Video: Another Example of How JDAM's Helped Win Victory In Iraq

Another U.S. Predator Drone Attack In North Waziristan, Five Jihadis In Pieces

The onslaught on Taliban and al Qaeda targets in North Waziristan continued today as a U.S. predator drone aircraft struck a Taliban compound near Miramshah killing five jihadis and now, we get to wait a few days to see if it was one of the Haqqani Network leaders we got or perhaps another Taliban commander or possibly an al Qaeda top dog. Either way, I love the anticipation of just who we got.

From the story at DAWN:

A US drone aircraft fired three missiles into Pakistan's North Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Wednesday, killing at least five militants, Pakistani intelligence officials and residents said.
The strike targeted a stronghold of the Haqqani network, a major Taliban faction attacking Western forces across the border in Afghanistan. A similar strike last week in the same area killed a son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the leader of the group.
“I myself heard a huge blast and can see fire rising from the site,” said Reuters reporter Haji Mujtaba in North Waziristan's main town of Miramshah.
Intelligence officials said two missiles hit a fortress-like militant compound in Dargi Mandi village near Miramshah while the third struck a vehicle. One intelligence official said several militants were wounded.

I'm guessing, at this point in time, there's a communication making the rounds of the Taliban in Pakistan: "Get the fuck out of Miramshah!" This place has more craters than the moon.

One thing that I think needs pointing out. Ever since the CIA was hit hard in that Taliban/Haqqani Network coordinated suicide bombing up in Afghanistan, there has been a relentless stream of predator drone attacks in NW Pakistan - probably four or five times the normal amount...the CIA has unleashed its fury and not only have they taken a huge toll on Taliban/Haqqani Network jihadis, they have taken out some seriously big fish, consistently.

I wonder if those same Taliban leaders, if they had a chance to do it again, would pull the trigger on that CIA attack. I think not. I also want to point out something else. You've all seen the videos of predator drones taking out Taliban and al Qaeda targets in both Iraq and Afghanistan, right? The one consistent thing in all of those videos is the fact that one hellfire missile hits the target. Well, ever since the CIA absorbed that attack in Afghanistan, each of these new strikes has seen AT LEAST two hellfires being fired and often, as in this case, three hellfires are being launched - it's called revenge...it's all eradicating the target and thus, we are seeing more and more dead, and less wounded. Nice, huh?

Moral of the story? Don't piss off the CIA.

US drone strike kills five in North Waziristan

MIRAMSHAH: A US drone aircraft fired three missiles into Pakistan's North Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Wednesday, killing at least five militants, Pakistani intelligence officials and residents said.

The strike targeted a stronghold of the Haqqani network, a major Taliban faction attacking Western forces across the border in Afghanistan. A similar strike last week in the same area killed a son of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the leader of the group.

“I myself heard a huge blast and can see fire rising from the site,” said Reuters reporter Haji Mujtaba in North Waziristan's main town of Miramshah.

Intelligence officials said two missiles hit a fortress-like militant compound in Dargi Mandi village near Miramshah while the third struck a vehicle. One intelligence official said several militants were wounded.

Residents said militants had cordoned off the area and were allowing no one to approach the site.

Mohammad Hashim, a son of Haqqani, was killed in a strike in nearby Dandi Darpakhel village last week.

But another son of Haqqani, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is a much more high-profile target of the US drones because he has effectively taken over leadership of the militant faction from his elderly father.

US ally Pakistan officially objects to the drone strikes, saying they are a violation of its sovereignty and fuel anti-US feeling, which complicates Pakistan's efforts against militancy.

But at least some strikes are carried out with the consent of Islamabad, in particular those on Pakistani Taliban militants fighting the state.

The Haqqani faction does not launch attacks in Pakistan, but sends fighters across the border into Afghanistan from its stronghold in North Waziristan.

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(Hat tip: Phil)

Video: D M F D

Iran Captures Top Leader of Jundallah (Sunni Terror Group)

I guess it's hard for me to call a group that seeks to kill Iranian mullahs and Ahmadinejad, terrorists, but I guess I have to be consistent. Iran has caught the biggest fish in their pond as they captured Abdolmalek Rigi, who is the leader of the terror group, Jundallah (Soldiers of God) and who has been a major thorn in the side of the Iranian regime for quite some time.

