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Cyber

U.S. Says It Dismantled Russia's ‘Most Sophisticated' Malware Network

2023-05-10

[NY Times] The United States and its allies have dismantled a major cyberespionage system that it said Russia’s intelligence service had used for years to spy on computers around the world, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday. In a separate report, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency portrayed the system, known as the "Snake" malware network, as "the most sophisticated cyberespionage tool" in the Federal Security Service’s arsenal, which it has used to surveil sensitive targets, including government networks, research facilities and journalists. The Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., had used Snake to gain access to and steal international relations documents and other diplomatic communications from a NATO country, according to CISA, which added that the Russian agency had used the tool to infect computers across more than 50 countries and inside a range of American institutions. Those included "education, small businesses and media organizations, as well as critical infrastructure sectors including government facilities, financial services, critical manufacturing and communications." Top Justice Department officials hailed the apparent demise of the malware. "Through a high-tech operation that turned Russian malware against itself, U.S. law enforcement has neutralized one of Russia’s most sophisticated cyberespionage tools, used for two decades to advance Russia’s authoritarian objectives," Lisa O. Monaco, the deputy attorney general, said in a statement. In a newly unsealed 33-page court filing from a federal judge in Brooklyn, a cybersecurity agent, Taylor Forry, laid out how the effort, called Operation Medusa, would take place.

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Afghanistan

Canadians return to Afghan base after heavy fighting in nearby province

2008-11-05

A small group of Canadian soldiers has finally returned to their base in Afghanistan after playing key roles in some of the heaviest fighting this fall. Details are now starting to emerge about the part about 30 Canadians played in the battle for Lashkar Gah, the capital of nearby Helmand province that was threatened by the Taliban late last month. "(The fighting) was quite intense," said Maj. Steve Nolan, who commanded one of the mentorship teams working with a kandak, or battalion, of Afghan National Army soldiers. Taliban fighters began to mass around Lashkar Gah around Oct. 12. Afghan Gen. Sher Muhammad Zazai has said hundreds of Taliban fighters were involved, attacking the city on three sides. Nolan's team and their kandak, normally based in Kandahar province, were mobilized and arrived in the embattled city the next day as insurgents were attacking police outposts around the city. "We pulled into Lashkar Gah in the dark and it turned into a combat mission right away," said Nolan. "As we were moving in, there was tracer fire moving over our convoy." On Oct. 17, the Canadian-mentored kandak was ordered to clear a swath of territory five kilometres wide and 10 kilometres long into the nearby village of Aynak - a maze of eight-metre deep canals, three- metre high cornfields, vineyards and narrow lanes lined by tall mud walls. "There is no more complex terrain anywhere in the world," Nolan said. Backed up by attack helicopters, the Canadian and Afghan soldiers advanced into repeated ambushes, coming under machine-gun and rocket- propelled grenade fire. Shots would be exchanged, then the Taliban would fall back to their next position. "It's an all-day affair. There was always fire, or you always knew (every) 50 metres, that's where the next little contact would be." There were no Canadian or Afghan casualties. Helmand's governor estimated 63 Taliban were killed. After sweeping the corridor into Aynak free of Taliban, the kandak and the Canadians took part in a massive assault involving more than 1,400 Afghans, as well as mentor teams from Britain and the U.S. That assault, on Oct. 21, cleared a similar corridor into another nearby village called Nawa. On Oct. 22, Gen. Zazai declared the Taliban had been successfully driven back from Lashkar Gah. The Canadians finally returned to their base on Sunday. Insurgents rarely attempt frontal assaults on major cities. The threat of such an attack on Kandahar in 2006 produced Operation Medusa, several weeks of fighting that summer by Canadian soldiers in the nearby Panjwaii district that pacified the area - at least temporarily. Those attacks, however, were led by Canadians. This one was led by the Afghan National Army. Nolan said the success of the operation proved the ANA has made substantial progress in planning and executing its own operations. "It made me feel very proud to be part of it because it showed that there has been a lot of progress made."

