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Baghdad, Iraq: Car bomb explosion kills 5

2007-08-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Residents check the wreckage of a vehicle used in a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City August 20, 2007. At least five people were killed and 20 wounded when a parked car bomb exploded in the Shi'ite Sadr City district of northeastern Baghdad, police said. REUTERS/Kareem Raheem (IRAQ)

Baghdad car bomb kills five people – police

REUTERS
5:42 a.m. August 20, 2007

BAGHDAD – At least five people were killed when a bomb in a parked car exploded in the Shi'ite Sadr City district of in northeastern Baghdad on Monday, police said.
Another 20 were wounded in the blast.
Sadr city is a sprawling Shi'ite slum and stronghold of the feared Mehdi Army militia loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The U.S. military last week announced a major new offensive targeting Sunni Islamist al Qaeda and Shi'ite militias in the run-up to a crucial progress report on Iraq to be delivered to Congress in mid-September.
Washington fears al Qaeda and Shi'ite militias will attempt to influence debate on the unpopular war in Washington by stepping up attacks before the report is delivered.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in waves of sectarian violence since the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine in the town of Samarra in February 2006 pushed Iraq to the brink of all-out civil war.
Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20070820-0542-iraq-bombing.html

Firemen respond to the site of a car bomb attack in the Shiite district of Sadr City, in east Baghdad, Iraq on Monday, Aug. 20, 2007, where the blast killed at least three people and wounded six. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)

Car bomb explosion kills four people in Baghdad's Shiite bastion

A car bomb went off in Baghdad's eastern Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City on Monday, killing at least four people and wounding five others, an Interior Ministry source said.
"A car bomb detonated in the afternoon in the al-Sadrain Square in Sadr City neighborhood, killing four people and wounding five others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
"We can not immediately say whether the attack was committed by a suicide bomber or it was a parking booby-trapped car," the source said, adding the incident is under investigation.
Earlier, a motorcycle bomb explosion ripped through a commercial area near the al-Rusafi Square in downtown, killing at least a civilian and injuring 12 others, also a ministry source said.
The explosion damaged several nearby shops and buildings in the crowded area near the main wholesale market of Shorja in central Baghdad, the source said.
Violence persists in Baghdad as sectarian killings, bombings, and abductions kill dozens daily.
Source: Xinhua

Copyright by People's Daily Online, All Rights Reserved

Baghdad, Iraq: Civilian killed in motorcycle bomb

2007-08-23T16:47:00.001-07:00

Civilian killed in motorcycle bomb in central Baghdad

A motorcycle bomb ripped through a commercial area in downtown Baghdad on Monday, killing at least a civilian and injuring 12 others, an Interior Ministry source said.
"A motorcycle rigged with explosives detonated before noon near the al-Rusafi Square, killing a civilian and wounding 12 others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The explosion damaged several nearby shops and buildings in the crowded area near the main wholesale market of Shorja in central Baghdad, the source said.
The toll could rise, he said, as sirens of police vehicles and ambulances are wailing at the scene to secure the area and they will ferry more casualties to nearby hospitals.
On Thursday, the same commercial area was hit by a car bomb, killing four people and wounding six others.
Violence persists in Baghdad as sectarian killings, bombings, and abductions inflict dozens of casualties daily.
Source: Xinhua

Copyright by People's Daily Online, All Rights Reserved

Acre, Israel: Car bomb explodes in assassination attempt

2007-08-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

Car bomb explodes in Acre assassination attempt
By JPOST.COM STAFF

A car bomb exploded in Acre on Monday morning moderately wounding one person, who police claim is familiar to them.
Police, sappers and firefighters reached the scene shortly after an explosion was heard from a private vehicle.
Police suspected that the incident was an assassination attempt of a local criminal.
The wounded man was evacuated to a hospital and four other people suffered from shock.

Car bomb in Acre leaves two wounded
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 20, 2007
A car bomb exploded on a central Acre street on Monday morning wounding two people in an apparent assassination attempt on a local criminal.
One man, who was known to the police, was moderately wounded, another was lightly wounded and four others were reported to be suffering from shock.
Police, sappers and firefighters reached the scene shortly after an explosion was heard from a private vehicle. A Magen David Adom ambulance evacuated the wounded to Nahariya Hospital.
According to police, had the incident taken place 10 meters from where the bomb exploded, there could have been fatalities. Witnesses said that a man escaped from the car several seconds before the explosion and immediately fled the scene.
In May, a similar assassination attempt between rival gang members in Ramat Gan almost succeeded after a shoot-out in broad daylight left a police officer wounded and an assailant dead when members of the Lod-based Aberjil crime family tried to kill Nissim Alperon, brother of Ya'acov Alperon.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502423084&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Baghdad, Iraq: US troops find car bombs

2007-08-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Paratroopers with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, detain two suspected terrorists Aug. 11, 2007, during a raid in Samarra, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joshua R. Ford (released)

Odierno Highlights Iraqi Operations

Iraqi and Coalition forces are pursuing extremist leaders in Iraq's remote areas in coordinated "quick strikes" launched this week, the commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq told Pentagon reporters Saturday.
Operation Phantom Strike is a series of joint operations that extend from Operation Phantom Thunder, a corps-level offensive that began in June targeting al-Qaeda, Sunni insurgents and Shiia extremists in, near and around Baghdad, said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno.
"With the elimination of safe havens and support zones due to Phantom Thunder, al-Qaeda and Shiite extremists have been forced into ever-shrinking areas. It is my intent to pursue and disrupt their operations," Odierno said.
Over the coming weeks, the general said, combined forces will conduct quick-strike raids against extremist sanctuaries and staging areas. Using precision-targeting operations, troops will target terrorist leaders and members of lethal improvised-explosive-device and car-bomb networks, he said.
"We will continue to hunt down the leadership, deny them safe haven, disrupt their supply lines and significantly reduce their capability to operate in Iraq," Odierno added.
In the first 24 hours of one "quick-strike" raid, Multi-National Division-North Soldiers captured and killed several enemies and seized weapons caches in the Diyala River Valley. Called Operation Lightning Hammer, this operation targeted extremists as they tried to re-establish sanctuaries, the general said.
Odierno highlighted some successes of Operation Phantom Thunder, which launched June 15. In 142 battalion-level joint operations, Iraqi and Coalition forces detained 6,702 suspects, killed 1,196 enemies and wounded 419 others. Combined forces also killed or captured 382 high-value targets, he said.
Troops also cleared 1,113 weapons caches and scores of IEDs and car bombs. "The number of found and cleared IEDs, (car bombs) and caches are approximately 50 percent higher than the same period last year due, in large part, to effective tips provided by concerned Iraqi citizens," the general added.
Odierno warned that high-profile attacks may rise as two important dates approach. In the early weeks of September, Ramadan, Islam's holiest month, begins. U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Force-Iraq, is slated to present an anticipated report to Congress around the same time.
"Our enemy is ruthless and will no doubt attempt to exploit the upcoming Ramadan season, as well as influence political opinions in the coming weeks by increasing attacks with particular emphasis on high-profile terror attacks," he said.
But extremists' efforts are increasingly hampered by civilians who cooperate with coalition forces as troops ramp-up raids around the country, Odierno said.
"Al-Qaeda and other extremist elements will have to contend with an Iraqi population that no longer welcomes them," he said, "as well as quick-hitting offensive operations by Coalition and Iraqi forces."
Source: Multi-National Force-Iraq
judythpiazza@newsblaze.com
Copyright © 2007, NewsBlaze, Daily News

Clearing operations in Samarra strike hard at insurgency
By Sgt. Joshua R. Ford, Public Affairs Office, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
Aug 18, 2007 - 4:35:25 PM

