The Daily Terrorist Round-Up 8/14/05 (Cell Leader in Mosul Captured)

U.S. troops begin Afghan offensive
By Daniel Cooney

U.S. Marines and Afghan troops launched an offensive Saturday to take a remote mountain valley from insurgents tied to the deadliest blow on American forces since the Taliban regime was ousted nearly four years ago.

The operation is the biggest yet aimed at rebels believed responsible for twin attacks that killed 19 U.S. troops in June. Three Navy SEALs were killed in an ambush, and all 16 soldiers on a helicopter sent to rescue them died when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

The offensive came at the end of a deadly week for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Seven Americans have died along with dozens of militants and civilians, reinforcing concerns that crucial legislative elections next month could be threatened by a surge in violence.

U.S. and Afghan commanders said militants in the Korengal Valley, in eastern Kunar province near the Pakistani border, were intent on disrupting voting. They said the valley held hundreds of Afghan rebels, as well as extremists from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Chechnya.

(The continued presence of the foreign jihadis in Afghanistan is at the heart of the problems in the country. While Afghans may be convinced to join in the rebuilding of their country, the foreigners gain only through continued warfare. )

Philippine military unearth remains of Indonesian militant

　MANILA, Aug. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The Philippine military said on Saturday that it had unearthed the remains of an Indonesian who was a member of the Jemaah Islamiya (JI) in Mindanao, the local newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on its website.

Major General Agustin Dema-ala, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division based in Camp Siongco in Maguindanao, southwest Mindanao, told the newspaper that the skeletal remains of Omar Patik was uncovered by soldiers at the vicinity of Sitio Tinungos in Datu Odin Sinsuat town on Aug. 11.

He said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front helped them find and identify Patik's remains, which will be brought to Manila for DNA examination.

The JI member died along with a certain Edriz, a brother-in-law of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani, during a clash with government troops at an unspecified time, he added.

U.S. troops find chemical lab
By Ellen Knickmeyer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops raiding a warehouse in the northern city of Mosul uncovered a suspected chemical weapons factory containing 1,500 gallons of chemicals believed destined for attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces and civilians, military officials said Saturday.

The early morning raid Monday found 11 precursor agents, ``some of them quite dangerous by themselves,'' Lt. Col. Steven Boylan said in Baghdad.

Combined, the chemicals would yield an agent capable of ``lingering hazards'' for those exposed to it, Boylan said. The likely targets would have been ``coalition and Iraqi security forces, and Iraqi civilians,'' partly because the chemicals would be difficult to keep from spreading over a wide area, he said.

Boylan said the suspected lab was new, dating from sometime after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Bush administration cited evidence that Saddam Hussein's government was manufacturing weapons of mass destruction as a main justification for the invasion. No such weapons or factories were found.

Military officials did not immediately identify either the precursors or the agent they could have produced. ``We don't want to speculate on any possibilities until our analysis is complete,'' Col. Henry Franke, a nuclear, biological and chemical defense officer, said in a statement.

MOSUL: Police in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul said yesterday one of its units ambushed and killed three members of a cell loyal to Al Qaeda’s frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

“One of our units trapped the members of the cell and had a skirmish with them in the Nour district, in the east of Mosul at around 10am (0600 GMT),” said General Abdul Aziz Juburi, the chief of Ninive province’s interim police force. “The chief of the cell, Mohamed Saleh Sultan, alias Abu Zubair, was among those killed,” he said without adding whether or not the police suffered any casualties during the operation.

Pakistani police arrest four militants in Karachi

KARACHI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Pakistani police have arrested four suspected militants in the southern port city of Karachi who were planning a series of terrorist attacks, a senior police official said on Saturday. "The four men were arrested in an early morning raid from the eastern district of the city and belong to a religious and political party," Tariq Jameel, the Karachi police chief, told a news conference.

The police seized revolvers and ammunition from the militants, who have admitted to plotting terror attacks in Karachi.