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Afghanistan

Paki Talibunnies go through 12 day Boot Camp before Deployment

2007-09-07

PATROL BASE WILSON, Afghanistan -- More than five years after international forces rolled into Afghanistan, there is much debate about whether or not they're losing ground to a resurgent Taliban. For Brig-Gen. Guy Laroche, Canada's top commander in Afghanistan, the answer is a firm No. As his military convoy bumps over a road where Canada lost its first soldier to a roadside bomb, Laroche sweeps his arm toward the far-off mountains. "There used to be 300 Taliban in this area,'' he said. "Now, they don't have the numbers for a face-to-face fight.'' As his crew keeps a close watch on every bump in the road and every person they pass, Laroche suggests the deadly bombing campaign of the Taliban is their last gasp. "We'll never completely get rid of the Taliban,'' he said. "This is their home.'' But he said the insurgent force has been severely damaged and left unable to mount an effective fighting force. He suggested that's why the Taliban have resorted to the improvised explosive devices -- including suicide bombings -- that have taken the lives of 38 Canadian soldiers. Despite the bombs, stability is being restored. "Now you see families and children who've come back,'' Laroche said as a group of waving small children ran alongside the convoy. "A year ago you didn't see that.'' Meanwhile in Kandahar City, Afghan authorities paraded four suspected Taliban detainees for the media Thursday, claiming the Pakistani natives were would-be suicide bombers. Although the four deny any plan to blow themselves up, they admitted they easily crossed the border into Afghanistan with jihad -- holy war -- on their mind. "When Americans captured Afghanistan, we saw they were beating people, killing people, and from that time we had this idea of jihad,'' one of the young men, 24-year-old Mohammed Shohaib, said through an interpreter. Shohaib said they received 12 days of training in Pakistan, including suicide bombing. Despite the urging of an Afghan official, however, Shohaib said they had no plans to carry out suicide missions. "We came here to fight with guns, with weapons, not to blow ourselves up,'' he said. Afghan authorities have long maintained that Pakistan is a source of many of the insurgents wreaking havoc in their country. In this case, the four young men said they were arrested by Afghan intelligence officers within hours of arriving in Kandahar city, but many others like them aren't caught. A year ago, Canadians took a lead in NATO's largest offensive to date in Afghanistan, Operation Medusa. The mission was to drive the Taliban out of the Zhari and Panjwaii districts of Kandahar province _ the extremist movement's ideological heartland. But the insurgents have returned, and so have the Canadians. At Patrol Base Wilson, a sparse checkpoint along the highway west of Kandahar city, a patrol convoy rolled out as night fell Wednesday. This once-sparsely staffed outpost in one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan has seen major reinforcement since the Van Doos regiment arrived last month. Chief Warrant Officer Pete Marchand says the highway is a key trade route through the region _ and one the Canadians are determined to secure. "It's a really important route and we want to make sure that security and development can continue in Afghanistan, so we have to secure this route,'' Marchand said. "The Taliban is trying to terrorize everybody. They're trying to terrorize us with IEDs but they will not achieve that,'' Marchand said. "We're going to make sure the Afghan people can live safely.'' The patrol base is a joint operation between the Canadians and the Afghan National Police, a ragtag group that is largely under-paid, under-staffed and under-trained. The youngest of the machine-gun-wielding police appears to be about 15. He jokingly points his gun at an out-of-place visitor. "There's a lot of work to do and it's going bit by bit,'' said Marchand. Laroche is more blunt. "We know we can't leave them alone right now,'' he said.

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Afghanistan

Afghan police die in Taliban ambush

2007-02-12

Taliban fighters have ambushed a truck carrying police in southern Afghanistan, killing four officers and injuring three others. Asmatullah Alizai, a provincial police chief, said the attack occurred on Friday evening near Talukan village in Kandahar province's Panjwayi district. Alizai said the three injured were in a serious condition. Taliban fighters beheaded two men in the village in December, saying they were working with Nato forces. Nato troops killed more than 500 Taliban in the Panjwayi area in September, largely clearing the region of fighters in an offensive called Operation Medusa. Canadian and US special forces are currently working to increase security in the area. More Afghan security checkpoints have been set up, a new road is being built, and schools and clinics are reopening. In nearby Helmand province, suspected Taliban fighters attacked a convoy of Nato and Afghan troops on Friday. Ghulam Nabi Malakhail, a provincial police chief, said the ambush sparked a four-hour gunbattle that left 11 Taliban dead. The Taliban took their dead fighters off the battlefield, but Malakhail said officials learned of how many had died through intelligence contacts. On Saturday a suicide attacker detonated an explosives-filled vehicle near a Nato convoy in southern Afghanistan, missing the foreign soldiers by metres but causing no casualties, police said. The man blew up his car bomb as he tried to get close to an international security assistance force (ISAF) convoy around 10km east of Kandahar city. The attacker was blown to pieces and body parts were flung across the area, as was his shattered vehicle. Andre Salloum, a captain and ISAF spokesman in Kandahar, confirmed the attack.

