PRECISION AIR STRIKE TARGETS TALIBAN LEADER IN NURISTAN
KABUL, Afghanistan (Nov. 28) Acting on credible intelligence from several sources, International Security Assistance Forces conducted an air strike using precision munitions killing a number of insurgents in the Nurgaram District of Nuristan Province on Nov. 26.
The intelligence indicated that an insurgent leader and his forces were preparing for attacks on Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF elements operating in the area.
Allegations have been made that construction workers were killed in the air strike. Afghan government officials, ANP and ISAF forces are conducting a joint investigation at this time.
We take allegations of this kind very seriously and make every effort to minimize the possibility of civilian casualties, said Brig. Gen. Carlos Branco, ISAF Spokesman.
ISAF commanders in Nuristan Province and the provincial governor spoke about the air strike early Tuesday morning.
Nuristan governor Tamim Nuristani informed the Provincial Reconstruction Team commander that Abdulla Jan, the Western Nuristan Taliban commander, may have been killed in the air strike.
****************
Same event, different view:
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO warplanes hunting Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan mistakenly bombed an Afghan road construction crew sleeping in tents, killing 14 workers, Afghan officials said Wednesday.
If confirmed that NATO hit the wrong target, the incident in mountainous Nuristan province late Monday would be the first major blunder by foreign troops in months. It follows sharp criticism earlier this year of mass civilian casualties caused in operations by U.S. and NATO-led troops that have undermined their reputation among Afghan civilians and hurt the government of Western-backed President Hamid Karzai.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said its warplanes conducted airstrikes against Taliban fighters in the area Monday night and that a militant leader was targeted.
"ISAF was engaged in Nurgaram and Du Ab (districts), and in those places we used airstrikes" against Taliban fighters, spokesman Brig. Gen. Carlos Branco told a news conference. "The situation is not clear at all at this stage. We are carrying out the investigation and trying to get a clear picture."
Maj. Charles Anthony, another spokesman for the NATO force, said two bombs were dropped and there was a "strong indication that we got a Taliban leader during the course of the operation."
But Afghan officials said bombs hit two tents housing Afghan engineers and laborers contracted by the U.S. military to build a road, killing 14 workers. They blamed faulty intelligence for the mistake.
Nuristan Gov. Tamim Nuristani said the attacks followed reports that "the enemy" was in the area, but they instead hit the road construction workers as they were sleeping.
"All of our poor workers have been killed," said Sayed Noorullah Jalili, director of Amerifa, a Kabul-based road construction company. "I don't think the Americans were targeting our people. I'm sure it's the enemy of the Afghans who gave the Americans this wrong information."
#1
If they were truly workers, it's regrettable. I hope the Afghans understand and blame the Taliban for setting up the conditions that lead to these kinds of mistakes.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Three Canadian soldiers were sent to hospital Tuesday after their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device on a dangerous stretch of road west of Kandahar.
Lieut. Commander Pierre Babinsky says the light armoured vehicle drove over the IED around 10 a.m. local time. The three soldiers, who were on patrol, were airlifted to hospital at Kandahar Air Field with non- life threatening injuries.
The narrow road, about 40 km west of Kandahar city, near Sperwan Ghar is a favourite spot of the Taliban and has been nicknamed IED alley because of the high number of explosives found there.
Two Canadians and an Afghan interpreter were killed early this month in the nearby Zhari district when their vehicle was also hit by an IED.
Cpl. Nicolas Beauchamp and Pte. Michel Levesque became the 72 and 73rd Canadian soldiers to die in Afghanistan since the mission began five years ago.
A large blast struck an upmarket suburb in the Afghan capital near the Pakistan Embassy early Tuesday, but it was not immediately clear if there were casualties, according to police. The explosion took place in the Wazir Akbar Khan suburb close to the city centre. There was an explosion in Wazir Akbar Khan but it is not known at this point what caused it, said a city police chief, General Zalmai Uriakhail. A suicide car bomb targeting a US military convoy in the Afghan capital Kabul killed two civilians on Tuesday, the latest attack to shake confidence in government efforts to uphold security.
The target of Tuesdays attack was a two-car convoy of US troops outside a Defence Ministry building in the centre of Kabul close to embassies, and offices of the United Nations and World Bank. All that was left of the bombers car was the smouldering engine laying some 10 metres away from a metre-wide, burning crater in the road. Glass was shattered over a wide area and twisted shards of metal flew hundreds of metres away. The blackened body of an Afghan civilian lay in the street covered with a prayer rug. A senior police official said the explosion also killed an Afghan security guard. There was no one injured from our convoy, said Lieutenant Colonel David Johnson of the Combined Security Transition Command, which trains the Afghan Army. Our convoy was on a routine mission.
