Militants battle Pakistani police after attacking airport

Pakistani soldiers patrol near the scene of a gun battle in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar, Dec. 16, 2012. At least six people were killed during an exchange of fire near an airport in Peshawar on Sunday morning, the military said. (Xinhua/Umar Qayyum)

(Reuters) - Militants holed up in a half-built house in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar battled security forces on Sunday after taking part in an attack on a nearby airport the previous night, officials said.
All five of the militants who were holed up in two buildings under construction were killed by the afternoon, a provincial government and army official said.

The shoot-out erupted hours after an attack on Peshawar airport. The military declared the airport secure after killing five attackers who rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the outer wall of the airfield and battled guards after dark on Saturday.

The raid on the airport was the biggest assault on a high-profile military facility in Pakistan since gunmen stormed an air base in the province of Punjab in August, and underscored the resilience and reach of Pakistan's Taliban insurgents.

The Pakistani Taliban, who have been fighting for more than five years to overthrow the state, said they had sent 10 men to attack the airport.

"Five militants were hiding in an under-construction house near Peshawar airport," said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a spokesman for the provincial government, on Sunday.

"All of them were suicide bombers. They had weapons and hand grenades."

One policeman was killed and two wounded in the clash on Sunday, he said.

During the Saturday night attack on the airport, three rockets slammed into a nearby residential area. Health and police officials said at least four civilians had been killed and 45 wounded in the flurry of blasts and gunshots.

Authorities sealed off the airport, which handles military and civilian traffic, during the attack and suspended flights.

The gritty streets of Peshawar, the gateway to the Khyber Pass and Afghanistan beyond, have often been shaken by bomb attacks and shootings, but residents said this was the first significant raid on the heavily guarded airport.

from REUTERS
By Jibran Ahmad
PESHAWAR, Pakistan | Sun Dec 16, 2012 11:23am GMT
(Reporting By Jibran Ahmad; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Read More

Four oil tankers set on fire in northern Afghan province

Smokes rise from burned oil tankers in Baghlan province in the north of Afghanistan on Dec. 16, 2012. Four oil tankers were mysteriously caught fire and turned to ashes in Khinjan district of Baghlan province 150 km north of Kabul Saturday night, a local official said on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sahil)

PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Four oil tankers were mysteriously caught fire and turned to ashes in Khinjan district of Baghlan province 150 km north of Kabul Saturday night, a local official said on Sunday.

Habibullah, the police chief of Khinjan district, blamed the carelessness of drivers for the incident.

"The drivers were cooking next to an oil tanker. Suddenly it sparked flame and destroyed three oil tankers around," Habibullah told newsmen at the site of the event.

Some shops nearby were also damaged, he added.

from XINHUA
2012-12-16 19:03:23 

 

Read More

Nine dead as Taliban attack airport in North West Pakistan

The terminal, Peshawar International Airport. Photo by Waqas Usman.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Reuters) - A Taliban suicide squad staged an audacious car bomb, rocket and gun attack on the airport in the north-western city of Peshawar on Saturday and Pakistani security officials said at least nine people, including five attackers, were killed.

The night raid was the biggest assault on a high-profile military facility since gunmen stormed an air base in the eastern province of Punjab in August and underscored the resilience and reach of Pakistan's Taliban insurgency.

"No terrorist has been able to penetrate inside (the air field)," Group Captain Tariq Mahmood, a spokesman for the Pakistan Air Force, said in a statement. "Security forces were fully alert and are in control of the situation."

A squad of attackers wearing suicide-vests began the attack by ramming an explosives-laden vehicle into a boundary wall before trading fire with security forces for more than 30 minutes. Three rockets slammed into a nearby residential area.

Health and police officials said at least four civilians had been killed and 45 wounded in the flurry of blasts and gunshots.

Authorities sealed off access to the airport during the attack and suspended flights, leaving passengers and staff facing tense minutes waiting to see whether the militants would succeed in fighting their way into the complex.

Pakistan's army rushed reinforcements to the aid of guards battling the attackers, all five of whom were killed, security sources said.

"We have repulsed the attack on the airport, everything is now under control," said a military official.

The militants seemed to have had less success than a similar suicide squad who managed to break into the Minhas air base at Kamra in central Punjab in August by scaling a wall topped with barbed wire then battling security forces for hours.

The gritty streets of Peshawar, the gateway to Pakistan's tribal belt on the border with Afghanistan, have often been shaken by bomb attacks and shootings, but residents said this was the first significant raid on the heavily guarded airport.