"During initial interrogation they have confessed they belong to a group of 22 young men, some of whom are students," Jameel said. "They were planning terrorist activities to create unrest and disturb the peace of the city."

Jameel declined to identify the party to which the militants belonged, and said they were arrested on information given by Syed Waseem Akhtar, who was arrested from Hyderabad last month. "During interrogation Wasim disclosed that he belonged to a group of militants who had formed a gang for the purpose of creating mayhem in Karachi," he said. "The arrested militants don't belong to any madrasa (Islamic religious school) and are all trained in the use of firearms and explosives," he said.

Militants of various groups have been implicated in sectarian violence and terrorist attacks on Western targets in Karachi, including the murder of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, and in two attempts to kill President Pervez Musharraf.

Police arrested two Islamic militants in Karachi in June who were suspected of involvement in a suicide attack on a Shi'ite Muslim mosque that killed five people in May. The arrested men had told investigators up to 20 suicide bombers were still at large in the city.

Five militants killed in Chechnya

MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti) - Security forces have killed five militants in the Chechen Republic, the Russian Interior Ministry reported.

A statement from the ministry's press service for the north Caucuses region said that near Shamil Khutor in the Vedeno Region (eastern Chechnya), during combat with bandits discovered on the outskirts of the town, two militants were killed.

At the site of the clash, submachine guns and grenade launchers were found, along with a large ammunition cache.

On the same day in Urus Martan District (central Chechnya), police killed another three militants who resisted arrest using armed force.

The militants were in possession of a machine gun, an ammunition cache, and bags containing food and identity papers.

Special forces have detained three police officers for aiding bandits, the statement said.

Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen commander killed

Security forces today gunned down a self-styled divisional commander of the Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen (TUM) outfit during an encounter in Surankote area of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir, defence sources said here.

Security forces, on tip-off about the present of militants, launched an operation in Gunthal area of Surankote tehsil this morning, they said, adding that as troops cordoned off the area militants opened indiscriminate fire which was retaliated to by the troops.

In an hour long encounter, the divisional commander of TUM, identified as Abu Haroon, was killed, they said adding recoveries from the slain militant included one ak-56 rifle with its two magazines and 60 rounds, 38 detonators, seven grenades, one radio set, three books and some diaries.

The operation was in progress in the area when last reports came in, they said.

Australian soldier named as al-Qaeda militant
By Jenny Booth

A masked Islamic militant seen threatening Western governments in a terror video released this week has been named as a former soldier from Australia who has been missing for four years.

The Australian Government has refused to confirm whether the figure seen in the al-Qaeda film is former Army Private Mathew Stewart, but agreed that the missing man may have trained with al-Qaeda.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph and other newspapers reported that police interviewed Mr Stewart's family after the video was aired on the Dubai-based, Arabic-language Al-Arabiya network this week. It features a masked man holding an assault rifle and speaking English in what sounds like an Australian accent.

The militant says in the video: "The honourable sons of Islam will not just let you kill our families in Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir and the Balkans, Indonesia, the Caucasus and elsewhere. It is time for us to be equals. As you kill us, you’ll be killed. As you bomb us, you will be bombed."

Mr Stewart served with the Australian army in East Timor. After he was discharged he left Australia for Afghanistan in August 2001. He has not been heard from since, according to his mother, Vicki Stewart.

She said in a statement released to the media that the family had been questioned by federal police about the man in the video. But she denied that the man in the video was her son, saying that the family believed Mathew was dead.

India goes on high alert ahead of Independence Day

NEW DELHI –– Thousands of security personnel patrolled New Delhi streets Saturday as India went on high alert ahead of celebrations early next week marking the 58th anniversary of independence from Britain.

The Red Fort, a 17th-century Mughal-built complex where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will deliver his second Independence Day address Monday, was sealed off as commandos carried out mock drills against possible attacks.

Police in plain clothes and snipers were deployed on high rises near the fort complex with all houses and other buildings within a three-kilometre (two-mile) radius of the Red Fort "sanitised" over the weekend, a police spokesman said, referring to police checks of the premises.

