The Terrorist Round-Up for 01/05/06 (Photos evidence that US Troops Terrorizing Iraqis)

[Straight Vermonter]

U.S. Troops
Terrorize Iraqi Children!!!*

With one Marine continually providing security, U.S. Marines from Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, the ground combat element of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), are swarmed by children while on patrol during Operation Moon River in Kubaysah, Iraq, Dec. 31, 2005. The goal of the one-day operation, undertaken by the Marines and the Iraqi army, was to assess essential civil services in the city and show a coalition presence. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Robert A. Sturkie

U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Thomas Shoemake, a Civil Affairs Officer, pauses to give candy to Iraqi children during a patrol with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) through Kubaysah, Iraq, during Operation Moon River, Dec. 31, 2005. The goal of the one-day operation, undertaken by the Marines and the Iraqi army, was to assess essential civil services in the city and show a coalition presence. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Robert A. Sturkie

 

*In Kerry's alternate reality.

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Al-Qaeda's man who knows too much
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

He was once close to Osama bin Laden, has intimate knowledge of al-Qaeda's logistics and financing and its nexus with the military in Pakistan, yet US intelligence has not been able to get its hands on him.

Ghulam Mustafa, 38, was picked up about 10 days ago in Lahore, and no charges have been brought against him: he is expected to disappear into a "black hole" and quietly be forgotten.

This is because Mustafa, erstwhile head of al-Qaeda's Pakistani operations, has some tales to tell, but the authorities in Pakistan would rather they were not heard, especially by the Americans, even though Islamabad is a signed-up member in the "war on terror".

Mustafa's rise and fall provide a case study of the complexities within Pakistan and of the powerful forces that make the country's intelligence and military such unpredictable allies of the United States.

More..

(A long but interesting read.)

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Balad chase stops insurgents after rounds fired at base

U.S. Soldiers responding to an indirect fire attack against a coalition base near Balad killed one suspected terrorist and captured another Jan. 2.

A coalition aircraft operating near Logistics Support Area Anaconda spotted two people running away from the site where the fire originated and helped guide a nearby patrol to the area.

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division Soldiers quickly captured one suspect, but the other fled on foot. The man led the Soldiers on a two-hour long chase that finally ended when the Soldiers cornered him in a grove of palm trees.

The suspect fired at the Soldiers with an AK-47 assault rifle and was killed by the Soldiers’ return fire.

In another incident near Hawijah, two bombing suspects were detained after a coalition aircraft observed them digging alongside a road Monday morning.

The pilot notified a nearby patrol from the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, who stopped the suspects’ vehicle. One of the men tested positive for explosives residue and a bomb sniffing dog signaled that the truck had been used to carry explosives.

(Editor's note: Information provided by the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Public Affairs Office.)

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IRAQ: IRANIAN MUJAHADEEN SAID TO BE IN U.S. CUSTODY

The leader of the Iranian mujahadeen, Massoud Rajavi, who was thought to have been in hiding since the American occupation of Iraq, is under house arrest there, according to the Paris-based website, roozonline. Massoud Rajavi and another 27 leaders of the Iranian movement, who were confined in the Ashraf base, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, have reportedly been shifted to US military custody in the Mercury Camp. The Iranian mujahadeen is a militant guerrilla movement seeking to overthrow the government of Iran and was based first in France and then in Iraq.

The Mujahadeen of the Iranian People is active in Europe under the name of the National Resistance Council, with a declared aim of overthrowing the Islamic republic of Iran. Listed as a terror group by Washington and the European Union, the Muajahadeen were founded in the late 1960s, before the Islamic Revolution in Iran as the armed wing of a religious movement opposing the then monarchy.

Their first action in that period was the murder of several American military advisors in Tehran to train the troops of the Shah. After briefly cooperating with Ayatollah Khomeini, after the 1979 revolution, the mujahadeen went underground to fight the Islamic regime. During the Iran-Iraq war they transferred their base first to the outskirts of Paris and then to Baghdad, under the protection of Saddam Hussein.

More..

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Two militants arrested in Dagestan

On January 3, near the village of Botashyurt (Khasavyurt region, Dagestan), local policemen in cooperation with the national guards arrested an active militant, as a REGNUM correspondent was informed in Khasavyurt police department.