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Afghanistan

Taliban prepare for new offensive

2007-02-06

Becase the last few have been so-o-o successful ... Taliban fighters heavily occupy parts of Helmand province and must be confronted, a NATO official says, adding to recent indications that major battles are looming as spring arrives in Afghanistan. Violence flared yesterday as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization struck back at a Taliban leader who had broken a peace deal in a district of Helmand, killing him with an air strike. That'll teach him ... A suicide bomber attacked a Canadian convoy in Kandahar later in the day, and a pair of gunmen on a motorbike killed a pro-government religious leader in the heart of the city. It was a return to the kind of daily incidents that southern Afghanistan witnessed in the fall, before the onset of the cold, damp winter. Insurgent activity fell sharply after Canadian troops led an offensive in September, code-named Operation Medusa, pushing thousands of Taliban out of entrenched positions near Kandahar city. Colonel Mike Kampman, the Canadian chief of staff for NATO in southern Afghanistan, hinted in a recent interview about one of the next flashpoints: the northern Helmand River valley. "The situation on this piece of ground is a pre-Medusa type of scenario," Col. Kampman said, pointing to a map and running his finger along the blue line that runs north from the town of Gereshk to the river's source at Kajaki Lake.

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Afghanistan

Taliban commander seized in Afghanistan

2007-01-17

A prominent Taliban commander has been captured by NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan. The militant leader, who has not yet been identified, was detained during a raid by NATO and Afghan troops on a compound in Helmand province, the alliance said on Wednesday. According to a NATO spokesman, the commander led insurgents in the volatile Panjwaii district of Kandahar province, said NATO spokesman Squadron Leader Dave Marsh. "This seizure of a Taliban commander once again shows that there is nowhere to hide for insurgent leaders," Marsh said. Most of Canada's roughly 2,500 troops serving in Afghanistan are stationed in Kandahar province. Last summer, NATO forces staged Operation Medusa, the largest ground offensive in the alliance's history, in the region. The capture appears to be a victory for NATO forces, said CTV's Paul Workman, reporting from Kandahar. "NATO hasn't given us a name yet and details are really quite vague, but they seem to believe they've arrested a regional commander, somebody who may have been involved in directing attacks against Canadian forces, we don't know, but they believe certainly against NATO forces," Workman told CTV Newsnet. The alliance said the commander was fleeing another NATO campaign in the region when he was captured in the Gereshk district of Helmand province. "Curly-toed slippers don't fail me... ummm... now..." "Stick 'em up, hoser!" "Whut?... Say! Are those mukluks?" "Goin' somewhere, eh?" Marsh said alliance authorities are convinced the man is a regional commander that NATO forces have been watching for a long time. The raid came a day after Afghan agents arrested Mohammad Hanif, a purported Taliban spokesman, near the border with Pakistan. Hanif is one of two spokesmen who often contacts journalists on behalf of the militia. He was arrested at the border town of Torkham on Monday after crossing from Pakistan, said Sayed Ansari, the spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service. Two people traveling with Hanif also were detained, Ansari said. Earlier accounts by Noor Agha Zooak, a spokesman for the governor of the Nangarhar province where the arrest took place, claimed that Hanif and his two companions were detained in a raid at a house further from the border crossing. It was not immediately clear what caused the discrepancy in the accounts. Zooak said Hanif was being questioned by intelligence agents in Nangarhar's capital, Jalalabad. "Aaaaaiiiieee! I know nothing! Nothing!" "Nothing, eh? Give him a dose of the plumber's helper, Mahmoud!" "No, no!" [PLUNGE!] Weapons, cell phones and other documents, which were shown to journalists in Jalalabad on Wednesday, were also recovered. "Really, sahib! They are not mine! Somebody left them here!" [PLUNGE!] "Aaaaaiiiiieeee!" Hanif used to convey statements purportedly from Taliban leader Mullah Omar and comment on fighting in the north, center and east of the country. "Mahmoud! My knuckle dusters!" Another purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, confirmed Hanif's arrest in a phone call from Peshawar an undisclosed location, but said that the Taliban's governing body already has appointed Zadiullah Mujahid as his replacement. "Okay, Zadiullah! Into the barrel wit' yez!" Western and Afghan officials have claimed a number of recent successes against top Taliban officials, including a U.S.-led coalition airstrike that killed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani, a key associate of Omar and the highest-ranking Taliban leader killed by the U.S.-led coalition since the late 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban has stepped up its attacks in the past year, and roughly 4,000 people have been killed in violence related to the insurgeny, according to a count by The Associated Press. Most of them, of course, were Talibs. And the majority seem to have been bumped off by Canucks.