Armed police set up roadblocks in the city Saturday, conducting random checks on all types of vehicles -- cars, small and big trucks.

The city's borders with neighbouring states would be sealed Sunday, the police spokesman said.

The security measures came in the wake of intelligence reports that several militant outfits -- the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba and Sikh insurgents -- could target the celebrations, news reports, quoting unidentified home ministry officials, said.

Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba were blamed for a December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament in New Delhi that nearly set off a war with rival Pakistan.

Besides these two, a Sikh group called Babbar Khalsa International, blamed for bomb attacks on two cinema theatres in the Indian capital in May that killed one and wounded 49, could also carry out attacks on or before Independence Day, a report in the Hindustan Times said. –– AFP

(The Red Fort was attacked on December 22, 2000 by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) killing 2 Indian soldiers.)

Operation Able Warrior sweeps through neighborhoods
By Sgt David Bill
48th Brigade Combat Team PAO

In the early-morning darkness of Aug. 4, Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 295th Infantry from Juncos, Puerto Rico, actively participated in Operation Able Warrior, a coordinated operation to capture and seize suspected terrorist operators and triggermen of explosive devices in the southwest Baghdad area.

This mission was in response to recent attacks that have claimed the lives of eight Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 48th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. Three additional brigade Soldiers were killed just before the start of this mission, creating a deeper emphasis for mission success.

This coordinated mission was conducted by 2nd Bn. to reduce the threat from improvised explosive device operators and take the fight to them.

Even in the dark of the early morning, these Soldiers from Puerto Rico are dedicated to the cause and are anxious to get to this mission.

The Soldiers from Co. C have a strong bond with each other and with their fellow Soldiers in the 48th. The company joined the brigade in March and prepared for this deployment as a unit within the 2nd Battalion. They have shown a strong sense of loss for those Soldiers from the brigade who have been recently killed, by posting their photos in the company tactical operations center and by attending the memorials held for those fallen warriors.

On Aug. 4, the unit moved into position with lightning speed around the various houses and working quickly, the Soldiers began to move throughout the residences, looking for suspects, suspected weapons and bomb-making materials. Even "Staff Sgt. Rambo," a military-trained bomb-sniffing dog was on hand to search for materials.

"The mission would not have been conducted as well as it was if we were not trained as well as we are," said Sgt. 1st. Class Hector Perez, 42, from Aborito, Puerto Rico.

"The men did a great job" said Capt. Jose Lopez-Molina, 48, from Caguaz, Puerto Rico, and Co. C commander, as he effortlessly switched between Spanish and English while talking with his Solders and to battalion headquarters.

As each house was searched, Soldiers could be heard speaking in Spanish and English. With the help from interpreters who would speak in Arabic to question the local residents, Soldiers began to gather all the detainees together for transport to the battalion area for additional questioning.

Many of the houses were vacant of males, but the women and children found in the houses were asked to move to a designated area, as Soldiers moved from room to room. Many of the women and children told the Soldiers that some of their men had not been seen for quite a while. At one house, an elderly Iraqi man was treated by a unit medic for dizziness.

"We got good information from the detainees," said Perez.

The mission came to a successful close at dawn as all the 2nd Bn. units rolled back into Camp Striker, their trucks loaded with detainees.

As detainees were processed, many of the leaders, though obviously tired from the long night’s work, took time to laugh and discuss more relaxing subjects other than the mission.

More than 60 detainees were collected from the various battalion-level objectives-16 of those seized by Co. C.

"It was good for us to come together to get all these detainees," said 1st Lt. Eduardo Roman, 1st platoon leader, Co. C, 32, from Salinas, Puerto Rico.

"This came off as a picture-perfect mission. Everything went well and all of our Soldiers are back inside the wire safe and sound. It was a good operation," said Lt. Col. Steve McCorkle, 2nd Bn. commander from Warner Robins, Ga.

No kidding!

Mosul Terrorists Killed/Captured

• Abu Talha Captured 14 June 05. Ran the entire Mosul area for AMZ.