Responsibility: A spokesman for the Hizb-e-Islami armed group of Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar claimed responsibility for the attack. While allied to the Taliban, Hizb-e-Islami has carried out few, if any, suicide attacks.
This article starring:
Hizb-e-Islami
General Zalmai Uriakhail
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Hizb-e-Islami
Lieutenant Colonel David Johnson
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Hizb-i-Islami-Hekmatyar
RIYADH (Rooters) - Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had arrested 208 militants for involvement in cells planning an imminent attack on an oil installation, as well as attacks on clerics and security forces.
State television in the world's biggest oil exporter said one of the cells was planning to smuggle in missiles. Al Qaeda sympathizers have mounted a campaign against the U.S.-allied monarchy since 2003.
A cell of eight militants led by a foreign resident planned an attack on an oil facility in the Eastern Province, it said. Saudi Arabia has been building a 35,000-strong rapid reaction force to protect installations after a failed al Qaeda attack in 2006 on the world's largest oil processing plant at Abqaiq.
"Security forces foiled an imminent attack on an oil support installation in the Eastern Province after the perpetrators prepared themselves and set a date," it said.
The report, citing an Interior Ministry statement, said 18 of those arrested belonged to a cell led by an "expert in launching missiles" who had slipped into the country. It said they planned to smuggle eight projectiles into the kingdom.
Another 22 were part of a group that plotted to assassinate clerics and security forces, it said.
The government has warned clerics in recent months to do more to stop Saudis heading to Iraq to join al Qaeda militants fighting U.S. forces and the U.S.-backed Shi'ite Muslim government, considered heretical by hardline Sunni Saudis.
Al Qaeda militants regard many clerics in Saudi Arabia as having been co-opted by the authorities into supporting the policies of the royal family, which dominates government.
Al Qaeda sympathizers -- boosted by calls from Saudi-born Osama bin Laden to target the pro-Western Saudi government -- have targeted foreign residential compounds, government buildings and energy sector installations since May 2003.
MAJOR SECURITY OPERATION
"This was a very large effort by security forces over the past ... five months, Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki told state television, adding that the main arrest operations took place more recently.
The report also said the arrests included a "media cell" of 16 in Medina which aimed to promote "takfiri thinking" -- the ideology of Sunni Muslim radicals that supports violence against Muslims branded as infidels and apostates.
Those arrested also included 32 people -- both Saudis and foreigners -- involved in providing financial support for militants, the ministry said in the statement.
After the February 2006 failed attack on the Abqaiq plant, authorities have announced the break-up of cells involving several hundreds of people.
"They are unraveling networks but these are not hardcore people, they are peripheral," a Western diplomat said, adding the government was worried about public "complacency" that the militant campaign was over.
"These are people caught by monitoring Web sites and looking at financial flows. The hard core is really decimated already," said the diplomat.
(Reporting by Andrew Hammond and Inal Ersan; Editing by Charles Dick)
Posted by: anonymous5089 ||
11/28/2007 15:15 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
#1
Didn't KSA just release a whole bunch of prisoners? I wonder if this is a coincidence, or somehow related. Maybe some released prisoners are part of this, but I'm wondering if maybe some were released in return for information on this plot, or maybe some releasees were 'moles' who linked up with some baddies in prison, and upon release, went with them into groups working plans like this. If I'm King of the Kingdom, it's the kind of thing I'd be trying to do.
#3
Wanna bet some of the "militants" in this catch are "militants" previously released because they promised not to attack the House of Saud (mucho haram), and promised to focus their violent attention on the infidel (mucho halal) in the Lands of Allah? Don't take that bet.
Good graphic.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
11/28/2007 16:36 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I would take that bet. Those people are not stupid. They would not have used previously arrested individuals in this operation, they would have used "clean" operators. I would be greatly surprised if any of those involved in this operation had been through the Saudi system previously. Anyone having been arrested and released would be viewed as a potential security hazard as it would be likely that such persons would be under surveillance.
#5
Crosspatch....name the stakes. BTW: how should we confirm who is right and who is wrong? (If you're currently employed by the KSA I'm not buying into your stats.) Deal? Great steak dinner to be had here in my home town on me if you're right and if you pass through town. With all the trimmings. I just won't guarantee you make your appointment the next day.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
11/28/2007 17:32 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The headline is a little deceiving... it gave me the image of some bedouin-robed equivalent of Chuck Norris, sitting on a pile of 200 tied-up militants next to a pipeline.