The police arrested a local resident, born in 1972, he is suspected in warfare against federal forces in 1999 in Chechnya. From 2000 to 2005 the militant evaded justice in Egypt.

Another suspected militant is Alaudin Kahjiev, born in 1969. He was arrested in Khasavyurt. According to the law enforcement agencies’ information, in 1996 he participated in the gang of Chechen warlord Turpalali that fought against federal forces.

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Russian Forces Trying To Pin Down Militants In Daghestan

Security forces have resumed an operation to pin down a group of armed militants in Russia's southern republic of Daghestan.

Security officials say that, so far, one soldier has been killed and eight troops injured in fighting in the mountainous Untsukul district. Initially two soldiers had been reported killed in the clash which began early on 3 January. The operation was suspended at nightfall.

Up to five militants are also believed to have been killed in the fighting, which involved troops from the Interior Ministry and from the regular army backed by helicopter gunships.

Police said the armed group had entered Daghestan from Chechnya. The Daghestani interior minister, Adilgerei Magomedtagirov, is in charge of the security operation.

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Moroccan arrested in Torremolinos (Spain) for links to terrorism
By m.p.

Police in Torremolinos have arrested a 20 year old Moroccan man who has an international arrest warrant against him for alleged links with the movement, ‘The Salafist Group for Prediction and Combat,’ or GSPC.

Mohammed Abderrada was arrested at his home on Calle Isabel Manoja and will be called to declare before the Spanish High Court.

The international arrest warrant was issued in Rabat on 30th December and accuses him of criminal association to carry out terrorism.

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Pakistan arrests three Sunni Muslim militants (On Pakistan's Most Wanted List)

Pakistani security forces have arrested three Sunni Muslim militants of an outlawed group, accused of involvement in a series of attacks on minority Shi'ite Muslims, a security official said on Wednesday.

The three men were arrested during a raid in Karachi's industrial district of Korangi late on Tuesday, said Colonel Qamer Abbas Kayani of the paramilitary Rangers.

Security agencies also seized guns, detonators and explosives from the militants, identified as Maqsood Ahmed Qureshi, Azhar-ul-Haq and Nawaz Khan, he told a news conference.

More..

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Hizbul Mujahideen commander surrenders in Doda

A Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) section commander has surrendered before the security forces at Tanta near Thathri in Doda district.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Udhampur-Doda) Satvir Gupta said the HM section commander Abdul Karim surrendered before a team of police and army at Tanta on Tuesday evening along with an AK rifle and some rounds.

He said Karim had been active in Thathri area for the past few years. The surrender comes a week after an HM divisional commander and his associate laid down arms before the police and the army at Nagrota near here.

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'US winning fight against al-Qaida' (Horn of Africa)

Al-Qaida is active in Somalia, but US counter terrorism forces are winning the fight to keep its influence from spreading in East Africa, a commander said.

Maj Gen Tim Ghormley, who assumed command of the task force in May, said his troops are focussing on humanitarian projects.

These include drilling wells to refurbishing schools and clinics to improve the lives of residents in the region and keep them away from the terror network.

"We know that al-Qaida al-Itihaad is in Somalia," Ghormley told reporters at his base in the impoverished nation of Djibouti.

Members regroup

The al-Qaida linked group al-Itihaad was largely destroyed or disbanded by Ethiopian troops fighting inside Somalia by 1997.

But some of its members have regrouped under new guises and have begun to grow in strength, according to an International Crisis Group report released in July.

Somalia, divided into warring fiefdoms, remains fertile ground for terrorists.

The Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, set up in this former French colony in June 2002, is responsible for fighting terrorism in nine countries in the region.

"I believe we're winning," Ghormley said. "You can't contain them (al-Qaida), but we can take away their recruiting pool and deny them access and that's what we're trying to do."

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Algerian Militants Give Themselves Up
Boualam Ghamrassa in Algiers
Mohammed al Shayadhimi in Casablanca

Three high-ranking militants in the Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) surrendered to the Algerian security services. The militants “handed themselves in the last few days along with large amounts of weapons and money”, informed sources told Asharq al Awsat.