Paratroopers with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, detain two suspected terrorists Aug. 11, 2007, during a raid in Samarra, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joshua R. Ford (released)
Blackanthem Military News, SAMARRA, Iraq - Paratroopers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, have been patrolling and operating in Samarra, Iraq, for more than one year and recently supported the Iraqi security forces in a clearing operation to rid the city of the al Qaeda presence terrorizing Samarra and its citizens.
The operation was dubbed "Operation Jalil" in honor of Col. Jalil Nahi Hasoun, Samarra's former police chief, who was killed May 6, 2007, during a suicide car bomb attack.
The operation led Maj. Gen. Rashid al-Helfy, commander of Iraqi security forces in Samarra, his men, and Paratroopers of Company C to the discovery of weapons caches, bomb making materials and the detainment of more than 80 suspected terrorists, including suspects responsible for the June 13, 2007, bombing of the Askirya Mosque.
The Askirya Mosque, also known as the Golden Dome Shrine, was first bombed Feb. 22, 2006, and sparked a wave of sectarian violence throughout the country. The explosion collapsed the dome.
The June 13 bombing destroyed the two remaining minarets flanking the golden dome of the mosque.
Since then, more than 2,500 Iraqi soldiers from the 4th Iraqi army, and policemen from the 6th National Police Division, have been deployed to the city to create a stable security situation. Including Operation Jalil, Company C has also detained more than 200 insurgents since the second mosque attack.
When the Iraqi national police first arrived in Samarra, they received anything but a warm welcome. The people of Samarra were very hesitant to receive the policemen, said Capt. Buddy Ferris, commander, Company C.
Now the citizens of Samarra are very receptive to the national police, and the Paratroopers from Company C have seen this through the vast amount of information they receive everyday from the people in Samarra about terrorists operating in their neighborhoods, Ferris added.
"(The Paratroopers) like to see that the Iraqis are taking the lead," said Ferris. "We will continue to push forward the Iraqi security forces so they can provide a stable enough environment so we can start developing a legitimate government that functions and is tied in with the (Salah ad Din) province."
The 150-Paratrooper force are responsible for securing a city of more than 150,000. Two years ago the U.S. Army needed a whole brigade of more than 3,000 Soldiers to secure the city.
Since the Paratroopers of Company C have been in Samarra, they have killed more than 50 terrorists and detained more than 300.
The Paratroopers of Company C have done an outstanding job in Samarra since they arrived in August 2006. They always have a good attitude in wanting to help the citizens in the city, said Sgt. Tim Curry, team leader, Company C.
"(The Paratroopers) have been holding the lid on the city of Samarra for a year. This company has been able to hold Samarra in one piece, so to say, and has actually been able to make progress and it speaks volumes," said Ferris. "(The Paratroopers) are tired; we are at month 13, but we know we're making a difference."

Kandahar, Afghanistan: Car bomber kills 15 wounds 5

2007-08-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

Afghan policemen stand next to the wreckage of a car used in a suicide bomb attack in Kandahar, August 18, 2007. A suicide car bomb attack outside a base of a U.S.security firm on Saturday killed 15 people in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, witnesses and police said. REUTERS/Ismail Sameem (AFGHANISTAN)

Suicide raid on U.S. security firm kills 15 Afghans
Sat Aug 18, 2007 12:26PM IST
Mirwais Afghan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide car bomb attack outside a base of a U.S. security firm on Saturday killed 15 people in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, witnesses and police said.
Violence has surged in the past 19 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban's government in 2001.
The blast happened close to a highway on the western outskirts of Kandahar city, they said. Police said it was a suicide car bomber. Witnesses said it was aimed at a U.S. security firm called USPI.
A police vehicle and a passenger car were also hit by the explosion, witnesses said, adding three police were amongst the victims.
"We saw 12 dead bodies being dragged away. They were civilians and also Afghan employees of the company," said one witness who refused to give his name.
Kandahar's police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib, said 15 people had been killed in the attack.
A Reuters reporter saw 15 bodies in the morgue of a hospital in Kandahar city. They included five police, three women and a child, he said, adding 18 more people were wounded in the blast.
The attack came a day after a suicide bomber inside the city killed a district chief and three of his children at the gate of their home. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday's attack.
The Taliban movement has claimed many previous suicide attacks.
The group largely relies on suicide raids and roadside bombs as part of its campaign against the Afghan government and Western troops based in the country.
Some 7,000 people have been killed in the past 19 months in Afghanistan by violence which is rising despite the presence of some 50,000 Western troops led by NATO and the U.S.-led coalition as well as more than 100,000 Afghan forces.
The violence has hit hardest in southern and eastern areas, where the Taliban and their allies such as al Qaeda are most active.
It has hampered reconstruction projects in the war-torn country and forced dozens of aid groups to halt their activities.
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.

Car Bomb Kills 9 in Afghanistan
Saturday August 18, 2007 6:46 AM
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - A suicide car bomber detonated himself near a convoy of private security forces Saturday in southern Afghanistan, killing three security guards and six civilians who were in a vehicle nearby, police said.
The bomb went off west of Kandahar city and wounded five other guards, as well as five civilians, said Mohammad Jan, a police officer at the scene. Several women and children were among the civilians killed and wounded.
Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply during the last two months and has killed more than 3,700 people this year, most of them militants, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.

Soldiers hurt in car bomb attack
Published: Saturday, 18 August, 2007, 07:07 AM Doha Time
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a Pakistani security force convoy yesterday in the troubled northwest, killing himself and injuring five soldiers, police said.
The attack happened in the Tank district bordering South Waziristan, where tens of thousands of Pakistani troops are deployed to hunt down Taliban and Al Qaeda militants sheltering in the rugged region.
“The bomber slammed his car into the convoy, leaving five soldiers injured,” senior Tank police officer Amir Abdullah said.
Three vehicles were carrying the soldiers from Tank to Jandola town when the bomber chased them in a car before it exploded, he said.
Earlier, Pakistani forces killed four suspected militants in a firefight after a rocket attack on their positions overnight in South Waziristan, local security officials said.
Clashes between security forces and militants have been reported daily from the lawless region since the breakdown in July of a peace deal the authorities signed with pro-Taliban groups in September last year.
Pakistan’s army said yesterday that 15 militants were killed and a dozen others injured in clashes on Thursday which erupted after militants tried to ambush a security forces convoy on the Jandola road.
“We had initially received reports about killing of 10 militants but a later report put the number of fatalities among militants at 15,” chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
He said that three soldiers were killed in the attack while four more succumbed to their injuries later, raising the number of deaths to seven.
Separately, two suspected militants were killed when they failed to stop their vehicle at a check post near Mirali town in North Waziristan, security officials said.
When asked about nationalities of the two militants killed, the spokesman said they had been identified as Uzbek and Arab.
The two other militants in the group were arrested.
The Waziristan region in Pakistan’s tribal belt has been the scene recently of escalated military operations against suspected cells of the Taliban and Al Qaeda believed to be planning attacks from there within Pakistan, over the border in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world. – AFP
Gulf Times Newspaper, 2007

Car Bomb Kills 15 in Afghanistan

The Associated Press
Saturday, August 18, 2007; 2:18 AM
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A suicide car bomber detonated near a convoy of private security forces Saturday in southern Afghanistan, killing four Afghan guards and 11 civilians, including three women and two children, police said.
The bomb went off west of Kandahar city and also wounded six other guards as well as 20 civilians who were in two minivans passing by the convoy, said Kandahar provincial police chief Syed Agha Saqib.
Saqib said the guards worked for the U.S. Protection and Investigations security firm, but USPI could not immediately be reached for comment or to confirm that their employees were attacked.
Five women and three children were among the civilians wounded. Women's and children's shoes were scattered about the area. A stuffed animal toy was left in one of the destroyed minivans.
Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply during the last two months. More than 3,700 people have died so far this year, most of them militants, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.
© 2007 The Associated Press

Car bomb strikes Kandahar convoy
mwcnews.com
By Agencies
Suicide attacks are increasing in Afghanistan [AFP]
Suicide attacks are increasing in Afghanistan [AFP]
At least 15 people in a convoy guarded by a private US security firm have been killed by a car bomb in southern Afghanistan.
As many as 26 people were also wounded in the suicide attack on Saturday, the blast being so strong it tore through several vehicles.
Police say that the attack was carried out in a crowded area west of Kandahar.
Sayed Aqa, a police chief, said: "Fifteen people, four Afghan security guards and 11 civilians, were killed and another 26 including 19 civilians and seven guards were wounded in the suicide blast today."
The convoy, which was guarded by USPI, was travelling to the Zahri district in Helmand province.
The blast destroyed two vehicles belonging to the guards and a civilian minibus.
Jan Mohammad, a police officer, said: "The bomb was so strong that it ripped through the civilian minibus and several other vehicles."
Carnage
Body parts and pieces of metal from the bomber's car were scattered about 100m from the site. The outer wall of a nearby mosque were also partially destroyed.
One witness, who refused to give his name, said: "We saw 12 dead bodies being dragged away. They were civilians and also Afghan employees of the company."
The attack came a day after a bomber killed a district chief and three of his children at the gate of their home.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for this attack, but the Taliban has claimed responsibility for many blasts in the region.
The group mainly relies on suicide attacks and roadside bombs in its campaign against the US-backed Afghan government and Western troops based in the country.
At least 7,000 people have been killed in the past 19 months despite the presence of 50,000 soldiers led by Nato and the US-led coalition, as well as more than 100,000 Afghan forces.
Attacks occur most in southern and eastern areas, where the Taliban and al-Qaeda are most active.
It has hampered reconstruction projects and has forced dozens of aid groups to end their activities.