Police yesterday arrested two wanted Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (Huji) operatives in the city for their suspected links to the August 21 grenade attacks on an Awami League rally in 2004 and Ramna Batamul blasts in 2001. Police arrested the two, Maulana Mohammad Monir Hossain, 35, and Maulana Mohammad Idris, 30, at around 11:00am after a raid on a student mess in Zakir Hossain Road in Mohammadpur. Police said both the arrested are active members of Huji.
Sources in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said Monir Hossain is a brother of another Huji leader Moulana Abu Taher who is now on police remand for involvement in the August 21 grenade blasts case. The CID started a manhunt after Huji operations commander Mufti Abdul Hannan in his confessional statement mentioned that Monir introduced him to Moulana Taijuddin who supplied Hannan with grenades used in the August 21 blasts.
Taijuddin who is now a fugitive, suspected to be in hiding in South Africa, is the brother of a BNP leader and a former deputy minister.
Taijuddin who is now a fugitive, suspected to be in hiding in South Africa, is the brother of a BNP leader and a former deputy minister.
CID Inspector Abu Hena Mohammad Yusuf, who is the investigation officer of the case, in his forwarding report said Mufti Hannan in his confessional statement recorded on November 19 last year mentioned that Monir and Idris were present in the meeting where the plan for the bomb blasts at Ramna Batamul were sketched. He asked that the arrested two be remanded for 10 days each for interrogation but the Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Al-Mamun granted them five days remand.
In his confessional statement Mufti Hannan had also said that seven Huji operatives, including two Dhaka College students, Hasan and Omar Faruq, carried out the attacks on the Pahela Baishakh celebrations at Ramna Batamul in 2001. The others are Abu Taher, Sheikh Farid, Abu Bakar, Yeahia and Abdul Hye.
Hannan had also said that the grenades used in the attack had been smuggled into Bangladesh and that one Taijuddin, owner of a wire factory at Chakbazar in Old Dhaka, supplied the grenades and bombs.
This article starring:
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Abdul Hye
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Abu Taher
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
CID Inspector Abu Hena Mohammad Yusuf
Maulana Mohammad Idris
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Maulana Mohammad Monir Hossain
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Al-Mamun
Moulana Abu Taher
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Moulana Taijuddin
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Mufti Abdul Hannan
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Sheikh Farid
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Yeahia
Harkatul Jihad Al Islami
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: HUJI
Nuradin Abdi's plan to blow up a Columbus shopping mall was no more than an idle threat, spoken in frustration, his attorney said yesterday. But federal prosecutors said those words were a small part of the case against Abdi, who was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for conspiring to support terrorists.
Abdi, 35, was arrested four years ago today and will receive credit for serving that time in the Franklin County jail. He will spend the remaining six years of his sentence in federal prison and then be deported to his native Somalia. The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus, was in keeping with a plea bargain reached in July, when Abdi pleaded guilty to one of four counts against him.
Defense lawyer Mahir Sherif told the court that Abdi, who lived on the North Side and worked at a cell-phone business, was frustrated by the U.S. military action in Afghanistan when he met with two co-conspirators at an Upper Arlington coffee shop in August 2002 and mentioned bombing a shopping mall. "He made the statement, but did he really intend to follow through? No, he did not," Sherif said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robyn Jones Hahnert countered by saying the case against Abdi was "much bigger in scope than one isolated comment at the Caribou Coffee shop."
In his guilty plea, Abdi admitted he lied to immigration officials in 1999 to receive a travel document that he used in an unsuccessful effort to visit a camp in Ethiopia for what prosecutors called "military-style training in preparation for violent jihad."
The government said Abdi befriended Iyman Faris and Christopher Paul, both of whom met with him at the coffee shop. Faris, a Pakistani immigrant linked to a terrorist plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, pleaded guilty in May 2003 to providing material support for al-Qaida. Paul, a Worthington native, was charged in April with plotting to bomb European tourist resorts. He is scheduled for trial in January 2009. Prosecutors said Abdi admitted conspiring with Faris and Paul to support foreign terrorists, even supplying Paul with credit-card numbers stolen from cell-phone customers to help fund the activities.