• Abu Ibrahim: Killed 1 June 05. Leader of Talha’s network for the Eastern part of Mosul. He was also the primary contact for foreign fighters in Mosul.

• Abu Abd al Salam: Captured 29 May 05. Responsible for a cell that conducted operations in Mosul for Abu Talha and was directly involved in planning attacks on behalf of Abu Talha.

• Abu Daud: Captured 13 May 05. Abu Daud was a close friend of Abu Talha and grew up with Talha in the village of Qabr al Abid. He was aligned with a VBIED cell that was working in direct control of Abu Talha. He was seen on multiple occasions with Abu Talha.

• Abu Raghad: Captured 18 April 05. Involved with multiple cells conducting VBIED and small arms attacks against CF convoys as well as Iraqi forces.

• Abu al Fatah: Captured 14 April 05. Abu Talha’s religious advisor and issued Fatwah’s for Talha’s organization. He was in contact with supporters of the Mujahideen from abroad in order to raise funds for the insurgency in Iraq.

• Abu Faruq: Captured 31 March 05. Involved with Mujahideen cells that were operating South of Mosul on behalf of Abu Talha. He was also involved in planning which targeted the Mosul Air Field for Abu Talha.

• Abu Muhammad: Captured 25 March 05. Cell leader responsible for VBIED operations in Mosul for Abu Talha.

• Abu Azzam: Captured 19 March 05. Responsible for conducting VBIED operations as well as coordinating logistics between the various cells in Mosul operating under Abu Talha.

• Abu Ra’id: Captured 1 March 05. Abu Ra’id was a close friend of Abu Talha and was involved in providing funds to cell leaders in Talha’s network.

• Abu Sufiyan: Captured 25 February 05. Responsible for providing weapons to the Talha network. He lived in Hegnah Village South of Mosul and ran a training camp for Abu Talha near his home.

• Abu Umar: Captured 20 February 05. Responsible for IED operations in the areas south of Mosul specifically Qayyarah and Sharqat. He was associated with a cell of approximately 10 fighters who conducted these operations under the direction of Abu Talha.

• Abu Zubayr: Captured 16 February 05. Cell leader for Abu Talha-aligned Mujahideen South of Mosul. He had direct contact with high level leaders of Talha’s organization. (Not the Abu Zubayr currently wanted and believed to be a senior leader within the terrorist network within Mosul.)

• Abu Sa’ad: Captured 14 February 05. Involved with a Mujahideen cell under the control of Abu Talha that conducted VBIED operations South of Mosul.

• Abu Muhammad: Captured 13 February 05. Involved in Abu Talha’s network operating on the East side of Mosul conducting IED and VBIED operations.

• Abu Khulud: Captured 30 January 05. Responsible for a cell that conducted VBIED operations in Mosul. Was a close contact of some of Talha’s most trusted associates.

• Salih: Captured 10 January 05. Logistical facilitator for Abu Talha’s network. He distributed money for the Talha network and maintained the logistical well being of each cell.

• Abu Azzam: Captured January 05. Involved in rocket attacks on Mosul Air Field as well as other targeted Coalition Forces in Mosul.

• Abu Karam: Capture 25 December 04. He was the logistical top man for Abu Talha. He was responsible for providing all of Talha’s fighters with munitions and equipment.

• Abu Ahmad: Captured 22 December 04. He was the primary military leader for Abu Talha up until the time of his capture.

• Abu Faruq: Captured 22 November 04. He was involved in operations targeting CF and ING forces. He was in contact with leaders in the Talha network and moved logistics from cell to cell.

• Abu Sa’id: Captured 14 October 04. He was the Emir of Foreign Fighters under the control of Abu Talha. He met with AMZ along with Abu Talha late 04 where it was decided that he would take orders from Talha and provide his fighters and support to the Talha network.

• Ruwaha: Captured 12 October 04. He was a member of the Foreign Fighter cell ran by Abu Sa’id working directly for Abu Talha.

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