German woman kidnapped in Kabul, officials say; Taliban says SKorean hostage talks have failed
The Associated Press
Saturday, August 18, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan: An armed man walked into a fast food restaurant in the Afghan capital and abducted a German woman at midday Saturday, officials said, as a Taliban spokesman said talks to free 19 South Korean hostages have failed.
Meanwhile, a suicide car bomb attack killed 15 people and wounded 26 others, including several women and children, in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar.
The abduction of the German woman, who works for a Christian aid organization, prompted police in Kabul to shoot at a speeding getaway car, killing a nearby taxi driver.
The assailants had pulled up to a barbecue and fast food restaurant in a dark gray Toyota Corolla, and one of the men went inside and asked to order a pizza, said intelligence officials investigating the incident.
They said two other men waited outside, while another remained in the car.
The man in the restaurant pulled out a pistol, walked up to a table where the woman was sitting with her husband, and took her from the restaurant, the officials said on condition of anonymity because of agency policy.
Ahmad Fahim, who works in a nearby bakery, said that the driver had his face covered, and that the man who had been with the woman called for help as she was taken away.
"The man was shouting 'Police! Police!'" and was frantically making calls on his mobile phone, Fahim said.
Police spotted the speeding car and opened fire but missed, hitting a nearby taxi and killing its driver.
Germany's Foreign Ministry confirmed the kidnapping and said they were working with Afghan officials toward a resolution.
"Today a German citizen was abducted in Kabul. We must assume it was a kidnapping," said Julia Gross, a spokeswoman for the ministry in Berlin.
"The Foreign Ministry's crisis team is engaged and working toward a solution in close cooperation with Afghan officials," Gross said.
The 31-year-old woman and her husband, also a German, have worked for the Christian organization Ora International in Kabul since September 2006, said Ulf Baumann, a spokesman for the organization.
Baumann did not disclose the woman's name or her husband's. He said she was fluent in the Afghan language Dari.
Ora International, based in the central German town of Korbach, concentrates its efforts in Afghanistan on health issues and HIV/AIDS awareness, according to its Web site.
U.N. staff in Kabul were told to remain in their locations Saturday afternoon as authorities investigated the abduction, a U.N. official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on security matters.
Other foreigners were also placed under tight security.
The latest incident comes amid heightened fears of abductions, after 23 South Koreans and two Germans were taken hostage in separate incidents last month in central Afghanistan.
One of the German men has been shot to death. The other remains in captivity.
Taliban militants killed two of the South Koreans and released two others after face-to-face talks with South Korean officials.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the group's demands for the release of the remaining 19 South Koreans remains the same — a swap for Taliban prisoners, which the Afghan government has ruled out.
"The negotiations failed because we have presented them (the South Korean delegates) with our list of 23 people we want to be released, but the Korean delegation ... said, 'We cannot fulfill your demands,'" Ahmadi said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"We're still ready for more negotiations if the Korean side is willing to meet our demands ... the exchange of prisoners," he said.
The Afghan and Italian governments were heavily criticized after swapping five Taliban prisoners for the release of an Italian journalist in March. The Afghan government, worried that hostage-taking will become an industry, said the prisoner swap was a one-time deal.
Separately on Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated near a convoy of private security forces west of Kandahar, killing 15 people including three women and two children, police said.
Four security guards were among the dead, while the attack wounded six guards and 20 civilians who were riding in two minivans also hit by the blast, said Kandahar provincial police chief Syed Agha Saqib.
Saqib said the Afghan guards worked for a U.S. security firm called U.S. Protection and Investigations.
Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply during the last two months. This year more than 3,700 people — most of them militants — have died, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.
____
Associated Press Writers Noor Khan in Kandahar and Froben Homburger in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.

15 killed in Kandahar suicide attack
dawn.com

KANDAHAR, Aug 18: A suicide car bomb attack outside a base of a US security firm here on Saturday killed 15 people. The blast occurred close to a highway on the outskirts of the city, police said. Witnesses said it was aimed at United States security firm USPI.
A police vehicle and a car were also hit by the explosion, witnesses said.
�We saw 12 bodies being dragged away. They were civilians and also Afghan employees of the company,� said a witness.
A Reuters reporter saw 15 bodies in the morgue of a hospital, five of them of policemen, three women and a child. He said 18 other people were wounded.
MULLA OMAR: Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar, meanwhile, called upon the Afghans to unite with the militants to drive western forces from Afghanistan.
A message marking the 88th anniversary on Sunday of Afghanistan�s independence from Britain, signed by the Taliban chief and emailed to news agencies, called on Afghans to set aside their differences and wage jihad against colonialist forces.
�The enemies of the religion of Islam and the independence of the country have launched satanic propaganda under the slogans of democracy and freedom and are trying to disperse Afghans and benefit from it,� it said.
�We must wake up and be careful. We have to put aside all of our internal, regional and linguistic differences and unite against the enemy.�
The message said the regrouped militants were winning their war against the more than 50,000 coalition forces.�Reuters/AFP

Afghan bystanders and police personeel look at the wreckage of a damaged car near the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kandahar August 18, 2007. A suicide car bomb attack outside a base of a U.S.security firm on Saturday killed 15 people in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, witnesses and police said. REUTERS/Ismail Sameem

Suicide car bomb attack kills 13 Afghan civilians, 2 guards
By David Rohdeand Taimoor Shah
New York Times
San Jose Mercury News
Article Launched:08/19/2007 01:50:42 AM PDT

KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide car bomb attack killed 13 civilians and two Afghan security guards on the outskirts of Kandahar on Saturday morning, Afghan officials said. The attack was one of the deadliest in southern Afghanistan this year, and two women and a child were among the dead.
In Kabul, armed men walked into a restaurant in an affluent neighborhood on Saturday afternoon and kidnapped a woman who was a German aid worker, Afghan and Western officials said. The woman, who works for a group that helps Afghan orphans, is the latest of several foreigners who have been kidnapped in Afghanistan.
The suicide bombing on Saturday occurred around 9 a.m. when a man rammed a bomb-laden car into a convoy of vehicles driven by Afghan employees of U.S. Protection & Investigations, a private American security company that guards foreign contractors.
The explosion destroyed a security company vehicle and killed two security guards, according to the police, but the bulk of its impact was on a van carrying civilians.
"The van passing nearby the incident was completely destroyed, along with the passengers," Muhammad Nader, a driver who had seen the attack, said in a telephone interview. "I saw pieces of human bodies scattered around."
Sayed Agha Saqib, the Kandahar province police chief, said 20 people had been wounded in the car bomb attack and taken to hospitals for treatment.
In the kidnapping in Kabul, two armed men walked into the restaurant in the Karta Chahar neighborhood as the German woman and her husband were eating at 1:30 p.m., said a Western official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the kidnapping. The Taliban has carried out a rash of abductions in Afghanistan in recent weeks. But in a telephone interview, a spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahed, said he did not know whether the Taliban was involved on Saturday.
At the same time, there has been a rise in kidnappings, killings and robberies by criminal gangs in Kabul. On Wednesday, a British national was shot dead in Kabul in an apparent robbery.
"From our perspective, it's not looking like it's political," said the Western official, referring to the German woman's kidnapping. "This is looking like a criminal abduction."
The Taliban is holding hostage 19 Korean Christian aid workers, who were abducted as they rode on a public bus driving from Kabul to Kandahar. The Taliban have killed two male hostages and released two women.
In that case, a Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said in a telephone interview that negotiations between the Taliban and Korean officials had broken down.

Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
First Van Doo to die in mission

Andrew Mayeda
CanWest News Service

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Pte Simon Longtin was killed on 19 August, 2007 after the vehicle he was traveling in, a LAV III, struck an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
CREDIT: DND

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Quebec's storied Van Doos regiment is mourning its first loss in Afghanistan after a young private who arrived in the country only three weeks ago was killed by a roadside bomb.