Abdi's attorney said his client wanted the court to know that he "does not hate America" and that the principles of his Islamic faith include opposition to violence. He said Abdi wanted to apologize to Muslims "all over the world who may suffer indirectly from the consequences of his actions."
Fred Alverson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said the government continues to investigate the possibility that the terrorist cell was larger than the three local men charged so far. "Other people are being looked at," he said.
Posted by: ryuge ||
11/28/2007 07:35 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
He will spend the remaining six years of his sentence in federal prison and then be deported to his native Somalia.
Plenty of time for his cellmate to sharpen up a toothbrush.
Abdi, who lived on the North Side and worked at a cell-phone business, was frustrated by the U.S. military action in Afghanistan
Cuz we all know what soul-brothers the Afghanis and Somalis are. Sounds more like just another wanna be jihadi gettin' all humiliated-like about the way America kicks Islamic ass so regular you can set yer watch by it.
Abdi's attorney said his client wanted the court to know that he "does not hate America" and that the principles of his Islamic faith include opposition to violence.
Mahir Sherif needs to be censured by the bar for knowingly making false statements in public. That name, "Mehir Sherif", sounds kinda Islamic now don't it? Say, you don't suppose he might be trying to slide a dose of taqiyya up America's backside, do you? Does anyone else see a disturbing judicial conflict of interest in having Muslim lawyers defending Muslim clients? The defendant's ongoing terrorist enterprise can just as easily be furthered rather than curtailed and done so with explicit legal assistance. Lynne Stewart already has demonstrated what we can expect in these circumstances.
He said Abdi wanted to apologize to Muslims "all over the world who may suffer indirectly from the consequences of his actions."
More like they're gonna suffer directly for yet another round of Muslim terrorist bullshit being plotted behind our backs by one more ungrateful Islamic immigrant bastard.
Posted by: Steven ||
11/28/2007 16:10 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I'd go for a severe beatdown, and airfreighting his ass back to his shithole with the rest of his family and sponsors, but I'm being unusually compassionate, must be the tryptophan buzz wearing off
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2007 19:19 Comments ||
Top||
The man accused of planning a terror attack at a Rockford-area mall during the holidays last year plans to plead guilty in federal court in Chicago as soon as Wednesday, court records show.
Derrick Shareef has been in custody since his alleged plot to plant grenades in garbage cans at the CherryVale Mall was foiled in December. He had been slated to stand trial before U.S. District Judge David Coar next month. No agreement has been reached between prosecutors and Shareef's lawyer in connection with his proposed guilty plea, authorities said. His attorney could not be reached for comment.
Shareef has been described as a Muslim convert seeking jihad, or holy war. He was arrested after he traded dud grenades with an undercover federal agent, the charges alleged.
Posted by: ryuge ||
11/28/2007 07:31 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in prison for conspiring to violate the U.N. oil-for-food program.
Wyatt, 83, pleaded guilty last month in federal court in Manhattan to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Under the terms of his plea deal, he could have been sentenced to up to a year behind bars. He also agreed to forfeit $11 million, admitting that he approved a $200,000 illegal payment made directly to an Iraqi bank account in December 2001. Prosecutors said Wyatt paid millions of dollars to Iraqi officials to get an unfair share of contracts connected to the oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11127 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party
Militants in several parts of the restive Swat district vacated their trenches on hilltops and disappeared on Tuesday, Daily Times has learnt. Rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullahs loyalists had established trenches in the Dherai, Kooza Bandai, Bara Bandai, Nangolai, Charbagh, Khwazakhela and Pir Kalay areas of Swat. However, they vacated the areas on Tuesday morning and their current whereabouts are unknown, residents said.
"We dunno. They jes' lit out like their salwar kameez wuz on fire!"
Locals believe the Taliban have fled the area under intense pressure from the military, which had been using artillery and gunship helicopters to target their positions in several areas of Swat and Shangla districts for the last few days. Meanwhile, Swat Media Centre spokesman Amjad Iqbal told journalists that a local resident had killed Taliban commander Khan Khitab, as people of the area were tired of the Taliban. Iqbal claimed 50 militants had been killed in the ongoing military operation over the past three days. His claim could not be confirmed from an independent source, while purported Taliban spokesman Sirajuddin was also unavailable for comment.
One of the 50 deaders, perhaps? That'd be pleasant.
Local residents and state television, meanwhile, reported that Fazlullahs pirate radio station had shut down.