Abu Bilal al Albani, responsible for the group’s external relations, Abu Omar Abdul Bir, who head of the media wing and a third man whose identity was not revealed but who hails from Qasr al Bukhari, south of the capital , surrendered on 26 December 2005 in al Mediya, south of Algiers. The men vowed to encourage other militants to give up armed struggle.

Pressure from the security services and the ongoing reconciliation process motivated the Islamists to give themselves in, sources told Asharq al Awsat. “Continuous pressure by the security services on terrorists hideouts persuaded these high-ranking militants to surrender,” a source told Asharq al Awsat.

This latest surrender represents a heavy blow to the GSPC and sources expected the group’s leadership to be in disarray as a result, especially as the three militants were close to its current commander, Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud.

While Abu Omar Abdul Bir is considered the highest ranking official in the group, sources indicated that Abu Bilal was coordinating with Mokhtar Belmokhtar, another leading member in the group currently in the Sahara desert, to smuggle weapons from southern Algeria to the group’s hideouts in the north.

More..

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ISRAELI RAID KILLS MILITANTS

Three Palestinians militants have been killed after an Israeli aircraft fired missiles at their car in a refugee camp in the northern Gaza strip.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the raid, saying it targeted an Islamic Jihad leader responsible for a number of rocket attacks on Israel.

The trio is believed to have belonged to the Al-Quds Brigades, a branch of Islamic Jihad.

The names of the victims are Said Abu el-Jidian, an official of Jihad's armed wing, activist Akram Kaddass, and Mohammed Abed.

Palestinian interior ministry spokesman Tawfik Abu Hussa condemned the attack, warning raids "do not contribute to Palestinian efforts to establish a new truce."

The blast occurred in a border area from which Israel had banned Palestinians to prevent rocket attacks aimed at Israel.

An Israeli military spokesman said, two rockets fired from Gaza earlier on Monday crashed across the border in southern Israel but caused no injury or damage.

Meanwhile Palestinian police have clashed with gunmen believed to be from a faction of the ruling Fatah movement.

Witnesses say police gave chase after the gunmen hijacked two police vehicles.

The reason for the clash was not immediately clear and there was no reports of casualties.

Earlier, police smashed up government offices in a protest over lawlessness.

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[Straight Vermonter]

Ping

[SirChas]

Shocking I tell you, shocking!

[msnimje]

The children are clearly suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. THE HORROR!!!

[Madison Moose]

Look what we're doing, rotting those poor Iraqi children's teeth.

[Just A Nobody]

Thanks SV! Those poor "kids and children" being terrorized by our awesome military.

[MNJohnnie]

Thank you. You are a GREAT American "Wistle blower" for bringing this shocking information about the evil Bush Administration to our attention! Why pretty soon the Iraqi kids will be as obese as OUR kids!!!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Those Kids have been brainwashed.... /s

[nw_arizona_granny]

The photos are perfect.

Good information, thank you.

[cgk]

There are MANY MANY more pics over here (click here) on this thread of our American Troops terrorizing Iraqi... and Afghani children!

[csvset]

Torremolinos is beautiful, far too nice for a terrorist.

[Coop]

That was a long, but interesting read on Mustafa. And the photos on our terrorizing troops (a la Durbin or Kerry) are priceless!

[Eagle of Liberty]

When Mustafa was first arrested, many of his supporters, bitter that the state had turned against one of its prime assets, joined Essa's camp. These disgruntled al-Qaeda supporters were behind several attempts on Musharraf's life. Other assassination attempts were made by jihadis and army personnel.

And now that Mustafa has been detained again, more people are expected to fall in line with Essa's hardline vision, which includes targeting Musharraf.

At the same time, the authorities are pushing Lal Mosque against the wall. While they are still too scared to arrest the brothers, they have been declared "wanted terrorists" and "criminals".

This is a dangerous move as the deal struck between Ejaz and the firebrand brothers was that in return for their freedom, they would use their influence where possible to rein in those going after Musharraf.

Mustafa might be out of sight, but his detention has stirred an already volatile pot.

Musharraf better strike back now and strike back hard against these terrorists in his country or he is gone. He does not have full control of his country and he is fooling himself by making deals with them.

[Perseverando]

Great post! Bump.