Posted on 05/10/2005 3:51:36 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter
U.S. assault leaves 100 militants dead - Mission near the Iraq-Syria border targets followers of terrorist leader.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Hundreds of American troops backed by helicopter gunships and warplanes swept into remote desert villages near the Syrian border Monday, hunting for followers of Iraq's most wanted terrorist and reportedly killing as many as 100 militants since the weekend operation began.
The U.S. military said some foreign fighters were believed among the insurgents killed in the first 48 hours of the assault, which began late Saturday in the border town of Qaim, about 200 miles west of Baghdad. At least three Marines were killed in the region, it said.
U.S. officials described the area as a known smuggling route and a haven for foreign fighters involved in Iraq's insurgency. It was the biggest U.S. offensive since the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah fell last fall.
The offensive was being conducted by Regimental Combat Team 2, a joint force of about 1,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers commanded by the 2nd Marine Division, and expected to last several days in an area along the Euphrates River in the al-Jazirah Desert, said Capt. Jeffrey Pool, a Marine spokesman.
A senior military official in Washington said the offensive was targeting followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, who are believed operating in the remote region.
"This is an area which we believe has been pretty heavy with foreign insurgents from many different areas -- Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine," said Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq. "That's a fairly porous area of the border because of the terrain."
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, speaking on the sidelines of a summit between Arab and South American nations in Brasilia, Brazil, said that Iraqis are getting closer to capturing al-Zarqawi.
"He's hiding himself," said Zebari. "But there have been a number of successes against his organization."
Acting on information from a captured al-Zarqawi associate, U.S. forces moved into Qaim overnight Saturday, killing six insurgents and detaining 54 suspects, the military said in a statement. Local residents were providing a "wealth of information," about the insurgency and foreign fighters in their area, Pool said.
On Sunday, troops moved into villages in and around Obeidi, a town about 185 miles west of Baghdad, and started to pushed north across the Euphrates.
"Our analysis is that there's a foreign fighter flow from Syria," said Col. Stephen Davis, commander of Regimental Combat Team 2.
The push comes amid a surge of militant attacks that have killed more than 310 people since April 28, when the new Iraqi government was announced.
Saudi police arrest Al Qaeda suspect after shootout
RIYADH - Saudi authorities said on Tuesday they had arrested a suspected Islamist militant wounded in a shootout with police who found his car packed with explosives and weapons.
The interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency that the man belonged to the �deviant group,� the term used by Saudi authorities to describe the Al Qaeda terro network of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.
The firefight in a district east of the capital Riyadh on Monday was the latest such incident in the oil-rich kingdom where extremists have been targeted by the government since a wave of attacks erupted in May 2003.
The suspect had refused to show police his identification after leaving his car, then "opened fire in the direction of security force members and tried to flee in another car", a ministry official said.
"There was an exchange of fire with him and he was wounded," he said.
Security forces found powerful explosives, grenades and other weapons including Kalashnikov assault rifles, ammunition and about 20,000 Saudi riyals (about 5,000 dollars).
Previously an interior ministry spokesman had said that two suspects were hit in the gunfight without disclosing their condition, while Al-Watan newspaper reported that one had managed to escape.
In another shootout north of Riyadh in early April, which lasted for three days 15 suspected members of Al Qaeda�s Saudi branch were killed.
Iraqi border guards now number 20,000, arresting insurgents by the hundreds
WASHINGTON -- The chief of border patrol training in Iraq believes the U.S. has now "turned a corner" in setting up an Iraqi border force.
Colonel William Wenger tells Associated Press Network News 20,000 border guards have been trained. And he says about half of the 250 border forts under construction with money from the U.S. and its coalition partners are now operational.
Wenger says there have been "some pretty remarkable successes" in rounding up would-be smugglers and insurgents in the areas that border Syria and Jordan. He says hundreds of men have been arrested and interrogated. Wenger says detainees "regularly" point Iraqi border forces to hidden caches of weapons and bomb-making materials and identify other insurgents.
Wenger says the detainees have come primarily from Syria, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates but he also says there are a number of Iraqis too.
Eight militants killed in Chechnya
GROZNY. May 9 (Interfax) - A special police regiment named after late Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov eliminated eight militants on Monday.
Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov told Interfax that a militant group attempted to carry out an armed attack on the village of Tsentoroi on Monday morning.
"At dawn, a large group of militants approached Tsentoroi and attempted to attack the village. The special policemen began fighting with them. Eight militants were killed. They are now being identified," he said.
He said two police officers were wounded in the clash; both were taken to a hospital in Grozny where they are being given the proper care.