Meanwhile, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told Dawn television that troops had taken control of Najia Top, a stronghold of Fazlullah. He estimated the insurgents strength in the area at about 1,000, reported AFP. Local residents and state television, meanwhile, reported that Fazlullahs pirate radio station had shut down. Also on Tuesday, the Swat administration announced a four-hour relaxation in curfew to let the local residents fulfill basic necessities of daily life.
This article starring:
Khan Khitab
TNSM
Major General Waheed Arshad
Maulana Fazlullah
TNSM
Sirajuddin
TNSM
Swat Media Centre spokesman Amjad Iqbal
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: TNSM
Unidentified assailants fired rockets at Turbat Airport on Tuesday, however no loss of life was reported. Police sources said that unidentified persons fired two rockets, which landed on the runway at Turbat Airport, in Balochistan. Police officials feared that the attackers had wanted to destroy the airport. The local police has registered a case against unidentified miscreants and initiated investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under:
(KUNA) -- Six people were killed and seven others were injured when a suicidal bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up in the city of Ba'aquba west of the Iraqi capital Tuesday, security sources said. The sources that requested anonymity said a suicidal bomber blew himself in the back entrance to the building of the police command of Diyala, located in the heart of Ba'aquba. The attack killed six poeple including three police officers and two women, while seven others were seriously injured, including three police personnel, the sources added.
This is the seventh suicidal attack in Ba'aquba -- witnessed in four months.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
They're holding the Koran in their LEFT hands, the "Unclean" hand, since they wipe their butts with it, that merits a death sentence for sure.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/28/2007 13:39 Comments ||
Top||
A Palestinian demonstrator was killed at an anti-Annapolis rally on Tuesday when clashes broke out between security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas and Islamists who brand him a traitor. Medics said the 35-year-old killed in Hebron had been shot in the chest and 16 others were injured as Palestinian security forces tried to disperse the protest against Tuesday's U.S.-hosted peace conference near Washington.
Fellow demonstrators said a Palestinian security officer shot the man during the rally in Hebron, one of several organised in the West Bank by a small Islamist group that opposes Abbas's drive to make peace with Israel. A police spokesman denied security forces were responsible.
"Wudn't us."
In Gaza, where the Islamist party Hamas seized control in June, tens of thousands marched to chants of "Death to Israel, death to America" and called Abbas a "traitor" for accepting Israel's existence and trying to launch talks on founding a Palestinian state in only the West Bank and Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
one of several organised in the West Bank by a small Islamist group that opposes Abbas's drive to make peace with Israel
Reuthers, can they report on any subject without inserting a bit of agit-prop?
(KUNA) -- The Israeli army forces broke into Rafah city, south Gaza Strip, last night and arrested three brothers there, local radio stations reported here Tuesday. Two of the three young men were shot and injured by the Israeli forces before being arrested east of Rafah. Saeed Mohammad Harb, 19 years, was shot in his abdomen, and Ibrahim Mohammad Harb, 25 years, was shot in the leg. They were taken along with their brother Ramzi, 27 years, to an unknown destination, the reports added.
Meanwhile, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Battalions, the armed wing of Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the mortar attack against the Israeli military position in Nahal Uz, east of Gaza City this midday. A group of our fighters launched four mortar shells, of 100 mm caliber, against the position, the group said in a statement received by KUNA here. The attack hit its target directly and the fighters returned safely. The attack came in retaliation for the escalating Israeli attack against the Palestinian people, the militant group added, vowing to go ahead with its fight against the Israeli occupation till the full liberation of Palestinian territories.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: al-Aqsa Martyrs
COLOMBO (AP) At least 16 people were killed Wednesday and 40 injured in an explosion in Nugegoda, a southern suburb of the Sri Lanka capital Colombo, police said. There were large crowds on the street after offices had closed when the explosion near a popular clothing store sparked a fire and created panic at the scene.
The Defense Ministry said the blast had occurred at 5:50 p.m., but gave no other details.
Television stations showed pictures of the fire, ambulances taking the wounded to hospital and police trying to restore order at the scene. First reports said the blast was set off by a woman bomber who had arrived at the scene in a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw, but again there were no further details available.
The blast followed an abortive attempt on the life of a Cabinet minister on Wednesday morning when a female suicide bomber blew her herself up outside Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananada's political office. The bomber and a ministerial aide died in the explosion.
Devananada, who was in the building, was unhurt in the assassination attempt that the government blamed on the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. There have been eight previous attempts on the life of the minister, an ethnic Tamil and an active militant who later joined the political mainstream.
