Source Article HERE.
From 'MNFI': Only a year ago, reliable electricity in Sab al Bour, Iraq was just a dream. The city, just north of Baghdad along the Grand Canal, was practically deserted, with only diehard residents and pockets of insurgents sticking around in the dark. As of November 8th, residents in this small agricultural city are literally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, according to sheik Nadeem Hatem al Tamimi, an influential leader in the area. Outside the city’s new electrical substation, the sheik spoke literally and metaphorically about the town’s emergence from darkness. “We had evil forces trying to kill Iraqis... and they destroyed all essential services,” he said, describing insurgent attempts to control the city and population. “Today, we are calling for unity between all people of Iraq.”
The top Coalition forces leader in the Taji area said he believes peace and stability starts with electricity, and was at the event to congratulate Sab al Bour on its achievement. “Reliable and sustainable access to power allows businesses to flourish, water to crops, schools to educate our children and light on the dark nights of the Iraqi winter” said Col. Todd McCaffrey, commander of 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. “Sab al Bour is now postured to accept the return of its rightful residents.”
The rightful residents McCaffrey referred to is a large portion of Sab al Bour’s citizens that fled due to violence and lack of essential services. The internally displaced people are now returning at a rate of up to 50 families per week. If the substation opening only meant more electricity, it would be meaningful enough. But the impact of this substation doesn’t stop with keeping the lights on. It will have a direct and immediate positive effect on other essential services in the area. First, there’ll be more drinkable water. Purification stations of course rely on electricity to produce potable water.
Even more significantly, irrigation pumps in the area will work harder and longer. Soon, passing helicopters will notice large swaths of farmland turn from a dirty brown to lush green, all thanks to the substation, said Captain Mark Gillman, the engineer at Warrior Brigade in charge of electrical reconstruction. “The pump station, due to power improvements, will irrigate thousands of acres of farmland with little interruption from blackouts,” said Gillman, who provided oversight and expertise for the otherwise Iraqi-run project. Because the Sab al Bour area depends heavily on agriculture, the local economy should get a noticeable boost. Gillman, who is originally from Las Vegas, explained how all of the intertwined projects, which depend on electricity, are part of a “tailored network.”
“It started with the Ministry of Electricity, which brought up to 30 people in here at a time. They really set the pace for the other ministries,” Gillman said. “There was a lot of government of Iraq support for this small, mostly Sunni community.” Attendees marked the substation’s opening with a ribbon-cutting, tour and then singing and dancing. As they celebrated their victory and announced the lights were on to stay, they proclaimed they could move on to other goals. “Now we will ask for other things – forgiveness and unity,” said the last speaker at the event. “Let’s now bring together all Sunni and Shia in Iraq.”
Monday, November 10, 2008
Al-Qaeda Leader Dead
Source article HERE:
From 'ABC News': The al Qaeda figure believed to be organizing a new terror attack against the United States is dead, a senior U.S. official tells ABC News. The official says the U.S. now has evidence that Khalid Habib was killed in an unmanned air strike two weeks ago in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan. Until now, there had been no official confirmation of reports of Habib's death from local militants in the area. "He was the person responsible for planning and organizing attacks in the Pakistan and overseas, including the U.S.," the senior official said. "This was a really big deal that has not received much attention."
Considered the number four leader of al Qaeda, Habib was a long-time associate close to both Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Habib had been reported killed by Pakistani officials several times over the last few years, only to re-emerge at the center of what U.S. official say is the al Qaeda operational command. The death of Habib is the most significant result of a controversial two-month long U.S. offensive in Pakistan employing CIA-controlled unmanned aircraft, known as Predators, equipped with powerful Hellfire missiles.
There have been more than a dozen Predator strikes in the last two months as the U.S. has sought to disrupt efforts by al Qaeda to organize new terror attacks from its safe haven locations inside Pakistan. U.S. officials have detected advanced efforts in the Waziristan area by Habib and others to send terror teams to the U.S. and Europe. A number of suspected European and American recruits have been spotted in the area, officials have reported.
The U.S. and CIA officials will not confirm the role of the Predator missiles in the Pakistan attacks but their role is an open secret in Pakistan, where senior officials publicly complain about the strikes but privately agree to their necessity. The Predators are based out of a secret location in the region but the final decision to pull the trigger is made at CIA headquarters by either CIA director General Michael Hayden or a top deputy, according to former CIA officials.
From 'ABC News': The al Qaeda figure believed to be organizing a new terror attack against the United States is dead, a senior U.S. official tells ABC News. The official says the U.S. now has evidence that Khalid Habib was killed in an unmanned air strike two weeks ago in the South Waziristan region of Pakistan. Until now, there had been no official confirmation of reports of Habib's death from local militants in the area. "He was the person responsible for planning and organizing attacks in the Pakistan and overseas, including the U.S.," the senior official said. "This was a really big deal that has not received much attention."
Considered the number four leader of al Qaeda, Habib was a long-time associate close to both Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Habib had been reported killed by Pakistani officials several times over the last few years, only to re-emerge at the center of what U.S. official say is the al Qaeda operational command. The death of Habib is the most significant result of a controversial two-month long U.S. offensive in Pakistan employing CIA-controlled unmanned aircraft, known as Predators, equipped with powerful Hellfire missiles.
There have been more than a dozen Predator strikes in the last two months as the U.S. has sought to disrupt efforts by al Qaeda to organize new terror attacks from its safe haven locations inside Pakistan. U.S. officials have detected advanced efforts in the Waziristan area by Habib and others to send terror teams to the U.S. and Europe. A number of suspected European and American recruits have been spotted in the area, officials have reported.
The U.S. and CIA officials will not confirm the role of the Predator missiles in the Pakistan attacks but their role is an open secret in Pakistan, where senior officials publicly complain about the strikes but privately agree to their necessity. The Predators are based out of a secret location in the region but the final decision to pull the trigger is made at CIA headquarters by either CIA director General Michael Hayden or a top deputy, according to former CIA officials.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
MNFI Press Release - Nov 9
COALITION REMOVES 8 SUSPECTS FROM TERROR NETWORKS
Two suspected terrorist were captured and six others were detained as Coalition forces continued to systematically dismantle terrorist networks during operations Saturday and Sunday. Forces operating in Baghdad on Saturday captured a suspect who is believed to be a financier for a terrorist group. He and one additional suspect were detained without incident. Coalition forces continued to disrupt AQI networks in Mosul on Saturday. During an operation targeting an alleged foreign terrorist involved in IED operations, forces detained three suspects.
In Tikrit on Sunday, about 25 km north of Baghdad, Coalition forces dealt a blow to terrorist communication networks. There, they captured a suspect who reports suggest is a courier for terrorists in the region. The suspected terrorist surrendered himself to ground forces during the operation, and two men believed to be his associates were detained for further questioning.
Two suspected terrorist were captured and six others were detained as Coalition forces continued to systematically dismantle terrorist networks during operations Saturday and Sunday. Forces operating in Baghdad on Saturday captured a suspect who is believed to be a financier for a terrorist group. He and one additional suspect were detained without incident. Coalition forces continued to disrupt AQI networks in Mosul on Saturday. During an operation targeting an alleged foreign terrorist involved in IED operations, forces detained three suspects.
In Tikrit on Sunday, about 25 km north of Baghdad, Coalition forces dealt a blow to terrorist communication networks. There, they captured a suspect who reports suggest is a courier for terrorists in the region. The suspected terrorist surrendered himself to ground forces during the operation, and two men believed to be his associates were detained for further questioning.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
'Bali Bombers' Executed
Source Article HERE.
From 'Sky News': People on the holiday island of Bali are hoping that there will be no reaction to the execution of three of the 'Bali night club bombers'. The bombers, Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, were executed by firing squad at tea-time on Saturday.
The attack in 2002 shocked the world. Two hundred and two people died, including a hundred and sixty foreigners, of which eighty eight were Australian and twenty eight British. Susanna Miller from the UK Bali bombing Victims' Group says that the executions will only serve to give more publicity to the extremists. These men were not the master bombers just peripheral associates and their deaths will allow them to become martyrs.
And more on this story...
AGO: Bali Bombers Executed At 00.15
Source Article HERE.
From 'The Jakarta Post': The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) confirmed 2.40 a.m. on Sunday that the death penalty of three Bali bombers, Amrozi, Ali Gufron or Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, had been carried out. “They were executed by a firing squad ... at 0.15 a.m.,” AGO spokesperson Jasman Pandjaitan told reporters in a press conference in Jakarta. Jasman said that an autopsy had also been carried out to confirm the death of the terrorists and that the corpses had been bathed according to the Sharia Law by a family member. Amrozi’s younger brother, Ali Fauzi, was allowed a last-minute entry to the Nusakambangan island to be in charge of the bathing process. Earlier on Thursday the Cilacap Prosecutor's Office said that it had assigned nine local Ulemas to witness the execution. Jasman added that more details would be made public later on Sunday.
From 'Sky News': People on the holiday island of Bali are hoping that there will be no reaction to the execution of three of the 'Bali night club bombers'. The bombers, Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, were executed by firing squad at tea-time on Saturday.
The attack in 2002 shocked the world. Two hundred and two people died, including a hundred and sixty foreigners, of which eighty eight were Australian and twenty eight British. Susanna Miller from the UK Bali bombing Victims' Group says that the executions will only serve to give more publicity to the extremists. These men were not the master bombers just peripheral associates and their deaths will allow them to become martyrs.
And more on this story...
AGO: Bali Bombers Executed At 00.15
Source Article HERE.
From 'The Jakarta Post': The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) confirmed 2.40 a.m. on Sunday that the death penalty of three Bali bombers, Amrozi, Ali Gufron or Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, had been carried out. “They were executed by a firing squad ... at 0.15 a.m.,” AGO spokesperson Jasman Pandjaitan told reporters in a press conference in Jakarta. Jasman said that an autopsy had also been carried out to confirm the death of the terrorists and that the corpses had been bathed according to the Sharia Law by a family member. Amrozi’s younger brother, Ali Fauzi, was allowed a last-minute entry to the Nusakambangan island to be in charge of the bathing process. Earlier on Thursday the Cilacap Prosecutor's Office said that it had assigned nine local Ulemas to witness the execution. Jasman added that more details would be made public later on Sunday.
Canadian Journalist Freed In Afghanistan
Source Article HERE.
From 'AFP': A Canadian journalist from national broadcaster CBC was freed Saturday in Afghanistan four weeks after she was kidnapped in the capital of Kabul, her employer said. Mellissa Fung "was released around noon Toronto time (1700 GMT) and is now safe within the Canadian Embassy in Kabul," the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said in a statement. Her abduction on October 12 had been kept a secret by the broadcaster out of concerns for her safety.
Kabul, Afghanistan
Canadian Prime Minister said that no ransom had been paid to secure her freedom. "No ransom was paid. It's the government's policy not to pay ransoms and all policies were fully respected," he told a press conference. CBC News publisher John Cruickshank said in the statement that the decision to keep the kidnapping out of the news had been taken on advice of the company's security experts. "All of the efforts made by the security experts were focused on Mellissa's safe and timely release. For this reason, we can only share general information about the events of the last three weeks," he said.
The broadcaster did not provide details on who abducted Fung or where she had been held in its statement. A report on the CBC website said "Fung was taken by armed men who approached her in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul on October 12" and was taken to mountains west of the Afghan capital.
Fung, who covered the Beijing Summer Olympics earlier this year, was to undergo a full medical evaluation, "but early indications are that she is well," CBC said. Fung was the second kidnapped female Western journalist in Afghanistan to be released in as many days. A Dutch journalist abducted by suspected Taliban rebels in Afghanistan a week ago was freed Friday and is in good health, according to her employer, Belgian P-magazine.
From 'AFP': A Canadian journalist from national broadcaster CBC was freed Saturday in Afghanistan four weeks after she was kidnapped in the capital of Kabul, her employer said. Mellissa Fung "was released around noon Toronto time (1700 GMT) and is now safe within the Canadian Embassy in Kabul," the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said in a statement. Her abduction on October 12 had been kept a secret by the broadcaster out of concerns for her safety.Kabul, Afghanistan
Canadian Prime Minister said that no ransom had been paid to secure her freedom. "No ransom was paid. It's the government's policy not to pay ransoms and all policies were fully respected," he told a press conference. CBC News publisher John Cruickshank said in the statement that the decision to keep the kidnapping out of the news had been taken on advice of the company's security experts. "All of the efforts made by the security experts were focused on Mellissa's safe and timely release. For this reason, we can only share general information about the events of the last three weeks," he said.
The broadcaster did not provide details on who abducted Fung or where she had been held in its statement. A report on the CBC website said "Fung was taken by armed men who approached her in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul on October 12" and was taken to mountains west of the Afghan capital.
Fung, who covered the Beijing Summer Olympics earlier this year, was to undergo a full medical evaluation, "but early indications are that she is well," CBC said. Fung was the second kidnapped female Western journalist in Afghanistan to be released in as many days. A Dutch journalist abducted by suspected Taliban rebels in Afghanistan a week ago was freed Friday and is in good health, according to her employer, Belgian P-magazine.
50,000 Muslims Reject Terror
Source Article HERE.
From 'Hindustan Times': The influential Islamic seminary Darul Uloom, Deoband, openly turned against violence on February 26th of this year (see story HERE). Nearly 6,000 senior Islamic clerics from around the country of India endorsed a fatwa (edict) against terror, which was issued on May 31st by the seminary (see story HERE). This Sunday, another 50,000 clerics are expected to put their signatures on it, making it the biggest and clearest rejection of terror by Muslims to-date. The fatwa had made headlines around the world and was first reported by Hindustan Times.
Darul Uloom, Deoband Seminary
Darul Uloom, some 100 km north of Delhi, is one of Islam’s two most-revered theological schools - the other being Al-Azhar in Cairo - and is often charged with propagating a radical version of the religion. On the first day of the 29th annual convention of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind here on Saturday, clerics endorsed the fatwa, which was issued under the seal of Darul’s grand mufti Habibur Rehman. The fatwa was ratified by three other Darul clerics, as required.
On Sunday, the open session of the convention, comprising 50,000 clerics and community leaders will endorse the fatwa. “We did not have a chance to endorse the fatwa when it was issued because people like me stay far away. I am happy to be part of the campaign now,” Syed Ahmed, a tribal cleric from the Northeast. Earlier, the working committee of the Jamiat decided to oppose both Muslim and Hindu organisations for trying to incite communal passion in the wake of bomb blasts in several cities.
From 'Hindustan Times': The influential Islamic seminary Darul Uloom, Deoband, openly turned against violence on February 26th of this year (see story HERE). Nearly 6,000 senior Islamic clerics from around the country of India endorsed a fatwa (edict) against terror, which was issued on May 31st by the seminary (see story HERE). This Sunday, another 50,000 clerics are expected to put their signatures on it, making it the biggest and clearest rejection of terror by Muslims to-date. The fatwa had made headlines around the world and was first reported by Hindustan Times.
Darul Uloom, Deoband Seminary
Darul Uloom, some 100 km north of Delhi, is one of Islam’s two most-revered theological schools - the other being Al-Azhar in Cairo - and is often charged with propagating a radical version of the religion. On the first day of the 29th annual convention of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind here on Saturday, clerics endorsed the fatwa, which was issued under the seal of Darul’s grand mufti Habibur Rehman. The fatwa was ratified by three other Darul clerics, as required.
 Rajya Sabha Madni (third from left) reading out the fatwa against terrorism issued by Darul Uloom, Deoband. To his left is Moulana Marghub Ur Rahman, Rector, Darul Uloom, who signed the fatwa. |
On Sunday, the open session of the convention, comprising 50,000 clerics and community leaders will endorse the fatwa. “We did not have a chance to endorse the fatwa when it was issued because people like me stay far away. I am happy to be part of the campaign now,” Syed Ahmed, a tribal cleric from the Northeast. Earlier, the working committee of the Jamiat decided to oppose both Muslim and Hindu organisations for trying to incite communal passion in the wake of bomb blasts in several cities.
FBI Handling Terror Threats Better
Source Article HERE.
From 'The Washington Times': The Justice Department's internal watchdog said Friday that the FBI has improved in recent years how it tracks and handles terrorism threats. But Inspector General Glenn A. Fine's office also found room for further improvement with the bureau's Guardian Threat Tracking System, which stores tips and assigns agents to investigate and record the outcome of terrorist threats. 'Guardian' was developed in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks as the FBI shifted its focus to counterterrorism.
FBI Headquarters - Washington, D.C.
The system takes in a massive amount of information. From July 2004 to November 2007, there were 108,000 terrorism-related threats, reports of suspicious incidents and terrorist-watchlist hits, according to a report from the Inspector General (IG). While the overwhelming majority of those tips didn't pan out, the IG found that 600 criminal and terrorism investigations came from information reported to Guardian from 2006 to 2007. Improvements made in 2006 increased the usefulness of the system, making threat information immediately available to agents and allowing users to search for trends and patterns, according to the IG report.
State, local and tribal police have access to an unclassified version of the information included in Guardian through the FBI Law Enforcement Online network, though the IG said the implementation of that program was delayed a year because the FBI changed the contractor developing the system. The IG also found that the FBI needed to improve the timeliness, accuracy and completeness of the information entered into Guardian.
FBI Assistant Director of Public Affairs John Miller said the bureau had already taken steps to resolve those issues and agreed with all seven recommendations included in the report. "The FBI will always strive for continued improvement in the conduct of the FBI's investigation and intelligence operation policies and procedures," Mr. Miller said. "We remain committed to working with the Department of Justice to increase coordination and to find best practices aimed at providing service and safety for our nation."
