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WASHINGTON, July 3, 2006 – Iraqi and coalition forces captured or killed three insurgents and detained 17 others throughout Iraq in operations yesterday and July 1, while Iraqi Police acted on a tip to secure a large homemade bomb June 30. Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Army Division, killed an assassination cell leader in Tal Afar in an exchange of gunfire yesterday. The soldiers were patrolling Tal Afar when Col. Kareem Jassim Hathal, the 3rd Battalion commander, recognized Ghassan Abd al Khadir Farhat, a known insurgent leader, wanted by Iraqi and coalition forces. Hathal directed his troops...

Dear Editor, the Tribune:In his June 7 letter to the editor, peace activist Steve Jacobs asks, "Who would Jesus bomb?" then attacks Christians for not sharing his peacenik worldview.As a veteran and Marine parent, I ignore his ilk. But as a pastor, I sometimes find it necessary to respond to those who flagrantly misuse the Bible to support their biases. Conservative Bible scholars view Jesus as an eternally co-existent member of the Trinity. Therefore, Jesus participated in destroying Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 and threatened Nineveh with the same in Jonah 3. King David, a soldier acclaimed for killing...

WASHINGTON, June 28, 2006 – A coalition soldier was killed and three others were injured today when their vehicle struck a land mine in Afghanistan's Helmand province, and Afghan and coalition forces today killed 12 terrorists at a Taliban compound, military officials reported. The dead and wounded soldiers' uparmored vehicle struck a land mine likely left behind from 25 years of war, according to Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials. "We sincerely regret the loss of our fellow soldier today; his sacrifice will not be forgotten," Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander of Combined Joint Task Force -76, said. "Our...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2006 – Three American soldiers were killed by improvised explosive devices while on patrol in Iraq in recent days, officials in Iraq said today. Separate IED explosions in Baghdad and Tikrit June 24 each claimed the life of one U.S. soldier. A roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad on June 23 killed another U.S. soldier. Another U.S. soldier in Baghdad died of a non-combat incident June 23. Names of the deceased are being withheld until their families are notified. Coalition forces in Iraq are continuing operations to thwart enemy IED attacks, officials said. Iraqi forces captured three members...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2006 – Two terrorists were killed and six were detained during two separate coalition operations conducted in Tikrit and Yusifiyan yesterday, military officials announced. Coalition troops killed two terrorists and detained another during a raid north of Yusifiyan June 24. The terrorists were at a foreign-fighter safe house where recent intelligence indicated that they were holding meetings to plan terrorist acts, officials said. One woman was injured in the action. She received medical care and was taken to a nearby military facility for further treatment. The same house had been targeted in early May to disrupt a...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan and coalition forces killed about 65 militants in two gunbattles in southern Afghanistan, the military said Saturday. On Friday, troops came under fire from about 40 insurgents near the village of Mirabad northeast of the capital in southern Uruzgan province, the military said in a statement. Most of the militants, who were firing from hidden positions in an orchard, ridgeline and compound near Mirabad, were believed killed, the coalition said. No coalition or civilian injuries were reported. In a separate assault, Afghan and coalition forces battled a large group of militants in the Zharie district of...

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2006 – The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy conducted a successful "hit to kill" missile defense test yesterday off the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The test involved the launch of a Standard Missile 3 from the Aegis-class cruiser USS Shiloh to hit a "separating" target, meaning that the target warhead separated from its booster rocket, officials said. "Hit to kill" technology uses direct collision of the interceptor missile with the target, destroying the target using only kinetic energy from the force of the collision. It was the seventh successful intercept test involving the sea-based component of...

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2006 – Two separate terrorist attacks yesterday left three Afghan civilians dead and six others wounded, U.S. military officials reported today. A makeshift bomb placed under a bridge in Paktia province was detonated as two passenger vehicles passed above. The blast killed two Afghans and wounded five others. Elsewhere, extremists attacked two Afghan civilian trucks in Ghazni province, killing the driver of one truck and wounding the other. The wounded driver was taken to Ghazni hospital for treatment. "These unprovoked attacks against civilians are criminal," U.S. Army Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force 76 spokesman,...

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2006 – In a joint initiative, the Iraqi government and Multinational Force Iraq released more than 220 security detainees June 11 from coalition-run internment facilities, U.S. military officials reported. "You must give the government a chance and become productive members of society," Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi told some detainees prior to their release from Abu Ghraib Theater Internment Facility. The release is part of an Iraqi government plan to release up to 2,500 detainees by the end of June, U.S. military officials said. The release consists of those not guilty of serious, violent crimes such as...

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2006 – Taliban extremists burned a school in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, and coalition forces killed numerous terrorists in several operations there over the past week, U.S. military officials reported. The Wardag Kat Primary School was set on fire June 3 by several identified Taliban extremists, resulting in extensive damage to the roof and the interior of the building. The extremists also sporadically fired small-arms fire into Wardag Village and a nearby village across the valley while the school was burning. Residents of Wardag Village did not report any injuries to Afghan or coalition forces. Taliban extremists have...