COLOMBO - Sri Lankan war planes Tuesday flattened the Tamil Tigers radio station, killing civilians, just moments before the broadcast of an annual speech by the rebels leader, the guerrillas said in a statement.
The Voice of Tigers buildings... was bombed by Sri Lanka Air Force at 4.30pm, today, War Heroes Day in the Tamil homeland, the rebels said in a statement. Many civilian employees present at the Voice of Tigers office to broadcast the War Heroes commemorations were killed by the bombing. The Voice of Tigers buildings were flattened, it said. The statement said government jets dropped a total of 12 bombs, which also killed several civilians.
The station in the north of the island had been due to start broadcasting an annual speech by the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Prabhakaran, less than an hour after the raid. Prabhakarans speeches are always pre-recorded.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
they wheree not civilisns consideringn they where brosdcastog from syerrrorist radion station
#4 I'm not sure anyone ever actually "learns" anything in Pakistain.
At least not the easy way
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
11/28/2007 12:38 Comments ||
Top||
#7
The difference between this and Pakistan is that in Lankans vs Tigers there are two opposing sides, unlike Pakistan where everyone is essentially playing for the same team.
#8
Civilians are the folks without guns who might be supporting an army who are fighting for their way of life. I don't know if I call folks who run a terrorist radio station "civilians" or not, even if their weapon doesn't take the form of a rifle. They seem to me to be "insurgents" of a slightly different stripe, much like Afghan poppy farmers. Blast 'em if they're contributing in any kind of substantial way.
(KUNA) -- At least eight Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels have been killed in fresh clashes with security forces in Sri Lanka's northern region. As many as four LTTE men in an attack by the Sri Lankan Army at Omanthai in Vavuniya in Northern Sri Lanka early today, according to a statement from the Media Centre for National Security, news agency Press Trust of India reported. In another incident, four LTTE rebels were killed by the security forces last night at Valiyankulam also in Vavuniya, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry said today.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
One person was killed and six people were wounded in a clash between two rival factions in the northern town of Tripoli, police reported. The 30-minute firefight, in which assault rifles were used, pitted the Islamic Unification Movement against the Tripoli Brigades in the town's Shiraa square of Abu Samra district, a police spokesman told Naharnet.
Police patrols and army units intervened and brought the clash to an end, he added. The fatality was identified as IUM member Nawaf al-Haidar. The casualties included Usama Shabaan, son if IUM founder Sheikh Saeed Shabaan, the police spokesman said.
The IUM is a local Sunni faction that is backed by Syria and Iran. The Tripoli Brigades is a local faction that supports the March 14 majority alliance. Army units and police patrols cordoned off Shiraa square pending surrender of "all gunmen involved in the clash," the spokesman added without further elaboration.
Presumably this is the same IUM that was active during the civil war, doing approximately the same things they did during the civil war, at this moment on the side of Syria and Iran. I think at one point Syria all but wiped out their leadership in the good olde days. The Tripoli Brigades sounds like a pickup team.
The army has been entrusted with the task of maintaining law and order since ex-President Emile Lahoud ended his term in office at midnight Friday after parliament failed to elect a successor.
This article starring:
Islamic Unification Movement
Nawaf al-Haidar
Islamic Unification Movement
Sheikh Saeed Shabaan
Islamic Unification Movement
Tripoli Brigades
Usama Shabaan
Islamic Unification Movement
Posted by: Fred ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
We're getting more and more posts that are off-topic to the purpose of Rantburg. This post is to remind us all of what that purpose is, and what's off-topic.
Rantburg is about the war on terror: America's need to fight and win that war, what our allies and enemies are doing, who the terrorists are, and how they fight. Whatever is germane to the WoT is on-topic at Rantburg. That includes the nitty-gritty, day-in and out details of terrorist attacks, battles and crossfires encounters, but also includes the politics, background, strategy, new weapons and tactics, and areas related to the WoT.
Certain areas of the world aren't necessarily involved in the WoT but have potential to do so if they go bad, and so places like Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Venezuela are of interest to us.
We've traditionally had certain allowed off-topic genres of posts. Those are listed in the topic headers. We generally cover the elections but try to do this from the standpoint of what the candidates say and mean about the WoT. We have a fair number of humorous posts about the various idiots and idiotic situations in the world -- all work and no fun make us dull, after all, and they're opportunities for snark. Britney, Paris and the like are germane because they show us what the MSM considers to be news.
Snarky animal antics are always welcome.