Recommendations from the IG included forwarding to the agency in a "timely manner" threats and suspicious incidents entered into Guardian. That suggestion came after the IG found that 60 routine threats, or 28 percent of the 218 cases analyzed, sat for more than 30 days without receiving any investigative activity. Other recommendations included making a schedule to end the delays in implementing technical patches to improve the system. The IG also called for FBI supervisors to review all threats entered into Guardian; the report found that supervisors did not review 12 percent of the 218 cases analyzed.
From 'The Washington Times': The Justice Department's internal watchdog said Friday that the FBI has improved in recent years how it tracks and handles terrorism threats. But Inspector General Glenn A. Fine's office also found room for further improvement with the bureau's Guardian Threat Tracking System, which stores tips and assigns agents to investigate and record the outcome of terrorist threats. 'Guardian' was developed in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks as the FBI shifted its focus to counterterrorism.
FBI Headquarters - Washington, D.C.
The system takes in a massive amount of information. From July 2004 to November 2007, there were 108,000 terrorism-related threats, reports of suspicious incidents and terrorist-watchlist hits, according to a report from the Inspector General (IG). While the overwhelming majority of those tips didn't pan out, the IG found that 600 criminal and terrorism investigations came from information reported to Guardian from 2006 to 2007. Improvements made in 2006 increased the usefulness of the system, making threat information immediately available to agents and allowing users to search for trends and patterns, according to the IG report.
State, local and tribal police have access to an unclassified version of the information included in Guardian through the FBI Law Enforcement Online network, though the IG said the implementation of that program was delayed a year because the FBI changed the contractor developing the system. The IG also found that the FBI needed to improve the timeliness, accuracy and completeness of the information entered into Guardian.
FBI Assistant Director of Public Affairs John Miller said the bureau had already taken steps to resolve those issues and agreed with all seven recommendations included in the report. "The FBI will always strive for continued improvement in the conduct of the FBI's investigation and intelligence operation policies and procedures," Mr. Miller said. "We remain committed to working with the Department of Justice to increase coordination and to find best practices aimed at providing service and safety for our nation."
Recommendations from the IG included forwarding to the agency in a "timely manner" threats and suspicious incidents entered into Guardian. That suggestion came after the IG found that 60 routine threats, or 28 percent of the 218 cases analyzed, sat for more than 30 days without receiving any investigative activity. Other recommendations included making a schedule to end the delays in implementing technical patches to improve the system. The IG also called for FBI supervisors to review all threats entered into Guardian; the report found that supervisors did not review 12 percent of the 218 cases analyzed.
Developments In Afghanistan
Source Article HERE.
From 'Reuters': The following are security developments in Afghanistan reported on Saturday.
NANGARHAR - U.S.-led coalition forces killed six militants and detained ten others while targeting an insurgent's commander in the Acheen district some 115 km (72) miles east of Kabul on Friday, a U.S. military statement said.
KHOST - U.S.-led coalition troops killed three insurgents during an air strike while targeting Haqqani's network in the Sabri district some 150 km (95) miles southeast of Kabul on Friday, the same statement from U.S. military said.
KANDAHAR - Several Taliban fighters were killed and wounded during a battle with Afghan security forces in Kandahar province some 500 km (310) miles southwest of Kabul on Friday, a statement from the Afghan Defence Ministry said.
KHOST - An air strike killed three insurgents while they were planting roadside bombs in the Yaqubi district some 170 km (105) miles southwest of Kabul on Friday, a separate statement from Afghan Defence Ministry said.
From 'Reuters': The following are security developments in Afghanistan reported on Saturday.
NANGARHAR - U.S.-led coalition forces killed six militants and detained ten others while targeting an insurgent's commander in the Acheen district some 115 km (72) miles east of Kabul on Friday, a U.S. military statement said.
KHOST - U.S.-led coalition troops killed three insurgents during an air strike while targeting Haqqani's network in the Sabri district some 150 km (95) miles southeast of Kabul on Friday, the same statement from U.S. military said.
KANDAHAR - Several Taliban fighters were killed and wounded during a battle with Afghan security forces in Kandahar province some 500 km (310) miles southwest of Kabul on Friday, a statement from the Afghan Defence Ministry said.
KHOST - An air strike killed three insurgents while they were planting roadside bombs in the Yaqubi district some 170 km (105) miles southwest of Kabul on Friday, a separate statement from Afghan Defence Ministry said.
Airstrike Kills 13 Militants
Source Article HERE.
From 'L.A. Times': A suspected U.S. missile strike targeting a Taliban commander killed 13 people on the Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan, officials said, indicating that America's new general for the region was ignoring pleas by Islamabad for a halt to the strikes. There has been a surge in U.S. cross-border attacks since August, angering Pakistani officials who say the raids are violating the country's sovereignty. Repairing ties while keeping pressure on Al Qaeda and Taliban commanders hiding in the lawless frontier area will be a key challenge for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama when he takes office in January.
Friday's attack by an unmanned plane hit Kam Sam village in North Waziristan, a stronghold of militants blamed for deadly attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and suicide blasts in Pakistan. A Pakistani intelligence official said an agent who visited the village reported that 13 suspected militants had been killed. The official said the targeted house belonged to a local Taliban commander and that authorities were still trying to determine who was killed. A government representative in the region also put the toll at 13. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.
It was the first suspected U.S. attack since October 31st, when Gen. David Petraeus became head of Central Command, taking overall charge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He visited both Pakistan and Afghanistan this week. The rugged, mountainous region where the Pakistani government has never had much control is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and his No. 2, Ayman Zawahri. There have been at least 18 missile strikes in Pakistan since August, more than three times as many as in 2007, apparently reflecting U.S. frustration over insufficient action by Islamabad against extremists along the border.
From 'L.A. Times': A suspected U.S. missile strike targeting a Taliban commander killed 13 people on the Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan, officials said, indicating that America's new general for the region was ignoring pleas by Islamabad for a halt to the strikes. There has been a surge in U.S. cross-border attacks since August, angering Pakistani officials who say the raids are violating the country's sovereignty. Repairing ties while keeping pressure on Al Qaeda and Taliban commanders hiding in the lawless frontier area will be a key challenge for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama when he takes office in January.
Friday's attack by an unmanned plane hit Kam Sam village in North Waziristan, a stronghold of militants blamed for deadly attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and suicide blasts in Pakistan. A Pakistani intelligence official said an agent who visited the village reported that 13 suspected militants had been killed. The official said the targeted house belonged to a local Taliban commander and that authorities were still trying to determine who was killed. A government representative in the region also put the toll at 13. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.
It was the first suspected U.S. attack since October 31st, when Gen. David Petraeus became head of Central Command, taking overall charge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He visited both Pakistan and Afghanistan this week. The rugged, mountainous region where the Pakistani government has never had much control is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and his No. 2, Ayman Zawahri. There have been at least 18 missile strikes in Pakistan since August, more than three times as many as in 2007, apparently reflecting U.S. frustration over insufficient action by Islamabad against extremists along the border.
Afghanistan: 10 Militants Killed, 13 Detained
Source Article HERE.
From 'News.Balita.Ph': U.S.-led Coalition forces killed 10 militants and detained 13 others during operations targeting the Taliban and Haqqani networks in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, said a Coalition statement issued on Saturday. Forces targeted a regional Taliban commander responsible for coordinating and directing improvised explosive device (IED), suicide and other attacks in Achin district of Nagahar province, killing six militants and arresting 10 suspects, the statement said. During a search of the hideout of militants, rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s and other military style equipment have been found, it added.
In another operation in Spera district of Khost province, Coalition forces killed one militant and detained two while targeting a Haqqani militant, believed to coordinate and direct attacks against the government of Afghanistan and Coalition forces in the region, it further said. While in the engagement in Sabari district of Khost, Coalition forces targeted a known Haqqani associate who supports and assists with the movement of foreign fighters into the region, killing three armed militants and captured another one without incident, it said.
From 'News.Balita.Ph': U.S.-led Coalition forces killed 10 militants and detained 13 others during operations targeting the Taliban and Haqqani networks in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, said a Coalition statement issued on Saturday. Forces targeted a regional Taliban commander responsible for coordinating and directing improvised explosive device (IED), suicide and other attacks in Achin district of Nagahar province, killing six militants and arresting 10 suspects, the statement said. During a search of the hideout of militants, rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s and other military style equipment have been found, it added.
In another operation in Spera district of Khost province, Coalition forces killed one militant and detained two while targeting a Haqqani militant, believed to coordinate and direct attacks against the government of Afghanistan and Coalition forces in the region, it further said. While in the engagement in Sabari district of Khost, Coalition forces targeted a known Haqqani associate who supports and assists with the movement of foreign fighters into the region, killing three armed militants and captured another one without incident, it said.
Eco-Terrorists Ordered To Pay $4M
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U.S. Chief District Judge Paul Maloney had ordered $3.7 million in restitution but raised it to $4.14 million after a "discrepancy." He did not specify what the discrepancy was. Ambrose and prosecutors had until this week to file objections to the new payout. Nothing was filed. A quarter of the money is owed to the university. Mason, 46, will be sentenced in February. The Cincinnati woman, who is Ambrose's ex-wife, will share the multimillion-dollar tab, which will be split according to each person's income.
Progress Seen In Mosul
Source Article HERE.
From 'MNFI': The Soldiers of 5th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, visited students at the Al Sahaba School for a good-neighbor mission in Mosul, Iraq on November 5th. The Mosul neighborhood around the school has gone through a great amount of change over the last few years. “This neighborhood used to be a very bad neighborhood,” said Col. Salah Adeziz, executive officer, 7th Bde., 2nd IA Division. “A lot of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices and terrorists were here.”
Progress has been seen with the citizens of Mosul, because the citizens are now helping out and calling the Iraqi Security force when they see terrorist activities. “We’ve built a relationship between us and the civilians here,” Salah said. “All the civilians now make good relationships with us. They warn us about any terrorists that come here and it’s very, very safe now. We came here and you see, nothing happened to us, so the relationship is working.”
The IA colonel had a positive attitude and showed great confidence about Mosul and the current progress. “I think from now on it will be good, because we are working with the civilians, said Salah. “We were working on the boundaries and now we are working inside Mosul... Believe me, the civilians in Mosul are very, very good people,” Salah said. “All the problems came from outside of Mosul, outside the boundary of Iraq.”
Mosul is in a difficult situation, different from some other areas of Iraq. The communities of Mosul have a large variety of diversity. Communities contain Kurdish, Arab, Turkish and other nationalities all living together. “I am from Mosul and I am Sunni,” Salah said. “My neighbor is Kurdish. In 2003, my neighbor protected my family. When problems started for the Kurdish in Mosul, I protected his family. We are brothers, eating from the same dish and working together. I know where the problems come from.”
After all Mosul’s past troubles Salah was certain of success and a peaceful future for his city. “I have a message to all the world, all of Iraq is working together,” Salah said. “Almost 90 percent of the terrorists have been caught. There is nothing that will make us stop working with our people. All are shaking hands and helping each other.”
From 'MNFI': The Soldiers of 5th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, visited students at the Al Sahaba School for a good-neighbor mission in Mosul, Iraq on November 5th. The Mosul neighborhood around the school has gone through a great amount of change over the last few years. “This neighborhood used to be a very bad neighborhood,” said Col. Salah Adeziz, executive officer, 7th Bde., 2nd IA Division. “A lot of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices and terrorists were here.”Progress has been seen with the citizens of Mosul, because the citizens are now helping out and calling the Iraqi Security force when they see terrorist activities. “We’ve built a relationship between us and the civilians here,” Salah said. “All the civilians now make good relationships with us. They warn us about any terrorists that come here and it’s very, very safe now. We came here and you see, nothing happened to us, so the relationship is working.”
The IA colonel had a positive attitude and showed great confidence about Mosul and the current progress. “I think from now on it will be good, because we are working with the civilians, said Salah. “We were working on the boundaries and now we are working inside Mosul... Believe me, the civilians in Mosul are very, very good people,” Salah said. “All the problems came from outside of Mosul, outside the boundary of Iraq.”
Mosul is in a difficult situation, different from some other areas of Iraq. The communities of Mosul have a large variety of diversity. Communities contain Kurdish, Arab, Turkish and other nationalities all living together. “I am from Mosul and I am Sunni,” Salah said. “My neighbor is Kurdish. In 2003, my neighbor protected my family. When problems started for the Kurdish in Mosul, I protected his family. We are brothers, eating from the same dish and working together. I know where the problems come from.”
After all Mosul’s past troubles Salah was certain of success and a peaceful future for his city. “I have a message to all the world, all of Iraq is working together,” Salah said. “Almost 90 percent of the terrorists have been caught. There is nothing that will make us stop working with our people. All are shaking hands and helping each other.”
MNFI Press Release - Nov 8
TIPS LEAD IP, SOLDIERS TO WEAPONS
Iraqi Policemen (IP) and Multinational Division - Baghdad (MND-B) Soldiers seized weapons caches in and around the Baghdad area on November 7th. Iraqi Policemen on a joint mission with the 411th Military Police Company, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, discovered a cache north of Baghdad at approximately 11AM. The items included 1,280 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, (2) AK-47s, (1) .22-caliber pistol, and a pair of binoculars. A tip from a concerned citizen led to the seizure of a 120 mm mortar round and an oxygen tank by Iraqi policemen north of Baghdad at approximately 6PM. At approximately 7:15PM, a local citizen turned in seven fragmentary hand grenades he found in an open field to MND-B Soldiers at Joint Security Station Ameriyah in the Mansour district of Baghdad. The citizen advised them of a cache in the area.
Soldiers serving with Troop C, 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), seized a cache at approximately 12:30AM on November 8th. The munitions included (1) Dragonov rifle with scope, (9) sticks of explosives, (5) 82 mm mortars, (5) Dragonov magazines, (7) rocket-propelled grenade propellants, (1) 82 mm illumination round, (1) rocket of unknown size, (10) artillery fuses, (3) canisters of C4, (7) rifle grenade rods, (4) grenade fuses, (21) MP5 magazines, (3) PKC belts of ammunition, (5) M-203 rounds, (125) sniper rounds, (1) M-19 round, (3) project boxes, (100) feet of detonation cord, (1) spool of wire, (1) periscope, (1) RPG site, (1) potential pipe bomb, (1) washing machine timer with blasting cap and (2) wireless doorbell clickers.
“Iraqi citizens continue to step to the forefront and provide valuable information in removing these weapons from the hands of those who would cause them harm,” said Lt. Colonel Steve Stover, spokesman, MND–B and the 4th Infantry Division.
COALITION DESTROYING AQI; CAPTURE 22
During another round of devastating blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) networks, Coalition Forces captured 22 suspects on Friday and Saturday throughout Iraq.
On Friday, forces operating in the vicinity of Tikrit, about 160 km north of Baghdad, targeted terrorist networks in the Tigris River Valley. One man believed to be associated with a local terrorist leader was detained for additional questioning. In Kirkuk, Coalition forces captured one wanted man believed to have ties with AQI leaders in the region. Four additional suspects were detained during the operation. About 160 km south of Mosul in the village of Bayji, forces detained three men assessed to have connections to a suspected terrorist associated with the city’s improvised explosive device networks.
On Saturday, AQI foreign terrorist facilitation networks were hit hard again. A suspected terrorist (who reports suggest smuggles foreign terrorists and weapons into Iraq) was captured by Coalition forces during an operation outside of Mosul. Two additional suspects were detained for further questioning. Coalition Forces continued to pressure AQI car bomb and suicide bomber networks. In Al Yusifiyah, about 35 km southwest of Baghdad, Coalition Forces targeted and captured a suspected terrorist believed to be associated with car bomb terrorists. Four additional suspects were detained during the operation. Finally, forces captured two suspected AQI operatives in Baghdad who are reportedly involved in the city’s suicide bomber operations. Three more suspects were also detained for further questioning.
COMBINED OP KILLS SENIOR AQI LEADER
A senior AQI leader was killed on November 6th, during a combined cache-clearing operation by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and a ‘Sons of Iraq’ (SoI) citizen security group, supported by Coalition Forces, military officials reported. Abu Ghazwan, a key link in the network operations for AQI, was killed during the cache-site raid in the Tarmiyah area, north of Baghdad, officials said. Coalition officials said Ghazwan commanded numerous terrorist cells in the Taji and Tarmiyah areas, and advised and financed other terrorist cells throughout northern Iraq and was responsible for building and facilitating vehicle bombs in the Baghdad area. Additionally, officials said, he was responsible for other terrorist groups that recruit and train children and females to conduct suicide attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
Based on tips from local citizens about possible enemy activities and caches at three locations, the combined forces moved to the areas to investigate. They found nothing at the first location and moved on to the second location, where they detained a suspected Ghazwan associate who was wanted on an Iraqi warrant. The patrol also found a cache consisting of various ammunition rounds, knives, gun powder and a small amount of plastic explosives. The patrol then moved to a house in a third location. An explosion detonated behind it, followed by small-arms fire. The patrol returned fire. Two SoI members were wounded in the explosion, officials said.
While searching the area, an SoI member found a trail booby-trapped with grenades and an unidentified man hiding in the grass. The man showed no movement or response to the patrol's commands, and it was later determined he was Ghazwan and that he was killed by SoI and Iraqi Army small-arms fire, officials said. Coalition Forces positively identified Ghazwan, and his body was turned over to the Iraqi Army.
ISF CAPTURE 14 AQI SUSPECTS IN SEPARATE OPs
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) captured 14 suspected AQI terrorists during three separate operations in northern Iraq on November 6th. In Mosul, 2nd Iraqi Army elements captured a suspected IED cell leader and three more individuals. The cell is allegedly responsible for manufacturing and emplacing IEDs targeting civilians, Iraqi and Coalition forces. During a separate operation in Tal Uwaynat in northwest Iraq, 3rd Iraqi Army elements captured five suspected AQI weapons facilitators. The cell members were believed to be supplying weapons to AQI terrorists throughout Ninewah Province. In the Jedaydah Village of Diyala province, Baqubah Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team captured a suspected AQI cell leader and four cell members. The individuals are believed to be responsible for providing logistical support and safe housing for AQI terrorists in the Bani Sayd area. The cell leader is also believed to be leader of a sniper cell.
