AFGHANISTAN Two more Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, the sixth and seven fatalities for Canadian forces fighting in the country since the beginning of July.
Corporal Christian Bobbitt, 23, of the Royal 22nd Regiment based in Valcartier, Quebec, and another unnamed soldier died when an improvised explosive device exploded as they were on patrol 15 km west of Kandahar, in the Zhari District at 3:20 p.m. Afghanistan time Saturday.
A third soldier who was wounded in the blast was airlifted to hospital at the Kandahar airfield and is in stable condition, according to the Department of National Defence (DND).
Next of kin of the second soldier killed Saturday have been notified but have asked DND to withhold release of the victims name until other family members can be identified.
The latest fatalities bring to 127 the number of fatalities for Canadian soldiers since they began their Afghanistan mission in 2002.
[Maghrebia] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility Saturday (August 1st) for the deadly attack on a military convoy near Damous, Tipaza region, which killed at least 14 Algerian soldiers and injured many others on Wednesday, local and international press reported. Reuters quoted an al-Qaeda internet statement as saying that the terrorists killed "at least 15" and seized nine assault rifles. Tout sur l'Algérie reported that a group led by terrorist Abi Tama Abdelhafidh was behind the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the kingdom's former ambassador to the United States, is reportedly under house arrest over a conspiracy against the monarch.
Saad al-Faqih, head of the opposition group Islamic Reform Movement, told Arab-language TV al-Alam that Prince Bandar has been disappeared and the media has published no word from the ex-diplomat's whereabouts since nearly three months ago. According to al-Faqih, the prince first disappeared in Britain but he returned to the kingdom shortly afterwards. He added that after Saudi officials discovered that he had provoked 200 agents working for the Saudi security service to stage a coup against King Abdullah, he was put under house arrest.
Al-Faqih said people close to the king had disclosed Bandar's plots and foiled them. He said Saudi sources believe that intelligence provided by some Arab countries help the Saudi monarch foil Prince Bandar's conspiracy.
Power struggle between members of the Saudi royal family has been common as power is shared among some 200 princes out of the estimated 7000 family members. Known as Bandar Bush because of his close relations with former US President George W Bush, the prince is son of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.
This article starring:
Islamic Reform Movement
Saad al-Faqih
Islamic Reform Movement
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#6
Looks like another scoop for Iran Press TV, because no one else has got it. And I would think the international media would consider this newsworthy
[Bangla Daily Star] Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday disclosed the arrests of six members of Harkatul Jihad al Islami on Saturday during overnight raids on areas in the capital and elsewhere in the country. The members of the banned militant outfit are accused in different cases filed in connection with grenade and bomb attacks and militant activities in the last one decade, Rab said at a press briefing at the Rab headquarters.
Rab sources said as its intelligence wing had started gathering information on the accused it learnt about the banned militant outfit's attempts to smuggle in arms through Naikhangchhari border in Bandarban. They also learnt that Harkatul Jihad (Huji) was recruiting members.
Rab officials said the Huji men were taken back to the areas where they were arrested and that they will be produced before the courts concerned today. The arrestees will also be taken on remand for interrogation about the latest activities of Huji.
These six Huji members were among the 41 militants who had been arrested with firearms and grenades at a Huji den in the deep forest of Ukhia in Cox's Bazar on February 19, 1996. Accused in a case filed in this connection, all 41 were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998.
Reading out a written statement at the press briefing, Rab Additional Director General Col Mizanur Rahman Khan said the six arrestees were freed on bail from the higher court in December 2002. Rab sources said 15 other accused fled the country following the announcement of the sentence. Other fugitives include Myanmarese citizen and Huji leader Nurul Islam and Abu Jehad who founded the militant organisation Islami Jihad Andolon in 2005 after leaving Huji.
This article starring:
ABDUL AZIZ OF FENI
HUJI
ABDUL MANNAN
HUJI
ABDULLAH AL HUSEIN OF BANSHKHALI
HUJI
ABU ABAS
HUJI
ABU JEHAD
Islami Jihad Andolon
ABU SUFIAN
HUJI
ABU ZAFAR
HUJI
ABUL KHAIR
HUJI
AMINUR RAHMAN
HUJI
ANWAR UDIN JAVED
HUJI
MAULANA MOHAMAD MUSA
HUJI
NURUL ISLAM
HUJI
NURUL ISLAM
Islami Jihad Andolon
REZAUL KARIM
HUJI
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Commies die in "shootouts" or "crossfires". But jihadis only get arrested.
