Boat filled with Taliban sinks; 60 dead

AP ^ | 2 June 07 | RAHIM FAIEZ

[leadpenny]

18 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan - A boat crossing a river in Afghanistan's most dangerous province sank on Saturday, and at least 60 people were killed, including Taliban militants, the Defense Ministry said.

The boat sank while crossing the Helmand River, which snakes through Helmand province, the world's leading opium poppy region and site of fierce battles the last several months. Hundreds of Taliban insurgents are believed to be in Helmand.

The Afghan army was investigating to see how many Taliban insurgents and how many civilians were on board, the ministry said.

Elsewhere, suspected Taliban militants attacked a local police commander's home, killing five of his family members and sparking a gunbattle with police that left 10 insurgents dead, an official said.

The attack in the southeastern province of Ghazni killed the commander's wife, two sons and two nephews, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. The commander worked for Afghanistan's auxiliary police, a system of backup officers who supplement the country's regular police force.

Taliban militants often target police and government officials. More than 1,900 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count based on U.S., NATO and Afghan officials.

At a rally in Pakistan, a man described as the Taliban's new top field commander vowed in an audiotaped message to liberate Afghanistan from "American slavery," said Abdul Sattar Chishti, the cleric who organized the event.

Chishti said more than 12,000 people listened to the speech by the brother of Mullah Dadullah, the top Taliban commander who was killed in a U.S. operation last month in southern Afghanistan.

He said Dadullah Mansoor vowed to avenge his brother's death and those of others killed while fighting U.S., NATO and Afghan forces.

"The blood of my brother will never go waste. We will never forget his sacrifices, and the role of other martyrs. We will complete Dadullah's mission by expelling Americans and liberating Afghanistan," Chishti quoted Mansoor as saying.

It was not immediately possible to verify Chishti's claims about the rally at Killi Nalai, a village about 45 miles west of Quetta near the Afghan border. Although pro-Taliban elders have held similar rallies in northwestern tribal regions, protests the size of the one organized in Killi Nalai are rare.

___

Associated Press writer Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

[saveliberty]

True, we can’t know. But it’s tragic if there was even one innocent.

[izzatzo]

If there were one Taliban, the others are guilty by association.

[Dick Vomer]

.......at least insofar as innocent civilians were concerned.......

they probably knew they were insurgents, therefore they were "not innocent" but part of the collateral damage. As long as the populace thinks that the deaths are associated with the taliban, then they are the ones with blood on their hands and that slowly turns the populace that the guerrillas hide into a hostile environment.

That's why the propaganda war is important.

[johniegrad]

A boat crossing a river in Afghanistan's most dangerous province sank on Saturday, and at least 60 people were killed, including Taliban militants, the Defense Ministry said.

Where is your Allah now?

[saveliberty]

Really? No one can coerce anyone? Ever?

[ishabibble]

Rub a dub dub
Shiite in a tub!

[soupcon]

All nicely weighted down by mandatory islamic attire.

[elizabetty]

I hope they died slowly and had time to question Allah about their demise.

[YOUGOTIT]

Bravo!

[soupcon]

Wet turbans are no joke.

[izzatzo]

Afganistan is still a frontier occupied by bad people-it’s called “Judge Parker” justice. But, if you have a head count, think what you may.

[Gideon Reader]

I thought this was a trial attorney joke.

[AFPhys]

The Islamofascists WANT to cause the death of innocents - on both sides. We can’t prevent it, and must therefore do the best we can by “taking out” any of those who associate with them or their families.

I shed no tears for the innocent when ANY of the scum have died... Sorry. I’m just glad the homicide bomber or potential fanatic is no longer on the face of the earth.

Until all who care about Western Civilization and Democracy come to understand this is a war that is going to have to be fought with no tears, as we fought WW2, it will indeed be never-ending. Once we have made the determination that anybody who associates with or supports the fanatics in any way, we will be able to win the war within 5 years.

I’m with BlueLancer:
-------------------------------------------------

200 years from now, I want their children's children's children's children
to cower and cringe in fear whenever they hear the sounds of jet engines overhead
because their legends tell of fire from the sky.

I want them to hide in dark caves and holes in the earth,
shivering with terror whenever they hear the roar of diesel engines
because the tales of their ancestors talk about metal monsters
crawling over the earth, spitting death and destruction.

I want their mothers to be able to admonish them with
"If you don't behave, the Pale Destroyers will come for you",
and that will be enough to reduce them to quivering obesience.

I want the annihilation to be so complete that their mythology
will tell them of the day of judgment when the stern gods from across the sea
.. the powerful 'Mericans .. destroyed their forefathers' wickedness.

(Original created by BlueLancer ... 13 September 2001)

----------------------------------------------------

[M Kehoe]

Row row row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily death is all you've seen...

Row row row your boat gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily virgins are but a dream...

Row row row your boat...

Ok, I've had enough fun with this one.

5.56mm

[cake_crumb]

"Boat filled with Taliban sinks; 60 dead"

Cool!

Of course, tomorrow it'll be revealed on CNN that the boat was REALLY filled with 150 frightened, starving children and widowed women refugees on their way to the market to buy bread to take to a wedding, where they were planning to sing hymns and discuss ways to reverse global warming. And each kid had one blind puppy and one crippled kitten. And/or vice versa.

That should about cover everything.

[cake_crumb]

"My humor was divorced from the reality of the tragedy, at least insofar as innocent civilians were concerned."

The article doesn't state there WERE any 'innocent' civilians aboard either, but we know how easily they can be manufactured.

[stimpy17]

Well maybe it was your God trying to tell you something.

[cake_crumb]

ANY death is a tragedy, at least to the dead person. OK? You're beating a dead horse that YOU dragged into the thread with you.

[DainBramage]

If they sink they are Taliban. If they swim, get shot, then sink they are athletic Taliban.

[AFPhys]

Toxic waste dumping ... that’s good... better than the lawyer joke take-off. Also, the quip that they need bigger boats was great.

As far as “innocents” associating with the scum, I’m not shedding any tears for them. Each dead homicide bomber or other variety terrorist takes out yet another Islamofascist. I agree with BlueLancer, as I posted above.

For Western Civilization and Democracy to survive, we are going to have to stop mourning the casualites of innocents in this war. The Islamofascists WANT to cause that, and if we buy into “mourning” them, the victory in that battle belongs to them. Sorry: I’ll mourn the dead AFTER we win this.

SamAdams: If somebody manages to salvage the boat, I hope they can find a way to take it out with another load of Taliban and repeat the process.