IA FINDS ROLLING WEAPONS CACHE IN MOSUL
An Iraqi Army unit received information about a possible VBIED, but instead discovered a rolling cache containing (14) 82 mm mortars on November 6th. The 3rd Battalion, 6th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, received a tip about a VBIED that had been parked in the Al Islah Al Zarai neighborhood of Mosul for a couple of days. After setting up a cordon, the unit investigated the vehicle and determined the vehicle was used to store explosives and weapons and was not a VBIED. The explosives were removed from the neighborhood without incident. “Because of information provided by the community, the Iraqi Army was able to find this cache and get the weapons off the streets,” said Major Kevin Kugel, Iraqi Security Forces chief, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. “As people continue to gain confidence in the Iraqi Security Forces and work with them, the security situation will continue to improve.”
Iraqi Policemen (IP) and Multinational Division - Baghdad (MND-B) Soldiers seized weapons caches in and around the Baghdad area on November 7th. Iraqi Policemen on a joint mission with the 411th Military Police Company, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, discovered a cache north of Baghdad at approximately 11AM. The items included 1,280 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, (2) AK-47s, (1) .22-caliber pistol, and a pair of binoculars. A tip from a concerned citizen led to the seizure of a 120 mm mortar round and an oxygen tank by Iraqi policemen north of Baghdad at approximately 6PM. At approximately 7:15PM, a local citizen turned in seven fragmentary hand grenades he found in an open field to MND-B Soldiers at Joint Security Station Ameriyah in the Mansour district of Baghdad. The citizen advised them of a cache in the area.
Soldiers serving with Troop C, 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), seized a cache at approximately 12:30AM on November 8th. The munitions included (1) Dragonov rifle with scope, (9) sticks of explosives, (5) 82 mm mortars, (5) Dragonov magazines, (7) rocket-propelled grenade propellants, (1) 82 mm illumination round, (1) rocket of unknown size, (10) artillery fuses, (3) canisters of C4, (7) rifle grenade rods, (4) grenade fuses, (21) MP5 magazines, (3) PKC belts of ammunition, (5) M-203 rounds, (125) sniper rounds, (1) M-19 round, (3) project boxes, (100) feet of detonation cord, (1) spool of wire, (1) periscope, (1) RPG site, (1) potential pipe bomb, (1) washing machine timer with blasting cap and (2) wireless doorbell clickers.
“Iraqi citizens continue to step to the forefront and provide valuable information in removing these weapons from the hands of those who would cause them harm,” said Lt. Colonel Steve Stover, spokesman, MND–B and the 4th Infantry Division.
COALITION DESTROYING AQI; CAPTURE 22
During another round of devastating blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) networks, Coalition Forces captured 22 suspects on Friday and Saturday throughout Iraq.
On Friday, forces operating in the vicinity of Tikrit, about 160 km north of Baghdad, targeted terrorist networks in the Tigris River Valley. One man believed to be associated with a local terrorist leader was detained for additional questioning. In Kirkuk, Coalition forces captured one wanted man believed to have ties with AQI leaders in the region. Four additional suspects were detained during the operation. About 160 km south of Mosul in the village of Bayji, forces detained three men assessed to have connections to a suspected terrorist associated with the city’s improvised explosive device networks.
On Saturday, AQI foreign terrorist facilitation networks were hit hard again. A suspected terrorist (who reports suggest smuggles foreign terrorists and weapons into Iraq) was captured by Coalition forces during an operation outside of Mosul. Two additional suspects were detained for further questioning. Coalition Forces continued to pressure AQI car bomb and suicide bomber networks. In Al Yusifiyah, about 35 km southwest of Baghdad, Coalition Forces targeted and captured a suspected terrorist believed to be associated with car bomb terrorists. Four additional suspects were detained during the operation. Finally, forces captured two suspected AQI operatives in Baghdad who are reportedly involved in the city’s suicide bomber operations. Three more suspects were also detained for further questioning.
COMBINED OP KILLS SENIOR AQI LEADER
A senior AQI leader was killed on November 6th, during a combined cache-clearing operation by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and a ‘Sons of Iraq’ (SoI) citizen security group, supported by Coalition Forces, military officials reported. Abu Ghazwan, a key link in the network operations for AQI, was killed during the cache-site raid in the Tarmiyah area, north of Baghdad, officials said. Coalition officials said Ghazwan commanded numerous terrorist cells in the Taji and Tarmiyah areas, and advised and financed other terrorist cells throughout northern Iraq and was responsible for building and facilitating vehicle bombs in the Baghdad area. Additionally, officials said, he was responsible for other terrorist groups that recruit and train children and females to conduct suicide attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
Based on tips from local citizens about possible enemy activities and caches at three locations, the combined forces moved to the areas to investigate. They found nothing at the first location and moved on to the second location, where they detained a suspected Ghazwan associate who was wanted on an Iraqi warrant. The patrol also found a cache consisting of various ammunition rounds, knives, gun powder and a small amount of plastic explosives. The patrol then moved to a house in a third location. An explosion detonated behind it, followed by small-arms fire. The patrol returned fire. Two SoI members were wounded in the explosion, officials said.
While searching the area, an SoI member found a trail booby-trapped with grenades and an unidentified man hiding in the grass. The man showed no movement or response to the patrol's commands, and it was later determined he was Ghazwan and that he was killed by SoI and Iraqi Army small-arms fire, officials said. Coalition Forces positively identified Ghazwan, and his body was turned over to the Iraqi Army.
ISF CAPTURE 14 AQI SUSPECTS IN SEPARATE OPs
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) captured 14 suspected AQI terrorists during three separate operations in northern Iraq on November 6th. In Mosul, 2nd Iraqi Army elements captured a suspected IED cell leader and three more individuals. The cell is allegedly responsible for manufacturing and emplacing IEDs targeting civilians, Iraqi and Coalition forces. During a separate operation in Tal Uwaynat in northwest Iraq, 3rd Iraqi Army elements captured five suspected AQI weapons facilitators. The cell members were believed to be supplying weapons to AQI terrorists throughout Ninewah Province. In the Jedaydah Village of Diyala province, Baqubah Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team captured a suspected AQI cell leader and four cell members. The individuals are believed to be responsible for providing logistical support and safe housing for AQI terrorists in the Bani Sayd area. The cell leader is also believed to be leader of a sniper cell.
IA FINDS ROLLING WEAPONS CACHE IN MOSUL
An Iraqi Army unit received information about a possible VBIED, but instead discovered a rolling cache containing (14) 82 mm mortars on November 6th. The 3rd Battalion, 6th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, received a tip about a VBIED that had been parked in the Al Islah Al Zarai neighborhood of Mosul for a couple of days. After setting up a cordon, the unit investigated the vehicle and determined the vehicle was used to store explosives and weapons and was not a VBIED. The explosives were removed from the neighborhood without incident. “Because of information provided by the community, the Iraqi Army was able to find this cache and get the weapons off the streets,” said Major Kevin Kugel, Iraqi Security Forces chief, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. “As people continue to gain confidence in the Iraqi Security Forces and work with them, the security situation will continue to improve.”
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Treasury Department Pressures Iran
Source Article HERE.
From 'Miami Herald': The Bush administration Thursday ratcheted up the financial pressure on Iran by revoking an exemption that gave Iranian banks access to the U.S. financial system, but it stopped short of blacklisting the Islamic Republic's central bank. The announcement coincided with the fall in oil prices, which has hurt Iran's economy and put political pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who faces elections next June. Ahmadinejad on Thursday sent congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama, the first time an Iranian leader has done so since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In an effort to derail Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, the administration already had invoked U.S. law and United Nations resolutions to blacklist five large Iranian state-owned banks. The action, however, still allowed Iran access to the U.S. banking system through third-country transactions. This exception was called a "U-turn" provision because it allowed Iran to do business in dollars in the U.S. banking system through third countries that send the money back to Tehran, as if making a U-turn across traffic.
On Thursday, Stuart Levey, the undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in effect that the Treasury would erect a "No U-turn" sign. "Iran was using the existence of the U-turn exemption to hoodwink foreign banks into handling transactions for them," Levey told reporters in a news conference. "They would say, 'Please handle this for us; don't mention there is any Iranian involvement,' and they were able to argue to financial institutions abroad that it was okay to do this because of the U-turn exemption, and therefore what the U.S. financial institution on the other end of the transaction didn't know wouldn't hurt anybody." Now, he said, foreign financial institutions will know that their U.S. subsidiaries cannot conduct any business in the United States on behalf of Iran.
Earlier this year, when oil prices surged past $140 a barrel, scrapping the exemption would have been risky it could have sent prices even higher. Now with a global financial crisis at hand and oil trading at just over $60 a barrel, Iran has less room to retaliate. Levey insisted that oil prices had nothing do with the action and acknowledged that the amount of money involved in U-turn transactions was "relatively small." He wouldn't offer even a ballpark figure, nor would he stipulate what U.S.-based foreign bank subsidiaries might be affected by Thursday's action.
U.S. banks have long avoided doing business with Iran because of the risk it poses to their reputation, so the action likely is intended to isolate Iran from European and Asian banks, said a U.S. banker familiar with financial sanctions. The banker spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss bank policies publicly. There was no immediate reaction from European governments, who were informed only Thursday morning that the new sanctions would be announced. U.S. officials claim that the tightening of sanctions is squeezing Iran's economy and making life uncomfortable for Ahmadinejad. They don't rule out further steps - including targeting Iran's central bank - during the 74 days that President Bush remains in office.
Thursday's actions prevent U-turn transactions not just by the blacklisted banks but also by any Iranian bank, including the central bank, which the Treasury thinks has been helping Iranian banks mask their international transactions. But taking that next step and trying to shut Iran's central bank out of the global financial system appears unlikely. "The central bank gets into a lot more complicated issues," said Matthew Levitt, a former deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at Treasury. "One of the things I think the Treasury Department does well is to weigh very carefully the potential anticipated and unanticipated consequences of their actions."
With the international financial system in crisis, it's not a good time to try to blacklist central banks, said Levitt, now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a policy research organization. President-elect Barack Obama pledged during the campaign to continue putting economic pressure on Iran, even as he's promised to engage in direct diplomacy with Iranian leaders. Obama spokeswoman Wendy Morigi said in an e-mail Thursday that there'd be no comment on the Treasury move. Levey confirmed that the Obama team hadn't been consulted.
From 'Miami Herald': The Bush administration Thursday ratcheted up the financial pressure on Iran by revoking an exemption that gave Iranian banks access to the U.S. financial system, but it stopped short of blacklisting the Islamic Republic's central bank. The announcement coincided with the fall in oil prices, which has hurt Iran's economy and put political pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who faces elections next June. Ahmadinejad on Thursday sent congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama, the first time an Iranian leader has done so since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.In an effort to derail Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, the administration already had invoked U.S. law and United Nations resolutions to blacklist five large Iranian state-owned banks. The action, however, still allowed Iran access to the U.S. banking system through third-country transactions. This exception was called a "U-turn" provision because it allowed Iran to do business in dollars in the U.S. banking system through third countries that send the money back to Tehran, as if making a U-turn across traffic.
On Thursday, Stuart Levey, the undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in effect that the Treasury would erect a "No U-turn" sign. "Iran was using the existence of the U-turn exemption to hoodwink foreign banks into handling transactions for them," Levey told reporters in a news conference. "They would say, 'Please handle this for us; don't mention there is any Iranian involvement,' and they were able to argue to financial institutions abroad that it was okay to do this because of the U-turn exemption, and therefore what the U.S. financial institution on the other end of the transaction didn't know wouldn't hurt anybody." Now, he said, foreign financial institutions will know that their U.S. subsidiaries cannot conduct any business in the United States on behalf of Iran.
Earlier this year, when oil prices surged past $140 a barrel, scrapping the exemption would have been risky it could have sent prices even higher. Now with a global financial crisis at hand and oil trading at just over $60 a barrel, Iran has less room to retaliate. Levey insisted that oil prices had nothing do with the action and acknowledged that the amount of money involved in U-turn transactions was "relatively small." He wouldn't offer even a ballpark figure, nor would he stipulate what U.S.-based foreign bank subsidiaries might be affected by Thursday's action.
U.S. banks have long avoided doing business with Iran because of the risk it poses to their reputation, so the action likely is intended to isolate Iran from European and Asian banks, said a U.S. banker familiar with financial sanctions. The banker spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss bank policies publicly. There was no immediate reaction from European governments, who were informed only Thursday morning that the new sanctions would be announced. U.S. officials claim that the tightening of sanctions is squeezing Iran's economy and making life uncomfortable for Ahmadinejad. They don't rule out further steps - including targeting Iran's central bank - during the 74 days that President Bush remains in office.
Thursday's actions prevent U-turn transactions not just by the blacklisted banks but also by any Iranian bank, including the central bank, which the Treasury thinks has been helping Iranian banks mask their international transactions. But taking that next step and trying to shut Iran's central bank out of the global financial system appears unlikely. "The central bank gets into a lot more complicated issues," said Matthew Levitt, a former deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at Treasury. "One of the things I think the Treasury Department does well is to weigh very carefully the potential anticipated and unanticipated consequences of their actions."
With the international financial system in crisis, it's not a good time to try to blacklist central banks, said Levitt, now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a policy research organization. President-elect Barack Obama pledged during the campaign to continue putting economic pressure on Iran, even as he's promised to engage in direct diplomacy with Iranian leaders. Obama spokeswoman Wendy Morigi said in an e-mail Thursday that there'd be no comment on the Treasury move. Levey confirmed that the Obama team hadn't been consulted.
Bin Laden Videomaker Gets Life Sentence
Source Article HERE.
From 'New Zealand Herald': GUANTANAMO BAY - A videomaker for Osama bin Laden who vowed that al Qaeda would never stop fighting America and claimed he volunteered for the September 11th attacks was sentenced to life in prison for encouraging terrorism. A jury of nine United States military officers deliberated for just under an hour before condemning Ali Hamza al-Bahlul at Guantanamo Bay's second war-crimes trial. Al Qaeda's propagandist was convicted of 35 counts of conspiracy, solicitation to commit murder and providing material support for terrorism.
The 39-year-old Yemeni defiantly admitted joining al Qaeda, accused the US of oppressing Muslims for 50 years and said, "We will fight any Government that governs America. "We are the only ones on earth who stand against you," al-Bahlul said, adding that the US had only itself to blame for the September 11th attacks. "Whoever said this happened out of nowhere is an idiot," he said in a hilltop courtroom overlooking Guantanamo Bay. "You have started the war against us." Al-Bahlul has been held at Guantanamo since 2002.
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The 39-year-old Yemeni defiantly admitted joining al Qaeda, accused the US of oppressing Muslims for 50 years and said, "We will fight any Government that governs America. "We are the only ones on earth who stand against you," al-Bahlul said, adding that the US had only itself to blame for the September 11th attacks. "Whoever said this happened out of nowhere is an idiot," he said in a hilltop courtroom overlooking Guantanamo Bay. "You have started the war against us." Al-Bahlul has been held at Guantanamo since 2002.
Iraq Combat Brigade Cut 6 Weeks Early
Source Article HERE.
Troops from 101st Airborne Division near Baghdad - 2007.
From 'Washington Post': General David H. Petraeus has decided to reduce the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq from 15 to 14 about six weeks earlier than planned, as a result of dramatically lower violence there, Pentagon officials said yesterday. "The hope is they can come home before Christmas," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said of the decision. The plan accelerates the withdrawal from Iraq of a 101st Airborne Division brigade of 3,500 to 4,000 troops that will not be replaced. Another brigade from the 10th Mountain Division that was scheduled to go to Iraq in its place will instead deploy to Afghanistan, as announced earlier this fall.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has stated that further increases in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan -- where American commanders say they need three more brigades and thousands of support forces to combat a growing insurgency -- will be contingent upon further withdrawals from Iraq next year. Underpinning the decision to speed the brigade's return is a continuing drop in attacks and troop casualties in Iraq, officials said. October had fewer than 1,000 "security incidents" nationwide in Iraq, the lowest monthly number since January 2004, Morrell said.
U.S. troop casualties are also falling. Twelve American service members died last month, including six from noncombat causes. That is the lowest number since July, when nine U.S. troops died. The departing brigade has served in Baghdad, where attack levels have plunged. Its troops will serve only a 13-month tour, instead of the 15 months expected when they deployed, before returning to their home base at Fort Campbell, Ky.
"The security situation is such that Petraeus has made a decision to bring them home about six weeks early," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. Petraeus, who oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia as head of Central Command, informed the Pentagon of his determination in recent days. General Ray Odierno, who replaced Petraeus in October as the top U.S. commander in Iraq, recommended the faster withdrawal, officials said.
Petraeus and Odierno oversaw the "surge" of five combat brigades into Iraq last year, bringing the total to 20. That number was lowered to 15 as of July, after major improvements in security. Petraeus then called for a pause in withdrawals to assess the impact of lower troop levels. In September, Petraeus recommended that those reductions continue, calling for an additional 8,000 combat and support troops to leave Iraq by January, and President Bush approved that plan.
Still, Petraeus has emphasized in recent speeches that the situation in Iraq remains "fragile." He has also stated that while the troop increase was critical to lowering sectarian killings and other violence, equally important was the adoption of new counterinsurgency strategies that included negotiations with "reconcilable" insurgent groups and basing troops in small outposts where they could better protect local populations. The U.S. military in Iraq has hired about 100,000 local fighters, many of them Sunni tribesmen and former insurgents.