[Bangla Daily Star] Intelligence agencies have come to know about covert activities of an Islamist organisation in the country and its close link with the banned outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
Officials said they have only learnt the name of the new outfit, Jamaat-e-Muslimeen, and its "dawati" (invitational) activities.
JMB's explosives expert Zahidul Islam Sumon alias "Boma" Mizan disclosed the name and the limited activities of Jamaat-e-Muslimeen to law enforcers during his interrogation at the task force for intelligence cell, they said. Mizan told them that a member of JMB's highest decision-making body Majlish-e-Shura and the outfit's IT wing chief Sayem maintain contact with Jamaat-e-Muslimeen. He also revealed that a few members of the new outfit joined the JMB recently.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ZAHIDUL ISLAM SUMON ALIAS "BOMA" MIZAN
JMB
ZAHIDUL ISLAM SUMON ALIAS "BOMA" MIZAN
Jamaat-e-Muslimeen
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star]A Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) jawan 'died of chest pain' yesterday at the BDR hospital of the Pilkhana headquarters, raising the death toll to 35 since the BDR mutiny on February 25-26. Prob'ly heart failure. It's been going around, y'know.
New Market police recovered the body of havilder Mohammad Shahid Ullah, 47, from BDR hospital in the afternoon and sent it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy. "Another one, Dr. Quincy!"
"Cheeze, Sam! Not another cirrhosis?"
"I think this one's heart failure."
OC of the police station said Shahid was not accused in the mutiny case. He was a witness?
BDR Public Relations Officer Muhammad Muhasin Reza told The Daily Star that Shahid, hailing from Mithanala village of Mirersarai upazila in Chittagong district, was recently transferred to the mechanical department of the headquarters from the BDR Company in Khulna. "No! You can't assign me there! I'm too young to be assigned there! I got family!"
SI Abdul Aziz of the police station said they recovered the body following the complaint lodged by another BDR havilder Azadur Rahman. Quoting Azad, SI Aziz said Shahid and Azad were working in the BDR workshop along with their colleagues and at about 8:30am, Shahid complained of chest pain and was soon admitted to the BDR hospital. Shahid died shortly afterwards, Azad added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
SI Aziz said Shahid and Azad were working in the BDR workshop along with their colleagues and at about 8:30am, Shahid complained of chest pain and was soon admitted to the BDR hospital.
Somebody drop an engine block on him? That would cause "chest pain"...
#2
I think each death of a BDR member will be reported, regardless of the cause, simply because of the notoriety of some in the unit. This could be a simple heart attack - the guy was 47 years old. A friend of mine died like that when he was at work - one minute he was fine, the next minute he was dead from a heart attack. HE was only 42, and supposedly in excellent health. No need for conspiracy theories - sh$$ happens.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2009 14:09 Comments ||
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BREAKING NEWS: POLICE have swooped on a members of a suspected Melbourne terror cell after uncovering a suicide bomb plot by Islamic terrorists.
More to come
Last Saturday, after 36 weeks of training, 178 women became the first female members of Indias Border Security Force. According to a report in The Deccan Herald, after two more weeks of specialised tips on advanced combat, the women will be deployed to help guard the countrys borders. Last week, The Indian Express reported that the female officers will be used primarily to frisk women who cross Indias borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, but it noted that they will also take part in night patrols.
To judge by this recruiting video made by the force, the women have let themselves in for a life of nonstop adventure, almost impossible to distinguish from a Bollywood action movie
According to statistics published on the Border Security Forces Web site, shootouts with Islamist militants along the frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh are a routine part of the job. The force, known as the B.S.F. in India, claims to have killed 4,814 militants/extremists since 1990, and captured 11,790 more. During this period, the B.S.F. Web site says 1,375 border guards were killed.*
While the Mumbai attacks last November illustrate that India is indeed threatened by militant groups, reports from both sides of the 2,000-mile border fence the country is building along its frontier with Bangladesh suggest that at least some of those killed by the force may have just gotten too close to one of its 80,000 armed guards.