Paras kill 21 Taliban in fierce fight among alleyways By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 10/06/2006) The first significant encounter between soldiers of the Parachute Regiment and the Taliban involved close-quarters fighting among alleyways and mud buildings. It was an early indication of the challenges facing British troops recently deployed in southern Afghanistan. Within 10 seconds of disembarking from their Chinook helicopters outside the village of Nauzad, the troops came under heavy fire from insurgents hidden in houses and behind walls. As machinegun bullets and rocket-propelled grenades cut through the air, the Paras ran for cover, returning fire only when...

Lion kills intruder at Kyiv zoo Jun. 5, 2006. 12:44 PM KYIV, Ukraine - A lion killed a man who climbed into its enclosure in the Ukrainian capital's zoo, police said Monday. The lion attacked the 45-year-old Ukrainian late Sunday after he used a rope to climb down into an enclosure with four lions, said Kyiv police spokesman Volodymyr Polishchuk. He said the man, who was not identified, was acting aggressively and the lion seized him by the throat. The man, an ethnic Azerbaijani, died at the scene. Ukrainian TV channel NTN broadcast interviews with witnesses who said the man...

Gunmen kill 21 commuters near BaghdadBy QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 11 minutes ago BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen dragged passengers off a buses northeast of Baghdad and killed 21 people, including a dozen high school students. The attackers spared four Sunni Arabs in one the worst sectarian atrocities in recent weeks. Serwan Shokir, the mayor of Qara Tappah, said one other person was wounded in the early morning attack. He said there were 26 people on three mini headed from his town to Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. The 12 slain students were apparently headed for Baqouba...

TAVARES, Fla. — A couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said. The couple, ages 60 and 59, were charged with four counts each of criminal conspiracy to commit murder. They were being held without bond. Police said they initially offered $100 to an undercover sheriff's deputy to kill their son's wife, their 10-year-old granddaughter, two step-grandchildren, ages 14 and 16, and the family dog. More money was promised after the killings, said Lake County sheriff's Sgt. Christie Mysinger. The...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces killed two Iraqi women — one of them about to give birth — when the troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials and relatives said Wednesday. Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, was being raced to the maternity hospital in Samarra by her brother when the shooting occurred Tuesday. Jassim, the mother of two children, and her 57-year-old cousin, Saliha Mohammed Hassan, were killed by the U.S. forces, according to police Capt. Laith Mohammed and witnesses. The U.S. military said coalition troops fired...

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2006 – Terrorists bombed the site of a future Iraqi city hall yesterday, and coalition forces killed three terrorists and detained 10 more suspects in three incidents May 28. The construction site of the future Lutafiyah city hall was bombed late last night. Iraqi and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers were sent to investigate the explosion and have secured the site, according to U.S. officials. No injuries were reported. On May 28, coalition forces killed three terrorists and wounded one as they transported and attempted to emplace roadside bombs near Ramadi. The individuals have been linked to a...

The sniper's plan: kill six whites a day for 30 days By Harry Mount in New York (Filed: 25/05/2006) One of the two snipers who murdered 10 people in a killing spree that terrorised Washington has revealed their plans to kill hundreds of children, policemen and rescue workers in an attempt to shut down cities across the country. John Allen Muhammad, 45, and his accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, 21, brought America's capital to a standstill in 2002 as they picked off white targets at petrol stations and shops in the city's prosperous suburbs. Muhammad: ‘a coward’ Malvo testified that Muhammad,...

Afghan, Coalition Forces Kill 24 Enemy Fighters American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 24, 2006 – Coalition forces killed 24 enemy fighters in Afghanistan yesterday, U.S. military officials said. Afghan National Army and coalition forces battled terrorists for six hours in the Tarin Kowt district of Uruzgan province yesterday evening, military officials said. One Afghan National Police officer and four Afghan soldiers were killed battling the enemy fighters. Additional Afghan soldiers and police were wounded and were taken to a nearby medical treatment facility. No report was available on their condition. The engagement started when a joint combat patrol of...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2006 – Coalition forces killed seven terrorists and captured two others in Iraq yesterday, U.S. military officials said. During a raid east of Lake Thar Thar, coalition forces killed four terrorists and detained two others. One of detainees is Sudanese. The other detainee, of unknown citizenship, was wounded in the initial raid, treated on site, and medically evacuated to the 10th Combat Support Hospital, military officials said. Coalition forces found Yemeni, Saudi, Tunisian, Sudanese and Iraqi passports at the site of the raid. In a separate incident yesterday, coalition forces located and killed three suspected al-Qaida terrorists...

KABUL, Afghanistan (Army News Service, May 22, 2006) – Coalition forces attacked Taliban forces early this morning in the Kandahar region near Azizi, resulting in the unconfirmed deaths of up to 80 Taliban members. The operation was aimed at individuals, but coalition forces encountered organized opposition from Taliban forces. Both ground- and close-air support were used. Initial assessments confirmed 20 Taliban members killed with an additional 60 unconfirmed casualties. Five Taliban members were also detained and are being questioned on their participation in terrorist activities. “We have taken this fight directly to the extremists who threaten the future progress of...