ceremony at the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital, Caracas. Earlier, a helicopter carrying Chavez landed near the palace after bringing him from the Caribbean island of Orchila, where he had been detained. The surprise turnaround came after the interim leader appointed to replace Mr Chavez resigned in the face of massive street protests and the loss of military support. Vice-President Diosdado Cabello was then sworn in as president, but said he was simply waiting to return the country to his ally, Mr Chavez. Damn. That's gonna hurt. Chavez is a bucket on the national foot. Guess they shoulda sent him to Cuba when he wanted to go. Or shot him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/14/2002 ||
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The wife of besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat wants to be by his side, and has described suicide attacks as a legitimate "resistance" against Israeli occupation, in an interview with a Saudi magazine released on Friday. "Resistance is a legitimate right for every occupied people, and ... (suicide) operations are an indivisible part of that right," the London-based weekly al-Majalla quoted Suha al-Taweel Arafat as saying in answer to questions sent via the Palestinian embassy in Riyadh. Quite true. Of course, they don't have to be occupied. PA could probably arrive at an agreement with the Israelis in a week that'd set result in complete withdrawal and autonomy. Saying you want it and doing it are two different things. It's easier to run a general staff and find meat to blow themselves up than it is to establish a state and attend to people's needs.
Suha Arafat said there would have been "no greater honor" than sacrificing her son to the Palestinian struggle for independence if she had one, al-Majalla said in its April 14-20 edition. "Would you expect me and my children to be less patriotic and more eager to live than my countrymen and their father and leader, who is seeking martyrdom?" she said. Yaassss. Sad that Yasser doesn't have a son and heir to blow himself up, isn't it? If he existed, we're sure he'd be packed with dynamite at this very moment. And my name's Murphy and I'm an Irishman.
Asked whether suicide bombings served the Palestinian cause, she said: "Let me ask: 'What is one's position (supposed to be toward) an enemy who kills father, brother, sister, mother and grandfather in cold blood?' "I address this question to all those who ask, interpret and denounce these operations ... Should we remain with arms folded?" No, you should negotiate. Make agreements and keep them.
The magazine did not make clear where Suha, who has a young daughter by Arafat, was at present, saying only that she has variously been reported to be in Paris, the United States or even in Ramallah, the West Bank city where the Palestinian leader is trapped in his office by Israeli troops. Arafat's wife, who has been out of sight "apparently for security reasons," said she "undoubtedly" wants to be with him during the siege. You can be that wherever she is, there aren't any bombs going off.
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04/14/2002 ||
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Spanish police have arrested an Algerian man suspected of being the financial chief in Spain of Al Qaeda, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy said Ahmed Brahim, 57, may have been involved in the financing of the August 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, because he had a "close relationship" with one of the alleged founding members of Al Qaeda, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim.
Salim, who is also known among Al Qaeda members as "Abu Hajer," is currently in a U.S prison awaiting trial on conspiracy charges in the bombings, which killed 231 people, including 12 Americans. Salim is believed to be the highest-ranking Al Qaeda member held in the United States.
Rajoy described Brahim as "an important member of Al Qaeda in Spain." He said Brahim was hunted down with the help of U.S., German and French police after a seven-month investigation. Brahim was detained on a warrant by the National Court, which is handling the arrests of other Al Qaeda members in Spain. The Interior Ministry, which oversees national security, said Brahim was arrested in a raid Saturday night on his home in Sant Joan Despi, near the northeastern city of Barcelona. Police seized his bank accounts, related documents and computer material in his home. Brahim was taken into custody in Madrid and will be questioned by a judge in the next few days. Four French citizens who were with him are now being investigated but have not been arrested. These are the important snags. The guys waving guns evaporate without the money boys behind them.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/14/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