Pte. Simon Longtin, 23, was travelling in a LAV-III armoured vehicle when it struck an improvised explosive device.
Canadian soldiers exchanged fire with Taliban insurgents after the blast, but no other Canadian soldiers were injured and no Taliban casualties could be confirmed.
Longtin was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital at Kandahar Airfield, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
He is the first member of the Van Doos to be killed while serving in Afghanistan. The Royal 22nd Regiment, as it is officially known, took command of Canada's operations in Afghanistan on Aug. 1.
"It's like losing almost a brother. We're like a big family here," said Col. Christian Juneau, Canada's deputy commander in Afghanistan. "We will mourn, we will pay our respects to the family and our fallen comrade, and we will carry on with the mission."
Longtin, who hails from Longueuil, Que., was an infantry rifleman with Charlie Company, which forms part of Canada's battle group.
He had trained for two years with the company before arriving in Afghanistan about three weeks ago.
He lived with other members of the company at Masum Ghar, a forward operating base located at the border of the volatile Zhari and Panjwaii districts.
Lieut.-Col. Alain Gauthier, commander of the Canadian battle group, called Longtin a "keen," "professional" soldier.
Sunday, Maj. Kasey McLean, speaking the base in Valcartier, Que., said Longtin's family said it was proud he served.
McLean, a Van Doo commander, said the family told him Longtin would "often express his pride and belief in what he did."
He said the family wished to mourn in private and would issue a statement later.
Political observers, meanwhile, will be watching closely to see how the news reverberates in Quebec, where support for the war is the lowest of any province.
According to some polls, seven in 10 Quebecers oppose the mission.
The attack occurred at about 1:41 a.m. along Foster Road, roughly 20 kilometres west of Kandahar City.
The vehicle was part of a supply convoy headed west toward Masum Ghar.
It is the second time in a week that Canadian soldiers have been wounded or killed along Foster Road, a well-travelled supply route. Five soldiers were lightly injured last Sunday by an IED along the same road. After that attack, the military dispatched engineers to scour the route for IEDs.
The engineers checked for bombs in drainage culverts where insurgents are believed to have planted the bomb used in last Sunday's attack. At one point, engineers discovered a Chinese-made mortar in one of the culverts. They detonated the bomb safely, setting off a thud that echoed through the nearby mountains.
Juneau said Canadian troops will step up surveillance of the route. "However, with the size of our operation, it's quite difficult to have eyes everywhere ... You travel on the road, (and) the next night they can insert themselves and install an IED."
Military officials declined to provide details on the nature of the bomb, saying the incident was under investigation. They also would not say where Longtin was sitting in the LAV-III, which is designed to protect against roadside bombs.
The death of the first Van Doos caps a bloody week in Kandahar province.
Two soldiers incurred minor injuries Friday after their armoured vehicle rolled over an IED while traveling in a supply convoy about 30 kilometres west of Kandahar City. A suicide bomber also killed the chief of Zhari district and three of his children. On Saturday, a suicide car bomber rammed into a convoy of vehicles, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens of others on the edge of Kandahar City.
Some observers believe the insurgents could step up their attacks when the Muslim holy period of Ramadan begins in a few weeks.
On Saturday, the Taliban released a statement purported to be from their reclusive leader, Mullah Omar. It called on Afghans to wage a jihad against the foreign "invaders." The statement came on the eve of Independence Day, which commemorates Afghanistan's declaration of independence from Britain in 1919.
"Our country is once again occupied by the same forces," Omar said in his statement, which has not yet been verified.
Juneau brushed off the Taliban warning, reiterating the Canadian position that the insurgents are "on their heels."
He admitted there has been "a lot of activity" by insurgents recently, but he said the attacks were not well co-ordinated.
Violence in Kandahar province has surged in recent months, with the rate of roadside bombings and other terrorist attacks reaching its worst level since the war began in 2001.
Sixty-seven Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have now died in Afghanistan since 2002. There are roughly 2,500 Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led coalition that is attempting to secure and rebuild the country.
Canada's military commitment ends in February 2009. Prime Minister Harper has said he will seek a consensus from Parliament before extending the mission.
Juneau said the debate about whether to extend the mission should be left to politicians and the Canadian public.
"The important thing for us, the soldiers, the whole team that is deployed here, is the fact that we know the Canadian public is behind the soldiers, the people wearing the uniform."
On Sunday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement on the latest death.
"It is with deep sorrow that I extend my condolences, on behalf of all Canadians, to the family and friends of Private Simon Longtin, who was killed in Afghanistan."
"Private Longtin displayed resolve and courage in serving his country, his family and friends can be proud of him because he was playing a very important role in a very challenging environment. He will be sorely missed by the Canadian Forces family."
"In marking the 65th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid, we pay tribute to the soldiers of our past. The sacrifices of soldiers like Private Longtin carry on this legacy today, helping to bring stability and peace to parts of the world plagued by turmoil and upheaval."
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion also issued a statement.
" . . . I would like to express my deepest sadness and regret at the death of Private Simon Longtin in a roadside bombing in Kandahar.
"We send our most sincere sympathies to Private Longtin's family, comrades and friends as they cope with this tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the seven other Canadian soldiers injured in Afghanistan this week. We wish them a full and speedy recovery.
"Today's loss serves as a reminder of the very real challenges the men and women of the Canadian Forces face every day as they undertake this mission, and I speak for all Canadians when I say that we greatly appreciate their sacrifices to help the people of Afghanistan and bring stability to the region."
Defence Minister Peter MacKay said in a statement Longtin was an exceptional Canadian soldier who made the "ultimate sacrifice."
"He served valiantly, and represents Canadian values and traditions in the finest sense.
"Our mission in Afghanistan is noble and in our national interest, and we will forever honour our troops who put themselves on the line to defend those interests and make a positive difference in the lives of others."
© CanWest News Service 2007

Germany: Car bomber sentenced

2007-08-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Investigators check the scene following a car bomb attack at U.S. Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, western Germany, in this Aug. 8, 1985 file picture. A German court said Friday Aug. 17, 2007 it has ordered the early release on parole of former Red Army Faction member Eva Haule who was convicted in connection with the 1985 murder of a U.S. soldier and the bombing of the U.S. base in Frankfurt. (AP Photo)

German 'Punishment'

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 8/17/2007

Terrorism: How could Eva Haule, a Marxist terrorist, so easily manipulate German justice with only a handful of years in jail for the cold-blooded murder of a U.S. soldier? Not only is it a travesty, it's ominous for Germany.
Without much fanfare, the high court in Frankfurt ruled that Haule, 53, was to be paroled Tuesday after 21 years in jail because she "no longer poses a threat to the public."
Maybe not, sitting in prison, with her murderous little terror group, the Baader-Meinhof Gang, disbanded. But the "public" is irrelevant because Haule was always very specific about her targets.
Haule was first convicted of trying to blow up a NATO school in Oberammergau in 1984, and of document falsification and belonging to a terror group. Later, she was found to be involved in other base attacks, including the August 1985 killing of a 20-year-old U.S. serviceman, Edward Pimental, just to get his ID card.
That card was used the next day to blow up another U.S. base, killing two more and injuring 23. Responding to the outcry, the gang, calling itself the Red Army Faction, showed its true mettle with the message: "We're not misty-eyed social workers."
The German government claims Haule has expressed remorse for her crimes (a requirement for release). Sorry, we don't believe it.
None of Haule's prison activism over the years suggests remorse. Indeed, all she has done in jail is try to rationalize herself. Worse, she has refused to disclose who did the other unsolved murders committed by her gang during its 1975-91 killing rampage.
Considering how many crimes Haule committed, 21 years amounts to just a few years per murder. By one account, Haule really did just six years for the cold-blooded killing of Pimental, because her role in that crime wasn't even addressed by German courts until 2001.
The other 15 years of her "life" sentence were for her role in a car-bomb attack. The 21 years she served is a "life" term, according to German justice. What did she learn while there? That violence isn't necessary in Germany to game the system?
In her first three years, she went on a hunger strike to get moved to a cushier prison. German authorities caved in to her demands.
She got herself listed as a "political prisoner" on several fringe left Web sites to raise public pressure for her release — as if luring a 20-year-old to his death was equivalent to voting Social Democrat.
Then she used free prison photography classes to take pictures of convict women and publish them in a book as a means of raising her public profile to better her chances of getting out.
"As I always say: 'What I do here should get me out of here,' " she told Turkish Daily News in 2007.
Her work was feted around Europe by the radical chic as that of an "anti-imperialist activist." A gallery financed by Austria's government showed her photos.
With plenty of time on her hands, Haule also engaged in activism around the plight of another "political prisoner," the radical leftist cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal.
She signed a "Dear Comrades" letter in 1994 demanding a reprieve for the death-row killer. "The reactionary forces now are up to extinguish every example of struggle for a radically different life and revolutionary perspectives," the letter said. "They take Mumia because he is an example for this struggle, his life stands for our collective revolutionary history."
Why is this important? Apart from al-Qaida, Germany is seeing the rise of new left-wing terror groups such as "mg," an arson group that claims "credit" for more than 25 fires. The slack German justice system is sending these fringe terrorists — as well as Islamofascists — a message of just how lenient they are. Appeasers of terror.
German justice has to do a lot better than this. Haule's abbreviated term in jail isn't even deterrence, let alone punishment.
© Investor's Business Daily, Inc. 2000-2007.