Here's some of the report from The Christian Science Monitor:

Iran has arrested its most wanted fugitive, a Sunni rebel leader linked to a number of high-profile attacks and alleged to have Western backing, in what Tehran on Tuesday called “a great defeat for the US and UK.”

Abdolmalek Rigi, militant leader of the Jundallah (Soldiers of God) which had claimed a series of attacks against civilians and soldiers in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province from bases in Pakistan, was shown by Iranian state TV being led off a small plane by masked police.
Iran’s Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi claimed that Rigi had been on a US military base in Afghanistan less than 24 hours before the plane he was traveling on was forced to land in Iran during a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan.
“Our anonymous soldiers were able to manage his whereabouts and they followed him everywhere he went, and through this he was arrested,” Mr. Moslehi said in Tehran. He showed a photograph of Rigi – with his usual beard shaved off – which he claimed was taken at a US base.

As is always the case, you can to cut through the bullshit propaganda of the Persians and erase about every third word but this IS a significant grab for the Iranians - forget the B.S. about a blow to the U.S. or U.K. or that Rigi was in Afghanistan - the Iranians have been looking for this guy extra hard since the last terror attack by Jundallah and more than likely, they coerced some intel out of some people - believe me, the Iranians didn't use something as lame and tame as waterboarding.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Jundallah now with the top dog in the doghouse - most terror groups don't really miss a beat but this might cause some real setbacks for that group....unfortunately, it's not like they wage weekly attacks or anything so it will be hard to gauge if they are sticking it out.

Iran arrests top Sunni militant Abdolmalek Rigi

Iran has arrested its most wanted fugitive, a Sunni rebel leader linked to a number of high-profile attacks and alleged to have Western backing, in what Tehran on Tuesday called “a great defeat for the US and UK.”

Abdolmalek Rigi, militant leader of the Jundallah (Soldiers of God) which had claimed a series of attacks against civilians and soldiers in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province from bases in Pakistan, was shown by Iranian state TV being led off a small plane by masked police.

Iran’s Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi claimed that Rigi had been on a US military base in Afghanistan less than 24 hours before the plane he was traveling on was forced to land in Iran during a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan.

“Our anonymous soldiers were able to manage his whereabouts and they followed him everywhere he went, and through this he was arrested,” Mr. Moslehi said in Tehran. He showed a photograph of Rigi – with his usual beard shaved off – which he claimed was taken at a US base.

Moslehi also alleged that Americans had provided Rigi with an Afghan passport, that the Sunni militant had visited Europe, and that he had met with a senior NATO military official in Afghanistan in April 2008.

“We have clear documents proving that Rigi was in cooperation with American, Israeli, and British intelligence services,” Moslehi said, according to Iran’s state-run English-language PressTV. Iranian media further quoted him saying: “Dubai has a smeared hand in this scandal that shows the Zionist regime wants to turn the region into a safe haven for terrorists with the help of America and Europe."

'Totally bogus'
One US official dismissed the claim that Rigi had been on a US military base in Afghanistan as a “totally bogus accusation,” reported Agence France-Presse. Iran in the past has also claimed that Jundallah was linked with Al Qaeda. Iranian officials on Tuesday stated that Rigi's "right-hand man" was also arrested in the apparent covert operation.

Rigi’s capture is a coup for authorities in Tehran, who have accused the US and the West of backing rebellious minority factions such as Rigi’s Jundallah – which has called for greater rights for Sunni ethnic Baluchis in majority Shiite Iran – the Kurdish PJAK operating from Iraq in northwest Iran, and Arabs in the south.

Such groups and alleged US, British, and other intelligence and military support for them have been the subject of speculation for years, as Washington spoke openly about conducting “regime change” in Iran during the administration of President George W. Bush.

Video: You Didn't Forget Obama's Call For a Civilian National Security Force, Did You?

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50 Turkish Military Commanders Arrested Over Plot To Blow Up Mosques, Coup To Take Over Government

Many of us have recognized that there are many in Turkey who don't like the way the current government is abandoning the secular form of government that is ensured by the country's constitution but I don't think anyone saw this widespread of a coup attempt lurking in the shadows.

50 Turkish military commanders are under arrest after a plot was discovered to blow up mosques in the country followed by the military's takeover of the government.

