Daily Terrorist Round-Up 5/19/05 (Talibanis Captured, Terror Sympathizers Arrested in UK)

5/19/05

[Straight Vermonter]

15 Taliban captured in southeastern Afghanistan

KABUL: The Afghan military said on Tuesday that it had captured 15 suspected Taliban insurgents with rockets and automatic weapons during a raid in southern Afghanistan.

The men were detained on Monday in Deh Rawood, a troubled district in the insurgency-hit south-central Uruzgan province, the regional commander, Gen Muslim Hamed, said.

“We’ve captured 15 Taliban. We’ve seized weapons and documents that prove they were Taliban members,” the general told AFP, adding that the arrests were made without any exchange of gunfire. He said the men were hiding in a compound and preparing for attacks on government targets in the region.

Separately, a 75-year-old Afghan man was shot dead on Tuesday during a search operation in southeast Afghanistan, an Afghan intelligence official said, with the victim’s family blaming his death on US troops.

The US-led coalition declined to confirm or deny the death but said coalition troops only provided assistance to Afghan police and security forces. An Afghan intelligence official, Mohammed Sadiq Tarakhil, said the search operation was carried out by US forces in the village of Sarbano in Khost province.

“As per reports we got from the village we can confirm that an old man was killed, six others were arrested and houses were searched last night by US troops in Sarbano village,” said Tarakhil, who is intelligence director for the province.

The victim’s family insisted he was shot dead by US troops.

“Americans entered our house, they shot my 75-year-old brother in-law, Shayesta Khan, in his forehead and killed him,” said the relative who did not want to be named.

Khan’s son, Dacktar Khan, said some 15 American soldiers raided their house and shot his father. He said his brother was also arrested in the raid.

Villagers said US troops arrested two men from Sarbano and four others from the nearby village of Ismail Khel.

US military spokeswoman Lt Cindy Moore said she could not confirm or deny the death of the old man.

“I can confirm only what I know,” Moore said.

“We provided support to Khost police force and Afghan security forces, actually the Afghan forces lead the operations,” she said.

Tarakhil however said Afghan forces did not participate in the operation.

“We were not informed of the operation in advance and there were no Afghan forces involved in the operation.” Defence ministry spokesman Gen Mohammed Zahir Azimi said they had no report of such an operation in Khost province.

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Coalition forces capture three Afghan insurgents

KHOWST, Afghanistan (UPI) -- Coalition forces have captured three insurgents suspected of using improvised explosive devices near Khowst, Afghan officials said Wednesday.

The raid, the result of a tip from a local informant, left an Afghan man dead after he ignored both a verbal warning from an interpreter and a warning shot from coalition forces, American Forces Press Service said. The man was in the home of one of the suspects when he was killed, the officials said.

As they entered the house, coalition forces told the man through an interpreter to halt, but he continued to act aggressively by moving toward a container atop a dresser, officials said. As he continued, troops fired a warning shot in hopes of convincing the man to stop.

A coalition soldier, who reported feeling threatened by these actions, shot and killed the man, officials said.

The incident was under investigation.

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Pro-Chechen Arab fighter killed near Chechnya: Russian spokesman

MOSCOW - Russian forces have killed an Arab fighting alongside Chechen rebels, the spokesman for the Russian forces in the North Caucasus, Major Ilya Shabalkin said late Tuesday.

“The operation was conducted by the Federal Security Service (FSB, formerly KGB) and several interior ministry officers,”  Shabalkin was quoted by the Russian news agencies as saying.

In the course of the operation, which was carried out in the Russian Caucasus republic of Dagestan bordering Chechnya, Russian forces also killed another rebel, who has not yet been identified, Shabalkin said.

The press center for Russian forces in the North Caucasus said in a later statement that man, Jarah, was a Kuwaiti national aged about 30, and that he was killed in the town of Solnechnoye, Interfax reported. The statement described Jarah as an Al-Qaeda emissary in Chechnya.

Shabalkin said Jarah arrived in Chechnya between 1995 and 1997, together with feared Arab warlord Khattab, whom the FSB killed in 2002.

Russian forces in Chechnya announced earlier Tuesday they had killed Alash Daudov, a top rebel leader, along with two other Chechen fighters, in the suburbs of Chechen capital Grozny .

Russian troops have been fighting a separatist movement in Chechnya for more than five years following an earlier war there from 1994 to 1996.

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4 arrested in Italy terror swoop
 
ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Italian police have arrested four men and issued warrants for 10 others in two anti-terror operations in the country, authorities said.

In Turin, three Moroccans were arrested Wednesday and accused of subversive association aimed at international terrorism.