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Afghanistan

Canadians take more Taliban turf

2006-12-28

The National Post's Brian Hutchinson is travelling with Canadian troops on Operation Baaz Tsuka, a major NATO-led military campaign underway in the Taliban strongholds of Afghanistan. ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan - With one pump of his fist and a menacing glare, a burly soldier from Alpha Company, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, exhorted his mates this week to put on their game face and confront the Taliban. "Let's get it on, boys," the soldier yelled, seconds before jumping into his LAV-III, a light armoured vehicle now ubiquitous in Kandahar province. The rest of his Shilo, Man.- based company needed no encouragement. The soldiers from A Company are no strangers to close combat. They engaged the Taliban within days of arriving here in August, and a month later played a key operational role during Operation Medusa, the violent, two-week-long campaign that saw Canadian troops strike deep into Taliban country and secure a front line 30 kilometres west of Kandahar city.

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Afghanistan

The Secret War in Afghanistan: Sons of SOG Kick Major A

2006-12-19

The recent fighting in southern Afghanistan was reported in terms of American, British, Canadian and Dutch troops fighting the Taliban. But the most effective troops hardly got mentioned at all, and that's the way they like it. Among 20,000 or so American and NATO troops, there were nearly 2,000 commandos (about a third of them U.S. Special Forces). Afghanistan has been something of a commando Olympics for the past five years. During the last three months, the Taliban were subjected to a series of offensive operations, most of them using the commandos to get the drop on the Taliban, and then call in U.S., NATO or Afghan troops to finish off the enemy, after the commandos and smart bombs had done their work. In this way, about half the 4,000 deaths in Afghanistan this year, took place in those three months. During that period, 2,077 Taliban were killed. Some 40 percent of those Taliban losses occurred during Operation Medusa, which took place in September, in Kandahar province. This operation was meant to upset the Taliban plans to bring in thousands of gunmen, and take control of the area around Kandahar (the traditional Taliban "capital") and perhaps (if only temporarily) the city itself. The Taliban were outmaneuvered and outfought, especially by the international commando force. The Taliban have declared their 2006 operations a success, despite the death of nearly 3,000 of their fighters, and the wounding of even more. Exactly how many Taliban were running around in southern Afghanistan this year is hard to tell. Could have been as many as 10,000. But success depended a lot on cooperation from local tribesmen. Some tribes were more pro-Taliban than others. Where they had some local support, there was a lot of terrorizing of civilians going on. But any organized attacks on local officials or police, brought a quick response. The Coalition commandos, plus air power, were the most feared combination. UAVs could quickly be over an area and would appear to stay there forever. If the commandos picked up the trail of a group of Taliban, they would usually catch up with them, and, using a combination of smart bombs and superior fighting skills, destroy the Taliban unit. These Taliban groups would sometimes have several hundred fighters. The Taliban were not stupid, and would often scatter when they knew the commandos and UAVs were on their trail. But since so many of the Taliban gunmen were Pakistani Pushtuns, and not familiar with the local terrain, the most effective tactic, of ditching weapons in one of the many little caves in the area, and then splitting up in to much smaller groups and scattering, didn't work. So hundreds of Pakistani Taliban died in these operations, trapped in a landscape they were not familiar with. American air reconnaissance (UAVs and manned aircraft) made it dangerous for the Taliban to try and get away in vehicles, and the commandos were able to go after them on foot. The Taliban rationale for their "victory" in 2006 rests on the fact that they did mount a major effort, most of them survived it, and they burned down 200 schools, killed at least twenty teachers, and several hundred other uncooperative Afghans. They managed to kill 56 foreign troops, and several hundred Afghan soldiers and police. But the Taliban lost about ten dead, for every enemy they killed. The Taliban also enraged many Afghans, who like the idea of having schools, and roads and being left alone. So who really won? Killing 20 teachers and losing 3000 fighters is a great victory for the Lions of Islam!

