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Operation Phantom Fury--Day 344 - Now Operations River Blitz; Matador--Day 239
Various Media Outlets | 10/17/05

Posted on 10/16/2005 4:19:05 PM PDT by Gucho

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To: All
Four killed in West Bank violence

By Nael al-Shyouki

October 17, 2005

PALESTINIAN gunmen killed three Israelis in a drive-by shooting and Israeli troops shot dead a senior Palestinian militant in an eruption of violence in the occupied West Bank today.

The killings, a month after Israel completed a pullout from the Gaza Strip, tore at a flimsy ceasefire and raised fears of a resurgence in violence in the West Bank where Jewish settlements continue to grow on land Palestinians want for a state.

Hoped-for peacemaking momentum from the withdrawal has not transpired. A Middle East summit has been postponed. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet US President George W Bush this week to discuss how to resuscitate a "road map" peace plan.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed wing of Mr Abbas' Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the shootings outside Gush Etzion settlement bloc and Eli settlement, the first of their kind in four months.

"This is taste of even more to come," al-Aqsa said in a statement, calling the attacks revenge for Israel's killing of militants.

Israeli officials said the army would reimpose some restrictions on Palestinian movement in the West Bank that had been lifted as part of rapprochement efforts in recent months.

A Defence Ministry source said troops would encircle major West Bank cities and require that Palestinians travel between them by public transportation only, rather than private cars.

"We will reconsider this measure if the Palestinian Authority cracks down on terrorists," the source said.

In the far north of the West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead an Islamic Jihad militant commander after he opened fire on them, Palestinian witnesses and Israeli military sources said. There were no Israeli casualties in the clash, south of Jenin.

Three Israelis were killed in the Gush Etzion attack and four were hurt, medics said. Minutes later, Palestinian gunmen fired on a road junction outside Eli, wounding two Israelis. The identities of the casualties were not immediately clear.

"A Palestinian passed by in a car, let off a burst of fire, and struck down people standing at the hitchhiking post," Shaul Goldstein, a settler leader in Gush Etzion, told Israel Radio.

Palestinian militants had vowed to avenge a series of Israeli army arrest raids that netted hundreds of their comrades in the West Bank since the Gaza pullout.

The ambushes could embarrass Mr Abbas just before his talks with Mr Bush at the White House on Thursday.

Mr Abbas has been under US and Israeli pressure to rein in and disarm militants as a condition for "road map" negotiations on Palestinian statehood.

21 posted on 10/16/2005 6:51:33 PM PDT by Gucho
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Bali terrorists make bomb that leaves no trace

By Catharine Munro

October 16, 2005

Indonesian forensic experts fear terrorists have developed a bomb that does not leave a trace.

Police working with Australian, Japanese and British experts to piece together the methods used for the October 1 bombings in Bali believe that Malaysian terrorist Azahari bin Husin may have used ingredients that are impossible to detect after detonation, the Indonesian investigative magazine Tempo reports.

Few details are known about the analysis being conducted at police headquarters in Jakarta to establish what was used in the attack that killed 23 people, including four Australians.

But there is speculation hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen chloride and triacetone triperoxide (TATP) was mixed with citric acid, a catalyst, for the explosion. TATP has been used by suicide bombers in Israel.

Investigators of the London bombings reportedly told Indonesian police such a combination would leave only traces that were already in the atmosphere: carbon monoxide and water.

22 posted on 10/16/2005 6:59:52 PM PDT by Gucho
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Three killed in militant raid

From correspondents

October 16, 2005

SUSPECTED Muslim militants killed a Buddhist monk and two teenage boys and set fire to a temple in Thailand's restive south, police said today.

The militants who attacked the Buddhist temple in the southern Pattani province late yesterday had slit the 76-year-old monk's throat, said a police report obtained by Reuters.

The charred bodies of the two teenagers were found in the temple, said the report, which did not give details.