Investigators believe the three gave financial and logistical support to a Moroccan-based organization called the Moroccan Combatant Group.

Also arrested in Turin was a Tunisian man accused of facilitating illegal immigration.

The four men came into the country legally on temporary visas.

In Milan, police issued arrest warrants for 10 non-Italians on anti-terror charges. The suspects are accused of dealing in false documents, illegal financing of suspected terror organizations and recruiting people for terror operations in Italy and abroad.

The arrests and warrants are the result of an investigation begun in 2001 on a group of Islamic militants, mainly Tunisians.

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Iran promises to stop militants entering Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iran's foreign minister made a historic trip to Baghdad on Tuesday, pledging to secure his country's borders to stop militants from entering Iraq and saying the ''situation would have been much worse'' if Tehran were actually supporting the insurgency as the United States has claimed.

Iranian envoy Kamal Kharrazi's trip -- two days after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a surprise visit to support the war-ravaged country's political process -- was the highest-level visit by an official from any of Iraq's six neighboring countries since Saddam Hussein's ouster two years ago.

Kharrazi, who held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, President Jalal Talabani and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, vowed that his country was committed to supporting Iraq's political and economic reconstruction and would do all it could to improve security conditions.

''We believe securing the borders between the two countries means security to the Islamic Republic of Iran,'' Kharrazi said.

Zebari said militants have infiltrated from Iran into Iraq ''but we are not saying that they are approved by the Iranian government.''

The Iranian envoy's visit comes at a time of spiraling violence fueled by foreign extremists and rival groups of Sunnis and Shiites.

Three Islamic clerics -- a Shiite and two Sunnis -- were shot and killed in Baghdad, police said Tuesday.

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Pakistan holds British al Qaeda suspect

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan security forces have arrested a British national on suspicion of having links with al Qaeda, security officials said on Wednesday.
The man, who identified himself only as Shehzad during interrogation, was arrested four days ago in Shabqadar, a village on the outskirts of the main northwestern city of Peshawar, a security official told Reuters.

"We suspect him to be an al Qaeda member," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He gave no other details.

Security officials told Reuters that Shehzad, 25, was originally from London and arrived in Pakistan in March 2003.

They doubt Shehzad is his real name, adding that his Pakistani national identity card listed an address in the southern city of Hyderabad. But during interrogations, it was found he never visited Hyderabad.

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37 HIZB UT-TAHRIR ACTIVISTS ARRESTED AFTER LONDON PROTEST AGAINST UZBEK REGIME

London, UK, May 17 – Earlier this afternoon, 37 activists of Hizb ut-Tahrir were arrested after they staged a protest against the tyranny of the Uzbek regime and the blatant hypocrisy of its western allies. The demonstration, outside the Embassy of Uzbekistan in London, was held in response to the recent massacre of over five hundred Uzbek Muslims in Andijan on the orders of Uzbek President, Islam Karimov.

Activists staged a sit-in protest in the embassy's courtyard, chained themselves to the embassy railings and covered the embassy in red paint representing the blood of Uzbekistan's Muslims. Slogans daubed on the embassy building branded Uzbek President Islam Karimov a "killer". The protest had commenced at approximately 12.00 p.m. BST.

Prominent members of Hizb ut-Tahrir including Dr Abdul Wahid, Hamid Rana, Sidik Auckbar and Qasim Khawaja were amongst those arrested.

Dr Imran Waheed, a UK based doctor and the Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, "Today's demonstration sends a strong message to Karimov to end his tyranny and violence. The red paint on the embassy signifies the bloodstained hands of Karimov after the Andijan massacre. Karimov is the West's ally that terrorises the masses through the cold-blooded murder of women and children."

"We call for the immediate release of all political prisoners from the dungeons of Uzbekistan. Today's action is only the first step in what will be a relentless campaign to expose the Uzbek regime's tyranny."

A further demonstration will take place on Wednesday 18th May 2005 at 10.30 a.m. at the Embassy of Uzbekistan in London [41 Holland Park, London, W11 3RP; nearest underground Holland Park].

(SV-I'm sure Karimov is quaking in his boots.)

---

Taliban officials brought in from the cold  (Excerpted)
Declan Walsh in Khost

Peals of laughter rang through the remote Afghan farmhouse as neighbours rushed to welcome home the long-lost son of the soil. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged. Teenage boys offered trays of sweet tea. The women waited patiently in a back room, silent and unseen as ever.
The bearded man at the centre of the hubbub, Mufti Habib-ur-Rehman, allowed his solemn face to crack into a grin. "It's good to be back," he said.