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Afghanistan

Over 2000 "militants" killed in Afghanistan since 9/1/2006

2006-12-14

This is supposedly from the wires, but couldn't find it via google. So, I linked to my local newspaper's website. Mods feel free to move to WoT Background if needed, as this is a summary of Our/NATO's "activities" since 9/1/2006. May I add that I love the name "Operation Medusa" too! BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Almost 2,100 militants have been killed in Afghanistan since Sept. 1 in operations involving coalition special forces soldiers, a U.S. Army spokesman said. That means more than half of the country's insurgency-related deaths this year have come in the last three months. About 900 of the 2,077 deaths came during Operation Medusa, a major offensive in September in the province of Kandahar.

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Afghanistan

You never heard of it

2006-11-28

In September, NATO and the ISAF launched a campaign to remove the Taliban from Panjwayi and Zhari districts, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. You never heard about it. For the ten days from September 2 to September 12, 2006, Afghan and allied forced moved in a pincer movement to reoccupy the region and open Highway 1 to traffic again. You never heard about it. At least 517 Taliban and other terrorists were killed. You never heard about it. It was called Operation Medusa. The Canadians ran it, losing 15. You never heard about it.

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Afghanistan

NATO Nabobs Noodle Numbers

2006-11-26

Nato runs critically short of combat troops to keep Taliban at bay Tony Blair and other Nato leaders gathering in the Latvian capital, Riga, this week will almost certainly fail to secure the additional troops being sought to keep the Taliban at bay in Afghanistan, according to sources here. Although it took over responsibility for the whole country just a few weeks ago, Nato's mission remains at least 15 per cent undermanned, with a significant shortage of combat troops and a desperate lack of helicopters. A succession of Nato meetings has failed to secure reinforcements, and all the indications are that the alliance's Riga summit, presented as one of the most crucial in its post-Cold War history, will not be any more successful. Because NATO is riddled with losers and half-hearted dinks masquerading as military leaders. Commanders have repeatedly sought at least 1,000 fighting troops to form a quick reaction force which could deal with upsurges of violence, but many in the 37-nation mission have insisted on constraints which effectively keep them away from the front line. Germany refuses to allow its troops even to be based in the south and east of the country, where the Taliban are most active. Other countries say peacekeeping commitments, such as those in Lebanon and the Balkans, prevent them sparing more for Afghanistan. Time for either a housecleaning of NATO - or dissolution. A Polish contingent is due to be deployed in southern Afghanistan in January, possibly freeing troops from countries with more robust rules of engagement, such as Britain and Canada, for other tasks. But military chiefs say they would still need further resources to have a reserve ready to deal with any revival of the insurgency in the spring. Fears that Afghanistan would slide into Iraq-style anarchy have eased for the moment. Kabul has not had a suicide bombing for six weeks, although two local people were injured yesterday in a suicide attack on a Nato convoy south of the capital. After a spate of casualties in the summer, the last British soldier to die in action was Marine Gary Wright, killed in a suicide bombing in mid-October. It's the Brutal Afghan Winter™, methinks. A series of truces at local and national level, produced by informal talks between Hamid Karzai's government with the Taliban and its Islamist ally, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, appear to be holding for the time being. Sources close to the Taliban admitted to The Independent on Sunday that the insurgents had suffered during Nato's recent offensive in the Kandahar region, Operation Medusa. There is also the traditional Afghan break from campaigning during the winter, and the fact this is the poppy planting season. The Taliban, like others in Afghanistan, profit from heroin and do not want to disrupt production. Yep, thought so. So brutal the Talibunnies run back to PakiWakiLand for R&R and some well-reported lying about in those non-existent camps. The British commander of Nato's forces in Afghanistan, Lt-Gen David Richards, sought to speed up development work when he took over in mid-2006, believing it was essential to win public support. He also helped President Karzai set up an action group to co-ordinate security operations with aid work. But his tenure is due to end early in the new year, and the Pentagon has successfully lobbied to replace him with an American who is expected to take a far more aggressive stance. Oh my. We can't have that! Killing terrorists instead of appeasement? How unsophisticated. When the Afghans aren't for sale to the Talibunnies, then you help them rebuild and create your farcical "action groups". No more pots 'o money until the Afghanis decide which world they want - or have they, already? Until then, we use the shithole for flypaper to drain off the PakiWaki madrassah losers. Some senior Afghan officials want General Richards to remain in some capacity, but that will be subject to Nato's labyrinthine politics. I'll just bet they do... he dispenses cash, instead of death. Besides, he gave them all lucky hats. The Taliban may also return to confrontation as winter recedes. According to Islamist sources, Mr Hekmatyar's tentative talks with the Afghan government have run into opposition from his al-Qa'ida allies. The most active of the Taliban commanders, Mullah Dadullah Akhund, is strongly against any truce, and it will be easy to replace the fighters lost or killed during the summer from madrasas, or religious schools, across the border in Pakistan. Doncha know it. With allies like PakiWakiLand, it's a slam dunk.

