Recent Appearances...

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

India-Pakistan

Five terrorists killed in three separate operations in KP

2024-07-30

[GEO.TV] Security forces have killed five holy warriors in three separate operations in different areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Monday.

A joint intelligence-based operation was conducted in Mohmand district and three terrorists, including "Kharji alias Qari of Fitna Al Khawarij," were successfully neutralised, said the military's media wing in a statement.

It further said that during the conduct of the operation, terrorists’ hideout was also busted and a cache of arms, ammunition and explosives was recovered. However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
police constable Abrar Hussain (resident of district Swabi) of the KP police, having fought gallantly, embraced shahadat during the intense exchange of gunfire, it said.

In another intelligence-based operation conducted in the Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
district, security forces effectively engaged terrorists’ location, as a result of which "Kharji Sifatullah Mullah Mansoor of Fitna Al Khawarij was sent to hell," while three other holy warriors got injured, said the ISPR statement.

The army's media wing said that Kharji Sifatullah was involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area including the facilitation of a suicide kaboom attack in Daraban on December 12, 2023, and was highly wanted by law enforcement agencies.

In a third engagement that occurred in the North Wazoo

Wazoo district, "another Kharji terrorist of Fitna Al Khawarij was sent to hell" by the security forces, according to the statement.

"Pakistain’s security forces stand shoulder to shoulder with other law enforcement agencies to ensure peace and stability across Pakistain and such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve," it added.

Link

Home Front: WoT

9/11 detainee ruled mentally unfit for trial after torture at Guantanamo

2023-09-23

[IsraelTimes] Military judge says Ramzi bin al-Shibh, diagnosed with mental illnesses, is unable to defend himself; trial of alleged criminal mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, three others to go ahead
Nothing a good trepanning with a cordless drill wouldn't help
A judge at the US military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay on Thursday ruled that a Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
i detainee who was tortured by the CIA is unfit to stand trial in a death penalty

case, US media reported.

Ramzi bin al-Shibh,

...also Ramzi Binalshibh, the unhandsome Yemeni fixer accused of finding flight schools for the hijackers, helping them enter the United States, and assisting with financing the operation. He allegedly was selected to be a hijacker and made a "martyr video" in preparation for the operation, but was unable to get a U.S. visa. He also is believed to be a lead operative for a foiled plot to crash aircraft into London's Heathrow Airport...

51, had been scheduled to be one of five defendants in a trial related to the September 11, 2001, attacks on US cities by Al Qaeda that left almost 3,000 people dead.

But Colonel Matthew McCall, a military judge, said the prisoner was too psychologically damaged to help defend himself, The New York Times

...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
reported.

Doctors at the US base on the eastern tip of Cuba diagnosed Bin al-Shibh with post-traumatic stress disorder and secondary psychotic features, as well as a delusional disorder.

The military psychiatrists said his condition left him "unable to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or cooperate intelligently" with his legal defense team, the Times reported.

Bin al-Shibh has for years complained of being "tormented by invisible forces that caused his bed and cell to vibrate and that stung his genitals, depriving him of sleep," the paper added.
Quit putting quarters into the vibrator bed, idiot
Bin al-Shibh’s defense lawyer has claimed that his client was tortured by the CIA and went insane as a result of what the agency called enhanced interrogation techniques, which included sleep deprivation, waterboarding, and beatings.

He had been due to face pretrial proceedings on Friday with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be the criminal mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and three other defendants. Their hearing will proceed as scheduled, the paper said.

Bin al-Shibh was accused of helping organize the Al Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, that hijacked one of two passenger jets that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.

Another suicide airliner attack targeted the Pentagon in Washington, and a fourth plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania when passengers overpowered the hijackers.