Troops from 101st Airborne Division near Baghdad - 2007.
From 'Washington Post': General David H. Petraeus has decided to reduce the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq from 15 to 14 about six weeks earlier than planned, as a result of dramatically lower violence there, Pentagon officials said yesterday. "The hope is they can come home before Christmas," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said of the decision. The plan accelerates the withdrawal from Iraq of a 101st Airborne Division brigade of 3,500 to 4,000 troops that will not be replaced. Another brigade from the 10th Mountain Division that was scheduled to go to Iraq in its place will instead deploy to Afghanistan, as announced earlier this fall.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has stated that further increases in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan -- where American commanders say they need three more brigades and thousands of support forces to combat a growing insurgency -- will be contingent upon further withdrawals from Iraq next year. Underpinning the decision to speed the brigade's return is a continuing drop in attacks and troop casualties in Iraq, officials said. October had fewer than 1,000 "security incidents" nationwide in Iraq, the lowest monthly number since January 2004, Morrell said.
U.S. troop casualties are also falling. Twelve American service members died last month, including six from noncombat causes. That is the lowest number since July, when nine U.S. troops died. The departing brigade has served in Baghdad, where attack levels have plunged. Its troops will serve only a 13-month tour, instead of the 15 months expected when they deployed, before returning to their home base at Fort Campbell, Ky.
"The security situation is such that Petraeus has made a decision to bring them home about six weeks early," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. Petraeus, who oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia as head of Central Command, informed the Pentagon of his determination in recent days. General Ray Odierno, who replaced Petraeus in October as the top U.S. commander in Iraq, recommended the faster withdrawal, officials said.
Petraeus and Odierno oversaw the "surge" of five combat brigades into Iraq last year, bringing the total to 20. That number was lowered to 15 as of July, after major improvements in security. Petraeus then called for a pause in withdrawals to assess the impact of lower troop levels. In September, Petraeus recommended that those reductions continue, calling for an additional 8,000 combat and support troops to leave Iraq by January, and President Bush approved that plan.
Still, Petraeus has emphasized in recent speeches that the situation in Iraq remains "fragile." He has also stated that while the troop increase was critical to lowering sectarian killings and other violence, equally important was the adoption of new counterinsurgency strategies that included negotiations with "reconcilable" insurgent groups and basing troops in small outposts where they could better protect local populations. The U.S. military in Iraq has hired about 100,000 local fighters, many of them Sunni tribesmen and former insurgents.
Man Charged Over 'Home Made Bombs'
Source Article HERE.
From 'Telegraph (UK)': A man has been charged with carrying two bombs on a train ahead of a planned terror attack. Neil Lewington is accused of possessing the explosives, bomb-making instructions and a Nazi-style booklet. The 43-year-old was stopped at Lowestoft station, in Suffolk, on October 30th, after allegedly being abusive to a member of the staff. Lewington was searched, arrested, and is being held by anti-terrorist officers from the Metropolitan Police. He is accused of possessing timers, weedkiller, firelighters and tennis balls in connection with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism, on the same day.
Lewington, of Tilehurst, Reading, will appear in custody at City of Westminster Magistrates Court charged with ten offences under the Terrorism Act, and another under the Explosives Act. He is accused on five counts of recording or possessing information or documents likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. The documents allegedly include notebooks, a folder containing drawings and handwritten notes, the WAFFEN SS UK Members Handbook, and a book entitled Counter Bomb.
He also faces four charges of possessing an article in circumstances which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that his possession was for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism. Lewington is also charged with preparing to commit acts of terrorism and possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.
From 'Telegraph (UK)': A man has been charged with carrying two bombs on a train ahead of a planned terror attack. Neil Lewington is accused of possessing the explosives, bomb-making instructions and a Nazi-style booklet. The 43-year-old was stopped at Lowestoft station, in Suffolk, on October 30th, after allegedly being abusive to a member of the staff. Lewington was searched, arrested, and is being held by anti-terrorist officers from the Metropolitan Police. He is accused of possessing timers, weedkiller, firelighters and tennis balls in connection with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism, on the same day.
Lewington, of Tilehurst, Reading, will appear in custody at City of Westminster Magistrates Court charged with ten offences under the Terrorism Act, and another under the Explosives Act. He is accused on five counts of recording or possessing information or documents likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. The documents allegedly include notebooks, a folder containing drawings and handwritten notes, the WAFFEN SS UK Members Handbook, and a book entitled Counter Bomb.
He also faces four charges of possessing an article in circumstances which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that his possession was for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism. Lewington is also charged with preparing to commit acts of terrorism and possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.
MNFI Press Release - Nov 6
ISF ARREST 5 SUSPECTED CRIMINALS
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) captured five suspected criminals in separate operations throughout central Iraq on November 4th and 5th. On November 5th in Baghdad, the Emergency Response Brigade Assault Force arrested a suspected criminal for planning and coordinating multiple attacks against Coalition forces. The individual is also believed to be responsible for planning a rocket attack on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Warhorse in June. In a separate operation, Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, operating under the authority of a warrant issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, arrested two suspected criminals in Hashimiyah. One of the individuals is believed to be a criminal company commander while the other is suspected of financing criminal operations. Also in Baghdad, Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured an alleged criminal with ties to kidnapping and extra-judicial killings in Karkh. He is also suspected of targeting Coalition and Iraqi forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). On November 4th, an Amarah SWAT team arrested a suspected criminal responsible for attacks on Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces.
VBIED FOUND, DESTROYED BY IP
Iraqi Police (IP) discovered an unexploded vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) in eastern Mosul, during the early morning hours of November 6th. The two IPs who discovered the VBIED, removed and reduced the explosives. “The Iraqi Security Forces have consistently displayed the type of discipline, efficiency and commitment that allows them to protect their citizens from dangerous threats like VBIEDs,” said Major Gary Dangerfield, Multi-National Division-North spokesperson.
WEAPONS CACHES FOUND
Soldiers with Company A, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division discovered four weapons caches in the vicinity of Hawijah in Kirkuk Province on November 4th, during a route clearance mission. The caches yielded rocket propelled launchers, more than 200 mortar rounds, artillery and rocket rounds of different calibers, and materials for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The route clearance team along with explosive experts reduced, through explosion, much of the cache finds at the site of discovery and transferred the rest of the materials to Forward Operating Base Warrior in Kirkuk City, for further assessment. “This find will significantly reduce the amount of munitions in the hands of the insurgents that still reside in the Hawijah area,” said Lt. Colonel Kenneth Casey, commander of 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment.
AQI NETWORKS TARGETED, 9 DETAINED
Coalition forces determined to destroy al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) networks in Mosul conducted multiple operations in the city on Thursday, capturing nine individuals with alleged ties to the group’s senior leader, weapons and communications networks. Three coordinated operations targeting the city’s terrorist networks resulted in the detention of two suspects. Mosul AQI leadership networks were dealt another blow when four men were detained during an operation targeting an AQI operative with links to the city’s terrorist leaders. Coalition forces also targeted an alleged weapons smuggler for northern AQI networks in Mosul Thursday. Three men assessed to be associates of the suspected terrorist were detained by forces without incident.
ISOF, CF KILL AQI CELL LEADER
Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) and Coalition Forces (CF) killed an AQI cell leader and captured two suspected AQI terrorists during an operation in East Mosul on November 4th. The individual was a cell leader in the village of Muhallabiyah responsible for the kidnappings and killing of wealthy local nationals. His cell is also responsible for the recent kidnapping and murder of the local mayor’s family in June. This operation was directed toward thwarting criminal activities as the Government of Iraq demonstrates a determination to bring those operating outside the law to justice.
ISF CAPTURES 6 SUSPECTED CRIMINALS
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) captured six suspected criminals in separate operations throughout central Iraq on November 2nd-4th. On November 4th in Baghdad, elements from the 31st Iraqi Army arrested a suspected criminal company commander on a local warrant. The individual’s cell is allegedly responsible for conducting assassinations against Coalition and Iraqi forces in Kifl. In a separate operation on November 3rd, Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, operating under the authority of a warrant issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, arrested a suspected criminal leader. The individual is allegedly responsible for conducting IED attacks against Coalition and Iraqi forces. During the operation, one other suspected criminal was detained. On November 2nd, elements from the 6th Iraqi Army captured three suspected criminals in Huriya, a western neighborhood of Baghdad. These three individuals are believed to be responsible for IED attacks on Coalition forces and extra-judicial killings against the local populace.
“This series of operations is directed toward thwarting criminal activities as the GoI demonstrates a determination to bring those operating outside the law to justice,” said Lt. Col. Neil Harper, Multi-National Corps-Iraq spokesperson.
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) captured five suspected criminals in separate operations throughout central Iraq on November 4th and 5th. On November 5th in Baghdad, the Emergency Response Brigade Assault Force arrested a suspected criminal for planning and coordinating multiple attacks against Coalition forces. The individual is also believed to be responsible for planning a rocket attack on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Warhorse in June. In a separate operation, Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, operating under the authority of a warrant issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, arrested two suspected criminals in Hashimiyah. One of the individuals is believed to be a criminal company commander while the other is suspected of financing criminal operations. Also in Baghdad, Iraqi Special Operations Forces captured an alleged criminal with ties to kidnapping and extra-judicial killings in Karkh. He is also suspected of targeting Coalition and Iraqi forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). On November 4th, an Amarah SWAT team arrested a suspected criminal responsible for attacks on Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces.
VBIED FOUND, DESTROYED BY IP
Iraqi Police (IP) discovered an unexploded vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) in eastern Mosul, during the early morning hours of November 6th. The two IPs who discovered the VBIED, removed and reduced the explosives. “The Iraqi Security Forces have consistently displayed the type of discipline, efficiency and commitment that allows them to protect their citizens from dangerous threats like VBIEDs,” said Major Gary Dangerfield, Multi-National Division-North spokesperson.
WEAPONS CACHES FOUND
Soldiers with Company A, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division discovered four weapons caches in the vicinity of Hawijah in Kirkuk Province on November 4th, during a route clearance mission. The caches yielded rocket propelled launchers, more than 200 mortar rounds, artillery and rocket rounds of different calibers, and materials for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The route clearance team along with explosive experts reduced, through explosion, much of the cache finds at the site of discovery and transferred the rest of the materials to Forward Operating Base Warrior in Kirkuk City, for further assessment. “This find will significantly reduce the amount of munitions in the hands of the insurgents that still reside in the Hawijah area,” said Lt. Colonel Kenneth Casey, commander of 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment.
AQI NETWORKS TARGETED, 9 DETAINED
Coalition forces determined to destroy al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) networks in Mosul conducted multiple operations in the city on Thursday, capturing nine individuals with alleged ties to the group’s senior leader, weapons and communications networks. Three coordinated operations targeting the city’s terrorist networks resulted in the detention of two suspects. Mosul AQI leadership networks were dealt another blow when four men were detained during an operation targeting an AQI operative with links to the city’s terrorist leaders. Coalition forces also targeted an alleged weapons smuggler for northern AQI networks in Mosul Thursday. Three men assessed to be associates of the suspected terrorist were detained by forces without incident.
ISOF, CF KILL AQI CELL LEADER
Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) and Coalition Forces (CF) killed an AQI cell leader and captured two suspected AQI terrorists during an operation in East Mosul on November 4th. The individual was a cell leader in the village of Muhallabiyah responsible for the kidnappings and killing of wealthy local nationals. His cell is also responsible for the recent kidnapping and murder of the local mayor’s family in June. This operation was directed toward thwarting criminal activities as the Government of Iraq demonstrates a determination to bring those operating outside the law to justice.
ISF CAPTURES 6 SUSPECTED CRIMINALS
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) captured six suspected criminals in separate operations throughout central Iraq on November 2nd-4th. On November 4th in Baghdad, elements from the 31st Iraqi Army arrested a suspected criminal company commander on a local warrant. The individual’s cell is allegedly responsible for conducting assassinations against Coalition and Iraqi forces in Kifl. In a separate operation on November 3rd, Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, operating under the authority of a warrant issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, arrested a suspected criminal leader. The individual is allegedly responsible for conducting IED attacks against Coalition and Iraqi forces. During the operation, one other suspected criminal was detained. On November 2nd, elements from the 6th Iraqi Army captured three suspected criminals in Huriya, a western neighborhood of Baghdad. These three individuals are believed to be responsible for IED attacks on Coalition forces and extra-judicial killings against the local populace.
“This series of operations is directed toward thwarting criminal activities as the GoI demonstrates a determination to bring those operating outside the law to justice,” said Lt. Col. Neil Harper, Multi-National Corps-Iraq spokesperson.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
U.S. Raid In Syria Targeted Smuggler Of Iraq Fighters
Source Article HERE.
From 'Reuters': A raid by U.S. forces inside Syria on Sunday is believed to have killed a major smuggler of foreign fighters into Iraq, a U.S. official said on Monday. Syria condemned the attack as "terrorist aggression." The official spoke on condition of anonymity about the raid, in which residents and Syrian officials said U.S. troops landed by helicopter and killed eight civilians. A second U.S. official said U.S. forces had targeted only people they considered a threat and that women and children were alive at the site when they left.
The Pentagon and the White House have refused to officially confirm or deny U.S. involvement in the incident, which alarmed France and Russia. Both countries called on the United States to respect Syria's territorial sovereignty. If confirmed, it would be the first U.S. military strike inside Syria since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Syria says four helicopters attacked al-Sukkari farm in the Albou Kamal area in eastern Syria, close to the Iraqi border, and that U.S. soldiers stormed a building there. The first U.S. official said the raid targeted Abu Ghadiya, a former lieutenant of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006.
"It was a successful operation," the U.S. official said by telephone. "He (Abu Ghadiya) is believed to be dead. This undoubtedly will have a debilitating effect on this foreign fighter smuggling network." The Bush administration, which will leave office in January after the U.S. presidential election on November 4th, blames Damascus for not doing enough to stem the flow of al Qaeda fighters and other insurgents into Iraq.
But Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on a visit to London it was not possible for Syria to patrol the entire length of its long border with Iraq. He accused the United States of trying to derail recent diplomatic overtures between Europe and Syria. "The Americans do it in the daylight. This means it is not a mistake, it is by blunt determination. For that we consider this criminal and terrorist aggression," he told a news conference.
Reuters Television footage showed a small fenced farm and a truck riddled with bullet holes. Blood stained the ground. Syrian state television showed a building site and a nearby tent with food and blankets and spent bullets laying around. The official Syrian news agency SANA quoted a survivor, Souad al-Jasim, as saying U.S. soldiers fired on her and her children in the tent. "Then they opened fire on the workers on site," she said. Jasim's husband was killed in the attack and one of her children wounded. Thousands of people attended a funeral held for those killed in the raid, SANA said.
The second U.S. official said U.S. military forces acted in support of "another agency" in conducting the operation. The official declined to elaborate but that description could suggest the involvement of the CIA. He described Abu Ghadiya as a "bad dude" who ran one of the most prolific networks bringing foreign fighters and suicide bombers into Iraq.
Moualem said Syria would ask the United States and Iraq for an investigation into the raid, which the Iraqi government said targeted insurgents responsible for attacks inside Iraq. "We put the responsibility on the American government and the need to investigate and return back to us with the result and explanation why they did it," Moualem said. Asked whether the Syrians would use force if the Americans conducted a similar raid in future, Moualem said: "As long as you are saying if, I will tell you if they do it again ... we will defend our territories."
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the attack was launched against "terrorist groups operating from Syria against Iraq," including one which had killed 13 police recruits in a border village. "Iraq had asked Syria to hand over this group, which uses Syria as a base for its terrorist activities," Dabbagh said. Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed said last week his country "refuses to be a launching pad for threats against Iraq."
From 'Reuters': A raid by U.S. forces inside Syria on Sunday is believed to have killed a major smuggler of foreign fighters into Iraq, a U.S. official said on Monday. Syria condemned the attack as "terrorist aggression." The official spoke on condition of anonymity about the raid, in which residents and Syrian officials said U.S. troops landed by helicopter and killed eight civilians. A second U.S. official said U.S. forces had targeted only people they considered a threat and that women and children were alive at the site when they left.
The Pentagon and the White House have refused to officially confirm or deny U.S. involvement in the incident, which alarmed France and Russia. Both countries called on the United States to respect Syria's territorial sovereignty. If confirmed, it would be the first U.S. military strike inside Syria since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Syria says four helicopters attacked al-Sukkari farm in the Albou Kamal area in eastern Syria, close to the Iraqi border, and that U.S. soldiers stormed a building there. The first U.S. official said the raid targeted Abu Ghadiya, a former lieutenant of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006.
"It was a successful operation," the U.S. official said by telephone. "He (Abu Ghadiya) is believed to be dead. This undoubtedly will have a debilitating effect on this foreign fighter smuggling network." The Bush administration, which will leave office in January after the U.S. presidential election on November 4th, blames Damascus for not doing enough to stem the flow of al Qaeda fighters and other insurgents into Iraq.
But Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on a visit to London it was not possible for Syria to patrol the entire length of its long border with Iraq. He accused the United States of trying to derail recent diplomatic overtures between Europe and Syria. "The Americans do it in the daylight. This means it is not a mistake, it is by blunt determination. For that we consider this criminal and terrorist aggression," he told a news conference.
Reuters Television footage showed a small fenced farm and a truck riddled with bullet holes. Blood stained the ground. Syrian state television showed a building site and a nearby tent with food and blankets and spent bullets laying around. The official Syrian news agency SANA quoted a survivor, Souad al-Jasim, as saying U.S. soldiers fired on her and her children in the tent. "Then they opened fire on the workers on site," she said. Jasim's husband was killed in the attack and one of her children wounded. Thousands of people attended a funeral held for those killed in the raid, SANA said.