Eva Haule

Algeria: car bomb cell members arrested

2007-08-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

Algiers and Lakhdaria attacks
2 suspects in 4/11 and Lakhdaria bombings arrested
Elkhabar, Algeria - Aug 17, 2007

Security services arrested 20 days ago two people suspected of participating in the planning and the execution of 4/11 Algiers attacks and Lakhdaria (Bouira province) attacks in July. A security source reported that the arrest was achieved thanks to information given by the so called “Zoubir Abu Sadjia”, one of the three kamikaze bombers.
Actually security services have confirmed the hypothesis that “Abu Sadjia” is the one who parked the bombed black Mercedes in front of Denmark Embassy and not far from State officials’ residencies. Security services’ investigations with “Abu Sadjia” led to identify two other elements who participated directly in bombing both Government and Bab Ezzouar police station headquarters.
Well-informed security sources mentioned that the two suspects live in Bourouba municipality, not far from Merouane Boudina’s home, who is called “Abou Sadjia”, one of 4/11 attacks kamikazes. They unveiled said that investigators identified the two attacks support cell members.
The same sources added that security services’ Special Forces, and while searching the two suspects’ houses, seized some requisites which have a direct link with the black Mercedes car bomb which was dismantled, and seized also other requisites of a Jack bomb truck that was used in Lakhdaria attacks. El Khabar source refused to provide further information about those requisites as investigations still not finished

US: Ionatron Awarded Army Car Bomb Neutralization Technology Contract

2007-08-23T16:15:00.001-07:00

Ionatron Awarded Army Car Bomb Neutralization Technology Contract

TUCSON, Ariz. --(Business Wire)-- Ionatron, Inc., (Nasdaq:IOTN) the Laser Guided Energy (LGE(TM)) Company, and pioneer in next generation Directed Energy Technologies, today announced that they had received a $2.09 million contract from the Army Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ for "ANVILS", a technology development program for the application of directed energy technologies to counter the threat of vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The contract was issued through Subsystems Technologies, Inc. of Rosslyn, VA, as part of an existing services contract that Subsystems has with Picatinny Arsenal.
Dana Marshall, Ionatron's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "This contract is the most recent sign of the Army's commitment to developing our LGE technology for their unique missions and applications. We've worked with the Army for several years, and as LGE technology has matured we have seen an increase in our contract opportunities with them. The Army has stated their interest in assuming the lead role in our LGE development for applications under the Close Combat Support program starting during 2008, and they have budgeted multiyear funding for ongoing Laser Induced Plasma Channel ("LIPC") development. We think this is a positive indication of their long term commitment to the promise of Laser Guided Energy."

Mr. Marshall continued, "Ionatron's proprietary LGE weapons technology is uniquely well suited to address some of the Army's most urgent problems, and we look forward to their leadership in bringing this technology to the field. We continue to work with the Navy, our program sponsor on existing LGE development for the past three years, as they investigate new applications for our directed energy technologies."

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About Ionatron Inc.

Ionatron, Inc. is a solution provider that develops and markets Laser Guided Energy (LGE(TM)) and related products to defense and security customers for unique applications worldwide. Ionatron has significant expertise in the application of high-power lasers, optics and energy management technologies. Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, Ionatron is focused on solving technology problems directly for its government and security-conscious customers. For more information about Ionatron, please visit www.ionatron.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Certain statements contained in this News Release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such factors include, but are not limited to: the dependence on sales of a limited number of products and the uncertainty of the timing and magnitude of government funding and orders, dependence on sales to government customers; the uncertainty of patent protection; the uncertainty of strategic alliances; the uncertainty of management tenure; the impact of third-party suppliers' manufacturing constraints or difficulties; management's ability to achieve business performance objectives, market acceptance of, and demand for, the Company's products, and resulting revenues; development and testing of technology and products; manufacturing capabilities; impact of competitive products and pricing; litigation and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The words "looking forward," "believe," "demonstrate," "intend," "expect," "contemplate," "estimate," "anticipate," "likely" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statement was made. Ionatron undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this news release.

Georgia, US: Man Targeted By Car Bomb

2007-08-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

North Georgia Man Targeted By Car Bomb

POSTED: 5:56 pm EDT August 16, 2007

WHITFIELD COUNTY, Ga. -- Investigators believe a north Georgia man was targeted by a car bomb in Whitfield County.
Officials said as 27-year-old James Brock, Junior got into his red pick-up truck Thursday morning, it blew up.
“This appeared to be targeting a specific individual or a specific family -- not a random act like you have in Iraq. This is a totally different type of scenario,” said Special Agent Jerry Scott.
Brock was found lying next to his truck and he was airlifted to a local hospital.
There is no word on his condition.
Police and the GBI are investigating.
Copyright 2007 by WSBTV.com.

Whitfield Truck Bomb Was Retaliation From Biker Gang Shoot-out
WDEF News 12, TN - Aug 17, 2007
Submitted by Rebecca Cruz on August 17, 2007 - 5:10pm. News

Whitfield County law enforcement officials now confirm yesterday's car bomb explosion is the result of a biker gang rivalry.
James Brock, Junior, remains in serious condition at Erlanger hospital after his Dodge Ram exploded when he started the truck.
Sheriff Scott Chitwood says both Brock, junior, and his father, James Brock, Senior, were involved in a shoot-out with another biker gang.
Both father and son are members of the Renegade Bike club.
Chitwood believes rival gang members meant to kill junior in retaliation of the shoot-out a few months ago, "These are apparently two rival biker groups, the Renegades and the Outlaws, and both of them are very well known nationwide. And, apparently, there was an incident and shooting where a young person died down at an adult down in the Atlanta area."
James Brock, Sr, remains in Clayton County Jail, where he faces charges in the shooting that killed Frank Vital at the Crazy Horse Saloon in Forest Park, Georgia.

Explosion Linked to Motorcycle Gang Activity
Jessica Morris
August 17, 2007 - 6:14PM
WTVC, TN - Aug 17, 2007

We have new information about a bombing that's being investigated by several agencies. Authorities believe it was a planned attack that left a 27-year-old man with serious injuries. Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood says all clues point to the Outlaws, a motorcycle gang who's been fighting with the Renegades. The sheriff says they don't have it narrowed down to an individual suspect, but his detectives are working with state and federal agents to track down all leads.
"Around 6:30 in the morning I heard a big boom like thunder," say Carolyn Marcus, a neighbor.
Little did Marcus know it was a bomb planted in her neighbor's truck. And detectives believe it hit its target -- 27 year old James Brock, Junior.
"James was bleeding out of his eyes and his ears. And he thought his right knee cap was blowed off, but we found out later it was the back of his leg that was blowed off," says Marcus.
Marcus, who's staying in contact with the family, says Brock lost his hand and part of his arm. But why? Investigators agree with neighbors who say the Brocks HAD enemies.
Leading up to Thursday's car bomb explosion, neighbors say James Brock, Junior's wife confessed being scared. Carolyn Marcus tells us that the wife says someone was making repeated threats to their family and home.
Marcus says, "That's all she told me. Just threats, you know. So, I figured it was from the rival gang."
Marcus is referring to the Outlaws -- a rival of the Renegade Motorcycle Club. Detectives say Brock is a Renegade. And Thursday's explosion was likely retaliation.
On June 24th, police say Brock's father -- James Brock Senior -- was involved in a shootout at the Crazy Horse Saloon in Forest Park, Georgia. The shooting resulted in the death of Outlaws member 44-year old Frank Vital.
Retired FBI agent Bob Brown says bombings are nothing new to the Outlaws. And though, they're often involved in fundraisers, like the ride on August 4th for the children of the Ronald McDonald House, Brown says it's no secret the bikers are engaged in ongoing criminal enterprises.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales unveiled an indictment against 16 members of the Outlaws on Wednesday.
"So whether or not it's loosely organized street youth gangs or organized motorcycle clubs
like this one, if you're engaged in criminal activity, we're going to come after you," he said.
The Justice Department describes the American Outlaw Association as "an international criminal organization whose members engage in acts of violence including murder, attempted murder," and assault. The FBI says the local clubs don't have a history of violence, but have been involved in trafficking and illegal narcotics. But yesterday's violence suggests otherwise. When a father of three nearly lost his life.
Whitfield County Captain Rick Swiney says Brock is in serious condition at Erlanger. Carolyn Marcus tells us that according to the wife, Brock is expected to survive and is even talking and laughing.
We are closely following this story. And we will let you know as soon as detectives make an arrest.

Mogadishu, Somalia: Car bomb kills 5 policemen

2007-08-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

3 were killed in an explosion in Mogadishu.

Mine explosion kills 3 in Mogadishu
Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:25:50
Source: AP
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=19698§ionid=3510205

A land mine explosion under a police car has killed 3 policemen, raising the death toll from violence in Mogadishu to 8 since Wednesday.
Mogadishu's Deputy Police Commissioner, Abdullahi Hassan Barise, said the mine exploded just after he had stepped a few meters away.
The explosion occurred in the Hurawaa neighborhood in northeastern Mogadishu. The commissioner said three of his guards were wounded, but a witness said 3 policemen also died.
"We saw the car sent into the air by the explosion, with huge balls of smoke'' the witness said.
A car bomb killed 5 policemen in Mogadishu Wednesday.
Before the overthrow of the Islamic Courts Union last year, they had succeeded in restoring relative order to Mogadishu and the central and south parts of the country.
The Horn of Africa country is deeply impoverished and has been wracked by violence since 1991.

MHE/RE

Baghdad, Iraq: Car bomb kills 9 wounds 17

2007-08-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

A shopkeeper sorts through the wreckage of his mobile phone store, damaged Wednesday night in a car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. Police said two consecutive car bombs struck a popular market in the northern city on Wednesday night, killing two and wounding more than 30 civilians. (AP Photo / Emad Matti)

Car bomb strikes market district in central Baghdad, killing at least 9, wounding 17
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 16, 2007
BAGHDAD: A car bomb struck a market district during rush hour in central Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least nine people and wounding 17, police said.
The car was parked in a lot above a row of stores near the busy Rusafi square when it exploded about 9 a.m., a police officer said, giving the casualty toll on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
A huge fire broke out in the seven-story building and smoke billowed into the air.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but the U.S. military has warned it expects Sunni insurgents to try to upstage a September progress report due to be delivered by top commander Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
The blast occurred in an area full of food vendors, as well as stores selling clothes, leather bags and shoes.

