Saturday, December 8, 2012

In Several Joint Clearance Operations, 10 Armed Taliban Killed (08.Dec.,2012.)



Publish Date: Dec 08, 2012
In Several Joint Clearance Operations, 10 Armed Taliban Killed

Counterterrorism:
During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army, NDS and Coalition Forces launched 10 joint clearance operations in Kabul, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Kandahar, Logar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktiya, Farah and Helmand provinces.

As a result of these operations, 10 armed Taliban were killed and 23 others were arrested by Afghan National Security Forces.

Also, during these operations, Afghan National Police discovered and confiscated two PKM machine guns, 12 AK-47 assault rifles, 10 different types of weapons, 78 heavy rounds, 10 different types of mines, 33 kilos of explosives and five motorcycles.

Additionally, one armed Talib mine planter was killed by his own explosives while he was placing a roadside mine in the main road of Ahmad Aba District of Paktiya province yesterday.
 
Crimes:
The 101 Kabul Zone National Police detained seven suspects accused of theft and drinking alcoholic beverages in the 4th and 9th Districts of Kabul-City.
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4 killed by own explosives in Parwan

Districts of Parwan.
Districts of Parwan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
CHARIKAR (PAN): Four people, including two bomb makers, were killed when an improvised explosives device went off prematurely inside a house in central Parwan province on Friday, a police official said on Saturday.

The two bomb makers were at work on making an IED Friday night when it exploded in a house in the Dadu neighborhood on the outskirts of Charikar, the provincial capital of Parwan, the deputy police chief, Zia-ur-Rahman Faiz, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The bombers, the owner of the house identified as Mullah Jan Aqa and a local resident died in the explosion, while Aqa’s 10-year-old son was wounded, Faiz said.

Police seized one Kalashnikov rifle, two hand grenades and a large amount of explosives from the house, Faiz said.

The head of Parwan Civil Hospital, Dr. Abdul Wali Qadari, confirmed receiving two dead bodies and a wounded person, he said.

from Pajhwok
By Farid Tanha Dec 8, 2012 - 16:33   

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Taliban ambush NATO troops convoy in Khost province

According to local authorities in eastern Khost provnce of Afghanistan, Taliban militants ambushed a convoy of NATO-led coalition security forces in this province.

Gen. Abdul Qayoum Baqi provincial security chief confirming the report said the incident took place in western part of Khost province.

He did not disclose further information regarding the incident.

In the meantime Taliban militants group said at least 9 NATO troops were killed following the attack however local officials denied the report.

In the meantime NATO-led International Security Assistance Force following a statement on Saturday announced, “Afghan and coalition security forces confirmed Dec. 8 that the insurgent leader, Numan, and several other insurgents were killed during a security operation in Nari district, Kunar province, Tuesday.”

The source further added, “Numan facilitated the movement of weapons and money in the province and provided direct support to senior insurgent leaders in Kunar.”

“During an operation in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province Dec. 8 an Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader who distributed improvised explosive device materials”, ISAF said following the statement adding that, “During the operation, the security force also detained one suspected insurgent and seized IED-making materials.”

from KHAAMA
By Sajad - Sat Dec 08, 3:44 pm

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Dec. 08., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Morning Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan and coalition security forces confirmed Dec. 8 that the insurgent leader, Numan, and several other insurgents were killed during a security operation in Nari district, Kunar province, Tuesday.

Numan facilitated the movement of weapons and money in the province and provided direct support to senior insurgent leaders in Kunar.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

South

During an operation in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province Dec. 8 an Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader who distributed improvised explosive device materials. During the operation, the security force also detained one suspected insurgent and seized IED-making materials.

During an operation in Shahid-e-Hasas district, Uruzgan province Dec. 7, Afghan and coalition security forces seized and destroyed a number of weapons, ammunition and three motorcycles used by insurgents. As a result of the operation, several insurgents were killed and three suspected insurgent were detained.

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Dec. 08., 2012. - RC-East operational update

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Afghan and coalition forces killed five insurgents, located one weapons cache and cleared two improvised explosive devices during operations in eastern Afghanistan on Dec. 7.

Ghazni Province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces discovered a weapons cache in Ghazni District. The cache contained small arms and ammunition.

Khowst Province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared one IED in Gurbuz District.

Laghman Province
Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces found and safely cleared one IED in Mehtar Lam District.

Nangarhar Province
Afghan Uniformed Police and coalition forces killed five insurgents during an engagement in Hezerak District.

Operations in RC-East are ongoing.


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Al Qaeda commander reportedly killed US drone attack

Tribal sources from Pakistan's northwest said on Saturday a US drone attack had killed a senior al Qaeda commander in the latest blow to the militant Islamist group that has been targeted in many similar attacks.

Abu Zaid was killed, along with 10 other people, in the drone strike on a hideout in Pakistan s North Waziristan, one of the tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan, early on Thursday, the sources said. Zaid had just moved to the hideout a few days ago, they said.

Pakistani security officials based in North Waziristan said they were aware of the death of a senior al Qaeda commander but could not confirm his identity or rank.

