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The Royal Navy described the boarding as 'compliant' Michael Evans, Defence Editor and Rob Crilly Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles. In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the...

KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. Special Forces soldiers freed a kidnapped American working for the Army Corps of Engineers during a nighttime mission last week — a rare hostage rescue in a country where ransom abductions have become increasingly common. The American, who had been working on U.S. government-funded infrastructure projects, was abducted in mid-August and had been held just 30 miles west of Kabul with no public notice of his abduction. The dangerous mission to free the U.S. contractor killed several insurgents, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. Taliban militants have kidnapped several international aid workers and journalists in recent...

A middle school teacher has been suspended for posting a video of his Barack Obama-slogan chanting, arm-waving drill team on YouTube. The report from Fox News said the teacher, whose name was being withheld by the school district, was suspended today for the video revealing his students chanting lines from Obama talking points and wearing military-style uniforms. According to Fox News, the school learned about the posting of the video, called "Obama Youth – Junior Fraternity Regiment," and immediately took action.

SHINDAND AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (June 27, 2008) – The dedication in his eyes is evident as the American Special Operations warrior attentively moves up and down the row of Afghan Commandos on the firing range. He rewards a particularly good shot with an approving tap on the helmet. He seems unaware of the sweltering heat or the weight on his shoulders from the massive amount of equipment he is wearing. His only concern is for the men before him and the mission they have accepted. Afghanistan’s security and stability partially rests in the hands of the Commandos on this range....

British forces help free Italians in Afghanistan Last Updated: 1:43am BST 25/09/2007 British special forces were involved in a daring raid to rescue two kidnapped Italians in Afghanistan. Commandos from the Special Boat Service (SBS) joined a multi-national military team led by Italian troops to free the two intelligence officers who have been missing since Saturday. A fierce gun battle broke out when the SBS force ambushed the kidnappers as they tried to move the Italians in two four-wheel drive vehicles. One of the Italians was seriously wounded while the other has non-life threatening injuries. At least nine of the...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2007 – A new battalion of Afghan National Army commandos today completed it first operation, capturing a well-known Taliban facilitator and two suspected Taliban extremists. Working with a contingent of Afghan national police advised by coalition forces, the commandos led a two-day mission 30 miles southwest of Jalalabad in the Sherzad district of Nangahar province. During the mission, the commandos captured and detained Haji Shir Khan, a known improvised explosive device maker, who is responsible for numerous IED attacks on Afghan and coalition forces in the province. The assault force also found two weapons caches that contained...

U.S. Army and Iraqi army soldiers quickly secured a site where a vehicle borne improvised explosive device detonated. The explosion took place at a mechanic shop in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, April 8. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Angela McKinzie Commando Brigade and Iraqi Army Render Aid in Car Bombing IED detonates in auto shop, killing 17 By Multi-National DivisionCamp Victory, Iraq MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq, April 10, 2007 — Coalition and Iraqi troops quickly secured an area near the south Baghdad city of Mahmudiyah on April 8, after improvised explosive device in a car exploded. "I really want to help the...

This (short) excerpt as linked in the source URL is part of a documentary made by the dutch journalist/film maker Vik Franke who lived embedded with the dutch special forces operating in Afghanistan for two months. These special forces are part of the 1600 dutch soldiers present in the afghan province of Uruzghan. What you see is an ambush, following by incoming enemy fire from multiple directions. No friendly casualties occurred during this incident, the amount of enemy casualties is unknown.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Dutch commandos killed 18 enemy fighters who set up positions in rugged hills overlooking a Dutch camp in southern Afghanistan, the country's military chief said Friday. There were no Dutch casualties during a 10-day mission. "If we had not done something then our soldiers could have come under fire and the construction of our camp could have been hindered," Gen. Dick Berlijn, commander of the Dutch armed forces, told reporters in The Hague. Berlijn said the Taliban fighters were massing on terrain on both sides of the Baluchi Valley, about 6 miles north of where Dutch...

Royal Marines to be deployed in Afghanistan throughout winter Specialist arctic warfare troops to undertake dangerous mission Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders also to be deployed Key quote "There are people out there, after three decades of conflict, who are determined to stop us doing that. They will deploy any violence they can to stop us doing that, but they can't be allowed to succeed. We must achieve our objective of making this a better country not only for the Afghan people, but also we mustn't allow it to become a haven for terrorism again." - Defence secretary, Des Browne...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistani anti-terror police commandos on Monday arrested two Afghans and an Arab, suspected to be al Qaeda militants, after a gunfight outside the northwestern city of Peshawar, two intelligence officials said.