Nine killed in Baghdad car bomb attack
eveningecho, Ireland
16/08/2007 - 7:11:16 AM
At least nine people were killed and 17 wounded when a car bomb struck a market district during rush hour in central Baghdad today, Iraqi police said.
The car was parked above a row of shops near the busy Rusafi square when it exploded about 9 am local time, a police officer said.
A huge fire broke out in the seven-storey building and smoke billowed into the air.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but the US military has warned it expects Sunni insurgents to try to upstage a September progress report due to be delivered by top commander Gen. David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Bomb in Baghdad car park kills 9
Thu 16 Aug 2007, 6:36 GMT
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb in a parking lot in central Baghdad killed nine people and wounded 17 on Thursday, with the building also set ablaze, police said.
The bomb went off in a busy commercial area near al-Russafi Square in the heart of Baghdad.
Witnesses reported seeing flames pouring from the building as emergency agencies fought the blaze.

At least four people killed in car bomb in central Baghdad

At least four people were killed and six others were wounded in a car bomb explosion in a commercial area in central Baghdad on Thursday, an Interior Ministry source said.
"A car bomb went off around 9:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) in the commercial area near the al-Risafi Square, killing four people and wounding six others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The explosion damaged several civilian cars, shops and buildings in the crowded area near the main wholesale market of Shorja in central capital, the source said.
The toll could rise, he said, adding that ambulances are ferrying more casualties to nearby hospitals.
Violence persists in Iraq as sectarian killings, suicide attacks, bombings, and abductions cause dozens of Iraqi casualties daily.
Source: Xinhua
Copyright by People's Daily Online, All Rights Reserved

Nine Iraqis killed in Baghdad, 87 gunmen seized in Kirkuk - 2nd Update
Posted on : 2007-08-16 | Author : DPA
News Category : Middle East
Baghdad - At least nine Iraqis were killed and 17 others wounded in a Baghdad attack, while 87 suspected militants were detained in an operation in Kirkuk city, media sources reported on Thursday. In central Baghdad, a car bomb detonated on Thursday morning in Rusafai square near a crowded wholesale market and a bus station, killing nine Iraqis and injuring 17 others, pan-Arab al-Arabiya news broadcaster reported.
Police forces sealed off the scene, preventing civilians from coming closer to the explosion site while the wounded were rushed to nearby hospitals, the independent Voices of Iraq news agency reported citing a police source.
Meanwhile, a joint Iraqi army and police forces at dawn Thursday staged a raid in Senaa neighbourhood in southern Kirkuk, arresting 87 gunmen, Voices of Iraq reported citing a security source.
The forces also confiscated 40 Kalashnikovs and three vehicles, the source added
Kirkuk lies 250 kilometres north-east of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
On Wednesday evening, four people including a child were killed in an explosion in a Kurdish district of the northern Iraqi town of Mosul.
In the Kurdish Autonomous Region of northern Iraq, recovery operations were continuing Thursday among the rubble of villages following suicide attacks on Tuesday evening that resulted in the deaths of more than 500 people.
The Kurdish regional government also approved a plan to speed up the integration of Kurdish areas to the south of the current autonomous region on Wednesday.
Print Source :
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/94252.html

EXTRA: Iraq official denies deaths in central Baghdad attack
Posted on : 2007-08-16 | Author : DPA
News Category : Middle East
Baghdad - An official source at the Iraqi Ministry of Interior denied Thursday that anyone was killed in the central Baghdad morning attack, state-run al-Iraqiya reported. Contradicting earlier media reports that nine Iraqis were killed and 17 others injured, Civil Defence Sector head Abdel-Rasoul al- Zaidi said a car bomb parked near Rusafai marketplace injured only three people, setting some cars in fire and causing damage to stores and commercial offices nearby.
Police forces sealed off the scene, preventing civilians from coming closer to the explosion site while the wounded were rushed to nearby hospitals, al-Zaidi added.
Rusafai marketplace - one of the most crowded areas in central Baghdad - had previously been the target of attacks.
Print Source :
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/94274.html

Car bomb wounds 3 Iraqis in eastern Baghdad
By 2nd IBCT, 2nd Inf. Div. Public Affairs
Aug 16, 2007 - 1:58:32 PM

Blackanthem Military News, FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq - Three Iraqis were wounded and 38 vehicles destroyed when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated in the second floor of a parking garage in Rusafa Square in eastern Baghdad Aug. 16.
Following the 9:30 a.m. attack, troops with the 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division and Company A, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area.
The wounded were transported to Medical City for treatment.

Iraqi kids' cries halt bulldozer's approach
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.17.2007
advertisement
BAGHDAD — The bulldozer moved closer. The children cried louder.
Then someone heard what few expected amid the horror: four small survivors calling out from ruins of buildings that had become tombs for hundreds of others.
"We didn't hear them calling out for help until moments before a bulldozer would have killed them as it cleared the rubble," said Saad Muhanad, a municipal council member in the Qahtaniya region of northern Iraq.
The discovery of the children — hungry and thirsty but apparently unharmed after two days trapped beneath a toppled building — was a rare uplifting scene Thursday as teams tallied up the grim figures from the deadliest wave of suicide attacks of the war.
Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, interior ministry spokesman, said at least 400 were dead — apparently all members of the ancient Yazidi sect that mixes elements of Islam, Christianity and other faiths.
The four small survivors were related, Muhanad said, but he did not know if they were siblings.
3 U.S. soldiers die
A car bomb struck a Baghdad parking garage in a central commercial district during the morning rush hour, killing at least nine people and wounding 17, police said.
The U.S. military also said three soldiers had been killed. Two soldiers died Wednesday in fighting north of Baghdad. The military said one soldier died Thursday in Baghdad of non-combat causes.
Reshaped power bloc
In Baghdad, political leaders emerged from three days of crisis talks with a new alliance that seeks to save the crumbling U.S.-backed government. But the reshaped power bloc included no Sunnis and immediately raised questions about its legitimacy as a unifying force.

Iraq: 4 car bombs August 16, 2007

2007-08-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

Security Incidents for Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Iraq today

(1) MNF-Iraq is reporting the deaths of five U.S. Servicemembers in the crash of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter near Al Taqaddum Air Base in Al Anbar Province on Tuesday, August 14th. The chopper was on a routine post-maintenance check flight when it went down.

(2) The DoD has announced a new death, not previously reported by CENTCOM. Marine Sergeant Michael E. Tayaotao, 27, of Sunnyvale, California, died from enemy action in Al Anbar Province on Thursday, August 9th. A detailed entry on a blog called "from the boondocks" describes Tayaotao as being of Filipino extraction, specifically Igorot from the island of Luzon. His father lives there now, while his mother lives in California. Tayaotao had enlisted in the Marines right out of high school and was due to end his current enlistment in one month, at which point he planned to return home to resume his studies. Unfortunately, those hopes were ended by a roadside bomb. He had requested that if he died in Iraq he wanted to be buried in Poway, California, beside his younger brother who had died last October 2006 while attending the University of California/Irvine.

(3) Deutsche Presse-Agentur is reporting the death of the first Polish soldier in Afghanistan, 28-year-old Lukasz Kurowski. An article from AFP described the incident as an ambush by Taliban insurgents on a NATO patrol in the eastern province of Paktia on Tuesday, August 14th. Kurowski died of his wounds while being airlifted to a field hospital. Five Afghan soldiers were wounded in the attack.

____________________________________

Baghdad:
#1: Insurgents killed three police commandos and wounded two others in southern Baghdad's Doura district, police said

#2: Around 11 a.m., mortars hit Sadr city . No casualties reported.

#3: Around 12 p.m., random fire by an American convoy at Bab Al-Sharji ( downtown ) killing 1 person and injuring another.

#4: Around 12 p.m., two people were killed by sniper shots at Siba’a intersection near Sheikh Omar ( downtown Baghdad) .

#5: Around 12.30 p.m., gunmen opened fire on a patrol for police commandos at Doura neighborhood ( south Baghdad) killing three and injuring two others.

#6: U.S. forces killed 11 suspected insurgents and detained four others during operations targeting al Qaeda in central and northern Iraq, the U.S. military said.