There is also evidence that the actual number of people killed may be higher than the tally on the B.S.F. Web site. Last August, Reuters reported that the director-general of the force said that his men had killed 59 people trying to cross the border between India and Bangladesh in the previous six months. The B.S.F. chart records just 29 deaths for all of 2008.
Earlier this month, Voice of Americas Amir Khasru reported from Dhaka that the Border Security Force had shot dead four Bangladeshi cattle traders, who were between the ages of 16 and 25. Family members said these men were killed while returning to Bangladesh after purchasing cattle from India. Mr. Khasru noted that according to human rights organizations, approximately 30 Bangladeshis were killed by [the] B.S.F. in the last six months.
In 2002, my colleague Somini Sengupta reported that the B.S.F. was similarly active along its north-western frontier: Those spotted trying to cross from Pakistan to India are shot and killed. Last year, 87 people suffered such a fate and several guns were seized, border officials said.
In the recent, remarkable video report embedded below, Jonathan Rugman of Britains Channel 4 News interviewed people on both sides of Indias border with Bangladesh who claim that hundreds of unarmed villagers have been killed by the B.S.F. simply for getting too close to the fence. Mr. Rugmans report also includes interviews with a human rights advocate in India who says that the B.S.F. kills even Indian citizens with impunity and with a former director general of the force, who defends its actions.
Mr. Rugman notes that the present border between India and Bangladesh was hastily drawn by the British, part of the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 that The Lede has discussed in the past.
Mr. Rugman says that Indias new border fence around Bangladesh was inspired by Israels separation barrier. While plans for a fence on Indian territory to seal the border with Bangladesh pre-date the construction of the barrier in the Middle East, most of the fence has only been built in the last few years. In both cases, the division of territory grew out of partition following the departure of British administrators. In March, the Indian writer Pankaj Mishra published a fascinating essay in the U.A.E. newspaper The National on the parallel effects of partition on the postcolonial experiences of India and Israel.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/03/2009 13:11 ||
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#1
Note: This is from the NYT News Blog. The opinions expressed are probably worth what you pay for it.
#4
the B.S.F. kills even Indian citizens with impunity
shootouts with Islamist militants along the frontiers with Pakistan and Bangladesh are a routine part of the job.
NO means NO dammit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/03/2009 22:24 Comments ||
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[Geo News] Search and clearance operations continued by security forces in Swat and Malakand in which four terrorists were killed and 27 apprehended.
According to ISPR, 2 Terrorists were killed and 7 were apprehended during clearance operation in area Derai and Danda.
Security forces discovered 2 tunnels of 75 meters and 60 feet length, 4 fresh dug graves and 1 training camp with bunkers and a generator in Biha Valley.
Ten suspects including a local commander were arrested in search and clearance operations at Kamargai near Gulibagh.
One local terrorist Khair ur Rehman voluntarily surrendered to security forces alongwith his weapon at Shangla.
During search operation in Gorai, Kotlai and Daragai, 2 terrorists were killed and 2 suspected terrorists were apprehended alognwith their weapons.
Security forces carried out search operation in Shah Dheri and apprehended 8 suspected terrorists and recovered 4 rifles and 3 pistols.
During search operation, a cave was discovered in Amlukdara by the security forces. 3 prepared IEDs (including 1 water cooler IED), 80 Kgs explosives and 220 meters detonating cord was also discovered.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Convict in US journalist Daniel Pearl's murder case Omar Saeed Sheikh has been shifted from Hyderabad to Karachi prison. According to prison sources, the decision to shift Omar Sheikh to Karachi was taken in view of his security. Wouldn't have to do that if he'd been duly executed by now. It's only been five or six years since he was convicted.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"And if he's still not safe we'll move him to Quetta!"
[Geo News] Case has been registered against 17 known and 783 unknown people on charges including those of killing, attempt to kill and terrorism following Saturday's violent incidents in Gojra. They're no doubt being rounded up even as we speak blog.
The case was registered on the request of Church Bishop while the families of the victims staged protest against the killings by laying bodies of their loved ones on railway tracks. Had His Eminence the bishop not asked for the case to be registered the authorities would have simply pretended nothing had happened.