The second U.S. official said U.S. military forces acted in support of "another agency" in conducting the operation. The official declined to elaborate but that description could suggest the involvement of the CIA. He described Abu Ghadiya as a "bad dude" who ran one of the most prolific networks bringing foreign fighters and suicide bombers into Iraq.
Moualem said Syria would ask the United States and Iraq for an investigation into the raid, which the Iraqi government said targeted insurgents responsible for attacks inside Iraq. "We put the responsibility on the American government and the need to investigate and return back to us with the result and explanation why they did it," Moualem said. Asked whether the Syrians would use force if the Americans conducted a similar raid in future, Moualem said: "As long as you are saying if, I will tell you if they do it again ... we will defend our territories."
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the attack was launched against "terrorist groups operating from Syria against Iraq," including one which had killed 13 police recruits in a border village. "Iraq had asked Syria to hand over this group, which uses Syria as a base for its terrorist activities," Dabbagh said. Syrian Interior Minister Bassam Abdel Majeed said last week his country "refuses to be a launching pad for threats against Iraq."
Four Remanded On Terror Charges
Source Article HERE.
From 'News.Scotsman.com': Four men held on terrorism charges after a series of raids in Birmingham last week were remanded in custody yesterday. Shahid Ali, Mohammed Nadim and Shabir Mohammed appeared at a London court charged with engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting in the commission of acts of terrorism. Abdul Raheem was charged with failure to disclose information.
From 'News.Scotsman.com': Four men held on terrorism charges after a series of raids in Birmingham last week were remanded in custody yesterday. Shahid Ali, Mohammed Nadim and Shabir Mohammed appeared at a London court charged with engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting in the commission of acts of terrorism. Abdul Raheem was charged with failure to disclose information.
Police Arrest Terror Suspects In Spain
Source Article HERE.
From 'UPI': Four suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly plotting terror attacks, Spain's Interior Ministry said. Three individuals were arrested in Spain's northern Navarra region, which has Basque roots, while the fourth was arrested in Valencia on Spain's eastern coast, CNN reported. Authorities seized two guns and ammunition, timers, detonating cord and substances that could be used to make explosives, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
From 'UPI': Four suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly plotting terror attacks, Spain's Interior Ministry said. Three individuals were arrested in Spain's northern Navarra region, which has Basque roots, while the fourth was arrested in Valencia on Spain's eastern coast, CNN reported. Authorities seized two guns and ammunition, timers, detonating cord and substances that could be used to make explosives, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
MNFI Press Release - Oct 28
INPs DISCOVER WEAPONS CACHE IN GHARTAN
Iraqi National Policemen (INPs) from the 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division reported discovering a weapons cache on October 28th in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. At approximately 10:30 a.m., Soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, attached to the 1st BCT, 4th ID, reported that the 1st Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, found (10) 60 mm mortar rounds, (4) 82 mm mortar rounds, (3) 120 mm mortar rounds, (2) 122 mm rockets, (1) 155 mm artillery round, (1) 60 mm mortar tube, (2) RKG3 rocket propelled grenades, (4) undisclosed rockets and (2) undisclosed artillery rounds while conducting a patrol in the Ghartan community. An explosive ordnance disposal unit retrieved the munitions for proper disposal.
RECONSTRUCTION IMPROVES LIFE IN TARMIYAH
When students in Tarmiyah returned to school in September, they were welcomed by new classrooms full of new furniture and supplies. Their school, northwest of Baghdad, also had new electrical and sewer systems. After conducting a final assessment of improvements made to the Huda Teacher’s School on October 20th, Army 1st Lt. Erik Peterson, a native of Littleton Colorado, who serves in Multi-National Division - Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, met with the contractor, paid him the remaining funds for completion of his work and thanked him for a job well done.
This school is one of many reconstruction projects throughout Tarmiyah designed to provide the city’s residents more opportunity and a better way of life. “When we first arrived here in December 2007, I visited a girl’s school that had no bathrooms,” Peterson said. “Now the schools have brand new classrooms, lights, chalkboards, furniture and sanitary bathrooms with septic systems. The students now have the ability to wash their hands.”
Fatima, a 6th grade student who attends one of the renovated schools, said her school is much better than it was. "The doors have been painted, and we have lights and fans in our classrooms,” she said. “We learn about animals, reading, writing and how to speak a little bit of English. I love going to school.”
About $3 million will be invested into the reconstruction of Tarmiyah, with 13 school renovations, a media center, a bank, an ambulance center, road paving and solar lights among the scheduled projects. Funding for the reconstruction is provided through the provincial council and the Iraqi Commanders Emergency Relief Program, or ICERP, which allows the local government to get money for projects quickly and efficiently and to participate in the planning process. “ICERP is Iraqi money managed by Coalition forces so that we can use our paperwork system to spend and track where everything goes,” Peterson said. “Unlike the United States government, the government of Iraq’s current budget system is in the initial stages of development for delivery of a capital budget to the [communities] from the provincial level.”
Although the system is still developing, Peterson said, those involved with the reconstruction projects are vital to success and have shown they have the planning and technical expertise behind them to take on large projects and ensure they are quality projects that will last well into the future. “We have shown them a taste of our democratic system, but no matter how much we show them, we must understand that their culture is different than ours, and it is up to them to decide what they want to take away from that,” Peterson said.
With more than half of the projects completed, quality of life has improved immensely, but there is still work to be done, Peterson said. Planning is focused now on essential services and possibly a new sewer system, he added. “This development of this city will continue,” he said. “And in five months, it will be completely different from what it is now.”
Iraqi National Policemen (INPs) from the 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division reported discovering a weapons cache on October 28th in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. At approximately 10:30 a.m., Soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, attached to the 1st BCT, 4th ID, reported that the 1st Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd NP Division, found (10) 60 mm mortar rounds, (4) 82 mm mortar rounds, (3) 120 mm mortar rounds, (2) 122 mm rockets, (1) 155 mm artillery round, (1) 60 mm mortar tube, (2) RKG3 rocket propelled grenades, (4) undisclosed rockets and (2) undisclosed artillery rounds while conducting a patrol in the Ghartan community. An explosive ordnance disposal unit retrieved the munitions for proper disposal.
RECONSTRUCTION IMPROVES LIFE IN TARMIYAH
When students in Tarmiyah returned to school in September, they were welcomed by new classrooms full of new furniture and supplies. Their school, northwest of Baghdad, also had new electrical and sewer systems. After conducting a final assessment of improvements made to the Huda Teacher’s School on October 20th, Army 1st Lt. Erik Peterson, a native of Littleton Colorado, who serves in Multi-National Division - Baghdad with the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, met with the contractor, paid him the remaining funds for completion of his work and thanked him for a job well done.
This school is one of many reconstruction projects throughout Tarmiyah designed to provide the city’s residents more opportunity and a better way of life. “When we first arrived here in December 2007, I visited a girl’s school that had no bathrooms,” Peterson said. “Now the schools have brand new classrooms, lights, chalkboards, furniture and sanitary bathrooms with septic systems. The students now have the ability to wash their hands.”
Fatima, a 6th grade student who attends one of the renovated schools, said her school is much better than it was. "The doors have been painted, and we have lights and fans in our classrooms,” she said. “We learn about animals, reading, writing and how to speak a little bit of English. I love going to school.”
About $3 million will be invested into the reconstruction of Tarmiyah, with 13 school renovations, a media center, a bank, an ambulance center, road paving and solar lights among the scheduled projects. Funding for the reconstruction is provided through the provincial council and the Iraqi Commanders Emergency Relief Program, or ICERP, which allows the local government to get money for projects quickly and efficiently and to participate in the planning process. “ICERP is Iraqi money managed by Coalition forces so that we can use our paperwork system to spend and track where everything goes,” Peterson said. “Unlike the United States government, the government of Iraq’s current budget system is in the initial stages of development for delivery of a capital budget to the [communities] from the provincial level.”
Although the system is still developing, Peterson said, those involved with the reconstruction projects are vital to success and have shown they have the planning and technical expertise behind them to take on large projects and ensure they are quality projects that will last well into the future. “We have shown them a taste of our democratic system, but no matter how much we show them, we must understand that their culture is different than ours, and it is up to them to decide what they want to take away from that,” Peterson said.
With more than half of the projects completed, quality of life has improved immensely, but there is still work to be done, Peterson said. Planning is focused now on essential services and possibly a new sewer system, he added. “This development of this city will continue,” he said. “And in five months, it will be completely different from what it is now.”
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Not In Our Name, Say 63M Pakistanis
Source Article HERE.
From 'Times of India': In a gesture that has attracted record participation from ordinary Pakistanis, 63 million citizens - a third of the terror-battered country's population — have signed up to a unique anti-terror campaign. Billed as the biggest lobby effort anywhere in the world, Pakistanis signed a petition called "Yeh Hum Naheen (This is not us)" in a four-week period. It is seen as the strongest signal yet from Pakistanis - one could almost call it the cry of a nation stained with shame - that they don't want fundamentalism or terrorism to be known as the Pakistani way of life.
The campaign apparently ensured that most of the signatories were verifiable individuals. Given that the Taliban are raising suicide bombers and death squads from teens in the hardened badlands of FATA, children above 11 years were also allowed to sign. The campaign was launched in 2007 with a hit song featuring some of the country's biggest pop stars, including Ali Zafar. The idea originated with a British-Pakistani media consultant Waseem Mahmood, whose aim was to prove in a tangible manner that Pakistanis were against the violence that comes in the guise of Islamic "jihad".
"This is about giving people a common platform to fight terrorism," Mahmood was quoted as saying by a British daily. He said all signatures were verified and most signatures collected by direct promotions. The campaign was financed by Muslim businessmen from UK and Indonesia and has caught the imagination of Pakistani celebrities and media.
You can see a video of the original song with English subtitles HERE.
You can go to the Yeh Hum Naheen website HERE.
From 'Times of India': In a gesture that has attracted record participation from ordinary Pakistanis, 63 million citizens - a third of the terror-battered country's population — have signed up to a unique anti-terror campaign. Billed as the biggest lobby effort anywhere in the world, Pakistanis signed a petition called "Yeh Hum Naheen (This is not us)" in a four-week period. It is seen as the strongest signal yet from Pakistanis - one could almost call it the cry of a nation stained with shame - that they don't want fundamentalism or terrorism to be known as the Pakistani way of life.
The campaign apparently ensured that most of the signatories were verifiable individuals. Given that the Taliban are raising suicide bombers and death squads from teens in the hardened badlands of FATA, children above 11 years were also allowed to sign. The campaign was launched in 2007 with a hit song featuring some of the country's biggest pop stars, including Ali Zafar. The idea originated with a British-Pakistani media consultant Waseem Mahmood, whose aim was to prove in a tangible manner that Pakistanis were against the violence that comes in the guise of Islamic "jihad".
"This is about giving people a common platform to fight terrorism," Mahmood was quoted as saying by a British daily. He said all signatures were verified and most signatures collected by direct promotions. The campaign was financed by Muslim businessmen from UK and Indonesia and has caught the imagination of Pakistani celebrities and media.
You can see a video of the original song with English subtitles HERE.
You can go to the Yeh Hum Naheen website HERE.
MNFI Press Release - Oct 12
COALITION REMOVES 12 SUSPECTS FROM AQI NETWORKS
Coalition forces detained 12 suspected terrorists, including three wanted men, during operations Saturday and Sunday targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) networks throughout the country.
Coalition forces captured a wanted man believed to be an AQI courier during an operation south of Mosul on Saturday. The man is also assessed to have links to local AQI leaders. Forces also pursued AQI regional leaders during an operation in Mosul on Saturday and detained one suspect. Coalition forces operating in Bayji Saturday, about 160 km south of Mosul, targeted a wanted man assessed to be connected to the city’s car bomb network. One suspect believed to be an associate of the wanted man was detained during the operation. In Baghdad on Saturday, forces targeted the city’s AQI foreign terrorist facilitation networks. Two suspects were detained during the operation.
A Sunday operation in Baghdad netted a wanted man who intelligence reports suggest is connected to the city’s car bomb and foreign terrorist facilitator networks. Two additional suspects were also detained. Three suspects were detained on Sunday just north of Mosul during a Coalition force operation targeting a wanted man assessed to be an AQI weapons facilitator and repairman. Also on Sunday, Coalition forces operating in Mosul captured a wanted man who intelligence reports suggest has connections to regional AQI leaders and may be involved in the terrorist network’s media operations.
Coalition forces detained 12 suspected terrorists, including three wanted men, during operations Saturday and Sunday targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) networks throughout the country.
Coalition forces captured a wanted man believed to be an AQI courier during an operation south of Mosul on Saturday. The man is also assessed to have links to local AQI leaders. Forces also pursued AQI regional leaders during an operation in Mosul on Saturday and detained one suspect. Coalition forces operating in Bayji Saturday, about 160 km south of Mosul, targeted a wanted man assessed to be connected to the city’s car bomb network. One suspect believed to be an associate of the wanted man was detained during the operation. In Baghdad on Saturday, forces targeted the city’s AQI foreign terrorist facilitation networks. Two suspects were detained during the operation.
A Sunday operation in Baghdad netted a wanted man who intelligence reports suggest is connected to the city’s car bomb and foreign terrorist facilitator networks. Two additional suspects were also detained. Three suspects were detained on Sunday just north of Mosul during a Coalition force operation targeting a wanted man assessed to be an AQI weapons facilitator and repairman. Also on Sunday, Coalition forces operating in Mosul captured a wanted man who intelligence reports suggest has connections to regional AQI leaders and may be involved in the terrorist network’s media operations.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Pakistan: Al-Qaeda Cell Smashed
Source Article HERE.
From 'AKI': A militant Al-Qaeda cell linked to Pakistan's top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, and other jihadi organisations was targeted in a major raid by security forces in Karachi on Friday. Three key militants died during the raid on the cell, which was allegedly planning a campaign of destruction. Their targets are believed to have included the bureau of the country's intelligence services (ISI), NATO supply lines from two Karachi ports and anti-Taliban politicians.
The cell had direct links to Baitullah Mehsud and Qari Zafar, the alleged mastermind of the devastating bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel, which killed at least 53 people and injured 260 others in Islamabad last week. Security officials were reluctant to confirm it, but it is understood to have been the same cell that was behind the 18 October assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when she returned from exile. Bhutto was later killed in a second attack in December.
A key Al-Qaeda militant, Rahimullah, alias Ali Hasan (Photo), was arrested during Friday's raid, that was conducted by a joint team of Pakistani police and intelligence agencies on the outskirts of Karachi's Baldia Town, near the border of restive Balochistan province. While three militants died in the raid, Rahimullah was taken into custody. Sultan Umer, Siddiq Mehsud, cousin of Baitullah Mehsud, and Waseem Bengali are believed to be the men killed in the raid on Friday. All were members of Laskhar-i-Jhangvi, an Islamist terror group linked to Al-Qaeda.
Rahimullah, a Karachi-based ethnic Pashtun, has in the past been linked to Laskhar-i-Jhangvi and Harkat-i-Jehad-i-Islami, another jihadi group linked to Al-Qaeda and is alleged to have killed several high profile religious clerics. He was believed to have been involved in various incidents, including attacks on the US Consulate in Karachi which has been the target of several suicide attacks between 2002 and 2006. Security sources said while there was only a single cell that had been smashed in Friday's raid, Rahimullah’s arrest could help uncover the funding networks used by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda from the Middle East.
Police also found the body of Shaukat Afridi, a contractor who transported NATO supplies from Karachi to Afghanistan through tankers. He was abducted from Clifton Karachi in May 2008 and his captors were demanding 64,000 dollars ransom. He was believed to be killed in a cross fire between the police and militants. Inspector General Police of Sindh province Salauddin Babar Khattack declined to make any comment to Adnkronos International (AKI) concerning the militants' links with South Waziristan. “It is confirmed that they belong to Laskhar-i-Jhangvi but we cannot confirm or deny their links with South Waziristan,” Khattack told AKI by telephone.
Pakistani intelligence agencies have identified the southern port city of Karachi as the greatest potential terror target since the Marriott blast in Islamabad. Security agencies were on high alert on Friday outside the foreign missions in Karachi and around the strategic organisations like ISI which are heavily involved in anti-terror operations across the country and manned by mostly military officials.
From 'AKI': A militant Al-Qaeda cell linked to Pakistan's top Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, and other jihadi organisations was targeted in a major raid by security forces in Karachi on Friday. Three key militants died during the raid on the cell, which was allegedly planning a campaign of destruction. Their targets are believed to have included the bureau of the country's intelligence services (ISI), NATO supply lines from two Karachi ports and anti-Taliban politicians.
The cell had direct links to Baitullah Mehsud and Qari Zafar, the alleged mastermind of the devastating bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel, which killed at least 53 people and injured 260 others in Islamabad last week. Security officials were reluctant to confirm it, but it is understood to have been the same cell that was behind the 18 October assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when she returned from exile. Bhutto was later killed in a second attack in December.
A key Al-Qaeda militant, Rahimullah, alias Ali Hasan (Photo), was arrested during Friday's raid, that was conducted by a joint team of Pakistani police and intelligence agencies on the outskirts of Karachi's Baldia Town, near the border of restive Balochistan province. While three militants died in the raid, Rahimullah was taken into custody. Sultan Umer, Siddiq Mehsud, cousin of Baitullah Mehsud, and Waseem Bengali are believed to be the men killed in the raid on Friday. All were members of Laskhar-i-Jhangvi, an Islamist terror group linked to Al-Qaeda.Rahimullah, a Karachi-based ethnic Pashtun, has in the past been linked to Laskhar-i-Jhangvi and Harkat-i-Jehad-i-Islami, another jihadi group linked to Al-Qaeda and is alleged to have killed several high profile religious clerics. He was believed to have been involved in various incidents, including attacks on the US Consulate in Karachi which has been the target of several suicide attacks between 2002 and 2006. Security sources said while there was only a single cell that had been smashed in Friday's raid, Rahimullah’s arrest could help uncover the funding networks used by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda from the Middle East.