Smile he might. Days earlier Mr Rehman, 35, a one-time Taliban governor, had been a wanted man. He lived as a fugitive across the border in Pakistan, 20 miles to the south. He had not seen his family in years. US troops were offering a $2,500 (£1,360) award for his capture, dead or alive.

Last month, after secret negotiations brokered by local mullahs - and promises from the Americans not to shoot - he came in from the cold.

"I am not a terrorist. I am here to work for the reconstruction of my country," he said before pledging allegiance to the president, Hamid Karzai.

Mr Rehman is one of dozens of mid-level Taliban officials who have defected to the government this year, a process which US officials hope is the beginning of the end for the insurgency that has dogged them since 2001.

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LeT man planned to blow up IAF base

KANPUR: The shock at having shared workspace with a hardcore militant is evident. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) officials are perplexed to find out that Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Haroon Rashid, who was arrested in New Delhi recently, had joined their company with the intention of blowing it up along with the IAF base located here.

Originally from Siwan in Bihar, Haroon had joined HAL as a trainee in February last year, after completing BTech from Aligarh University. Talking to TOI, HAL chief manager (security) S Ashok Kumar said security around the HAL had been beefed up and measures were being taken to rule out such happenings in future.

"We are taking steps internally and externally, as various types of people work here and we have to ensure that their intentions are pious," said Kumar, ruling out that Haroon's joining was a lapse on HAL's part. Refusing to disclose the measures being taken, Kumar said, "There are a few security agencies doing their job and we are just providing them the required information."

He also said Haroon had joined the company on merit and worked with it till December 2004, when he just vanished one day. So long as he worked with HAL no one suspected his activities. Kumar said there was already a system being followed strictly. "But we are now working on improving the existing system," he maintained.

Meanwhile, after the sensational disclosure that Haroon was working for a militant organisation, his colleagues are tight-lipped and refused to comment. When assured of anonymity, one of his colleagues said Haroon was highly talented and seniors always appreciated his calibre.

Haroon had joined HAL in 2004 and was residing in a rented house in Lal Bangla locality of Kanpur.

Intelligence sources confided that he was an active SIMI member and was in touch with SIMI activists based in Kanpur as well as Agra.

Even while being in HAL, he continued passing information to SIMI and militant organisations and probably fled after realising that authorities were apprehensive about his activities, said an intelligence source.  
 

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2 Lashkar-e-Jhangvi men arrested

LAHORE, May 19 (Online): Officials of Intelligence Agencies apprehended two alleged terrorists of defunct Lashkar-e-Jhangvi here Wednesday in city suburbs and recovered Rs. 1 million cash money from their possession.

Khato and Saddiq were picked up from Munawar hotel near Railway station in the wee hour and both were leading activists of banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

Initial investigations revealed that Saddiq was wanted to the police in Iranian ambassador assassination case in 1992. Saddiq during interrogations admitted that he had collected funds for Al-Qaeda militants in various cities.

The intelligence officials said however, Saddiq did not reveal whether he had contacts with Abu Faraj.

[Straight Vermonter]

Let me know if you want on/off the terrorist roundup ping list

Terrorist Scorecard

The Iraqi "Deck of Cards" Scoreboard

Centcom's New Iraq Scorecard

Saudi Arabia's Most Wanted Scorecard

[mtbopfuyn]

Ya know, I'm simply not impressed with six here and a half dozen there. It's not getting the job done. Every hovel in the ME has enough ammo to supply a battalion. Bring in the heads of OBL and Z and be done with it.

[B4Ranch]

SLAY THE NON-MUSLIMS: DIRECT QUOTES FROM THE QURAN

2:191 http://tinyurl.com/yreed , And slay them wherever ye catch them.

4:84 http://tinyurl.com/ysbhc , Then fight in Allah's cause.

4:141 http://tinyurl.com/2s5p9 , And never will Allah grant to the unbelievers a way (to triumph) over the believers.

5:33 http://tinyurl.com/2thto , The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.

8:12 http://tinyurl.com/36u5p , I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them.

8:17 http://tinyurl.com/2dxh5 , It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah.

8:60 http://tinyurl.com/2dxh5 , Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into(the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies, and others besides, whom ye may not know, but whom Allah doth know. Whatever ye shall spend in the cause of Allah, shall be repaid unto you, and ye shall not be treated unjustly.

8:65 http://tinyurl.com/36u5p , O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers.

9:5 http://tinyurl.com/yvu3f , But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem.