AL ASAD, Iraq (Oct. 13, 2005) -- As the commandos came aboard, the stern looks on their faces, hardened from months of battling insurgents, turned to smiles as they greeted Marines operating the KC-130J Hercules. Under the cover of darkness, Marines from Marine Aerial Refueler and Transport Squadron 252 flew a company of Iraqi Special Operation Forces out of Al Asad, Iraq. “We are happy to be on this bird with so many successful missions accomplished,” said the ISF company commander. “We’re glad the bird was here and on time. I think that happened because the Marines are in charge....

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla., Sept. 30, 2005 – A select team of combat aviation advisors from the 6th Special Operations Squadron here deployed to the edge of the Sahara desert to conduct a joint exchange training exercise with the fledgling Niger air force in August. Because the 6th SOS has been to Niger numerous times, the air commandos better understand how to adapt to living and working in one of the world's poorest countries. The team requires very little outside support and leaves a very small footprint in the local area. The air commandos are culturally and linguistically trained to earn...

FRENCH commandos abseiled from circling helicopters to recapture a car ferry in the Mediterranean yesterday after it was hijacked by striking workers opposed to privatisation plans. The dramatic operation, which was ordered by Dominique de Villepin, the French prime minister, came after some 50 masked strikers from the Union of Corsican Workers took control of the ferry Pascal Paoli in the port of Marseilles late on Tuesday and set sail for Corsica. Five army helicopters began circling above the vessel shortly after dawn yesterday and had taken control of the ship within ten minutes, army sources said. There was no...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 24, 2005) – The Distinguished Service Cross – second only to the Medal of Honor in military decorations – has been awarded to U.S. Army Col. James H. Coffman Jr. for his role in leading Iraqi Special Police Commandos through a 5 ½-hour battle against insurgents trying to overrun an Iraqi police station. Flanked by the commando unit Coffman fought with, U.S. Army Gen. George Casey, commander of Multi-National Forces–Iraq, pinned the cross and eagle medal on Coffman’s body armor during an Aug. 24 ceremony at Adnon Palace in Baghdad’s International Zone. Iraq’s Minister...

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AP) - Four victims of an Iraqi air force plane crash were stationed at Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Military sources told the Northwest Florida Daily News that the four killed in Monday's turboprop crash were the first Hurlburt-based air commandos to die in the Iraqi war. Their names and unit have not been released.(snip) The Tampa-based Central Command issued a statement saying the plane was on an operational mission. No other details have been released about the mission or the cause of the crash. The single-engine plane is normally outfitted to...

In a country of tough guys, Adnan Thabit may be the toughest of all. He was both a general and a death-row prisoner under Saddam Hussein. He favors leather jackets no matter the weather, his left index finger extends only to the knuckle (the rest was sliced off in combat) and he responds to requests from supplicants with grunts that mean ''yes'' or ''no.'' Occasionally, a humble aide approaches to spray perfume on his hands, which he wipes over his rugged face. General Adnan, as he is known, is the leader of Iraq's most fearsome counterinsurgency force. It is called...

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi commandos backed by U.S. troops killed 84 militants in a battle to seize a training camp north of Baghdad, one of the highest guerrilla death tolls in the country's nearly two-year-old insurgency. Baghdad's Interior Ministry said the dead included Arab and foreign fighters. Seven police commandos were also killed in the clashes on Tuesday in a deserted region 160 km (100 miles) northwest of Baghdad, where sporadic fighting continued. "Special forces in the Interior Ministry attacked a training center ... and had a fierce battle with the terrorists, killing 84 of them," Sabah Kadhim, a...

The latest news coming from our friends in the Netherlands about sending a commando force to Afghanistan to work alongside U.S. and British soldiers is very good news. I understand the Netherlands is not going to stomp out terrorism on its own, but it shows that the Dutch people are looking to do more in worldwide fight against terrorism. The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) has an excellent piece on the Dutch Intelligence’s examination of the radical Islamic threat within its country. The result has been to question Netherlands’ culture of "gedoogcultuur," or “culture of permissiveness,” which has helped...