Link

Afghanistan

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s supreme leader, has appointed a special military commander for Panjshir province

2022-08-22

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s supreme leader, has appointed a special military commander for Panjshir province in northern Afghanistan and the Andarab district of Baghlan province.
Read more at:https://t.co/BbzrObmpKK
— Khaama Press (KP) (@khaama) August 21, 2022

Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
front man Zabihullah Mujahid stated that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s supreme leader, has appointed a special military commander for Panjshir province in northern Afghanistan and the Andarab district of Baghlan province.

According to the Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who made the announcement on August 21 on Sunday, Mullah Abdul Qayyum Zakir has been appointed as the special military commander for the Panjshir province and Andarab of Baghlan.

Abdul Qayyum Zakir, who once served as the Taliban government’s Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Defense, is regarded as one of the top military commanders in the Taliban’s administration.

The Taliban have appointed a military commander for Panjshir and Andarab, where opposing factions of the group are active and in conflict with Taliban forces, most notably the National Resistance® Front (NRF) headed by Ahmad Massoud.

This comes as the spokesperson for the NRF has declared the capture of several Taliban fighters. The guerrilla attacks of this front have also escalated on Taliban outposts in Panjshir and Andrab of Baghlan, and the Taliban have sustained heavy casualties in these areas.

Link

Afghanistan

Guantanamo detainee Abdul Qayyum Zakir is the acting defense minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

2021-08-25

[Twitter]

🇦🇫 The Taliban appointed Guantanamo detainee Abdul Qayyum Zakir as the acting defense minister of the Islamic Emirate of #Afghanistan.
— Velina Tchakarova (@vtchakarova) August 24, 2021

Link

Afghanistan

Taliban to hold grand gathering on new government in Kabul

2021-08-23

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] It has been seven days since the Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
have taken control over Kabul and the country left in a sheer political vacuum but negotiations over forging the upcoming government are going on in Kabul.A grand gathering is purportedly planned to be held in Kabul by the Taliban leadership and Kabul-based officials and politicians.

All the members and the head of the Taliban’s political office based in Doha are currently in Kabul and are busy negotiating on the structure of upcoming governmental with different parties.

After the brother of former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, ex-president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. When Biden abandoned the country left with a helicopter, four cars, and part of the national treasury...
, Hashmat Ghani Ahamdzai pledged allegiance with the Taliban on Saturday, August 21, former governor of Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..

province and one of the prominent politicians of Afghanistan Gul Agha Sherzai
...former governor of Kandahar province. the Taliban got their start protecting people against him...
also swore allegiance with Afghanistan Islamic Emirate.
It's not just cats that always land on their feet.
The Taliban members have appreciated his efforts in reconstruction during his tenure as minister of urban development and land during the presidency of Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai.
...A product, and probably the sole product, of the Southern Alliance...

Sherzai had also congratulated the victory of the Taliban a day after they took over Kabul.

Members of the Taliban have also met with parliament member, Haji Zahir Qadir, and both sides have discussed the structure of the upcoming all-inclusive government.

As part of efforts for shaping the cabinet, the Taliban appointed chairman of the Afghanistan Cricket Board and head of water and power on Sunday.

Link

Afghanistan

Taliban Leadership in Disorder in Wake of Coronavirus

2020-06-02

Score for the Afghan government for releasing them from prison.

[NewsMax] Coronavirus has crippled the Afghan Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
, sending the organization into flux as members of its big shotship have sought treatment for the condition, according to Foreign Policy.

The illnesses have paved a way for Mullah Mohammad Omar, son of the group's founder, to grab the reins as interim leader, Taliban sources have reported.

The absence of senior Taliban leaders removes key decision-makers from the group during a period when U.S. troops are planning to draw down troops from Afghanistan to honor a bilateral agreement.

Haibatullah Akhundzada
...Former deputy to Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour, now The Big Man Himself...
, the Taliban's supreme leader, hasn't attended meetings for several weeks. Sirajuddin Haqqani

...son of Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, still titular head of the Haqqani Network....
, his chief deputy of the Haqqani network
...a branch of the Afghan Taliban, based in Pakistain. The network is a family business founded by the later Jalaluddin Haqqani...
, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda, has substituted in his absence.