The bereaved families demanded immediate arrest of the people responsible for the violence. They're back in Jhang by now, protected by their anonymity and their local constabulary.
Rangers, who took control of the city, have started patrolling in Gojra. Spokesman of the Rangers has said that the situation is now totally under control. Unless somebody claims there's a page missing from his Koran, of course...
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif has announced Rs500,000 for each bereaved family and directed the Commissioner and RPO to stay in the area till normalcy is restored in Gojra. Minister of Law Rana Sanaullah has said that police, launching a crack down on miscreants, has arrested over 100 people. How many of whom started out as victims?
Police says Abdul Khalid, member of a banned organization, is among the arrested. The "banned organization" would be Sipah-e-Sahaba, or maybe Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They specialize in this sort of thing. And Abdul Khalid will likely make bail and abscond, changing his name to Abdul Khaled and confounding the pursuit.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Quick make a news announcement and change names before the "Mrcans catch and kill us.
as soon as a new name is selected, business as usual and we're home free.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/03/2009 20:36 Comments ||
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[Dawn] Iraqi police say at least five people have been killed and 20 others wounded in a car bombing in a mainly Sunni area northwest of Baghdad.
A police officer says the explosives-laden car was parked near sidewalk vendors at an outdoor market in Haditha. The officer gave the casualty toll on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information
The blast in Haditha, 190 km (120 miles) west of Baghdad, came two days after a series of apparently coordinated bomb attacks near Shia mosques in Baghdad killed 31 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Tareq Aziz, Iraq's former deputy prime minister was sentenced on Sunday to seven years in jail for his role in the forced displacement of Kurds from oil-prosperous northeastern Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule.
In March he was given a 15-year sentence for his role in the killing of dozens of traders for breaking state price controls in 1992. Two lawyers said the sentences would be added together so 73-year-old Aziz would serve 22 years in jail.
"Because you committed, in partnership (with others), the crime of forced displacement against the Kurdish people, the court has decided to condemn you ... to seven years in prison," Judge Mahmoud Salih said, giving the jury's verdict.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A masked man opened fire on a crowd in front of a gay community center in Tel Aviv late Saturday, killing two people and wounding at least 11 others, Israeli emergency services said.
A young man and a young woman were killed on the spot while one of the wounded was in serious condition, they said.
The shooting spree in central Tel Aviv set off a citywide security clampdown, reviving memories of Palestinian attacks that have ebbed in recent years. But a police spokesman said that the incident was "criminal, rather than nationalistic."
" We are only at the first stage of the investigation, we continue our search and we are not sure of the motive of this attack since the center has not received any threats recently "
Tel Aviv Police Chief Shahar Ayalon
The gunman, who was dressed in black, unloaded an automatic weapon on the young group of gays and lesbians at the entrance of the center, located in the heart of Tel Aviv, and then ran away, witnesses said.
Coastal, cosmopolitan Tel Aviv has a bustling gay scene, but open homosexuality is less welcome in conservative areas of the Jewish state. Annual gay pride parades in Jerusalem meet with often violent protests from ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Homophobic attack
" It is not surprising that such a crime can be committed given the incitement of hatred against the homosexual community "
Mai Pelem, president of Tel Aviv's gay and lesbian community
Tel Aviv Police Chief Shahar Ayalon ordered the closure of a nearby gay bar in the city and urged such establishments to remain vigilant. "We are only at the first stage of the investigation, we continue our search and we are not sure of the motive of this attack since the center has not received any threats recently," Ayalon said.
Representatives of the gay community believe it was a homophobic attack. "It is not surprising that such a crime can be committed given the incitement of hatred against the homosexual community," the president of Tel Aviv's gay and lesbian community, Mai Pelem, told reporters.
Pelem was referring to verbal attacks against gays from the religious community.
In the past, swastikas had been painted at the entrance to the center in an attempt to stigmatize homosexuals.
The head of Israel's gay and lesbian national association, Mike Hamel, told journalists: "In our worst nightmares we could not have imagined that the hatred against our community, which is hurting nobody, could go this far."