Afghanistan Offers Amnesty to Wanted Taliban Rebels
By CARLOTTA GALL
KABUL, Afghanistan, May 9 - The head of Afghanistan's peace and reconciliation commission held out an amnesty today for all rebels fighting American and government forces, including the most wanted men, the Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, and a renegade commander, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Sebaghatullah Mojadeddi, recently appointed to head the Independent Afghan National Commission for Peace in Afghanistan, is encouraging members of the Taliban and other militants to lay down their arms and return home in peace.
"This peace that we want is for all, there is no exception," Mr. Mojadeddi said. "Those who are armed, they should lay down their weapons when they come, accept the constitution and obey the government. When they come, we will accept them with an open heart."
The Afghan government had changed its policy that formerly excluded people like Mullah Omar and Mr. Hekmatyar, Mr. Mojadeddi said. As head of the commission, he noted that he had been granted independence to act as he saw fit on the matter.
"They should respect the constitution, obey the government and lay down their weapons, and then we don't have very big conditions," Mr. Mojadeddi said, adding "We are announcing it today, let us give them time to discuss and think about it, and let's see what is God's favor," he said.
The amnesty announcement came as the American military reported further high casualties in fighting with suspected Taliban members in eastern Afghanistan.
Two United States marines were killed when they searched a cave where militants had taken refuge on Sunday evening after a fierce battle with a marine unit. Some 23 insurgents were killed in the fighting when American air support was called in, the military said in a statement.
The clash came after heavy battles in two separate areas in southern Afghanistan in the last few days, in which the United States military reported dozens of insurgents were killed. The insurgents have surprised the military leadership with the strength of their numbers and their determination to stand and fight, showing that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
Until now, the government of President Hamid Karzai has said that 100 to 150 members of the Taliban regime and other antigovernment rebels who have committed crimes would be excluded from the reconciliation program.
The United States military has also talked of a blacklist, excluding the most wanted members of the government that harbored Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network for five years until October 2001 and those who have been fighting American forces since. Mr. Hekmatyar, the renegade commander, is also wanted for terrorist activities against United States forces, American commanders have said.
A spokesman for the United States military in Kabul, Col. James Yonts, said the military supported the Afghan government's reconciliation program and the commission. He added, however, that those guilty of terrorism or other serious crimes would not be allowed to join the amnesty.
Those Taliban members or other fugitives who wanted to return to Afghanistan and give up the fight would be screened by the National Security Council before being allowed to join the program, Colonel Yonts said. Once accepted, they could return home with a guarantee for their safety from the government, he added, noting that the screening would be coordinated with the United States military.
Terrorist Sentenced to 23 Life Terms
(IsraelNN.com) The Yehuda Military Court today handed down a sentence of 23 life terms plus fifty years to Hamas terrorist Majdi Zatari. Zatari lives in A-Ram, on the northern Jerusalem border.
Zatari was convicted for his part in the Jerusalem Number 2 bus bombing, in August 2003, which claimed 23 lives and left many wounded and maimed for life.
SV-I don't think he'll be able to do it all.
4 Hizb militants killed in Doda
Srinagar, May 9: Six persons including four Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in separate incidents across the state since Sunday.
Four Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed by troops in separate incidents in district Doda on Monday. According to a police communique, troops assisted by police launched a cordon and search operation in Lodhana Doda and killed three unidentified militants in an encounter on Monday. The slain militants owe allegiance to Hizbul Mujahideen.
In a separate incident, troops launched an operation in Chabba area of Ramban Doda district in the wee hours today and killed a militant in an encounter. The slain militant has been identified as Shabir Ahmed of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. Suspected militants fired two rifle grenades on the BSF's GI Branch at Gole Market Karan Nagar on Monday. According to CNS one of the grenades exploded in air while another exploded on the roadside. However none was injured in the blasts.
Troops and police in a joint operation killed a Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) militant in a gunfight at Tanta Gandoh on Sunday. The identity of the slain militant is yet to be ascertained.
Police Monday recovered the throat-slit body of Mushtaq Ahmad Lone son of Habibullah of Zaloora Sopur from a nearby jungle. Police has started investigating.
Unidentified gunmen shot at and injured Manzoor Ahmad Wani son of Abdul Ahad Wani of Garind Varmul in his house on Sunday night. The injured, a carpenter by profession has been hospitalised.
SV, thanks for your input.
Thanks for the ping SV.....
Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out!
bump
1 We need to secure our borders.
2 In many ways it's a whole lot easier to secure the Iraqi border than the (southern) American border.
BUMP!
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