But Haqqani has been stricken by coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)

...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
, which has caused him to miss out on leadership duties.

"When Sirajuddin got sick he probably infected everyone else as he was deputizing at meetings for Haibatullah," Antonio Giustozzi, an expert on the Taliban at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told Foreign Policy.

...and no hydroxycholoroquine to be found anywhere... Bummer.

An anonymous Kabul intelligence official confirmed some Taliban leaders had contracted coronavirus, including the supreme leader Akhundzada. Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob has now taken the role of "chief of operations."

"Our hero, the son of our great leader, Mullah Yaqoob, is running the entire Taliban operation in Haibatullah’s absence," Maulama Muhammad Ali Jan Ahmad, a senior Taliban commander, told Foreign Policy.

Discord within the top ranks of the Taliban could lead to a violent clash between its rival factions. That infighting could ultimately break off talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government to end their nearly 20-year conflict.

"There are two possible outcomes — Mullah Yaqoob will own his position at the top and Ishakzai will accept him as leader, or Ishakzai will gather his forces and attempt to maintain control in his own hands, and if that happens then things will be very bloody," an unnamed Quetta source said.

Link

Afghanistan

Afghan forces conduct preemptive raids against Taliban militants in Kandahar

2020-04-18

[KhaamaPress] The Afghan forces conducted preemptive raids against Talibs in southern Kandahar province, killing at least 4 krazed killers.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) in a statement said a group of Talibs were looking to carry out attacks against the Afghan forces in Shorabak and Miansheen districts.

The statement further added that the Afghan forces conducted preemptive raids to thwart the attacks of the krazed killers.

The security forces also maimed at least six turbans during the raids, the statement said, adding that the security forces had earlier discovered and defused 20 roadside kabooms in Miansheen, Shawalikot, Spin Boldak and Maiwand districts of Kandahar.

The Taliban
Taliban

...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
group has not commented in this regard so far.

Link

India-Pakistan

Pakistani court seeks report on Mullah Mansoor's properties in Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar

2020-04-13

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Pakistani court seeks report on Mullah Mansoor's properties in Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar https://t.co/T3SLZqD9Mu pic.twitter.com/6fEv2opkSQ
— Khaama Press (KP) (@khaama) April 12, 2020

A court in Pakistain has sought report on purchases of properties by former Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor which he reportedly purchased in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, Quetta and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
Mullah Mansoor reportedly purchased the properties using his fake identities before a dronezap killed him the tribal regions of Pakistain.

Dawn News also added that the court also directed the agency to submit a report on the proclamation of the slain Taliban leader’s two alleged accomplices, who are absconding in an alleged terror financing and money laundering case filed in July, 2019.

Mullah Mansoor was reportedly killed in a US dronezap in the vicinity of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province on 21st May of 2016 as he was reportedly on his way from Iran.

The Pak officials later confirmed that DNA collection report confirmed that the man killed in the US dronezap was the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Mansoor.

Link

India-Pakistan

Pakistan court overturns conviction in death of Daniel Pearl

2020-04-02

[NBC] KARACHI, Pakistan — A Pakistani court Thursday overturned the murder conviction of a British Pakistani man found guilty of the 2002 kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Instead, the court found Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh guilty of the lesser charge of kidnapping and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

Pearl disappeared Jan. 23, 2002 in Karachi while researching links between Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, who became known as the “shoe-bomber” after he was arrested on a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives in his shoes. Prosecutors said Saeed lured Pearl into a trap by promising to arrange an interview with an Islamic cleric who police believed was not involved in the conspiracy.

One of Saeed's lawyers, Khwaja Naveed, said Saeed could go free unless the government chooses to challenge the court decision. Faiz Shah, prosecutor general for southern Sindh province, said the government will appeal to the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Saeed has already spent 18 years in prison in southern Hyderabad on death row. The seven-year sentence was expected to be counted as time served, said Naveed.