Police also found the body of Shaukat Afridi, a contractor who transported NATO supplies from Karachi to Afghanistan through tankers. He was abducted from Clifton Karachi in May 2008 and his captors were demanding 64,000 dollars ransom. He was believed to be killed in a cross fire between the police and militants. Inspector General Police of Sindh province Salauddin Babar Khattack declined to make any comment to Adnkronos International (AKI) concerning the militants' links with South Waziristan. “It is confirmed that they belong to Laskhar-i-Jhangvi but we cannot confirm or deny their links with South Waziristan,” Khattack told AKI by telephone.
Pakistani intelligence agencies have identified the southern port city of Karachi as the greatest potential terror target since the Marriott blast in Islamabad. Security agencies were on high alert on Friday outside the foreign missions in Karachi and around the strategic organisations like ISI which are heavily involved in anti-terror operations across the country and manned by mostly military officials.
UK: 3 Men Held Under Terror Act
Source Article HERE.
From 'BBC': Three men have been arrested in north London on suspicion of terrorism. The men, aged 40, 22 and 30 have been taken to Paddington Green police station where they remain in custody. They were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. It is thought that the men were suspected of attempting to set fire to a publishers in Islington, north London, the BBC understands. A small fire was put out at a property in Lonsdale Square.
Two of the men were stopped by armed officers and arrested in the street and the third was stopped in a car at 0225 GMT on Saturday. The men were arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command in a pre-planned, intelligence-led operation. Two men were arrested outside a property in Lonsdale Square, and the third following an armed vehicle stop near Angel Tube station on Upper Street. Police are searching four properties in Walthamstow, Ilford and Forest Gate.
From 'BBC': Three men have been arrested in north London on suspicion of terrorism. The men, aged 40, 22 and 30 have been taken to Paddington Green police station where they remain in custody. They were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. It is thought that the men were suspected of attempting to set fire to a publishers in Islington, north London, the BBC understands. A small fire was put out at a property in Lonsdale Square.Two of the men were stopped by armed officers and arrested in the street and the third was stopped in a car at 0225 GMT on Saturday. The men were arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command in a pre-planned, intelligence-led operation. Two men were arrested outside a property in Lonsdale Square, and the third following an armed vehicle stop near Angel Tube station on Upper Street. Police are searching four properties in Walthamstow, Ilford and Forest Gate.
Poll: Muslim Support For Bin Laden, Suicide Attacks Down
Source Article HERE.
From 'AFP': The number of Muslims around the world who say suicide attacks are acceptable has fallen sharply in the past six years, as has Muslims' confidence in Osama bin Laden, a survey by a US think-tank showed Thursday. But, the Pew Research Center warned in its Global Attitudes Project, significant minorities of Muslims in eight countries surveyed continue to endorse suicide bombings and support the Al-Qaeda leader.
In Lebanon, the number of Muslims who said suicide attacks can be justified often or sometimes in defense of Islam fell by 42 percent between 2002 to this year, the study showed. But although down sharply from 74 percent six years ago, one in three Muslims in Lebanon still backed suicide attacks. In Pakistan, support for suicide bombings has fallen by 28 percent to a scant five percent in the past six years. In Jordan, support has dropped 18 points since 2002, but a quarter of Jordanian Muslims still support suicide attacks.
Even though numbers have fallen by 15 percent in six years, around 10 percent in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, continue to support suicide attacks. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, where around half the population is Muslim, also saw a 15 percent drop in support, but that left nearly one-third still in support of the deadly tactic. Turkey and Tanzania saw drops in support for suicide bombings of 10 and six points respectively since 2002.
Support in Turkey, which has been rocked by several deadly attacks in recent years, was the lowest of any of the countries surveyed, with only three percent telling Pew pollsters in March and April that they back suicide bombings. In Egypt, support for suicide bombings rose by five percent between 2007 and 2008; Egyptians were not surveyed in 2002.
Large numbers of Muslims in the eight countries also said they had lost confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs, although support for the Al-Qaeda leader remained high in some countries. That was the case in Nigeria in particular, where nearly six in 10 Muslims expressed confidence in bin Laden, around the same percentage as five years ago. Support for bin Laden fell from nearly six in 10 Muslims in Indonesia and nearly half in Pakistan in 2003, to a still sizeable but significantly lower number of around one-third today.
In contrast, only two percent of Lebanese Muslims expressed a lot or some confidence in bin Laden, down from 20 percent in 2003, and in Turkey, the percentage was three percent this year compared with 15 percent five years ago. The most dramatic drop in support for bin Laden was seen among Jordanian Muslims: whereas six in 10 of them expressed confidence in bin Laden just three years ago, only 19 percent did this year.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project is a series of worldwide public opinion surveys covering a broad array of subjects ranging from people's assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world.
More than 24,000 people in 24 countries were surveyed this year for the project, including just under 8,000 in the eight countries asked for their views on suicide bombings and bin Laden.
From 'AFP': The number of Muslims around the world who say suicide attacks are acceptable has fallen sharply in the past six years, as has Muslims' confidence in Osama bin Laden, a survey by a US think-tank showed Thursday. But, the Pew Research Center warned in its Global Attitudes Project, significant minorities of Muslims in eight countries surveyed continue to endorse suicide bombings and support the Al-Qaeda leader.In Lebanon, the number of Muslims who said suicide attacks can be justified often or sometimes in defense of Islam fell by 42 percent between 2002 to this year, the study showed. But although down sharply from 74 percent six years ago, one in three Muslims in Lebanon still backed suicide attacks. In Pakistan, support for suicide bombings has fallen by 28 percent to a scant five percent in the past six years. In Jordan, support has dropped 18 points since 2002, but a quarter of Jordanian Muslims still support suicide attacks.
Even though numbers have fallen by 15 percent in six years, around 10 percent in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, continue to support suicide attacks. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, where around half the population is Muslim, also saw a 15 percent drop in support, but that left nearly one-third still in support of the deadly tactic. Turkey and Tanzania saw drops in support for suicide bombings of 10 and six points respectively since 2002.
Support in Turkey, which has been rocked by several deadly attacks in recent years, was the lowest of any of the countries surveyed, with only three percent telling Pew pollsters in March and April that they back suicide bombings. In Egypt, support for suicide bombings rose by five percent between 2007 and 2008; Egyptians were not surveyed in 2002.
Large numbers of Muslims in the eight countries also said they had lost confidence in bin Laden to do the right thing in world affairs, although support for the Al-Qaeda leader remained high in some countries. That was the case in Nigeria in particular, where nearly six in 10 Muslims expressed confidence in bin Laden, around the same percentage as five years ago. Support for bin Laden fell from nearly six in 10 Muslims in Indonesia and nearly half in Pakistan in 2003, to a still sizeable but significantly lower number of around one-third today.
In contrast, only two percent of Lebanese Muslims expressed a lot or some confidence in bin Laden, down from 20 percent in 2003, and in Turkey, the percentage was three percent this year compared with 15 percent five years ago. The most dramatic drop in support for bin Laden was seen among Jordanian Muslims: whereas six in 10 of them expressed confidence in bin Laden just three years ago, only 19 percent did this year.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project is a series of worldwide public opinion surveys covering a broad array of subjects ranging from people's assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world.
More than 24,000 people in 24 countries were surveyed this year for the project, including just under 8,000 in the eight countries asked for their views on suicide bombings and bin Laden.
Muslims Reject Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden
Source Article HERE.
From 'Telegraph': In the wake of the Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabad, which killed 60 people, it might seem perverse to express optimism about the struggle against global terrorism as espoused by al-Qaeda. After all, the Taliban, which provided asylum for Osama bin Laden's network before 9/11, is resurgent on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border. Indeed, the tribal areas nominally controlled by the government in Islamabad have succeeded Iraq as the epicentre of world jihadism.
Yet it is worth stepping back from last Saturday's carnage to look at the history of terrorism. This shows that all such movements come to an end, whether through divisions within the leadership, repression or co-option by the state or, most important, loss of trust among the people they claim to represent. In a paper for the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Audrey Kurth Cronin encourages Western nations to focus on the "plentiful weaknesses" of al-Qaeda and its associates. These she defines as "indiscriminate killing in the service of a largely fictitious narrative without a shred of hopeful vision".
Bin Laden has been weakened by allied military action in Afghanistan and tighter surveillance of international money transfers. More significant in the longer term is the criticism voiced within radical Islamic circles about the morality of what he is doing. This may seem a strange word to use in conjunction with an instigator of mass murder, but bin Laden set out with the self-proclaimed noble intention to defend the umma, or Muslim world, from Western encroachment.
Why, then, say his critics, do you condone the killing of Muslims in suicide bomb attacks? Bin Laden's former mentor, the Saudi scholar Salman al-Oudah, has deplored al-Qaeda's violence and suggested that its leader has allowed the means to become the ends. The jihadist ideologue Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, better known by his underground name of Dr Fadl, has described 9/11 as "a catastrophe for Muslims".
At this year's conference of Oxford Analytica, an international consultancy, one of the participants described al-Qaeda as "a profoundly moral project which contains the seeds of its own destruction because of its failure to live up to its own moral standards". Another thought it retained moral authority but had "little power in terms of organisation". The impression emerged of a movement with a puritanical, racist view of Islam which had proved a "very bad friend" to the Muslim world. This would explain its eclipse in Iraq in favour of Sunni-dominated militias and its limited success in the northern Caucasus.
Al-Qaeda's fortunes could revive should what the Muslim world might deem a further "outrage" be committed in the form of, say, an Israeli attack on Iran or of continued American ground incursions into the tribal areas. But beyond harping on a sense of victimhood, the network has little to offer the umma.
Compare, for example, its record with that of other radical organisations, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Taking advantage of a fixed base, which al-Qaeda lacks, they have won popular support by providing welfare denied by an incompetent state. Bin Laden may be able to boast of spectacular assaults on his enemies, but he can hardly claim to have contributed to long-term social and economic development.
The erosion of support for al-Qaeda presents those whom it targets with interesting opportunities. Professor Cronin argues that the best counter-terrorist policies are "those consciously synergistic with a group's natural tendency to implode". She adds that a government's top priority should be "not to win people's hearts and minds, but rather to amplify the natural tendency of violent groups to lose them".
This might suggest that America and its allies should withdraw forthwith from Iraq and Afghanistan and watch al-Qaeda self-destruct. If only it were that simple. However, in the case of Pakistan, Washington should refrain from stoking resentment of the West by further unilateral incursions into the tribal areas, which merely strengthen the conviction that this is America's war. And a distinction should be made between the foreign jihadists, whose goal is global revolution, and the Taliban, who, like the Basque or Corsican separatists, are motivated by local factors. Driving a wedge between the two will in due course require negotiating with the Taliban.
The eclipse of al-Qaeda does not, of course, mean that it is no longer a threat - modern historical experience indicates that waves of international terrorist activity last about 40 years, so we have some way to go. Bin Laden could still stage a hideous attack, and, even if he doesn't, there are many other terrorist groups around the world, either affiliated to his network or fighting for different ends, that could.
Nevertheless, it is a hopeful sign that the man who would forcefully unite all Muslims in a new caliphate is proving subject to the same constraints as previous terrorist movements with more modest aims. Self-defence, despite its moral connotations, has in his hands turned out to be nihilistic. Opinion polls show that the Islamic world is turning against him. And it is there that his evil acts will finally be thwarted.
From 'Telegraph': In the wake of the Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabad, which killed 60 people, it might seem perverse to express optimism about the struggle against global terrorism as espoused by al-Qaeda. After all, the Taliban, which provided asylum for Osama bin Laden's network before 9/11, is resurgent on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border. Indeed, the tribal areas nominally controlled by the government in Islamabad have succeeded Iraq as the epicentre of world jihadism.
Yet it is worth stepping back from last Saturday's carnage to look at the history of terrorism. This shows that all such movements come to an end, whether through divisions within the leadership, repression or co-option by the state or, most important, loss of trust among the people they claim to represent. In a paper for the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Audrey Kurth Cronin encourages Western nations to focus on the "plentiful weaknesses" of al-Qaeda and its associates. These she defines as "indiscriminate killing in the service of a largely fictitious narrative without a shred of hopeful vision".
Bin Laden has been weakened by allied military action in Afghanistan and tighter surveillance of international money transfers. More significant in the longer term is the criticism voiced within radical Islamic circles about the morality of what he is doing. This may seem a strange word to use in conjunction with an instigator of mass murder, but bin Laden set out with the self-proclaimed noble intention to defend the umma, or Muslim world, from Western encroachment.
Why, then, say his critics, do you condone the killing of Muslims in suicide bomb attacks? Bin Laden's former mentor, the Saudi scholar Salman al-Oudah, has deplored al-Qaeda's violence and suggested that its leader has allowed the means to become the ends. The jihadist ideologue Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, better known by his underground name of Dr Fadl, has described 9/11 as "a catastrophe for Muslims".
At this year's conference of Oxford Analytica, an international consultancy, one of the participants described al-Qaeda as "a profoundly moral project which contains the seeds of its own destruction because of its failure to live up to its own moral standards". Another thought it retained moral authority but had "little power in terms of organisation". The impression emerged of a movement with a puritanical, racist view of Islam which had proved a "very bad friend" to the Muslim world. This would explain its eclipse in Iraq in favour of Sunni-dominated militias and its limited success in the northern Caucasus.
Al-Qaeda's fortunes could revive should what the Muslim world might deem a further "outrage" be committed in the form of, say, an Israeli attack on Iran or of continued American ground incursions into the tribal areas. But beyond harping on a sense of victimhood, the network has little to offer the umma.
Compare, for example, its record with that of other radical organisations, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Taking advantage of a fixed base, which al-Qaeda lacks, they have won popular support by providing welfare denied by an incompetent state. Bin Laden may be able to boast of spectacular assaults on his enemies, but he can hardly claim to have contributed to long-term social and economic development.
The erosion of support for al-Qaeda presents those whom it targets with interesting opportunities. Professor Cronin argues that the best counter-terrorist policies are "those consciously synergistic with a group's natural tendency to implode". She adds that a government's top priority should be "not to win people's hearts and minds, but rather to amplify the natural tendency of violent groups to lose them".
This might suggest that America and its allies should withdraw forthwith from Iraq and Afghanistan and watch al-Qaeda self-destruct. If only it were that simple. However, in the case of Pakistan, Washington should refrain from stoking resentment of the West by further unilateral incursions into the tribal areas, which merely strengthen the conviction that this is America's war. And a distinction should be made between the foreign jihadists, whose goal is global revolution, and the Taliban, who, like the Basque or Corsican separatists, are motivated by local factors. Driving a wedge between the two will in due course require negotiating with the Taliban.
The eclipse of al-Qaeda does not, of course, mean that it is no longer a threat - modern historical experience indicates that waves of international terrorist activity last about 40 years, so we have some way to go. Bin Laden could still stage a hideous attack, and, even if he doesn't, there are many other terrorist groups around the world, either affiliated to his network or fighting for different ends, that could.
Nevertheless, it is a hopeful sign that the man who would forcefully unite all Muslims in a new caliphate is proving subject to the same constraints as previous terrorist movements with more modest aims. Self-defence, despite its moral connotations, has in his hands turned out to be nihilistic. Opinion polls show that the Islamic world is turning against him. And it is there that his evil acts will finally be thwarted.
5 Iran-Backed Extremists Arrested In Iraq
Source Article HERE.
From 'AP': The U.S. military says it has arrested five Iranian-backed Shiite extremists accused in recent rocket attacks on Iraqi and American forces. The military says it captured the five suspects Saturday morning in three separate locations in a largely Shiite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. A military statement says the extremists are suspected of links to the Hezbollah Brigades, a Shiite extremist group that the U.S. believes is backed by Iran. Tehran denies U.S. allegations that it is supporting violence in Iraq. The military says it acted on intelligence information in arresting the five. It says they were suspected of having links to recent rocket attacks on Iraqi security and U.S. forces.
From 'AP': The U.S. military says it has arrested five Iranian-backed Shiite extremists accused in recent rocket attacks on Iraqi and American forces. The military says it captured the five suspects Saturday morning in three separate locations in a largely Shiite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. A military statement says the extremists are suspected of links to the Hezbollah Brigades, a Shiite extremist group that the U.S. believes is backed by Iran. Tehran denies U.S. allegations that it is supporting violence in Iraq. The military says it acted on intelligence information in arresting the five. It says they were suspected of having links to recent rocket attacks on Iraqi security and U.S. forces.
Germany Pulls 2 Suspects From Plane
Source Article HERE.
From 'Washington Post': Two terrorism suspects who had left notes saying they were willing to die for "jihad" were pulled off a flight at the Cologne-Bonn airport Friday morning, moments before it was scheduled to depart, authorities said. The Somali-born men were planning to fly to Uganda via Amsterdam, then on to Pakistan, according to German media reports. An increasing number of Muslim radicals have left Germany to be trained at militant camps in Pakistan, where according to counterterrorism officials they are plotting attacks back in Europe.
On Thursday, federal prosecutors issued a public alert seeking information on the whereabouts of two other men believed to have returned to Germany after attending terrorist camps in Pakistan. Last week, police near Frankfurt arrested two more men who had gone to Pakistan for training and charged them with belonging to a cell that plotted to bomb U.S. targets in Germany last year.
Authorities identified the two men arrested Friday at the Cologne-Bonn airport as Abdirazak B., 23, a Somali national, and Omar D., 24, a German citizen born in Mogadishu. German authorities customarily withhold the surnames of suspects. The suspects had boarded KLM Flight 1804 for Amsterdam but were removed from the plane by police at 6:55 a.m. local time, just as it was preparing to pull away from its gate for departure, airport officials said. A KLM spokesman said all passengers were taken off the plane until police could locate luggage belonging to the suspects. Officials said that no weapons or explosives were found and that the flight was allowed to depart after an 80-minute delay.