From JPost:

Turkish police detained about 50 military commanders Monday for allegedly planning to blow up mosques in order to trigger a military takeover and overthrow the Islamic-rooted government.The nationwide sweep highlighted the ongoing struggle between the secular establishment and the Islamic-oriented government — and left many wondering if the military no longer called the shots in a nation accustomed to viewing it as the pillar of the secular state.The detention of 49 senior military officers, according to CNN-Turk television — including members of the elite class known as "Pashas," a title of respect harking back to Ottoman times — proved, at the very least, that such officials are no longer untouchable.

The fact of the matter in all of this is that the Turkish government has decided to take more and more of an islamist view to its governing and to many in Turkey, that is taboo. I have blogged here before that there is definitely a movement in Turkey's government to set up an islamic regime similar to the one in Iran but Turkey's military has always been determined to uphold the prescribed secular nature of the government.

These arrests are unfortunate because for the West, a governmental change in Turky is truly needed. Unfortunately, this will probably entice the islamists to even further strengthen their grip on Turkey.

About 50 Turkish commanders held over coup plot

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish police detained about 50 military commanders Monday for allegedly planning to blow up mosques in order to trigger a military takeover and overthrow the Islamic-rooted government.

The nationwide sweep highlighted the ongoing struggle between the secular establishment and the Islamic-oriented government — and left many wondering if the military no longer called the shots in a nation accustomed to viewing it as the pillar of the secular state.

The detention of 49 senior military officers, according to CNN-Turk television — including members of the elite class known as "Pashas," a title of respect harking back to Ottoman times — proved, at the very least, that such officials are no longer untouchable.

Turkey's secular military has ousted four governments since 1960, demonstrating its influence and place of power since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk created the republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc on Monday expressed regret over the 1961 hanging by coup leaders of a prime minister and two of his ministers. But he said that those days are over and that Turkey now was going through a normalization process.

"We could not even dream about things that we see happening now," Arinc told CNN-Turk television Monday. "Things will get better when those who were never accountable for their deeds begin to account for them."

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declined to comment Monday on the raids, saying they had been carried out on prosecutors' orders.

"It would not be appropriate for me to talk about an issue that is already handled by the judiciary," Erdogan said during a visit to Madrid.

Police teams raided the suspects' homes in eight cities on Monday.

The military's image had already been tarnished by allegations it was secretly planning to depose Erdogan's elected government for undermining secularism in this predominantly Muslim country.

The commanders detained Monday are reportedly accused of seeking to plant bombs at mosques to stir chaos at home to pave the way for a coup. They are also accused of allegedly conspiring to plan shooting down a Turkish warplane to trigger armed conflict with Greece in a bid to destabilize the Turkish government. The military strongly denied the allegations.

On Sunday, Erdogan said his government was preserving the rule of law, and had not given "a chance to those who tried to fly a course for Turkey outside law."

Several high-ranking members of Turkey's military were among those detained, including ex-deputy chief Gen. Ergin Saygun, former Air Force chief Gen. Ibrahim Firtina and Navy Chief Adm. Ozden Ornek. Several other senior admirals and generals were also among the suspects.

So far, prosecutors have charged more than 400 people in the case, including soldiers, academics, journalists and politicians.

No one has yet been convicted.

The detentions Monday followed the gathering of wiretap evidence and the discovery of secret weapons caches — revelations that dealt a blow to the military's credibility.

Erdogan also has dramatically curtailed the military's power, under EU pressure, and reinforced civilian rule while bolstering democratic institutions.

Afghan Tribal Warlord Who Helped Bin Laden Escape Tora Bora Is Killed In Suicide Bomb Attack

Fitting justice for a real scumbag as one of Hajji Zaman Ghamsharik's enemies took him out and 14 others in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Probably the biggest notoriety of this clown was his assistance that enabled Osama bin Laden to escape the U.S. attack on Tora Bora.

From the article at the New York Times:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Hajji Zaman Ghamsharik, the Afghan warlord accused of helping Osama bin Laden escape from the Americans at Tora Bora, had so many enemies that his assassination on Monday came as no particular surprise.

What was a surprise was the manner of Hajji Zaman’s death: by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest, who killed him and 14 others as they gathered at a ceremony to distribute land to returning refugees at a village in his tribal stomping grounds near the eastern city of Jalalabad.

You gotta admit, when jihadis kill each other over whatever issue there might be, it is sweet. I wish it would catch on.