A Buddhist farmer was beheaded on Friday, the second decapitation since the Islamic holy month of Ramadan began and the 12th in 21 months of unrest in the region that has claimed more than 900 lives.

Although the government has sent 30,000 soldiers and police to the region, where 80 per cent of people are Muslim, ethnic Malays, the insurgency appears to be growing.

Booby traps, decoy attacks and ambushes of army and police convoys have become daily occurrences in the densely wooded region, suggesting the anti-Bangkok guerrillas are becoming more sophisticated and inventive.

23 posted on 10/16/2005 7:05:58 PM PDT by Gucho
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Professor of Death

EXCLUSIVE: An Iraqi insurgent leader reveals how he trains and equips suicide bombers and sends them on their lethal missions

By APARISIM GHOSH - From Time Magazine

Sunday, Oct. 16, 2005


24 posted on 10/16/2005 7:17:22 PM PDT by Gucho
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Fourteen Colombian soldiers, rebels dead in combat

17 Oct 2005

Source: Reuters

BOGOTA, Colombia, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Seven Colombian soldiers and seven rebels were killed in combat near the Panama border, the army said on Sunday, part of a pre-election wave of violence that last week put the military on high alert.

More than 60 hours of combat in northwest Colombia, during which Marxist guerrillas tried to capture about 200 soldiers, ended on Sunday when the insurgents were chased away by helicopter gunships.

"Unfortunately, we lost men but we did a lot of damage to the bandits and, most importantly, we were able to protect the civilian population," armed forces commander Carlos Alberto Ospina told reporters.

The army went on alert on Wednesday against rebel attacks after soldiers seized 155 pounds (70 kg) of explosives near the capital, Bogota, a day after mortars were found pointed at the presidential palace and two days after a key Senate ally of President Alvaro Uribe survived a car bomb.

The spike in violence comes days before the Constitutional Court is expected to decide whether to allow Uribe, popular among most Colombians but detested by the rebels, to run in next May's presidential election.

The constitution bars presidential second terms but Congress approved an amendment last year allowing re-election. It must be approved by the court in order to become law.

Over the past three years, Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched kidnapping by the rebels, has gone on the offensive against them, reducing crime rates and keeping his popularity ratings above 70 percent.

As the political season begins, analysts say the rebels are out to show they have not been forced into retreat by Uribe.

The Andean country has suffered four decades of guerrilla war that claims thousands of lives a year and forces tens of thousands more from their homes.

AlertNet news

25 posted on 10/16/2005 7:32:11 PM PDT by Gucho
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26 posted on 10/16/2005 7:52:16 PM PDT by Gucho
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Reports: Afghanistan ready to recognize Israel


Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai

16-10-2005 - 13:29 GMT

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai would recognize Israel just after an independent Palestinian state is established, his spokesman said on Sunday.

According to Reuters, the Afghan leader made this comment during an interview with visiting Israeli journalists in Kabul earlier this month, spokesman Karim Rahimi said. “We will establish relations with Israel after our Palestinian brothers have an independent and free state,” Rahimi quoted the president as saying.

On Saturday, the Pakistani Daily Times reported that "Afghanistan will announce it is officially recognizing Israel in the next few days," quoting Afghan diplomatic sources. Israeli officials confirmed the report on Sunday, saying that they "were not surprised," Ynet reported.

© 2005 Al Bawaba


27 posted on 10/16/2005 8:19:27 PM PDT by Gucho
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U.S. nabs al-Qaida Web site producer

NEWS ANALYSIS

By Ashraf al-Taie - NBC News

Updated: 5:43 p.m. ET - Oct. 16, 2005


28 posted on 10/16/2005 8:54:26 PM PDT by Gucho
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To: Gucho
Hi Gucho - thank you once again for providing all this valuable information in one easy to find place.

Beijing cut off military contacts with Washington in May 1999 ..... Kurt Campbell, who was deputy assistant secretary of defense ... during the "toon's" administration...