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich, also said he thought the attack had homophobic motives and promised the police would do everything possible to arrest the gunman, military radio reported.
If the motive is confirmed, it would be the worst homophobic attack against Israel's gay and lesbian community.
In 2005, an ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed three participants of the gay pride parade. He was later sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Tel Aviv, unlike Jerusalem, is widely seen as being very liberal city. Israeli media said police had warned other gay clubs in Tel Aviv to close for fear of a follow-up attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
If you think the Jewish Orthodox crowd are homophobic, wait until the goatherders over in Gaza get a crack at you.
[Haaretz Defense] A military court in Lebanon on Saturday sentenced a man to life in prison for spying for Israel and giving it information about Hezbollah, The Associated Press quoted Lebanese judicial officials as saying.
The officials added that the court also sentenced him for entering Israel and using forged documents, according to the news agency. They were quoted as adding that the man denied transporting Israeli agents to and from Lebanon.
The man, who is in custody, can appeal Saturday's verdict, The Associated Press reported.
Lebanon considers itself at a state of war with Israel and bans its citizens from holding any kind of contact with Israeli citizens or visiting the country.
Lebanese authorities have made dozens of arrests of people suspected of collaborating with Israel in recent months and filed preliminary charges. The crackdown began earlier this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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(IsraelNN.com) Explosives en route to the Hizbullah terrorist group caused a Russian-made plane to crash in Iran two weeks ago, claiming the lives of 168 people, according to a report in the Italian paper Corriere Della Sera on Saturday. "I thought I'd turned the 'no smoking' sign on, dammit!"
The report quoted Middle East sources who said the plane, which took off from Tehran and was headed for Armenia, was carrying in its luggage compartment several metal cases with two kilograms of explosives and detonators destined for the Lebanese terrorist group. The shipment was meant to have continued by land from Armenia to Turkey, then to Syria, and finally to Lebanon.
Shortly afterwards, the plane crashed near the city of Qazvin. Eyewitnesses reported hearing explosions in the plane before it crashed into the ground.
Only 16 minutes after takeoff, the pilot of the Tupolev jet reported an emergency. Shortly afterwards, the plane crashed near the city of Qazvin. Eyewitnesses reported hearing explosions in the plane before it crashed into the ground.
The Italian paper also said that a member of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards was on board the plane to monitor the delivery of the goods to Hizbullah and that Iranian security forces arrived at the plane crash site. Iranian authorities have said that they recovered the plane's three black boxes but have not yet offered an explanation for the fatal crash.
The report also said that the explosives were meant to be concealed in southern Lebanon, but after an explosion in a Hizbullah weapons depot only a few days before the flight, the terrorist group decided they would be safer north of the Litani river. Tensions rose in southern Lebanon between Hizbullah and UNIFIL forces following the July 14th blast which reportedly destroyed a Hizbullah weapons cache, including numerous Katushya rockets.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the kingdom's former ambassador to the United States, is reportedly under house arrest over a conspiracy against the monarch. 
[Bangla Daily Star] Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) yesterday disclosed the arrests of six members of Harkatul Jihad al Islami on Saturday during overnight raids on areas in the capital and elsewhere in the country. The members of the banned militant outfit are accused in different cases filed in connection with grenade and bomb attacks and militant activities in the last one decade, Rab said at a press briefing at the Rab headquarters.
[Bangla Daily Star]A Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) jawan 'died of chest pain' yesterday at the BDR hospital of the Pilkhana headquarters, raising the death toll to 35 since the BDR mutiny on February 25-26.
[Geo News] Convict in US journalist Daniel Pearl's murder case Omar Saeed Sheikh has been shifted from Hyderabad to Karachi prison. According to prison sources, the decision to shift Omar Sheikh to Karachi was taken in view of his security.
[Geo News] Case has been registered against 17 known and 783 unknown people on charges including those of killing, attempt to kill and terrorism following Saturday's violent incidents in Gojra.
[Dawn] Iraqi police say at least five people have been killed and 20 others wounded in a car bombing in a mainly Sunni area northwest of Baghdad.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Tareq Aziz, Iraq's former deputy prime minister was sentenced on Sunday to seven years in jail for his role in the forced displacement of Kurds from oil-prosperous northeastern Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule.