Police officials said they moved to arrest the men after searching their apartments and finding notes suggesting they intended to carry out a suicide mission. "They are under suspicion of intending to participate in the jihad and in possible attacks," Frank Scheulen, a spokesman for police in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, told German television. "Farewell letters were written." The German newspaper Bild reported that the suspects had been under surveillance for months. Michaela Heyer, a North Rhine-Westphalia police spokeswoman, said the suspects had been living near Cologne, but she declined to comment further.
German counterterrorism officials have said the country faces a heightened risk of attack partly because of its continuing participation in the NATO-led military mission in Afghanistan. Germany announced in June that it would expand its role, adding 1,000 troops to the 3,500 already based there. German intelligence officials have said that they have identified about 25 suspected radicals who have gone to Pakistan for training but acknowledged that they don't know the full extent of the problem.
"We have to be careful not to say we have dozens and dozens and dozens of people in the camps," said Rolf Tophoven, an analyst with the Institute for Terrorism Research and Security Policy in Essen. "But one is all it takes to carry out an attack. These people are highly motivated, very professionally trained and are capable of killing many people."
On Thursday, federal prosecutors issued wanted posters and arrest warrants for Eric Breininger, 21, a German citizen and convert to Islam, and Houssain al-Malla, 23, a native of Lebanon. Officials said they had evidence that the men had returned to Europe after attending camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Both men are suspected of involvement with a group called the Islamic Jihad Union, which was accused of planning attacks against U.S. targets in Germany a year ago.
Last week, German police arrested two other suspected members of that group. Omid Shirkhani, 27, a German citizen of Afghan descent, and Huseyin Ozgun, a 27-year-old Turkish national, were taken into custody Sept. 19 near Frankfurt. Federal prosecutors said Shirkhani and Ozgun had traveled separately to Pakistan during 2007 to receive training at camps operated by the Islamic Jihad Union, which is allied with al-Qaeda. Authorities said the two men may have been aware of plans by other accused members of the group to bomb U.S. targets in Germany a year ago, though they were not charged with playing a direct role.
Earlier this month, prosecutors filed an indictment against three suspected ringleaders of last year's plot and said the trio had discussed a number of possible bombing targets, including U.S. military bases in Germany. Those three defendants were arrested Sept. 4, 2007, in the rural village of Oberschledorn as they allegedly transferred bombmaking chemicals from a rented house. Police said they had stockpiled more than 1,500 pounds of chemicals to make explosives and had smuggled detonators from Turkey.
From 'Washington Post': Two terrorism suspects who had left notes saying they were willing to die for "jihad" were pulled off a flight at the Cologne-Bonn airport Friday morning, moments before it was scheduled to depart, authorities said. The Somali-born men were planning to fly to Uganda via Amsterdam, then on to Pakistan, according to German media reports. An increasing number of Muslim radicals have left Germany to be trained at militant camps in Pakistan, where according to counterterrorism officials they are plotting attacks back in Europe.
On Thursday, federal prosecutors issued a public alert seeking information on the whereabouts of two other men believed to have returned to Germany after attending terrorist camps in Pakistan. Last week, police near Frankfurt arrested two more men who had gone to Pakistan for training and charged them with belonging to a cell that plotted to bomb U.S. targets in Germany last year.
Authorities identified the two men arrested Friday at the Cologne-Bonn airport as Abdirazak B., 23, a Somali national, and Omar D., 24, a German citizen born in Mogadishu. German authorities customarily withhold the surnames of suspects. The suspects had boarded KLM Flight 1804 for Amsterdam but were removed from the plane by police at 6:55 a.m. local time, just as it was preparing to pull away from its gate for departure, airport officials said. A KLM spokesman said all passengers were taken off the plane until police could locate luggage belonging to the suspects. Officials said that no weapons or explosives were found and that the flight was allowed to depart after an 80-minute delay.
Police officials said they moved to arrest the men after searching their apartments and finding notes suggesting they intended to carry out a suicide mission. "They are under suspicion of intending to participate in the jihad and in possible attacks," Frank Scheulen, a spokesman for police in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, told German television. "Farewell letters were written." The German newspaper Bild reported that the suspects had been under surveillance for months. Michaela Heyer, a North Rhine-Westphalia police spokeswoman, said the suspects had been living near Cologne, but she declined to comment further.
German counterterrorism officials have said the country faces a heightened risk of attack partly because of its continuing participation in the NATO-led military mission in Afghanistan. Germany announced in June that it would expand its role, adding 1,000 troops to the 3,500 already based there. German intelligence officials have said that they have identified about 25 suspected radicals who have gone to Pakistan for training but acknowledged that they don't know the full extent of the problem.
"We have to be careful not to say we have dozens and dozens and dozens of people in the camps," said Rolf Tophoven, an analyst with the Institute for Terrorism Research and Security Policy in Essen. "But one is all it takes to carry out an attack. These people are highly motivated, very professionally trained and are capable of killing many people."
On Thursday, federal prosecutors issued wanted posters and arrest warrants for Eric Breininger, 21, a German citizen and convert to Islam, and Houssain al-Malla, 23, a native of Lebanon. Officials said they had evidence that the men had returned to Europe after attending camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Both men are suspected of involvement with a group called the Islamic Jihad Union, which was accused of planning attacks against U.S. targets in Germany a year ago.
Last week, German police arrested two other suspected members of that group. Omid Shirkhani, 27, a German citizen of Afghan descent, and Huseyin Ozgun, a 27-year-old Turkish national, were taken into custody Sept. 19 near Frankfurt. Federal prosecutors said Shirkhani and Ozgun had traveled separately to Pakistan during 2007 to receive training at camps operated by the Islamic Jihad Union, which is allied with al-Qaeda. Authorities said the two men may have been aware of plans by other accused members of the group to bomb U.S. targets in Germany a year ago, though they were not charged with playing a direct role.
Earlier this month, prosecutors filed an indictment against three suspected ringleaders of last year's plot and said the trio had discussed a number of possible bombing targets, including U.S. military bases in Germany. Those three defendants were arrested Sept. 4, 2007, in the rural village of Oberschledorn as they allegedly transferred bombmaking chemicals from a rented house. Police said they had stockpiled more than 1,500 pounds of chemicals to make explosives and had smuggled detonators from Turkey.
MNFI Press Release - Sept 27
IP, IA, COALITION SOLDIERS SEIZE WEAPONS CACHES
Iraqi Police (IP) and Muliti-National Soldiers seized weapons caches in the Baghdad area on September 26th. Soldiers serving with Company A, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, found a weapons cache in the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad at approximately 9 a.m. The munitions consisted of (9) AK-47 rifles, (6) grenades, (2) cans of blasting caps, (2) Iraqi Police uniforms, (10) digital cameras and a VHS camcorder.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., IP serving with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, found a cache in the West Rashid District of Baghdad. The munitions included (10) 60 mm mortar rounds, (6) Iranian-manufactured 81 mm mortar rounds, (9) 82 mm mortar rounds, (1) white phosphorous 82 mm mortar round, (1) 120 mm mortar round, (1) 100 mm high-explosive projectile, (13) 85 mm rounds, (2) Iranian-manufactured anti-tank rounds, (1) Iranian manufactured AT-1 PG-7, (8) expelling charges, (3) hand grenades, (1) mills bomb, propellant for the PG-7, (1) improvised grenade, (1) 6-inch long improvised-explosive device filled with approximately 1.5 pounds of explosives, (1) IED encased in foam consisting of (2) 82 mm mortar rounds, (1) 57 mm projectile and (1) bottle of homemade explosives.
With the help from a tip from a local citizen, Soldiers serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, found (6) 107 mm rounds in a canal northwest of Baghdad at approximately 9:15 p.m.
Approximately two hours later, northwest of Baghdad, IA soldiers serving with the 4th Battalion, 24th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, found what appeared to be (5) jugs of nitrogen and called for an assessment by EOD. An EOD team from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, identified the the materials as (4) five-gallon jugs of diesel fuel and (1) five gallon jug of sugar, which were likely to be used as a bomb inside a house.
“Through the combined efforts of Iraqi Policemen, Iraqi Soldiers, an Iraqi citizen, and Coalition Soldiers, a substantial amount of munitions were removed as potential threats by militants and extremists who continue to attempt to disrupt the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians,” said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, spokesman for Multi-National Division – Baghdad and the 4th Infantry Division. “The ISF and MND-B forces dedication to safeguarding local residents continues to pay huge dividends in helping secure the peace in Baghdad.”
COALITION FORCES DETAIN 12 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS
A dozen suspected terrorists were captured on Saturday as Coalition forces continued to cripple the ability of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) to conduct violent terrorist activities. During five coordinated operations in Mosul and nearby Al Qasr (about 15 km southeast of Mosul), forces zeroed in on AQI vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) networks Saturday. They were targeting a wanted man believed to have planned and executed multiple car bomb attacks against Iraqi citizens and Coalition forces. Five suspected terrorists assessed to be associates of the wanted man were captured during the raids.
Also on Saturday, Coalition forces detained two suspects during an operation 80 km southeast of Kirkuk, while targeting a wanted man who intelligence reports suggest is an AQI operative with various connections to AQI regional leaders. Additionally, the wanted man is allegedly involved in information gathering operations used to plan attacks against Iraqi security and Coalition forces in the area. Acting on tips from detainees already in custody, Coalition forces also targeted senior AQI leadership networks in Bayji on Saturday, approximately 160 km south of Mosul. Three suspects were apprehended during the operation. Coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists during a raid on Saturday 116 km northeast of Baghdad. The detainees are believed to be associated with regional AQI leaders in Northern Diyala.
COALITION CATCHES 5 KATA'IB HEZBOLLAH SUSPECTS
Coalition forces apprehended five members of the Kata'ib Hezbollah network on Saturday morning in new Baghdad. Acting on intelligence information, Coalition forces targeted suspected criminals linked to recent rocket attacks against Iraqi Security and Coalition forces. Kata'ib Hezbollah funnels weapons and materiel into Iraq from Iran, which is then used to conduct attacks against Iraqi Security and Coalition forces. Coalition members captured the five suspects in three separate locations without incident. Coalition forces have captured more than 30 Kata'ib Hezbollah criminals in the last two months. Kata'ib Hezbollah is assessed to be a proxy of Iran, and its members are believed to employ improvised rocket assisted mortars as well as explosively formed penetrators in civilian areas.
Iraqi Police (IP) and Muliti-National Soldiers seized weapons caches in the Baghdad area on September 26th. Soldiers serving with Company A, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, found a weapons cache in the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad at approximately 9 a.m. The munitions consisted of (9) AK-47 rifles, (6) grenades, (2) cans of blasting caps, (2) Iraqi Police uniforms, (10) digital cameras and a VHS camcorder.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., IP serving with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, found a cache in the West Rashid District of Baghdad. The munitions included (10) 60 mm mortar rounds, (6) Iranian-manufactured 81 mm mortar rounds, (9) 82 mm mortar rounds, (1) white phosphorous 82 mm mortar round, (1) 120 mm mortar round, (1) 100 mm high-explosive projectile, (13) 85 mm rounds, (2) Iranian-manufactured anti-tank rounds, (1) Iranian manufactured AT-1 PG-7, (8) expelling charges, (3) hand grenades, (1) mills bomb, propellant for the PG-7, (1) improvised grenade, (1) 6-inch long improvised-explosive device filled with approximately 1.5 pounds of explosives, (1) IED encased in foam consisting of (2) 82 mm mortar rounds, (1) 57 mm projectile and (1) bottle of homemade explosives.
With the help from a tip from a local citizen, Soldiers serving with Company C, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, found (6) 107 mm rounds in a canal northwest of Baghdad at approximately 9:15 p.m.
Approximately two hours later, northwest of Baghdad, IA soldiers serving with the 4th Battalion, 24th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, found what appeared to be (5) jugs of nitrogen and called for an assessment by EOD. An EOD team from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, identified the the materials as (4) five-gallon jugs of diesel fuel and (1) five gallon jug of sugar, which were likely to be used as a bomb inside a house.
“Through the combined efforts of Iraqi Policemen, Iraqi Soldiers, an Iraqi citizen, and Coalition Soldiers, a substantial amount of munitions were removed as potential threats by militants and extremists who continue to attempt to disrupt the lives of innocent Iraqi civilians,” said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, spokesman for Multi-National Division – Baghdad and the 4th Infantry Division. “The ISF and MND-B forces dedication to safeguarding local residents continues to pay huge dividends in helping secure the peace in Baghdad.”
COALITION FORCES DETAIN 12 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS
A dozen suspected terrorists were captured on Saturday as Coalition forces continued to cripple the ability of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) to conduct violent terrorist activities. During five coordinated operations in Mosul and nearby Al Qasr (about 15 km southeast of Mosul), forces zeroed in on AQI vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) networks Saturday. They were targeting a wanted man believed to have planned and executed multiple car bomb attacks against Iraqi citizens and Coalition forces. Five suspected terrorists assessed to be associates of the wanted man were captured during the raids.
Also on Saturday, Coalition forces detained two suspects during an operation 80 km southeast of Kirkuk, while targeting a wanted man who intelligence reports suggest is an AQI operative with various connections to AQI regional leaders. Additionally, the wanted man is allegedly involved in information gathering operations used to plan attacks against Iraqi security and Coalition forces in the area. Acting on tips from detainees already in custody, Coalition forces also targeted senior AQI leadership networks in Bayji on Saturday, approximately 160 km south of Mosul. Three suspects were apprehended during the operation. Coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists during a raid on Saturday 116 km northeast of Baghdad. The detainees are believed to be associated with regional AQI leaders in Northern Diyala.
COALITION CATCHES 5 KATA'IB HEZBOLLAH SUSPECTS
Coalition forces apprehended five members of the Kata'ib Hezbollah network on Saturday morning in new Baghdad. Acting on intelligence information, Coalition forces targeted suspected criminals linked to recent rocket attacks against Iraqi Security and Coalition forces. Kata'ib Hezbollah funnels weapons and materiel into Iraq from Iran, which is then used to conduct attacks against Iraqi Security and Coalition forces. Coalition members captured the five suspects in three separate locations without incident. Coalition forces have captured more than 30 Kata'ib Hezbollah criminals in the last two months. Kata'ib Hezbollah is assessed to be a proxy of Iran, and its members are believed to employ improvised rocket assisted mortars as well as explosively formed penetrators in civilian areas.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Al-Qaeda Commander Killed In US Strike
Source Article HERE.
From 'The News' (Pakistan): Three out of seven people killed in Wednesday's US drone attack on Baghar village of South Waziristan Agency included two Arabs, one of them a senior al-Qaeda commander, and one hailing from the Punjab. Sources close to the tribal militants said that the two Arabs were identified as Jiran, the al-Qaeda commander, and Sabri while the name of the militant commander from the Punjab could not be ascertained.
A senior militant commander, who wished not to be named, said all the three men were sitting in a vehicle parked in front of a mud-built house in Baghar village near Angoor Adda when two US drones fired four Hellfire missiles, killing them and four others staying in the house. He said Jiran was appointed as al-Qaeda's operational commander for a particular region in Afghanistan when another senior al-Qaeda commander Abu Imam died in fighting with the US forces near Bagram in Afghanistan three months ago.
"Jiran was a senior operational commander and was mostly living in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He used to change his locations due to continuous surveillance by the US spy planes on the border villages," said the tribal militant commander. He suspected it was possible that some Afghan nomads might have spied on the militants living in Baghar village.
Despite repeated protests lodged by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over non-stop US air strikes on Pakistani tribal villages, two American spy planes again entered South Waziristan on Thursday evening and were seen flying over the area till the filing of this report. Tribal sources from Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, reported that two US drones entered there on Thursday evening and were seen flying over Wana, Azam Warsak, Dabkot, Birmal and other adjoining villages.
"Both the planes are continuously flying over Wana and adjoining villages which has again created panic among the tribesmen. Whenever two US planes come here, they definitely carry out strikes," said a local tribesman.
From 'The News' (Pakistan): Three out of seven people killed in Wednesday's US drone attack on Baghar village of South Waziristan Agency included two Arabs, one of them a senior al-Qaeda commander, and one hailing from the Punjab. Sources close to the tribal militants said that the two Arabs were identified as Jiran, the al-Qaeda commander, and Sabri while the name of the militant commander from the Punjab could not be ascertained.
A senior militant commander, who wished not to be named, said all the three men were sitting in a vehicle parked in front of a mud-built house in Baghar village near Angoor Adda when two US drones fired four Hellfire missiles, killing them and four others staying in the house. He said Jiran was appointed as al-Qaeda's operational commander for a particular region in Afghanistan when another senior al-Qaeda commander Abu Imam died in fighting with the US forces near Bagram in Afghanistan three months ago.
"Jiran was a senior operational commander and was mostly living in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He used to change his locations due to continuous surveillance by the US spy planes on the border villages," said the tribal militant commander. He suspected it was possible that some Afghan nomads might have spied on the militants living in Baghar village.
Despite repeated protests lodged by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over non-stop US air strikes on Pakistani tribal villages, two American spy planes again entered South Waziristan on Thursday evening and were seen flying over the area till the filing of this report. Tribal sources from Wana, headquarters of South Waziristan, reported that two US drones entered there on Thursday evening and were seen flying over Wana, Azam Warsak, Dabkot, Birmal and other adjoining villages.
"Both the planes are continuously flying over Wana and adjoining villages which has again created panic among the tribesmen. Whenever two US planes come here, they definitely carry out strikes," said a local tribesman.
Computer Terror Teenager Jailed
Source Article HERE.