The airfield complex serves both commercial flights and military aircraft, including helicopter gunships and warplanes used to strafe and bomb Taliban targets in the tribal areas.

TALIBAN

Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said the movement had sent 10 suicide bombers to attack the airport, double the number of attackers reported by security forces.

"Our target was the Pakistani Air Force base, not the Peshawar airport," Ehsan said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The Pakistani Taliban has repeatedly sent small teams of gunmen on suicide missions to attack military installations to undermine confidence in the army.

The heavily guarded airport complex lies near a sprawling complex of barracks and military facilities and the University Town residential neighbourhood, where the rockets hit.

"University Town feels like a war zone. Heavy firing is going on," said resident Akbar Khan, while the attack was still in progress.

Medical staff scrambled to treat wounded civilians, and warned the death toll could rise.

"An emergency has been declared in the hospital and all the surgeons have been called," said Umar Ayub, chief executive of the Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar. "All of them suffered bullet injuries and some of the injured are in critical condition."

Pakistan's military, which has received billions of dollars in U.S. military aid, has staged several offensives against Taliban strongholds in the tribal belt, but the movement has continued to harry its forces.

Last year, six Taliban gunmen attacked a naval facility in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden. At least 10 military personnel were killed.

from REUTERS
By Jibran Ahmad
PESHAWAR, Pakistan | Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:33pm GMT
(Reporting By Jibran Ahmad; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Read More

Taliban leader behind Afghan-US base attack arrested

A Taliban group member who was involved behind attack on Jalalabad airfield was arrested following a joint military operation by Afghan and coalition security forces in eastern Nangahar province of Afghanistan on Sunday.
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force following a statement announced, “An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban facilitator during an operation in Jalalabad district, Nangarhar province Dec. 16.”

The source further added, “The facilitator provided direct support to the insurgents who conducted the Dec. 2 attack on Jalalabad Airfield.”

A squad of Taliban suicide bombers launched a dawn attack on a major American airfield in eastern Afghanistan by trying to blast their way through the gate with two suicide car bombs.

The attack began shortly before sunrise when insurgents — wearing coalition uniforms — attacked three different points at Forward Operating Base Fenty, near the Jalalabad Airfield, according to the NATO-led International Assistance Security Force’s regional command in Nangarhar province.

It was at least the third ambitious assault on a major base in Afghanistan this year, but initially seemed to have caused less damage than some of the previous attacks.
All nine attackers were killed and Nato officials said they had not managed to breach the perimeter.

In the meantime ISAF following the statement also added Afghan security force, supported by coalition troops, arrested a Taliban leader and detained two suspected insurgents during an operation in Kandahar district, Kandahar province, Dec. 15. The leader supplied insurgents with weapons and ammunition, coordinated attacks and oversaw the transfer of homemade explosives and improvised explosive device materials.

In a separate operation Afghan and coalition security force discovered an improvised explosive device cache Dec. 15 during a security operation in Washir district, Helmand province, ISAF said following the statement adding that the cache contained seven IEDs, weapons and IED-making materials. All the items found in the cache were destroyed by the combined security force.

Taliban militants group yet to comment regarding the report.

from KHAAMA
By Sajad - December 16 2012, 2:46 pm

Read More

APACHECLIPS is back, online again!

http://www.apacheclips.com

here is the official announcement:


Status 15th December:
40% of website running. New page running except some videos. Old page unavailable at this time.
Server status: Currently running at 10% capacity (things may be slower for next couple week)

Announcement: Apaches! My name is J.J. (Or Josh) I am going to be the new manager/owner of Apacheclips.com! The website has been down for the past week and a half. This was due to a few issues that we had to deal with regarding the transfer of the site. Good news is we are making a lot of progress! Functionality to the site is now being restored. At this point in time forums work, and some videos. Tomorrow we anticipate all videos to be working. In the next weeks we anticipate the old page will come back online also. I look forward to the future of AC, we have great things planned. In the meantime please support AC simply by doing what you usually do. Keep reading forums, and watching videos! Cheers.

*List of some of our plans in the near future*

1. We are hiring a team of coders to fix all the bugs/issues with the site.
2. We are eventually going to be porting the site to it's old and classic look.
3. Using servers that are 330% faster than old server.
4. We have plans to implement a new and better 'karma' system
5. Have ideas to direct traffic from online video networks
6. Plan to change mod privileges slightly
7. No more donations to AC required, instead going to put up links to charity donation sites.
8. Going to be running polls to see what the community wants, after all this is your site!
.....and much more!

Read More