Afghan Warlord With Many Enemies, and Possibly One Notorious Ally, Killed by Suicide Bomber


KABUL, Afghanistan — Hajji Zaman Ghamsharik, the Afghan warlord accused of helping Osama bin Laden escape from the Americans at Tora Bora, had so many enemies that his assassination on Monday came as no particular surprise.

What was a surprise was the manner of Hajji Zaman’s death: by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest, who killed him and 14 others as they gathered at a ceremony to distribute land to returning refugees at a village in his tribal stomping grounds near the eastern city of Jalalabad.

His enemies were not just the ideological kind. There was also a blood feud between him and the family of another warlord, which blamed Hajji Zaman for his assassination in 2002. There were rivals to his large and powerful Khugiani tribe in Nangahar Province, and rivals within the tribe. And there were furious American Special Forces and C.I.A. operatives who believed he was a mercenary who took money to join the fight against Al Qaeda but then helping arrange Mr. bin Laden’s escape.

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan are usually quick to take responsibility for suicide bombings. Not in this case; when asked about Hajji Zaman’s killing, the usually garrulous Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said he did not know who did it.

The police in Nangarhar Province said the killing took place in the village of Dasht-e-Chamtala, about 10 miles west of Jalalabad, during a ceremony for local residents lured by land grants to return from camps for the displaced, according to a police official, Gen. Mohammad Ayob Salangi. At 3:45 p.m., the bomber entered the midst of a crowd of officials, including the returnees and repatriation department chief, Shams ul-Rahman Shams. In addition to the 15 killed, 20 people were wounded, many of them critically, the general said.

“We don’t know exactly who the target was, but we think it was either Hajji Zaman Ghamsharik or the head of the refugee department,” said General Salangi. Mr. Shams, however, was only wounded so presumably not as close to the bomber.

“He was a warlord, and he was fighting since 1980,” said Mirwais Yasini, a member of the Afghan Parliament from Nangarhar. “He was bitterly disliked by very many people. And then there were business interests too.”

During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, he was a mujahideen leader, and later fought both for and against the Taliban. When the Taliban regime collapsed, President Hamid Karzai appointed him military commander of Jalalabad and a large part of eastern Afghanistan, including Tora Bora.

That put him at odds with another warlord in the area, Hajji Qadir, who later ousted him in Jalalabad. When Mr. bin Laden and his Qaeda followers took refuge in the Tora Bora mountains south of Jalalabad in late 2001, Hajji Zaman and another warlord, Hazrat Ali, offered the services of their armed followers to help the Americans flush them out.

Instead, Mr. bin Laden and his group escaped. Many American officials were convinced they could not have done so without collusion from the Afghan warlords.

Hajji Zaman “had a very adventurous life,” said Babrak Shinwari, another member of Parliament from Nangahar. “But there was always a lot of intertribal fighting, even fighting within his tribe, and he had a lot of enemies.”

The uproar over Mr. bin Laden’s escape led to Hajji Zaman’s flight and exile to France and Pakistan for most of the next eight years. During that time, he was accused of engineering the assassination in Kabul of Hajji Qadir, who by then had become a vice president in Mr. Karzai’s government. Hajji Zaman’s brother was detained in connection with the case for several years but never convicted.

Finally Hajji Zaman announced that he would return last year to take part in the election campaign as a Karzai supporter. When he crossed the Torkhum border from Pakistan, a huge motorcade and throngs of cheering supporters greeted for him. Many were from his Khugiani tribe, whose support Mr. Karzai was courting. Hajji Zaman was whisked to Kabul in a government helicopter.

“He came back just a few months ago, it’s really tragic,” said Anwar al-Haq Ahadi, a former finance minister in Mr. Karzai’s government. “He was going to play quite a larger role in the future.”

There are a number of former warlords in the Karzai government and in Parliament. Hazrat Ali, the other Tora Bora commander, is a member of Parliament.

Recently, President Karzai has been hosting a tribal jirga, or council, to try to resolve the issue of whether Hajji Zaman had been responsible for the assassination of Hajji Qadir, but their families and tribal followers had been unable to reach the required consensus.

Despite the cloud over his head, Hajji Zaman was apparently invited to the land distribution ceremony as a tribal elder. Several other tribal leaders were among the dead.

Mr. Yasini said he did not necessarily believe that the assassination was motivated by ideology. “Now some suiciders can be bought and sold,” he said. “You go to the Taliban and pay them a lot of money, and the suicider never knows what the reason for his mission is.”