But there are things we're getting that are really off-topic. Science news unrelated to the WoT shouldn't be here, even if it's cool. Politics, particularly local politics, unrelated to the WoT shouldn't be here. Cultural stories and critiques are not germane unless they illustrate a problem with our (e.g., western) society in defending itself from the assault on our liberties.
We're getting over 100 posts a day on average. We're in danger of diluting the hard-core WoT news in favor of the fluff. So please, if it's not on-topic and not an opportunity for truly outstanding snark, consider not posting it to the Burg. Whether it's 40, or 60, or 110 posts a day, what matters is how we cover the WoT, the quality of the posts, the comments, and of course the snark.
If you're new to the Burg, please read us a while and then go ahead and post using the Poster web-page. You'll see what we like and what generates interesting comments. And please observe the posting guidelines.
Thanks again for all your support.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/28/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
Certain areas of the world aren't necessarily involved in the WoT but have potential to do so if they go bad, and so places like Zimbabwe....are of interest to us
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/28/2007 6:17 Comments ||
Top||
#4
AoS cracking down?
I've got a new pair of steel-toed boots and I'm ready to break them in.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/28/2007 7:36 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Besoeker, good point. Ya got me!
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/28/2007 10:36 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Is it out of line to post an on-topic comment along with a personal note ala my Thanksgiving post here I mentioned some good fortune of my own last week?
If so, I stand guilty-as-charged and submit to the flogging with wet noodles by the Army of Steve.
#11
I found a topic which can be related to terrorism and therefore the war on terror, and can be related to American politics, but is mostly related to treasonous activity. That is the North American Union agenda and it's impact on the border fence. There is much to say about the candidates and their immigration dance which can help Americans understand the big picture before the 2008 elections. This subject is covered on other forums, but Rantburgers deserve a shot at the sercet agenda politicians. One also wonders if those who write the secret agenda also pull the strings in the war on terror.
Please advise.
#12
When posts go bad... a new special on fox. sunday at 8:00.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
11/28/2007 12:28 Comments ||
Top||
#13
I don't want to put any more on Fred's back - he's got enough just handling Rantburg, Thugburg, et. al. Still, I wish there were a place online where I could get some non-WOT news with the honesty and brevity - plus the snark - of Rantburg. Maybe the Army of Steves would like to take on the chore? Of course, a cover page is a MUST!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/28/2007 12:30 Comments ||
Top||
#14
How about a link drop page, like
http://linkdump.be/
No commentary, just "check 'em out" links by the regulars.
#16
Rantburgers deserve a shot at the sercet agenda politicians.
Personally speakingand as we all saw with the immigration amnesty billpolitical agendas, secret or not, retain a strong pertinence here if only because they reflect upon the soundness of any given politician or candidate's judgment and overall dedication to America's security.
#17
That is the North American Union agenda and it's impact on the border fence. There is much to say about the candidates and their immigration dance which can help Americans understand the big picture before the 2008 elections. This subject is covered on other forums, but Rantburgers deserve a shot at the sercet agenda politicians.
Would you mind posting a link or two? Thanks. One or two links and I'll hunt down the rest from there.
#23
This may be some of the same people behind the EU and the euro. Now, there may be nothing wrong with a single currency, but has any country's population accepted the EU yet ? The European countries are in danger of losing local control over their lives to the jerks in Brussles who never met an immigrant they couldn't give lots of handouts to. Some warn that the NAU will follow the EU (down the drain).
Oh, and Mike, if you have a problem, just spit it out.
#24
What, no CFR and Tri-Lateral References? Where did the Bilderburgers and their "live sacrifices" go - they fall out of favor in the conspiracy world? Are Black Helicopters passe now? Is it gauche to speak of the chip implants anymore?
Guys you have to substantiate stuff, not accept fabricated and questionable things at face value. Otherwise you end up beliving things like "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" are real, and make about as much sense as a Cthulu story.
#25
So, Steve, I guess cricket is off-topic unless the Pakistan team is used to infiltrate and blow up the Taj Mahal during their test with India, right?
And Hillary, isn't she on-topic when the discussion turns to forms of terror?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
11/28/2007 16:13 Comments ||
Top||
#29
Where to draw the line re: on topic vs. too far off topic is a judgement call. But the moderators agreed that we're getting too many articles whose connection to the GWOT is a stretch.
Re: NAFTA etc. - germane when the article exposes a particular policy decision or action that has clearly articulated security impacts. Non-germane if the concern is about what one believes to be a generalized reduction of sovereignty for the US.
