Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1974734/posts
SBS swoop to kill Taliban chief (Brits in Afghanistan)
The Sun (UK) ^ | Tom Newton Dunn
Posted on 02/22/2008 2:30:49 PM PST by uksupport1
A TALIBAN chief behind suicide attacks on British troops has been shot dead in a daring operation by elite forces in Afghanistan.
The Special Boat Service ambushed Mullah Abdul Matin as he crossed a desert on a motorbike.
They were dropped into his path by helicopter after a tip-off on his whereabouts. Matin spotted them and opened fire with an AK47 rifle but he was cut down in a hail of bullets.
Two henchmen with him – one his key lieutenant Mullah Karim Agha – were also killed in the firefight.
Matin, who was in his 40s, was killed on Monday near Gereshk in war-torn Helmand province.
Troops recovered night vision goggles, grenades and a detonator.
Matin, a deputy of Taliban chief Mullah Omar, had been one of the Coalition’s top targets for several months.
He had planned several suicide bomb attacks on British convoys, killing two British servicemen and wounding a dozen in the last 18 months.
His fanatics are thought to have murdered Royal Marine Gary Wright, 22, from 45 Commando in October 2006, and Sgt Dave Wilkinson, 33, from 19 Regiment Royal Artillery, last July.
He is also thought to be behind the murders of dozens of Afghan civilians.
British Forces spokesman in Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel Simon Millar, said: “Mullah Matin’s been a priority target for some time. He commanded fighters and reported directly to the highest Taliban levels of command.
“He’s responsible for the kidnapping of local nationals, had links with the narcotics trade and had provided security to the traffickers.”
NATO spokesman Brigadier General Carlos Branco said the Taliban had suffered “another severe setback”.
UPDATE - Quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1970480/posts?page=381#381
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=niu
Thanks to Ali Veritas for the ping to this post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1974730/posts?page=88#88
#
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/801984,niugrad021908.article
“NIU grad recalls shooter as inquisitive, smart, nice”
February 20, 2008
BY RASMIEYH ABDELNABI
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “I met Steve Kazmierczak in an introductory political science class in 2002 as a freshman in college. He was inquisitive, smart, respectful and nice.”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “We would also see each other on campus during the semesters we didn’t have any classes together and catch up.
Our topics of choice: foreign policy and the Middle East. He would especially enjoy practicing his Arabic on me. In 2004, NIU decided to offer a year’s worth of Arabic classes. Steve took both classes without hesitation, excited as could be.
“Assalamo Alikum,” he would say to me, which means “peace be with you” in Arabic. He would proceed to ask me how I was doing and what I was up to, all in Arabic with a thick accent and a huge, excited smile.
Sometimes I was his walking dictionary and he would ask me, “What does this word mean in English?” or “What is this word in Arabic?”
We would debate on issues, sometimes argue, but he would always back his arguments with facts. It was about logic and things adding up to him.
Once we took a course called “The Politics of the Middle East.” At the beginning of the course, our instructor informed us a research paper would be due by the end of the semester. Steve decided on Hamas, which is known mainly to the world as being a Palestinian terrorist group, which was the first thing that interested Steve about the group. But he also heard Hamas funded many social services, which also interested him. How could one group be put into two completely different categories, Steve would ask.
Unlike most of us, Steve started his research from day one, reading every book he could find on Hamas. He’d give me a status report when we saw each other in class. Steve said that his perception of Hamas changed with all the research he did.”
(Rasmieyh Abdelnabi is a former Northern Star reporter.)
381 posted on 02/22/2008 4:02:54 PM PST by Cindy
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973627/posts
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/20/shooter.girlfriend/index.html
pdated 3:37 p.m. EST, Wed February 20, 2008
“Girlfriend: Shooter was taking cocktail of 3 drugs”
SNIPPET: “Steven Kazmierczak had been taking Xanax, Ambien, Prozac, girlfriend says
Girlfriend: Psychiatrist prescribed all three medications
Boyfriend recently had become secretive about computer, Jessica Baty says”
382 posted on 02/22/2008 4:06:38 PM PST by Cindy