Zaid replaced Abu Yahya al-Libi as one of al Qaeda's most powerful figures in June after Libi was killed by a US drone strike.

Unmanned aerial attacks have crushed al Qaeda's network along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan but have drawn trenchant criticism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Al Qaeda has been weakened steadily in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the killing of Osama bin Laden in a raid by US special forces on a Pakistani garrison town in May 2011.

from ARYNEWS
 Updated :   Saturday  December  8 , 2012  12:54:40 PM

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US adds West African group, 2 leaders, to terrorism list


MUJAO-French-Hostage-SITE-Video.jpg
Gilberto Rodriguez Leal, a French hostage, from a MUJAO videotape released on jihadist forums on Dec. 1, seated in front of the banner of jihad.

The US government has added the al Qaeda-linked Movement for Tawhid [Unity] and Jihad in West Africa and two of its leaders to the list of global terrorists and entities. The Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO as it is commonly called, is an al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb offshoot that controls territory in Mali and has been behind several terrorist attacks and kidnappings in West Africa. The group has named one of its units fighting in Mali after Osama bin Laden.
The Department of State said that the designation of MUJAO and two of its top leaders, Hamad el Khairy and Ahmed el Tilemsi, who were also designated by the United Nations as terrorists, "demonstrates international resolve in eliminating MUJAO's violent activities in Mali and the surrounding region."
MUJAO formed in late 2011 as an offshoot from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the al Qaeda affiliate in North Africa, in order to wage jihad in western Africa. Although MUJAO leaders are purported to have leadership differences with the Algerian-dominated AQIM, MUJAO conducts joint operations with AQIM in northern Mali and other areas. At the time of its formation, MUJAO expressed affinity to al Qaeda and its founder, Osama bin Laden, and Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
MUJAO "has been behind violent terrorist attacks and kidnappings in the region," including suicide attacks and the abduction of aid workers in Algeria and Algerian diplomats in Mali, according to State.
State described Hamad el Khairy and Ahmed el Tilemsi as "founding leaders" of MUJAO. Khairy, who was born in Mauritania and is a Malian citizen, served as "a member of AQIM, and was involved in planning terrorist operations against Mauritania in 2007." Tilemsi, a Malian citizen, "acts as MUJAO's military head" and was "also affiliated with AQIM."

MUJAO is one of three major al Qaeda-linked groups that participated in last spring's invasion of northern Mali. Along with AQIM and Ansar Dine, MUJAO took control of northern Mali after the Malian military overthrew the government in the south. MUJAO, AQIM, and Ansar Dine fought alongside the secular Tuaregs from the Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) to take control of northern Mali, but then quickly cast aside the MNLA and imposed sharia, or Islamic Law, in areas under their control.
Mali has become a new and dangerous front and safe haven for al Qaeda and its allies. Foreign jihadists from West African countries such as Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Guinea, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast, as well as Egyptians, Algerians, and Pakistanis, are filling out the ranks of MUJAO, AQIM, and Ansar Dine. Additionally, at least two training camps have been established in Gao, the largest city in northern Mali [see Threat Matrix reports, West African jihadists flock to northern Mali, and Foreign jihadists continue to pour into Mali].
MUJAO currently controls the northern town of Gao and surrounding areas. At the end of November, MUJAO defeated an MNLA assault to regain control of Gao.
During the battle for Gao, MUJAO deployed its "Osama bin Laden Battalion" to defeat the MNLA forces. MUJAO's Osama bin Laden Battalion teamed up with more than 300 fighters from AQIM's El Moulethemine Battalion.
After MUJAO defeated the MNLA in Gao, a jihadist linked to MUJAO said that the group would not stop fighting after taking over northern Mali, but instead said its jihad was global.
"Expect soon the conquest of the Malian capital, Bamako, then of Rome, as our Messenger, Allah's peace and prayer be upon him, promised us," the jihadist said, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

Ahmed Ould Amer, the leader of the Osama bin Laden Battalion, warned that it would fight any international efforts to oust the jihadists from northern Mali.
"We will oppose the international threat against us by engaging in combat and jihad," Amer said, according to Magharebia.com.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/12/us_adds_west_african.php#ixzz2ET4DBvP3
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JTF kills 4 suspected terrorist commanders in Maiduguri

Maiduguri – The Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order on Friday, shot dead four suspected terrorist commanders of the Boko Haram group after an operation in Maiduguril.
JTF spokesman Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa announced this in a statement issued in Maiduguri.

He said the operation was sequel to last week’s killing of a notorious commander of the group, Abduulkareem Ibrahim, in Maiduguri by men of the task force.

“Following the killing of Abdulkareem Ibrahim a high-profile terrorist commander in a joint operation along Damboa-Biu road on Dec. 2, 2012, a follow up operations was conducted between Dec. 3 and Dec. 5 based on additional information,” he said.

Musa said the operations were conducted at different parts of Maiduguri in areas identified
as hideouts of the suspected terrorists.