9:14 http://tinyurl.com/yvu3f , Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame, help you (to victory) over them, heal the breasts of Believers,

9:23 http://tinyurl.com/yvu3f , O ye who believe! take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above Faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong.

9:28 http://tinyurl.com/yvu3f , O ye who believe! Truly the Pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque.

9:29 http://tinyurl.com/yvu3f , Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been foridden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with
willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

9:39 http://tinyurl.com/26bg2 , Unless ye go forth, (for Jihad) He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but Him ye would not harm in the least.

9:73 http://tinyurl.com/yvu3f , O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell - an evil refuge indeed.

9:111 http://tinyurl.com/26bg2 , Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur'an

9:123 http://tinyurl.com/yvu3f , O ye who believe! fight the
unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him.

22:9 http://tinyurl.com/32wdj , (Disdainfully) bending his side, in order to lead (men) astray from the Path of Allah: for him there is disgrace in this life, and on the Day of Judgment We shall make him taste the Penalty of burning (Fire).

22:19-22 http://tinyurl.com/32wdj , These two antagonists dispute with each other about their Lord: But those who deny (their Lord),- for them will be cut out a garment of Fire: over their heads will be poured out boiling water. With it will be scalded what is within their bodies, as
well as (their) skins. In addition there will be maces of iron (to punish) them.
Every time they wish to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will be forced back therein, and (it will be said), "Taste ye the Penalty of Burning!"

25:52 http://tinyurl.com/3xjey , So obey not the disbelievers, but strive against them herewith with a great endeavour.

25:68 http://tinyurl.com/3xjey , Those who invoke not, with Allah, any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made sacred except for just cause, nor commit fornication; - and any that does this (not only) meets punishment. (But) the Penalty on the Day of Judgment will be doubled to him, and he will dwell therein in ignominy.

37:22-23 http://tinyurl.com/ytlpp , "Bring ye up", it shall be said, "The wrong-doers and their wives, and the things they worshipped- Besides Allah, and lead them to the Way to the (Fierce) Fire!

47:4 http://tinyurl.com/3bwz5 , Therefore, when ye meet the
Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens.

48:13 http://tinyurl.com/2t8ge , And if any believe not in Allah and His Messenger, We have prepared, for those who reject Allah, a Blazing Fire!

48:29 http://tinyurl.com/2t8ge , Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other.

69:30-37 http://tinyurl.com/2qh7h , (The stern command will say): "Seize ye him, and bind ye him, And burn ye him in the Blazing Fire. Further, make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits! This was he that would not believe in Allah Most High. And would not encourage the feeding of the indigent! So no friend hath he here this Day. Nor hath he any food except the corruption from the washing of wounds, Which none do eat but those in sin."

[pissant]

Keep piling the scum up. It's gonna take years, but it's the only way! Thanks for the post!

[csvset]

Re: The Brit AQ suspect. As per the BBC's report.

The British suspect - arrested in the same province as Libbi - led a secretive life locked in a house behind a computer screen, our correspondent reports. A computer, disks and an electronic diary were also seized during the raid.

With any luck it will lead to more captures.

Also, They doubt Shehzad is his real name, adding that his Pakistani national identity card listed an address in the southern city of Hyderabad. But during interrogations, it was found he never visited Hyderabad.

"You're in a heap of trouble, boy."

[leadpenny]

Sure hope they get to the bottom of the dispute over the 75-year-old man's death. Our soldiers are not trained to bust into a house and plug someone between the eyes unless there is cause.

[AFPhys]

good job as usual. thanks.

(back to filibuster thread)

[Route101]

Thank you for the real news that counts........

[bitt]

bump!!

[Dog]

The man, who identified himself only as Shehzad during interrogation, was arrested four days ago in Shabqadar, a village on the outskirts of the main northwestern city of Peshawar,

This is in the area they picked up al-libbi.

[Dog]

The British suspect - arrested in the same province as Libbi - led a secretive life locked in a house behind a computer screen, our correspondent reports.

A computer, disks and an electronic diary were also seized during the raid.

Hmmmmmmmm.

[csvset]

[Valin]

Iran promises to stop militants terrorists entering Iraq

I believe them...really...of course there are those that say I'm dumber than a post.

[Coop]

Ya know, I'm simply not impressed with six here and a half dozen there.

I am. I'm much more impressed by that than I am by keyboard critics mocking our troops' efforts from the comfort of their living rooms (or whatever).

[Coop]

A diary. How cooperative of him! :-)

[Dog]

Talk about being stuck in a windowless cube....my god its a shack....with no windows.

[Cap Huff]

It's built like a brick outhouse.

[Dog]

Probably is.......:-)