The Sindh High Court also acquitted three others accused in the case: Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil, and Salman Saqib, who were earlier sentenced to life in prison. The defendants were also collectively fined $32,000.

Saeed, a former student at the London School of Economics, and the others were convicted in 2002.

A videotape received by U.S. diplomats in February, 2002 confirmed that Pearl, 38, was dead. He had been beheaded.

The Pearl Project, an investigative journalism team at Washington's Georgetown University, carried out a three-year investigation into Pearl's kidnapping and death. They concluded the reporter was beheaded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and later described as the architect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Mohammad is a prisoner at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Soon after Pearl disappeared, Pakistani and U.S. news organizations received emails from the previously unknown National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty. The group demanded better treatment for Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners at Guantanamo.

FBI agents traced the emails to Saeed, who admitted his role in the kidnapping during his first court appearance but later recanted.

Saeed had been arrested in 1994 by Indian authorities, accused of kidnapping three Britons and an American, who were all freed unharmed, in Indian-ruled Kashmir, Hindu India's only Muslim dominated region.

In 1999, India freed Saeed and two other militants in exchange for the release of 155 passengers and crew aboard an Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The Pearl kidnapping was the first of five attacks against Westerners in Pakistan in 2002. A grenade attack against a Protestant church in Islamabad on March 17 killed five people, including two Americans and the attacker, were killed.

Link

Afghanistan

2 Chechen militants killed, wounded in Badakhshan artillery strikes

2019-03-26

[KhaamaPress] At least two Chechen gunnies were killed or maimed during the artillery strikes of Afghan armed forces in northeastern Badakhshan province.

The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North said the gunnies were in Ambi Yardar area of Baharak district.

According to a statement released by 209th Shaheen Corps, the artillery strikes were carried out at around 5:30 pm local time on Sunday, leaving a Chechen bully boy dead and another maimed.

The militan who was killed during the operation has been identified as Talah and was affiliated with Jamaat-e-Ansarullah group, the 209th Shaheen Corps said.

The 209th Shaheen Corps also added that a Taliban
...Arabic for students...
fighter belonging to Mullah Mansoor group was killed and another bully boy was maimed during the ~~Arclight~~ airstrike

s in Kanam Village of Kunduz province on Sunday.

In the meantime, the Afghan forces have cleared Zakhel Qadim, Shora Khak Payin, Se Darak, and Kasa Khorshid Villages in Kunduz city during the ongoing Toofan-25 operations, the 209th Shaheen corps added.

Link

Afghanistan

Haqqani Networker surrenders to Afghan forces in Kunduz province

2019-03-06

[KhaamaPress] A member of the notorious Haqqani Network has surrendered to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan, the Afghan Military said Monday.

According to 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North, the Haqqani Network member surrendered to Afghan forces in Imam Sahib district.

The 209th Shaheen Corps in a statement said the Haqqani Network mmeber, Mullah Mansoor renounced violence and surrendered to Afghan forces in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz.

The statement further added that Mullah Mansoor also handed overe three Ak-47 assault rifles to armed forces.

The anti-government armed hard boy groups including Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
and Haqqani Network have not commented regarding the surrender of Mullah Mansoor so far.

Link

Afghanistan

Prominent Taliban leader killed in Kunduz operations

2018-10-24

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] A prominent local leader of the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
group has been killed during the operations of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan.

The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North in a statement said a prominent Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor who was in charge of overall activities of the group in Kunduz province has been killed in Imam Sahib district.

The statement further added that Mullah Mansoor was killed another key Taliban group member Mullah Yasin and twenty of his fighters.

The turbans were killed during a clash which erupted amid ongoing military operations, the 209th Shaheen Corps added in its statement. The anti-government armed holy warrior groups including Talibs have not commented regarding the report so far.

Link

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