#30
Those are gorgeous, wxjames. There's some serious artistry going on in the farm belt. (Is it a belt? That's one of those geography issues I leave to Mr. Wife.)
But I'm not terribly good at all that secret agent stuff (I can't keep all the names straight) so I'd rather stick with the machinations of Al Qaeda and their colleagues, if nobody minds. I just read an article at NIMH that some scientists at the Weizmann Institute discovered a chemical critical to forming and retaining long-term memories, but until they figure out how to how to administer it effectively, my memory will perforce retain its current porosity.
#32
Oh, clearly it's Art, wxjames. Or fairies. But if it's fairies all bets are off on a great many things, as they aren't nice creatures at all, albeit some choose to appear to us as heartbreakingly beautiful. So I'll continue to posit Art until proven otherwise -- I'm not ready to add the cruelty of fairies to a world that already contains Islamo-fascists.
#33
I hope we can still post articles about the Global Warming hysteria. It seems relevant to me in that most of the folks that are against the WoT also seem to be the ones that are the most alarmed about anthropogenic GW. Posting GW articles helps to illustrate those folks' lack of capacity for logical reasoning and critical thinking.
Posted by: Abu Chuck al Ameriki ||
11/28/2007 18:38 Comments ||
Top||
#34
A rule of thumb for such topics is:
the further away from directly dealing with the GWOT an article is, the more you should a) consider posting only a link, not the full article and b) ask yourself if it provides really new GWOT-affecting information for regular Rantburg readers.
For instance, at this point I am not posting any articles about the ripple effect of the sub prime mortgage meltdown to other financial securities. We've all got the basics down: arcane financial derivatives are difficult to value and therefore the markets are panicked.
OTOH, a decision by the Saudis to depeg oil prices from the US dollar as a result of that panic might have a real effect on our ability to fund the GWOT. That would definitely be worth posting, especially as it would suggest a shift in the Kingdom's support in other ways.
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.
A large blast struck an upmarket suburb in the Afghan capital near the Pakistan Embassy early Tuesday, but it was not immediately clear if there were casualties, according to police. The explosion took place in the Wazir Akbar Khan suburb close to the city centre. There was an explosion in Wazir Akbar Khan but it is not known at this point what caused it, said a city police chief, 
By Andrew Hammond
Police yesterday arrested two wanted 
Unidentified assailants fired rockets at Turbat Airport on Tuesday, however no loss of life was reported. Police sources said that unidentified persons fired two rockets, which landed on the runway at Turbat Airport, in Balochistan. Police officials feared that the attackers had wanted to destroy the airport. The local police has registered a case against unidentified miscreants and initiated investigation.
(KUNA) -- Six people were killed and seven others were injured when a suicidal bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up in the city of Ba'aquba west of the Iraqi capital Tuesday, security sources said. The sources that requested anonymity said a suicidal bomber blew himself in the back entrance to the building of the police command of Diyala, located in the heart of Ba'aquba. The attack killed six poeple including three police officers and two women, while seven others were seriously injured, including three police personnel, the sources added.
A Palestinian demonstrator was killed at an anti-Annapolis rally on Tuesday when clashes broke out between security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas and Islamists who brand him a traitor. Medics said the 35-year-old killed in Hebron had been shot in the chest and 16 others were injured as Palestinian security forces tried to disperse the protest against Tuesday's U.S.-hosted peace conference near Washington.
(KUNA) -- The Israeli army forces broke into Rafah city, south Gaza Strip, last night and arrested three brothers there, local radio stations reported here Tuesday. Two of the three young men were shot and injured by the Israeli forces before being arrested east of Rafah. Saeed Mohammad Harb, 19 years, was shot in his abdomen, and Ibrahim Mohammad Harb, 25 years, was shot in the leg. They were taken along with their brother Ramzi, 27 years, to an unknown destination, the reports added.
COLOMBO - Sri Lankan war planes Tuesday flattened the Tamil Tigers radio station, killing civilians, just moments before the broadcast of an annual speech by the rebels leader, the guerrillas said in a statement.
(KUNA) -- At least eight Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels have been killed in fresh clashes with security forces in Sri Lanka's northern region. As many as four LTTE men in an attack by the Sri Lankan Army at Omanthai in Vavuniya in Northern Sri Lanka early today, according to a statement from the Media Centre for National Security, news agency Press Trust of India reported. In another incident, four LTTE rebels were killed by the security forces last night at Valiyankulam also in Vavuniya, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry said today.