Diyala Prv:
#1: the U.S. military heralded success in Day Two of a nationwide offensive against Sunni insurgents with links to al-Qaida and Shiite militiamen. Ten thousand U.S. troops and 6,000 Iraqi soldiers were involved in air and ground assaults across Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, both north of Baghdad. More than 300 artillery rounds, rockets and bombs were dropped in the Diyala River valley late Monday and early Tuesday, the U.S. military said in a statement. Three suspected al-Qaida gunmen were killed and eight were taken prisoner, the military said. American troops also discovered several roadside bombs rigged to explode, as well as a booby-trapped house, it said. In the Iraqi capital, U.S. special forces and Iraqi soldiers detained three suspected al-Qaida in Iraq leaders and four Shiite militia suspects in separate raids Tuesday, the military said.

Buhriz:
#1: At least resident was killed and 13 wounded in clashes between insurgent gunmen and Iraqi security forces in Buhriz, 60 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said. They said seven insurgents were also killed

#2: Iraqi police and residents clashed with gunmen early Wednesday northeast of Baghdad, and 14 people were killed in the fighting, police said. The battle began after mortar rounds fell on Buhriz, a suburb of Baqouba, some 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of the Iraqi capital, a police officer said on condition of anonymity out of security concerns. Residents and local police amassed at the center of town and took up positions in grassy areas on the edge of Buhriz, battling suspected al-Qaida attackers for three hours, the officer said. Eight of those killed were gunmen, and six were civilians, he said. Twenty others were wounded — all civilians, the officer added.

Najaf:
#1: Thousands of followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took to the streets in Najaf in a peaceful protest against the detention. Demonstrators shouted anti-American slogans and called for an end to what they called random raids and rights violations targeting the movement.

#2: Two gunmen opened fire against Mohammad Abdul Monaem, an employee from the joint operations office of the Najaf civil administration, in front of his house in al-Jamaaiya neighborhood, north of Najaf, at 9:00 pm on Tuesday, killing him instantly," the source, who refused to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq. A nearby police patrol hunted down the gunmen until their motorcycle turned around in front of al-Rahma neighborhood, where they hid," he added, noting that Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. troops, cordoned off the neighborhood for three hours. He did not clarify the fate of the two gunmen

Madaen:
#1: Gunmen killed one person and wounded another in Madaen, 45 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Hilla:
#1: A suicide car bomb attacked the convoy of a senior judge on Wednesday in Hilla City, the capital of Babylon province, leaving the judge seriously injured, a provincial police source said. "A suicide car bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the convoy of Judge Aqeel Adnan Witwit while heading for his office in the 40th Street in central Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, leaving the judge seriously injured and two of his bodyguards killed," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Seven pedestrians were also wounded, while several cars of the convoy were damaged in the blast, the source said

Mosul:
#1: a parked car bomb targeted a police patrol in southern Mosul, killing a civilian and injuring ten others, police and army officers said.

#2: Wednesday morning, two car bombs exploded at Noor neighborhood ( downtown Mosul city) targeting police patrols killing ten including three policemen.

#3: gunmen attacked police stations in eastern side of Mosul city by mortars . No casualties reported

Kirkuk:
#1: Tuesday night, a car bomb targeted a police patrol at the celebration yard near Zamzam bakery ( downtown Kirkuk) killing one policeman and injuring 21 others including three civilians.

#2: After ten minutes of Tuesday , a roadside bomb targeted a civilian mini truck on the main way of Kirkuk –Daquq in front of Taza park ( south of Kirkuk city ) killing one passenger and injuring another.

Qahataniya:
#1: (update) Rescuers dug through the muddy wreckage of collapsed clay houses in northwest Iraq on Wednesday, uncovering victims of four suicide bombings that Iraqi officials said killed at least 200 people in one of the worst attacks of the war. It was most vicious attack yet against the Yazidis, an ancient religious community in the region. Some 300 people were wounded in the blasts, said Dakhil Qassim, the mayor of the nearby town of Sinjar. "We are still digging with our hands and shovels because we can't use cranes because many of the houses were built of clay," Qassim said. "We are expecting to reach the final death toll tomorrow or day after tomorrow as we are getting only pieces of bodies."

At least 500 people were killed and 375 injured in a series of bombings and mortar shelling that ripped through a village in Sinjar town of this northern Iraqi city, hospital sources said. "We have received 500 corpses and 375 injured people," said Kifah Muhammad, the manager of the hospital in Sinjar, a town in Nineveh province.

Afghanistan:
#1: Three police officers attached to the German embassy in Kabul were killed when their vehicles were hit by a roadside bomb on the eastern outskirts of Kabul Wednesday, the German government in Berlin and Afghan police said. A fourth officer was injured in the blast that occurred while the officers were on their way to a shooting range at Bagrami, east of Kabul. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble stressed that the officers were all attached to the embassy and not part of the European Union police mission EUPOL that trains Afghan police officers. The officers had been travelling in a "specially protected vehicle," Schaeuble said, but this had still not been able to protect them.

#2: Suspected rebel tribesmen attacked security forces guarding a gas pipeline in insurgency-hit southwestern Pakistan, killing two troops, police said Wednesday. Assailants fired assault rifles late Tuesday at the paramilitary post in Sui, a gas-rich tribal area in the southwestern Baluchistan province, police officer Najmuddin Tareen said. The troops returned fire but two were killed, and the attackers retreated toward nearby mountains, Tareen said

#3: three people were killed in an explosion in the restive North-West Frontier Province, which is also borders on Afghanistan. Police were trying to determine the cause of the blast, which occurred in the house of a suspected militant in the Swabi district, the Geo news channel reported.

#4: pro-Taliban fighters fired three rockets at a security checkpoint in nearby South Waziristan. Security forces launched retaliatory strikes against suspected militant hideouts in the mountainous tribal belt.

#5: Hundreds of U.S.-led troops have launched an offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban militants in an area of eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden once hid, officials said Wednesday. Ground troops and airstrikes are targeting "hundreds of foreign fighters" dug into positions in the Tora Bora region of eastern Nangarhar province, coalition spokeswoman Capt. Vanessa Bowman. She did not say when the operation began or how long it was expected to last.

#7: A British man working for a private security company was shot dead in Kabul, Afghanistan, today, the Foreign Office said. The spokesman did not name the victim or explain the circumstances leading up to the death..

:: Article nr. 35378 sent on 16-aug-2007 05:30 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=35378

Iraq press roundup: 'Iraq needs a dictator'
By Hiba Dawood | Published Aug/15/2007 | Iraq | Unrated
Would the U.S. agree?

By Hiba Dawood
UPI Correspondent
NEW YORK, Aug. 15 -- The Al Rafidayn newspaper published an editorial Tuesday that Iraq could only solve its problem by creating a military leader establishing a dictatorship. The paper mentioned researchers who said this is a test balloon. Others, the paper said, agreed on the idea that any other solution to replace the current chaos would be for the Iraqis' benefit. Another group described the comment as being "ignorant."
Iraqi Institute for Strategic Studies head Falih Abdul Jabar considered the news to be a test balloon to see what the United States thinks about such an idea.
"It doesn't mean that it is an official who said it, it could be other sides to see how the U.S. or Iraq would react," he said. Jabar gave another probability by saying, "Maybe it is to encourage people to think seriously about finding a solution in Iraq." He didn't completely refuse to believe that this could be a "support to military leaders." Another option Jabar gave the paper is that it could be one of the Middle Eastern countries, like Jordan and Saudi Arabia, that are trying to push on that.
There is no way Iraq could have another dictatorship because "it would need someone to be stronger than everybody else. Today, the army and police are weak, the streets are controlled by the militias, plus the U.S. will not agree to that," he said.
Mahdi Army leader arrested in Kufa
Al Rafidayn also reported that the U.S. army announced that in Kufa, 93 miles south of Baghdad, it arrested a leader in the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr. A dozen other Mahdi Army members were arrested in Baghdad.
The announcement said that "the people arrested have been involved in executions, holding attacks against the Multi-National Forces, and smuggling weapons from Iran to Iraq."
The statement said that "this person is a leader of a net of 200 Mahdi Army members and in charge of many assassinations against officials."
Terrorists killed north of Diala
The paper also referred to the latest casualty figures regarding the security operation carried out by the Iraqi forces backed by the U.S. forces in Diala province since last June.
The paper quoted Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, the National Leadership Center's chief, saying that "420 terrorists were killed and 416 others were arrested during the operation in Diala, north of Baghdad." The paper also said that 10,000 Iraqi and U.S troops are carrying out the operation.
Leaders do lunch, but avoid political discussion
The Iraqi international Azzaman paper reported on its front page on the crisis committee meeting called by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Tuesday with his selection of political leaders.
The headline read: "The bloc's leaders meeting was replaced by a lunch feast."
The paper went in to details as to say that Iraqi sources have described the meetings between the parties' leaders as a "cold (cuts) lunch invitation that was disengaged politically and had nothing to do with the current crises."
The paper also said that the Accordance Front party members didn't engage in any political discussions. The Front has withdrawn its ministers and threatens to do so from Parliament. Sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Tariq Al Hashimi, an Iraqi vice president and head of the Front, didn't come to the meeting.
The paper also said two Shiite parties that have also withdrawn their ministers over disagreements with Maliki, the Sadr and Fadhila parties were not invited to the meeting, "fearing of escalation in the situation and incapability to solve the crisis." The Iraqi List, lead by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, was also not invited.
More than 400 killed in attack
Kul Al Iraq paper reports on four car bomb explosions in the Sinjar district, north of Mosul. The explosions killed and wounded more than 400 people, with the toll rising.
The paper said the targets were members of the Yazidi religion, a minority Iraqi group living in Mosul city. The police sources confirmed that more than 200 people were killed and 200 more were wounded in the four bombings.
"Residents witnessed that U.S. helicopters were participating in carrying the wounded to hospitals," the paper said.
The paper reported on a car bomb in Hilla, south of Baghdad, that killed two and wounded seven. The target was a local judge.
Also in Hilla, Khalil Al Athari, a former high-ranking Baath Party member, was assassinated.

