35 Taliban fighters surrender in Herat (+video)

HERAT CITY (PAN): Thirty-five Taliban fighters, including a commander, joined the peace process in the western province of Herat, an official said on Sunday.

Led by Mullah Mir Ahmad, the militants surrendered late on Saturday as a result of efforts by border police, Deputy Governor Asiluddin Jami told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The men also turned in their weapons to the government, he said, adding the group had been operating in Kuhsan and Gulran districts of the province.

Regional head of High Peace Council Maulvi Ghulam Sarwar hoped the insurgents’ surrender would have a direct and positive impact on the security situation in the two districts.

Ahmad asked the central government to provide them with job opportunities.

The deputy governor said construction projects in the two districts were planned and job opportunities would be provided to residents in the near future.

On March 26, Taliban commander Obaidullah joined the peace process along with 11 associates in the Kushk-i-Kohna district of the province.

from Pajhwok
by Ahmad Quraishi

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Nigeria: Another Kogi Bomb Factory - 10 Killed in Boko Haram, Security Forces Gun Duel

Security forces, yesterday, clashed with gunmen suspected to be members of the Islamist group, Boko Haram.

By the time the booming of guns went down, 10 people lay dead.

The dead include nine suspected Islamists and one soldier. Two other security operatives sustained serious injuries.

Scene of gun battle was Ihima, in OkehiLocal Government Area of Kogi State.

The members of the security forces, comprising of the military and the Department of State Security, SSS,were said to be on their way to uncover a bomb factory allegedly operated by Boko Haram in Ihima when they came under attack by the Islamists

The security forces had acted on a tip-off barely one week after they uncovered another bomb factory in Kabba, the headquarters of Kabba LGA, Kogi State.

In the ensuing duel, nine Islamists and a soldier were killed while two members of the SSS were also injured.

In the course of the duel, the military deployed a helicopter for reconaissance and shelling of the Islamists bomb factory.

Bomb manufacturing materials discovered in Kogi State, yesterday.

Confirming the incident, the commandant, Nigeria Army Records, Lokoja, General Alphosus Chukwu, who led the operation, said the security forces, acting on a tip off, were on their way to Ihima to uncover another bomb factory, after the one in Kabba was unveiled, when they were engaged in gun duel by the hoodlums. He added: "We are already on top of the situation and the factory is now condoned off".

He advised law abiding citizens in the area to go about their lawful duties without any fear of molestation. Meanwhile, the governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, says his government would take care of the medical expenses of the injured security agents.

The governor, who stated this when he paid a visit to the injured security men at the Federal Medical Center, Lokoja, said government will continue to work with the security forces to rid the state of criminals. He called on the security agents not to be deterred in the onerous task of providing security for the citizenry.

By Isiaka Oyibo, 1 April 2012
from allAfrica

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Afghan special forces kill 4 Taliban militants in Kunduz

At least 4 Taliban militants were killed and 2 others were detained alive following a night raid by Afghan special forces at Kolabi in northern Kunduz city.

An Afghan special forces officer speaking on the condition of anonymity said, the night raid was carried out by Afghan special forces along with the NATO elite troops and Afghan rapid reaction police forces.

A Toyota Surf vehicle and three motorcyles used by the Taliban militants were destroyed following the air raid and 4 Taliban militants were killed.

Afghan special forces officer said, the attack was carried out based on the intelligence report and the Taliban militants who were killed during the raid had recently returned to Kunduz province from neighboring Pakistan. There were no reports of civilians casualties during the night raid.

In the meantime Afghan interior ministry following a press release announced at least 12 armed insurgents were killed and injured and 13 others were detained by Afghan police forces.

The source further added, the militants were killed, injured and detained during 15 separate military operations conducted by Afghan police in conjunction with the Afghan army, Afghan intelligence and NATO-led international coalition security forces at Kabul, Kunduz, Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Uruzgan, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni, Khost and Paktia province of Afghanitan.

At least 11 insurgents were killed, 1 insurgent was injured and 13 others were detained during the operations, Afghan interior ministry officials added.

According to Afghan interior ministry officials, Afghan security forces also seized 501 kilograms of drugs along with some weapons, ammunitions and explosives during the operations.

In separate military operations Afghan police forces seized at least 18 landmines from Kapisa, Kunduz, Balkh, Kandahar, Herat and Helmand provinces of Afghanistan.