I want to hear from THIS clown, why???

In case you forgot.....I LOATHE the media. ;*)

29 posted on 10/16/2005 10:06:36 PM PDT by Just A Nobody
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To: All

30 posted on 10/16/2005 10:15:43 PM PDT by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub (Have you said Thank You to a service man or woman today?)
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To: Justanobody
I LOATHE the media.


Bump :)
31 posted on 10/16/2005 11:00:03 PM PDT by Gucho
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
It is the Soldier


Bump - Thanks for posting this Tonk.
32 posted on 10/16/2005 11:02:58 PM PDT by Gucho
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To: Diva Betsy Ross
Good work.


Hi Diva Betsy Ross.Thank you.
33 posted on 10/16/2005 11:10:18 PM PDT by Gucho
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Iran points finger at Britain over bombing


Top Iranian officials said Sunday they suspected British involvement in a double bomb attack in the ethnic-Arab dominated city of Ahvaz, despite furious denials and condemnation of the attacks from London. (2005 AP Photo/AP)

Monday, October 17, 2005

LONDON, October 17 (IranMania) -Top Iranian officials said Sunday they suspected British involvement in a double bomb attack in the ethnic-Arab dominated city of Ahvaz, despite furious denials and condemnation of the attacks from London.

Two bombs exploded outside a crowded market late Saturday in Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province adjacent to British-occupied southern Iraq. Five people were killed and more than 100 injured, according to the latest official toll.

"Since there are British troops present alongside our border, there is a concern over their involvement in the explosions in Ahvaz," Alaeddin Borujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament's foreign policy commission, told the student news agency ISNA.

"We have information on their previous involvement in the unrest in Khuzestan," he was quoted as saying, even though the British embassy in Tehran had quickly moved to condemn the attacks and deny any involvement.

"The explosions in Ahvaz had a British accent," the head of Iran's Basij volunteer militia, Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi, was quoted as saying by

"It's a conspiracy," Hejazi alleged.

Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi also told ISNA that "usually this kind of insecurity comes from the other side of the border and is guided from there."

And Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Mousapour told the Mehr news agency that "most probably those involved in the explosion were British agents who were involved in the previous incidents in Ahvaz and Khuzestan."

The blasts occurred shortly before dusk when shoppers crowd commercial areas to buy food for iftar -- or the breaking of the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The province has been hit by a wave of unrest this year, including riots in April and a series of car bombings prior to Iran's presidential elections in June. Iranian hardliners have already alleged a British link to the simmering unrest.

But in a statement, the British embassy in Tehran voiced "its revulsion at and condemnation of the terrorist attacks".

"There has been speculation in the past about alleged British involvement in Khuzestan. We reject these allegations. Any linkage between the British Government and these terrorist outrages is without foundation," the British embassy statement said.

"As we have made clear officially to the Government of Iran, the British Government and British forces in Iraq stand ready to help in anyway we can to prevent attacks of this kind or identify those responsible and bring them to justice."

The latest allegations come amid a wider war of words between Tehran and London.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other senior officials say there is evidence that a series of deadly attacks on troops in southern Iraq lead back to Iran and the militant group Hezbollah.

Blair -- when raising suspicions about Iran's possible links to the insurgency in Iraq last week -- told Tehran that London would not be subjected to intimidation when querying the country's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions.

Britain, France and Germany are also leading Western efforts to secure "objective guarantees" that Iran will not divert its nuclear energy drive towards weapons development. The EU-3 have threatened to haul the Islamic republic before the UN Security Council.

Speaking in London, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed up the British allegations concerning Iranian meddling in Iraq.

"I have every reason to believe that the British are right about this," she told BBC radio, while telling reporters that Washington has already raised similar concerns directly with Iran.

"We have tried to get over a message to them about this issue. We have channels. We use them rarely, specifically, to deliver messages," she said.