“The operations were successfully conducted in Sabon Gari, Sabon Layin Gwange, Dala Sajeri,  Sulemanti areas of the city among others.

“Four identified suspected Boko Haram sub-commanders, including two Improvised Explosive Device (IED) experts were killed in a shootout,” he said.

Musa said that two soldiers were injured during the operations.

“Five AK 47 rifles, one pistol, 11 AK 47 empty magazines, one G3 rifle, 176 assorted ammunitions,
24 assorted prime IED gas cylinders were recovered.

“Other items included 12 pieces of IEDs remote control switches, 16 assorted IED incendiary materials and chemicals among others,” he said.(NAN)

from VANGUARDNGR
On December 8, 2012 · In News
1:52 pm

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Second bomb this week kills three in Nairobi suburb

(Reuters) - A bomb blast in a predominantly Somali district of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Friday killed three people and wounded at least eight, the Kenyan Red Cross said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the run-down Eastleigh suburb, the second explosion there since Wednesday night. Local lawmaker Yusuf Hassan was among the injured, Nairobi's police chief Moses Ombati said.

One Eastleigh resident, Said Abdullahi, said he heard two gunshots followed by an explosion outside a mosque.

"Some of those injured were worshippers leaving the mosque," Abdullahi told Reuters.

Ombati said it was too early to tell whether a grenade or a bomb caused the explosion and it was possible the casualty toll would rise.

Kenyan authorities have blamed Somali militants and their sympathisers for a wave of grenade and gun attacks in Kenya after Nairobi sent soldiers into neighbouring Somalia last year to drive out Islamist rebel fighters with links to al Qaeda.

Kenya's government accuses al Shabaab rebels of making cross-border attacks and blamed the group for the kidnapping of Western tourists and aid workers.

Abdirashid Hashi, a Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said lawmaker Hassan was an open critic of the al Shabaab rebel group's almost six-year campaign against Somalia's Western-backed government.

Tensions have risen in the past two months in Eastleigh, a part of Nairobi commonly dubbed "Little Mogadishu" because of its large Somali population.

"It's too early to say who was behind this ... but I don't think mosques are off-limits to al Shabaab," Hashi told Reuters.

It was not clear if Hassan, a former journalist at the BBC, was the target of the attack.

Mounting insecurity is a growing concern as the region's biggest economy prepares for a presidential election in March, the first poll since a contested 2007 vote which unleashed nationwide ethnic violence.

Unknown assailants on Wednesday detonated a makeshift bomb, apparently by remote control, wounding at least nine people in an attack that appeared to target Kenyan nationals.

In mid-November, a bomb ripped through a commuter minibus as it travelled through Eastleigh in a deadly strike that sparked a day of street battles between Kenyan nationals and ethnic Somalis.

The attacks in Kenya have intensified since Kenyan troops, fighting under the banner of an African Union peacekeeping force, launched an offensive in late September against al Shabaab's last major urban stronghold, the Somali port of Kismayu, forcing the rebels to flee.



from REUTERS
By Richard Lough
NAIROBI | Fri Dec 7, 2012 9:50pm GMT

(Additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo and Noor Ali in Isiolo; Writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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Afghan Spy Chief critically injured by underpants bomber

Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs, Asadull...
Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs, Asadullah Khalid, attends the inauguration of the Access English program at Rahman Baba High School in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, June 4, 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Afghan Intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) officials on Friday announced that assailant suicide bomber had planted explosives under his underwear to target Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid.
According to a statement released by Afghan NDS department the explosives were planted near the genitals and under the underwear of the suicide bomber.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives after shaking hands with the Afghan intelligence chief in one of his guest house on Thursday afternoon.

Asadullah Khalid was critically injured from his wrist and legs following the blast.

Afghan NDS spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri said the suspected suicide bomber had introduced himself as the peace messenger of the Taliban group.

NDS Chief Asadullah Khalid was taken to the hospital for treatment purposes following the blast where Afghan president Hamid Karzai said that Mr. Khalid will be taken outside of the country if needed.

However NDS department following the statement on Friday said that the health condition of Asadullah Khalid was satisfactory and is improving.

Taliban militants group claimed responsibility behind the attack which is similar to the incident where former Afghan high peace council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated.

Afghan Intelligence Department condemned the attack and said the action was against the principles and ethics of Islam.

The statement released by Afghan NDS department said that enemies of peace and Afghan people are committed to their enmity with Afghanistan by committing such an attack.

According to reports Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid was taken to US-run Bagram airbase for treatment purposes after receiving immediate operation in Afghan NDS hospital.

Reports also suggest that Asadullah Khalid was taken out of the country for further treatment however NDS department has not commented in this regard in its statement.

Asadullah Khalid has previously worked as provincial governor for Kandahar and Ghazni proivnces of Afghanistan and was also elected as tribal and ethnic affairs minister.

He was elected as Afghan intelligence chief by president Hamid Karzai and was one of the main supporters of public upraising against the Taliban militants in Ghazni province.

from KHAAMA
By Sajad - Fri Dec 07, 8:12 pm

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