Anti-government armed militant groups yet to comment regarding the reports.

from KHAAMA

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Marine receives Silver Star for actions in Afghanistan

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.  — The parade deck at San Mateo was filled with Marines March 29, as Sgt. Ryan T. Sotelo, a San Mateo, Calif. native, was awarded the Silver Star. He was honored for the actions he took as a squad leader with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment while deployed to Sangin District, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Ryan T. Sotelo, Battalion Landing Team 3/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, shakes hands with Lt. Col. Christeon C. Griffin, battalion commander, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, after receiving the Silver Star at San Mateo, Calif., March 30. Sotelo received the United States’ third highest award for combat valor for actions he took as a squad leader with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment while deployed to Sangin District, Afghanistan. -  photo by Lance Cpl. Timothy Childers,

Maj. Gen. Ronald L. Bailey, commanding general, 1st Marine Division, presented the medal to Sotelo, who is now a scout sniper with Battalion Landing Team 3/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Silver Star Medal is the United States’ third highest award for combat valor and is fifth in the precedence of military awards.

“It was humbling when the general pinned on the star,” said Sotelo. “When we perform out in country we don’t do it for metals, we do it for the Marine on the right and left of us.”

On Nov. 25, 2010, Sotelo’s squad was ambushed in an open field with machinegun and small arms fire, killing the platoon commander. Without hesitation, Sotelo took charge of the unit and moved them to a nearby canal. He then sprinted through heavy fire across open ground to retrieve the body of his fallen lieutenant.

With the defensive position now unreachable because of intense small arms fire, he called in supporting arms to cover the squad’s movement to a nearby compound. As insurgents began to assault the position, he fearlessly led his squad as they repelled the enemy.

When one enemy combatant began to fire on an exposed Marine, Sotelo closed in on the insurgent and killed him with a grenade.

 “As soon as we got across, we got lit up and engaged in every direction,” said Cpl. Jose Launder, Company K, 3rd Bn., 5th Marines. “Sotelo just ran over and threw a grenade.”

After a reinforcing Marine unit was pinned down by heavy fire from the insurgents, Sotelo again disregarded his own safety to engage the enemy machinegun with rifle, finally calling in an air strike that silenced the enemy fire.

“I think a lot of us are here because of his actions that day,” added Launder.
Realizing that his situation was dire, Sotelo lead a fighting withdrawal more than 600 meters through enemy fire to bring his squad back to friendly lines and safety.  

Sergeant Sotelo will continue serving his country as he prepares for the 15th MEU’s upcoming deployment scheduled for this summer.

3/31/2012  By Lance Cpl. Timothy Childers  , 15th MEU 
marines.mil 

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R.I.P. - Cpl. Roberto Cazarez

DOD Identifies Marine Casualty

             The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

            Cpl. Roberto Cazarez, 24, of Harbor City, Calif., died Mar. 30, while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.  He was assigned to the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

            For additional background information on this marine, news media representatives may contact the 1st Marine Division public affairs office at 760-725-8766.

---

Cazarez enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 10, 2006. This was his first deployment to Afghanistan.
His decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation.

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R.I.P. - Spc. David W. Taylor

DOD Identifies Army Casualty

            The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

            Spc. David W. Taylor, 20, of Dixon, Ky., died Mar. 29, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

            Taylor was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

            For more information, the media may contact 82nd Airborne public affairs at 910-432-0661.

---

Spc. Taylor died from an accident at an ammunition supply point. The incident is under investigation.

He served as an Infantryman with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He was assisting in the movement of ammunition when some of the rounds he and other Soldiers were moving exploded.

Spc. Taylor joined the Army March 24, 2010 as an Infantryman. He attended One-Station Unit Training and Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga. He joined 2-508th PIR on October 20, 2010. He is a graduate of the Warrior Leaders Course. This was his first deployment.
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Governor Beshear Recognizes Sacrifice of Kentucky Soldier

Press Release Date:	Saturday, March 31, 2012
Contact Information:	Kerri Richardson Terry Sebastian 502-564-2611

FRANKFORT, Ky.– Gov. Steve Beshear today recognized the sacrifice of a Kentucky soldier who died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
According to the Department of Defense, Spc. David W. Taylor, 20, of Dixon, Ky., died Mar. 29, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.  Taylor was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
The Governor will order that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of Spc. Taylor’s interment for which arrangements are still pending.
Flag status information is available at www.governor.ky.gov/flagstatus.htm.

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Taliban ambush NATO supply convoy in Baghlan province

According to local officials in northern Baghlan province, militants ambushed a supply convoy of the International Security Assistance Force at Sang-e-Sorakh area in Dushi district around 8 pm local time Friday, injuring 2 truck workers.

The officials further added, at least oil tankers transporting fuel for the foreign troops were torched by militants following the clashes.

Dushi district chief Shamsuddin Sarhadi confirming the report said, the supply convoy was ambushed by Taliban militants from a remote area where 2 truck were completely damaged and burnt and 2 workers of the trucks were injured following the incident.