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Afghanistan

The Global Taliban

2006-10-12

Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders shed light on the global nature of the war and the status of fighting in Afghanistan Combat operations in Afghanistan have tapered off over the past month and violent attacks have decreased by half. The operational tempo is declining as the summer fighting season comes to a close. The Taliban continues to suffer heavy losses when openly engaging Afghan and Coalition forces. Over the weekend, 72 Taliban were killed during engagements in Uruzgan and Helmand province. Fifty-two Taliban were killed in a single engagement in Uruzgan. FOX News reports Mullah Nazir Ahmed Hamza, described as a "The regional-level commander", has indicated that while the Taliban has taken heavy losses, they are still prepared to fight. "The Taliban still has thousands of fighters despite NATO reports of heavy losses in recent battles, that support for the hardline movement is increasing every day and that U.S. and NATO forces would have a tough time beating the fighters without air support." With a sanctuary, training camps, ample supplies of recruits and support from Pakistani intelligence in Western Pakistan, unfortunately Mullah Hamza may very well be correct. Mullah Hamza's lament about NATO airpower is quite telling. Last weekend the Telegraph reported on Pakistani intelligence's role in the fighting in Kandahar up to and during Operation Medusa. "Hundreds of Taliban reinforcements in pick-up trucks who crossed over from Quetta – waved on by Pakistani border guards – were destroyed by Nato air and artillery strikes," according the Telegraph. The initial battle assessment was about 500 Taliban killed, but the number was revised upward to 1,000 - 1,500 after heavy engagements in the deserts of southeastern Afghanistan. The Taliban repeatedly massed in large formations, and was destroyed at a ratio of 100 to 1, horrendous losses for both conventional and insurgent forces. The Toronto Star also highlights the role airpower has played in battling the Taliban during Operation Medusa. Charlie Company from the Royal Canadian Regiment had to be pulled off the line during the fighting, but not because of the Taliban's combat power. Four soldiers were killed from 7 Platoon while engaging the Taliban in a school house, but 8 more were killed and 40 more injured during a friendly fire incident. An American A-10 close air support strike aircraft accidentally attacked the Canadian unit during the operation. Air power did what the Taliban could not accomplish. Canada, Britain and the United States have born the brunt of the fighting in southern and eastern Afghanistan. Gordon O'Connor, Canada's minister of defense minister, has demanded that the NATO countries deployed in the northern sectors remove the restriction on troops deployments that prevent them from entering the hot combat zones. The Taliban, with their base of operations in neighboring Pakistan, do not suffer from such restrictions. Elsewhere, Abu Yahya al-Libi, who escaped from Bagram prison in summer of 2005, has issued yet another videotape. In the latest tape, al-Libi is seen exhorting Taliban to fight a global jihad. "Allah will not be pleased until we reach the rooftop of the White House," said Abu Yahya al-Libi, "You have to get well prepared by starting with exercise, and then you have to learn how to use technology until you are capable of nuclear weapons." Over 1,200 miles away, Multinational Forces Iraq has confirmed via DNA testing that Omar Farouq, Al-Libi's companion and fellow escape in Bagram, has been killed. Farouq was killed in Basra, and was acting as an al-Qaeda facilitator of weapons, cash and personnel into Iraq. By Bill Roggio on October 12, 2006 12:48 AM

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