The United States does not have an ambassador in Iran, where its interests are represented by Switzerland, while Tehran has a permanent representative at the UN in New York.

34 posted on 10/16/2005 11:32:17 PM PDT by Gucho
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Bombs blamed on Iran came from Ireland

LONDON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Britain had blamed Iran for passing bomb-making technology to Iraqi insurgents that killed eight soldiers, but officials now say it came from Ireland.

The Independent reports a British military intelligence officer says the infrared beams triggering the bombs were techniques used by the Irish Republican Army against British soldiers. The IRA learned the technique from British security forces attempting to infiltrate the rebel group.

The security official said the IRA exchanged information with other rebel groups in Colombia, Spain and in the Palestinian territories.

British officials had erroneously said Iran's Revolutionary Guard passed the technology to the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which gave it to Shiite insurgents in Iraq.

United Press International

35 posted on 10/17/2005 12:09:06 AM PDT by Gucho
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The commanding officer of the Norfolk-based guided missile destroyer USS Cole, Cmdr. Brian Solo, speaks to a crowd gathered on Naval Station Norfolk, Va., Oct. 12, 2005, to honor the lives of sailors killed during the Oct. 12, 2000, terrorist attack on the Cole. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Christopher Okula)

Current crewmembers of the Norfolk-based guided missile destroyer USS Cole gather Oct. 12, 2005, on Naval Station Norfolk, Va., with the friends and family members of sailors killed during the Oct. 12, 2000, terrorist attack. (U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Christopher Okula)

36 posted on 10/17/2005 12:32:47 AM PDT by Gucho
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Rockets hit US facility in southern Afghanistan, no losses

KABUL, Oct 16 (KUNA) -- Suspected Taliban in southern Afghanistan fired two rockets at an airbase stationing the US military but no one was killed or injured in the attack.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Jim Yonts said Sunday the attack damaged two aircrafts standing in the parking area.

He said the jets would be ready for operations soon.

Taliban, who have recently appointed three spokesmen to replace Mufti Latifullah Hakimi, who was arrested in Pakistan a fortnight back, did not issue comments on the fresh attack.

Taliban had stepped up attacks in the southern and eastern parts of the landlocked country ahead of the winter.

Two rockets were fired recently at Kabul City followed by the killing of an eminent scholar in the southeastern Khost province.

More than 13,000 people had been killed in violence in the country in 2005, which also proved the bloodiest for the US forces as they had lost 51 soldiers, while their total toll since 2001 has crossed the 200 figure.

37 posted on 10/17/2005 12:41:08 AM PDT by Gucho
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Iraq: US bombs kill 70

Monday, October 17, 2005

By PETE BELL

US WARPLANES and helicopters have bombed two villages near the Iraqi city of Ramadi killing an estimated 70 insurgents, a US military spokesman said.

The attack came a day after a roadside bomb killed five US soldiers in Al-Bu Ubaid, a village just to the east of the city.

A group of about two dozen Iraqis had gathered round the wreckage of the US vehicle destroyed by the bomb and were hit by the US airstrikes.

The military said in a statement the crowd was setting another roadside bomb in the location of the blast that killed the Americans.

F-15 warplanes hit them with a precision-guided bomb, killing around 20 people, described by the statement as "terrorists".

But several witnesses said the people were civilians who had gathered to view the wreckage of the US vehicle.

The airstrike hit the crowd, killing 25 civilians, claimed Chiad Saad, a local tribal leader.

The other deaths occurred in the nearby village of Al-Bu Faraj.

The military said a group of gunmen opened fire on a Cobra attack helicopter that had spotted their position. The Cobra returned fire, killing around 10. The men ran into a nearby house, where gunmen were seen unloading weapons.

An F/A-18 warplane then struck the building with a bomb, killing 40 insurgents, the military said.

On Saturday, Iraqi citizens voted on ratification of a new constitution for the country. The count is still taking place, but exit polls indicate the constitution will be approved.