From BBC: The youngest person in Britain to have been convicted under the Terrorism Act has been sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution. Hammaad Munshi, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was 16 when he was arrested in 2006. Police found a guide to making napalm on his computer. Now 18, he was convicted of making a record of information likely to be used for terrorist purposes. The Old Bailey judge said he had been influenced by "fanatical extremists". Judge Timothy Pontius said: "There is no doubt that you knew what you were doing." During his trial at Blackfriars Crown Court, the jury heard that Munshi had spent many hours viewing jihadist websites and had downloaded guides to making napalm, detonators and explosives.
Hammaad Munshi (left). Aabid Khan and Sultan Muhammad.
Munshi was convicted alongside two other men, Aabid Khan and Sultan Muhammad. Khan, 23, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was said to be a "key player" in radicalisation via the internet. He was accused by prosecutors of "inciting others to take part in [jihad] and arranging for himself and others to attend military training in Pakistan in preparation for going to fight and, inevitably, to kill". Munshi was said to have been recruited by Khan when he was just 15.
Detective Chief Superintendent John Parkinson from the West Yorkshire counter-terrorism unit told the BBC's Asian Network that all three were dangerous individuals who were not just curious about extremist material. "They'd gone out of their way to possess information about how to construct explosive devices, information about how to carry out acts of terrorism. They were pieces of information that had to be specifically sought out, and has therefore definitely stepped over that criminal threshold."
The trial heard that Munshi was desperate to go and fight and went by the online name of "fidadee", meaning a "person ready to sacrifice himself". He also had a discussion with Khan, via an internet messaging service, about how someone might smuggle a sword through airport security. Police said they found al-Qaeda propaganda on his computer and notes on martyrdom hidden under his bed. The teenager was cleared of possessing terrorist material, but the judge said the nature of what downloaded made it a "particularly serious offence". He told the boy...
Khan was sentenced in August to 12 years for possessing or making documents promoting terrorism. His cousin Muhammad, 23, also from Bradford, was sentenced to 10 years for similar offences under the Terrorism Act.
From BBC: The youngest person in Britain to have been convicted under the Terrorism Act has been sentenced to two years in a young offenders' institution. Hammaad Munshi, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, was 16 when he was arrested in 2006. Police found a guide to making napalm on his computer. Now 18, he was convicted of making a record of information likely to be used for terrorist purposes. The Old Bailey judge said he had been influenced by "fanatical extremists". Judge Timothy Pontius said: "There is no doubt that you knew what you were doing." During his trial at Blackfriars Crown Court, the jury heard that Munshi had spent many hours viewing jihadist websites and had downloaded guides to making napalm, detonators and explosives.
Hammaad Munshi (left). Aabid Khan and Sultan Muhammad.
Munshi was convicted alongside two other men, Aabid Khan and Sultan Muhammad. Khan, 23, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was said to be a "key player" in radicalisation via the internet. He was accused by prosecutors of "inciting others to take part in [jihad] and arranging for himself and others to attend military training in Pakistan in preparation for going to fight and, inevitably, to kill". Munshi was said to have been recruited by Khan when he was just 15.
Detective Chief Superintendent John Parkinson from the West Yorkshire counter-terrorism unit told the BBC's Asian Network that all three were dangerous individuals who were not just curious about extremist material. "They'd gone out of their way to possess information about how to construct explosive devices, information about how to carry out acts of terrorism. They were pieces of information that had to be specifically sought out, and has therefore definitely stepped over that criminal threshold."
The trial heard that Munshi was desperate to go and fight and went by the online name of "fidadee", meaning a "person ready to sacrifice himself". He also had a discussion with Khan, via an internet messaging service, about how someone might smuggle a sword through airport security. Police said they found al-Qaeda propaganda on his computer and notes on martyrdom hidden under his bed. The teenager was cleared of possessing terrorist material, but the judge said the nature of what downloaded made it a "particularly serious offence". He told the boy...
You have brought very great shame upon yourself, your family and your religion. However, in the light of the evidence, I have no doubt at all that you, amongst other of similar immaturity and vulnerability, fell under the spell of fanatical extremists, and your co-defendant Aabid Khan in particular. They took advantage of your youthful naivety in order to indoctrinate you with pernicious and warped ideas masquerading as altruistic religious zeal. Were it not for Aabid Khan's malign influence, I doubt this offence would ever have been committed.
Khan was sentenced in August to 12 years for possessing or making documents promoting terrorism. His cousin Muhammad, 23, also from Bradford, was sentenced to 10 years for similar offences under the Terrorism Act.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
MNFI Press Release - Sept 17
COALITION, IRAQIS COMPLETE OPERATION VIPER PURSUIT
Soldiers with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry teamed up with 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain’s VIPER Military Transition Team and elements of the Iraqi Army, conducted Operation Viper Pursuit to disrupt local terrorist cells within the Sulayman Bak area August 1-30. Operation Viper Pursuit combined air and ground assaults to cordon and search specific parts of local villages. Because of these combined efforts, more than 30 terrorists were detained during the month-long operation. “We really took them by surprise by establishing an extended presence in Sulyman Bak, that’s something we’ve never tried before,” said Spc. Sean Bizarres, a radio telephone operator with Headquarters Platoon, Bravo Company.
The joint effort has helped in paving a way for the ISF to eventually take over operations in the area. Bravo Company has worked especially close with the Iraqi 4th Division, Quick Reaction Force, by conducting numerous joint operations in the area ranging from cache searches, cordon and searches of urban areas, to air assaults and raids. “They are the best group of Iraqi soldiers I’ve worked with during my two deployments to Iraq,” said Sgt. Jeremy Walker, a squad leader in 3rd Platoon, Bravo Co. During the operation, Viper MiTT and Bravo Co., also conducted a reconciliation screening, which allowed local Iraqis an opportunity to clear their name of being involved with insurgent activity. At the conclusion of Operation Viper Pursuit, the Provincial Governor, Hamad Hammoud Shekti, visited the town to meet with local leaders and members as well as several sites in the town to demonstrate the strength of the security in Sulyman Bak. Though his visit was brief, it represented the dawn of a new opportunity for Sulyman Bak as Iraqi government officials demonstrated their care for the residents and progress of the village.
MULTI-NATIONAL SOLDIERS FIND ORDINANCE, DETAIN 4
Multi-National Soldiers found unexploded ordnance and detained four Special Groups criminals in Baghdad’s Rashid district on September 13-14. At approximately 8:15 p.m., on September 13th, Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, found an 82 mm mortar round in the Jihad community. An explosives ordnance disposal unit took the mortar round to a forward operating base for analysis and destruction. At approximately 10 p.m. on September 13th, Soldiers from Company C also detained a Special Groups criminal allegedly responsible for recent sectarian attacks in the Jihad and Furat communities.
At approximately 12:30 a.m. on September 14th, Soldiers from Troop A, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th ID, detained a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq associate in the Hadar community. Approximately 20 minutes later, National Policemen from the 3rd Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, detained two suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq members in the Masafee community. “The 1st “Raider” Brigade continues to pursue criminals in the Rashid district, working shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts, the Iraqi Security Forces, to keep the people of the Rashid district safe and provide the Government of Iraq the freedom to operate,” said Lt. Col. Paul Hossenlopp, deputy commander, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div. “With the cooperation of Iraqi citizens, our Soldiers can rid the streets of criminals and violence.”
Soldiers with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry teamed up with 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain’s VIPER Military Transition Team and elements of the Iraqi Army, conducted Operation Viper Pursuit to disrupt local terrorist cells within the Sulayman Bak area August 1-30. Operation Viper Pursuit combined air and ground assaults to cordon and search specific parts of local villages. Because of these combined efforts, more than 30 terrorists were detained during the month-long operation. “We really took them by surprise by establishing an extended presence in Sulyman Bak, that’s something we’ve never tried before,” said Spc. Sean Bizarres, a radio telephone operator with Headquarters Platoon, Bravo Company.
The joint effort has helped in paving a way for the ISF to eventually take over operations in the area. Bravo Company has worked especially close with the Iraqi 4th Division, Quick Reaction Force, by conducting numerous joint operations in the area ranging from cache searches, cordon and searches of urban areas, to air assaults and raids. “They are the best group of Iraqi soldiers I’ve worked with during my two deployments to Iraq,” said Sgt. Jeremy Walker, a squad leader in 3rd Platoon, Bravo Co. During the operation, Viper MiTT and Bravo Co., also conducted a reconciliation screening, which allowed local Iraqis an opportunity to clear their name of being involved with insurgent activity. At the conclusion of Operation Viper Pursuit, the Provincial Governor, Hamad Hammoud Shekti, visited the town to meet with local leaders and members as well as several sites in the town to demonstrate the strength of the security in Sulyman Bak. Though his visit was brief, it represented the dawn of a new opportunity for Sulyman Bak as Iraqi government officials demonstrated their care for the residents and progress of the village.
MULTI-NATIONAL SOLDIERS FIND ORDINANCE, DETAIN 4
Multi-National Soldiers found unexploded ordnance and detained four Special Groups criminals in Baghdad’s Rashid district on September 13-14. At approximately 8:15 p.m., on September 13th, Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, found an 82 mm mortar round in the Jihad community. An explosives ordnance disposal unit took the mortar round to a forward operating base for analysis and destruction. At approximately 10 p.m. on September 13th, Soldiers from Company C also detained a Special Groups criminal allegedly responsible for recent sectarian attacks in the Jihad and Furat communities.
At approximately 12:30 a.m. on September 14th, Soldiers from Troop A, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st BCT, 4th ID, detained a suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq associate in the Hadar community. Approximately 20 minutes later, National Policemen from the 3rd Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, detained two suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq members in the Masafee community. “The 1st “Raider” Brigade continues to pursue criminals in the Rashid district, working shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts, the Iraqi Security Forces, to keep the people of the Rashid district safe and provide the Government of Iraq the freedom to operate,” said Lt. Col. Paul Hossenlopp, deputy commander, 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div. “With the cooperation of Iraqi citizens, our Soldiers can rid the streets of criminals and violence.”
Sunday, September 14, 2008
MNFI Press Release - Sept 14
OPS DEGRADE AL-QAEDA ATTACK CAPABILITIES
Coalition forces captured three wanted men and detained five additional suspects during operations in central and northern Iraq targeting al-Qaeda (AQI) operations and attack cells on Saturday and Sunday. Two precision operations in the Baghdad area Sunday netted suspects wanted for their alleged roles in AQI attacks. A man captured in the city is reportedly a bombing-cell leader who procures explosives for attacks and helps foreign terrorists move into and around Baghdad. West of Abu Ghraib, Coalition forces captured a suspected weapons dealer. Intelligence reports indicate the man was conspiring with known terrorists to coordinate a suicide operation.
On Saturday, Coalition forces west of Kirkuk captured a wanted man believed to provide explosives to terrorist cells. The wanted man, who was detained with three associates, is also reportedly involved in propaganda production and distribution for AQI in the Kirkuk area. Also on Saturday, Coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists northwest of Mosul during an operation targeting associates of AQI senior leaders.
INP, MND-B SOLDIERS SEIZE WEAPONS CACHES IN BAGHDAD
Iraqi National Police (INP) and MultiNational Division–Baghdad Soldiers seized weapons caches throughout Baghdad on Saturday, September 13th. At approximately 8 a.m., policemen with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, seized (18) grenades, (10) AK47s, (15) AK47 magazines with ammunition, and more than 1,700 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and eight load-bearing vests in the New Baghdad area of Baghdad. Later, at approximately noon, a local citizen turned in a 60 mm mortar round and a rocket-propelled grenade round to Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, who were conducting a dismounted patrol in the New Baghdad area of Baghdad. "The Iraqi Police, along with local citizens, continue to make a difference every day as they continue to remove these weapons from the streets of Baghdad," said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, spokesman, MND-B and the 4th Inf. Div.
IA, MND-B SOLDIERS DETAIN SUSPECTED SPECIAL GROUPS LEADER
Iraqi Amry (IA) and MultiNational Division-Baghdad (MND-B) Soldiers detained a suspected Special Groups leader in Baghdad’s Rashid district on September 12th. At approximately 10:20 a.m., soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 53rd Brigade, 14th Iraqi Army Division, and Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B arrested a suspected Special Groups leader in the Jihad community. The suspect is responsible for an attack on Baghdad International Airport, on July 10th. "Coalition forces continue to pursue criminals in the Rashid district," said Lt. Col. Paul Hossenlopp, deputy commander, 1st BCT, 4th ID, MND-B.
Coalition forces captured three wanted men and detained five additional suspects during operations in central and northern Iraq targeting al-Qaeda (AQI) operations and attack cells on Saturday and Sunday. Two precision operations in the Baghdad area Sunday netted suspects wanted for their alleged roles in AQI attacks. A man captured in the city is reportedly a bombing-cell leader who procures explosives for attacks and helps foreign terrorists move into and around Baghdad. West of Abu Ghraib, Coalition forces captured a suspected weapons dealer. Intelligence reports indicate the man was conspiring with known terrorists to coordinate a suicide operation.
On Saturday, Coalition forces west of Kirkuk captured a wanted man believed to provide explosives to terrorist cells. The wanted man, who was detained with three associates, is also reportedly involved in propaganda production and distribution for AQI in the Kirkuk area. Also on Saturday, Coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists northwest of Mosul during an operation targeting associates of AQI senior leaders.
INP, MND-B SOLDIERS SEIZE WEAPONS CACHES IN BAGHDAD
Iraqi National Police (INP) and MultiNational Division–Baghdad Soldiers seized weapons caches throughout Baghdad on Saturday, September 13th. At approximately 8 a.m., policemen with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, seized (18) grenades, (10) AK47s, (15) AK47 magazines with ammunition, and more than 1,700 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and eight load-bearing vests in the New Baghdad area of Baghdad. Later, at approximately noon, a local citizen turned in a 60 mm mortar round and a rocket-propelled grenade round to Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, who were conducting a dismounted patrol in the New Baghdad area of Baghdad. "The Iraqi Police, along with local citizens, continue to make a difference every day as they continue to remove these weapons from the streets of Baghdad," said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, spokesman, MND-B and the 4th Inf. Div.
IA, MND-B SOLDIERS DETAIN SUSPECTED SPECIAL GROUPS LEADER
Iraqi Amry (IA) and MultiNational Division-Baghdad (MND-B) Soldiers detained a suspected Special Groups leader in Baghdad’s Rashid district on September 12th. At approximately 10:20 a.m., soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 53rd Brigade, 14th Iraqi Army Division, and Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B arrested a suspected Special Groups leader in the Jihad community. The suspect is responsible for an attack on Baghdad International Airport, on July 10th. "Coalition forces continue to pursue criminals in the Rashid district," said Lt. Col. Paul Hossenlopp, deputy commander, 1st BCT, 4th ID, MND-B.
Monday, September 1, 2008
U.S. Hands Back Security Of Anbar Province
Source Article HERE.
From 'International Herald Tribune': The U.S. military on Monday handed over to the Iraqi government responsibility for the security of the western province of Anbar, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency and one of the most violent regions in Iraq. The transfer was made possible, Iraqi and U.S. officials said, by an increase in Iraqi security forces and a reduction of violence largely attributed to the local forces known as Awakening Councils. It is the first handover of a province bordering Baghdad. Other provinces that have been shifted to Iraqi control have been in the less troublesome south and in the northern Kurdish region.
Iraqi security forces at Anbar handover ceremony in Ramadi - Sept. 1
The transfer ceremony took place in the center of Ramadi, which two years ago was destroyed by almost daily battles between the U.S. military and insurgents. Now, Ramadi has largely been rebuilt, and the number of deaths of American soldiers has fallen to near zero. "You have lost a lot of blood and life to reach this day," said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, on Monday. "This would have been a dream two or three years ago. This was the cradle of Al Qaeda."
President George W. Bush hailed the handover in a statement released by the White House, praising "the courage of our troops, the Iraqi Security Forces, and the brave tribes and other civilians from Anbar who worked alongside them." The United States military has reduced the number of its troops in Anbar to 25,000 from 37,000 in February and the Iraqi police force has grown to 28,000, up from 5,000 three years ago, according to the U.S. Marine Corps. American forces were originally scheduled to transfer control in late June, but the transfer was postponed. At the time, U.S. military officials said that a dust storm had made it impossible to fly dignitaries in for a ceremony.
From 'International Herald Tribune': The U.S. military on Monday handed over to the Iraqi government responsibility for the security of the western province of Anbar, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency and one of the most violent regions in Iraq. The transfer was made possible, Iraqi and U.S. officials said, by an increase in Iraqi security forces and a reduction of violence largely attributed to the local forces known as Awakening Councils. It is the first handover of a province bordering Baghdad. Other provinces that have been shifted to Iraqi control have been in the less troublesome south and in the northern Kurdish region.
Iraqi security forces at Anbar handover ceremony in Ramadi - Sept. 1
The transfer ceremony took place in the center of Ramadi, which two years ago was destroyed by almost daily battles between the U.S. military and insurgents. Now, Ramadi has largely been rebuilt, and the number of deaths of American soldiers has fallen to near zero. "You have lost a lot of blood and life to reach this day," said Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, on Monday. "This would have been a dream two or three years ago. This was the cradle of Al Qaeda."
President George W. Bush hailed the handover in a statement released by the White House, praising "the courage of our troops, the Iraqi Security Forces, and the brave tribes and other civilians from Anbar who worked alongside them." The United States military has reduced the number of its troops in Anbar to 25,000 from 37,000 in February and the Iraqi police force has grown to 28,000, up from 5,000 three years ago, according to the U.S. Marine Corps. American forces were originally scheduled to transfer control in late June, but the transfer was postponed. At the time, U.S. military officials said that a dust storm had made it impossible to fly dignitaries in for a ceremony.
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