In the meantime a spokesman for the Taliban group Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility behind the incident and said at least 3 NATO oil tankers were damaged and burnt during the attack.

This is the first attack by Taliban militants targeting NATO supply convoy in northern Baghlan province since the beginning of the Afghan year.

Author: Ajmal Omeri, Baghlan province.
from KHAAMA

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AQAP kills 17 Yemeni troops in southern Yemen

Yemen conflict (by Evan from http://polgeonow.blogspot.com)

By Bill Roggio - March 31, 2012 - LWJ

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters overran a military checkpoint in southern Yemen, killing 17 soldiers during an intense battle that also resulted in the deaths of 13 AQAP fighters.

AQAP launched the attack against a checkpoint in the town of Al Milah in Lahj province earlier today. After overrunning the checkpoint and killing 17 soldiers, the AQAP fighters seized two tanks and other weapons systems, according to Reuters. The fighting was so intense that residents of Al Milah said the Yemeni Army "had begun distributing machineguns among them so they could help beat back the militants," the news agency reported.

Yemeni warplanes killed three AQAP fighters while attacking one of the tanks; it is unclear if the tank was destroyed. AQAP fighters fell back to the city of Ja'ar in neighboring Abyan province. Ja'ar is one of several cities under AQAP control.

Ansar al Sharia, or Partisans of Islamic Law, AQAP's political front in Yemen, claimed credit for the attack in text message, according to Reuters.

"The holy warriors of Ansar al-Sharia this morning carried out the raid of dignity on the al-Hurur military checkpoint in Abyan, resulting in the deaths of around 30 [soldiers]," the AQAP statement claimed.

Over the past month, AQAP, al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, has been flexing its muscles in the south. On March 4, a large AQAP force attacked a Yemeni Army base in Al Koud in Abyan that housed a mechanized battalion. The AQAP fighters overran the base and decimated the battalion, killing 185 soldiers, wounding 150, and capturing at least 55 more. AQAP also seized heavy weapons, including tanks, during the assault.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/03/aqap_kills_17_yemeni.php#ixzz1qkCCmXyn

Related articles

• AQAP kills 17 Yemeni troops in southern Yemen (longwarjournal.org)
• Al-Qaida militants seize military site in Yemen's restive south, 28 killed (sgt-jim.blogspot.com)

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Nigeria: Boko Haram Kills 4, Robs Bank in Maiduguri

Suspected members of extremist Islamist sect, Boko Haram killed four people yesterday in Borno State when they robbed a bank and stormed a police station.

The gunmen killed two people during a raid on a bank in Askira town in the early hours of the day before attacking the local police station, where an officer and a civilian were shot dead, local government spokesman Malam Yuthama said.

The strikes come less than two days after suspected sect members freed 14 people in a prison break in neighbouring Yobe State and attacked a nearby police station. Three members of BokoHaram died during those attacks, the local police said.

Months of gun and bomb attacks blamed on the sect have killed hundreds since it launched an uprising more than two years ago to try to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria.

Nigerian forces have been carrying out house-to-house searches this week in the sect's home town of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. Similar crackdowns in the past have pushed attacks into neighbouring states, including Yobe.

One of BokoHaram's primary demands is that its members are freed from prison. While the government has refused any releases. There have been several jail breaks in the northeast in the last year.

from allAfrica

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Bombs kill 7, injure 70 in S. Thailand

Locator map of Yala Province, Thailand (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BANGKOK, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Three bomb explosions killed seven people and wounded about 70 on Saturday in the heart of the restive southern province of Yala, the Bangkok Post online reported.

The blasts took place just minutes apart from the Ruam Mitr intersection in the main business center of Yala municipality around noon on Saturday.

Colonel Pramote Promin, a spokesman for the southern army region, told media that seven people are confirmed dead, more than 70 others were wounded, some of whom were in critical condition.

The colonel said there were three bombs that exploded. The first is a car bomb and the second and third bombs were hidden in motorcycles.

The first bomb was hidden in a motorcycle parked outside a karaoke shop. Insurgents detonated the second and third bombs, which had been hidden in cars, when the authorities rushed to check the first explosion.

Several shophouses near the blast sites were on fire and many parked cars and motorcycles were damaged by the powerful explosions.

The injured were sent to the Yala hospital.

Meanwhile, a policeman was wounded in a separate motorcycle bomb attack in Mae Lan district of neighboring Pattani province on Saturday afternoon, local media reported.

Authorities were investigating and blamed separatist militants for the attacks.

Since the resurgence of insurgency in 2004, around 11,000 violent incidents instigated by secessionists in the Muslim- dominant southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat happened, with almost 5,000 people killed and nearly 8,000 injured.


update:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/286901/14-die-in-southern-carnage

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