The official result is expected to come late this week.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005480113,00.html


38 posted on 10/17/2005 6:01:58 AM PDT by Gucho
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Marine Dies in Attack; Forces Capture Weapons, Kill Terrorists

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2005 – A Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), died when his vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device in Saqlawiyah, Iraq, on Oct. 15.

No further details on the incident were available. The Marine's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Elsewhere in Iraq, coalition and Iraqi forces continue to meet success in finding weapons.

Task Force Baghdad soldiers acting on a tip from an Iraqi citizen seized a large weapons cache in western Baghdad Oct. 16. After receiving the tip, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team, went to the location the citizen described and detained three suspects at the cache site.

When the soldiers searched the area, they found 103 high-explosive rounds, 151 mortar rounds, six mortar tubes, 31 mortar fuses, five mortar base plates, two mortar tripods, and a mortar sighting device. The cache also contained two anti-tank weapons, an anti-aircraft machine gun, 10 sticks of dynamite, 19 rocket-propelled grenades, six hand grenades and various bomb-making materials. In addition, soldiers found one machine gun with a bipod mounting device, four rifles, sniper scopes, a silencer, and 8,000 rounds of ammunition.

The unit secured the cache site and continued searching for more weapons. The three suspects were taken into custody for questioning, officials said.

Elsewhere, coalition forces continued counter-terrorism operations in areas of Anbar province Oct. 16, killing an estimated 70 terrorists in separate actions.

At about 1:25 p.m., coalition forces conducted an air strike against a group of terrorists attempting to emplace an improvised explosive device east of Ramadi.

While conducting a combat air patrol, crewmembers from an F-15 saw 20 men arrive in four vehicles at the crater site of a previously detonated IED, which killed five U.S. and two Iraqi soldiers Oct. 15. The terrorists were emplacing another IED in the same spot when the F-15 killed them with a precision-guided bomb.

Later that evening, a UH-1N Huey and AH-1W Cobra helicopter team on patrol north of Ramadi was watching a group of military-age males gathered at a suspected terrorist safe house. After realizing their position had been compromised, the terrorists fled the scene and engaged the Cobra with small-arms fire. The Cobra returned fire with 20 mm munitions, killing an estimated 10 terrorists.

About 20 minutes later, a team of F/A-18s resumed observation at the suspected safe house, where they found an additional 35 to 40 terrorists loading their vehicles with weapons and driving to another location to unload the weapons. The F/A-18 targeted the terrorists with a precision-guided bomb, killing terrorists on the ground.

The combined strikes resulted in about 50 terrorists killed, the officials said.

The strikes took place in the Abu Faraj region, north of Ramadi, from which a large number of indirect-fire and IED attacks against civilians, Iraqi infrastructure, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces have originated.

At about 8 p.m., coalition forces guarding the government center in Ramadi were attacked by small-arms fire from multiple locations within an adjacent building. After requesting air support to neutralize the increasing volume of fire, an F/A-18 engaged the target with an AGM-65 Maverick guided missile at about 8:50 p.m. When the small-arms fire continued, coalition forces engaged the targets with two shoulder-mounted multipurpose assault weapons, resulting in the cessation of all movement from within the structure. Officials estimate one to three terrorists were killed in the strike.

Officials said all the attacks were timed and executed in a manner to reduce the possibility of collateral damage, and there were no reports of coalition or civilian casualties.

The attacks follow a successful nationwide constitutional referendum, in which terrorists caused no major disruptions at the polls in Anbar province.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Task Force Baghdad news releases.)

39 posted on 10/17/2005 3:06:01 PM PDT by Gucho
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To: TexKat; All
Next Thread:

Operation Phantom Fury--Day 345 - Now Operations River Blitz; Matador--Day 240

40 posted on 10/17/2005 4:33:55 PM PDT by Gucho
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