TIMELINE-Deadliest bomb attacks in Iraq

2007-08-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

REUTERS
=======
TIMELINE-Deadliest bomb attacks in Iraq
Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:32PM BST

(Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Wednesday al Qaeda was the "prime suspect" in suicide bombings overnight on an ancient minority sect that Iraqi officials said killed at least 175 people in northern Iraq.

Here is a list of some of the deadliest bomb attacks in Iraq this year:

January 16, 2007 - A car bomb and suicide bomber strike the Mustansiriya University in central Baghdad, killing at least 70 people and wounding 180.

January 22 - A double car bombing at a second-hand goods market in Bab al-Sharji, central Baghdad, kills 88 people and wounds 160.

February 1 - Two suicide bombers strike at a market in the Shi'ite town of Hilla, killing 61 people and wounding 150.

February 3 - A truck bomb kills 135 people and wounds 305 at a market in the Sadriya quarter of central Baghdad.

February 12 - Multiple car bombs explode in the Shorja wholesale market, killing at least 71 people and wounding 165. At least nine others are killed at the Bab al-Sharji market, also in central Baghdad.

March 6 - Two suicide bombers strike in Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing 105 pilgrims. Insurgents also launch a total of 12 attacks against Shi'ite pilgrims. In all, 137 pilgrims die and 310 are wounded.

March 27 - A truck bomb explodes in Tal Afar, close to the Syrian border and the regional capital of Mosul. The final death toll of 152 makes it the deadliest single insurgent attack in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

April 14 - A suicide car bomber kills 40 people and wounds more than 70 at a bus station in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala.

April 18 - Multiple car bombings kill 191 people around Baghdad. Near a market in the central Sadriya neighbourhood, one car bomb kills 140 people and wounded 150.

April 28 - A suicide car bomber kills 60 people and wounds 170 at a checkpoint in Kerbala.

May 13 - Suicide truck bombing in northern town of Makhmour kills 50, with 70 people wounded.

June 19 - A car bomb near the Khilani Shi'ite mosque in central Baghdad kills 87 people.

July 7 - A truck packed with explosives covered with hay blows up in a crowded market in the northern town of Tuz Khurmato, killing 150 people and wounding 250.

July 16 - Eighty-five people are killed by a suicide truck bomb in the oil-producing city of Kirkuk. At least 180 were wounded.

August 14 - At least three suicide bombers driving fuel tankers kill at least 175 people in Yazidi residential compounds in the villages of Kahtaniya and al-Jazeera in northern Iraq near the Syrian border. Yazidis are members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect who live in northern Iraq and Syria.

© Reuters 2006.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
=================

Some of the Deadliest Attacks in Iraq
Some of the Deadliest Attacks in Iraq
By The Associated
The Associated Press

Some of the deadliest attacks in Iraq since the war began in March 2003:

Aug. 14: Four suicide bombers hit a Kurdish Yazidi community in northwest Iraq, killing at least 200 people and wounding 300 others, the Iraqi military said.

July 7: A suicide truck bomber rips through a market in a Shiite Turkoman town north of Baghdad, killing at least 160 people.

June 19: A truck bomb packed with explosives strikes the Shiite Khulani mosque in central Baghdad, killing at least 87 people.

April 18: A car bomb explodes at a Baghdad market as workers leave for the day, killing 127 people.

March 6: Two suicide bombers blow themselves up in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, killing 93 people in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims.

Feb. 3: A suicide truck bomber strikes a market in a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad, killing 137 people.

Jan. 22: A parked car bomb followed immediately by a suicide car bomber strikes a predominantly Shiite commercial area in the Bab al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, killing 88 people.

Nov. 23, 2006: Mortar rounds and five car bombs kill 215 people in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City.

April 7, 2006: Two suicide bombers attack the Shiite Buratha mosque in northern Baghdad, killing 85 people.

Sept. 29, 2005: Three suicide attackers detonate car bombs in an outdoor market and two nearby commercial streets in the mostly Shiite town of Balad, north of Baghdad, killing at least 102 people.

Sept. 14, 2005: A suicide car bomber strikes as day laborers gather shortly after dawn in a heavily Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad, killing 112 people.

July 16, 2005: A suicide bomber detonates explosives strapped to his body at a gas station near a Shiite mosque in Musayyib, killing at least 90 people.

Feb. 28, 2005: A suicide car bomber targets mostly Shiite police and national guard recruits in Hillah, killing 125 people.

March 2, 2004: A suicide bomber kills at least 85 people at the Imam Hussein shrine in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.

Feb. 1, 2004: Twin suicide bombers kill 109 people in two Kurdish party offices in the northern city of Irbil.

Aug. 29, 2003: A car bomb explodes outside a mosque in Najaf, killing more than 85 people, including Shiite leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

TELEGRAPH, UK
=============
Previous terror atrocities in Iraq

Last Updated: 3:57am BST 20/08/2007

Aug 29, 2003: Najaf

Car bomb explodes outside the Imam Ali mosque in the Shia holy city, killing 125 people including Ayatollah Mohammad al-Hakim, one of Iraq's most prominent Shia ayatollahs.

Feb 1, 2004: Irbil

Twin suicide bombers target two Kurdish party offices, killing 109 people and injuring a further 250.

Mar 2, 2004: Karbala and Baghdad

Suicide bombers attack Shia Ashoura festival-goers, killing at least 140, including 49 Iranian pilgrims.

Feb 28, 2005: Hillah, north of Baghdad

A suicide car bomber targets Shia police and national guard recruits, killing 125 people.

Sept 29, 2005: Balad, north of Baghdad

A string of car bomb attacks in the centre of Balad, a mostly Shia town, kill at least 102 people.

Nov 23, 2006: Sadr City, Baghdad

Mortar fire and five car bombs kill 215 people in the capital's Shia Muslim slum.

Feb 3, 2007: Sadriya, Baghdad

A suicide truck bomber kills at least 128 people and wounds 343 others in a market place. The market was attacked again on April 18, when more than 140 are killed.

Baghdad, Iraq: Car bomb kills 2 wounds 7 judge escapes

2007-08-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

An Iraqi police officer examines the remains of a suicide car bomb that struck a market in a Kurdish area in the northern city of Kirkuk, Iraq Friday, Aug. 10, 2007, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens, police said. The attack in Kirkuk, a disputed oil-rich city that has seen a recent rise in ethnic tensions, occurred while the capital remained relatively calm under a driving ban aimed at preventing such attacks during a major Shiite pilgrimage. (AP Photo/Emad Matti)

Senior judge escapes assassination attempt in southern Iraq

A suicide car bomb attacked the convoy of a senior judge on Wednesday in Hilla City, the capital of Babylon province, leaving the judge seriously injured, a provincial police source said.
"A suicide car bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the convoy of Judge Aqeel Adnan Witwit while heading for his office in the 40th Street in central Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, leaving the judge seriously injured and two of his bodyguards killed," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Seven pedestrians were also wounded, while several cars of the convoy were damaged in the blast, the source said.
The judge was ferried to a U.S. military hospital by helicopter, the source said, adding an investigation has been launched.
Violence continues infesting Iraq despite the presence of tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers across the country in a major security crackdown on insurgency and sectarian violence.
Source: Xinhua
Copyright by People's Daily Online, All Rights Reserved

Iraqi police: Suicide car bomb kills 2, wounds 7 south of Baghdad

The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
BAGHDAD: A suicide car bomber killed two people and wounded seven south of Baghdad early Wednesday, police said.
The attacker was apparently targeting the seven-car convoy of a prominent judge in the Hillah area, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of the Iraqi capital.
The judge, Aqeel Adnan Witwit, was injured but survived the attack, which took place at morning rush hour about 50 meters (yards) from his home, police said.
Two of Witwit's bodyguards were killed and six other people were hurt, police said.

Mosul, Iraq: 5 Truck Bombs Kill 175 in Iraq's North

2007-08-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

A girl walks amidst the rubble of a collapsed Civil Defence building after a car bomb attack in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, August 11, 2007. The car bomb exploded inside the compound of the Civil Defence headquarters in Baiji on Saturday, wounding two people, police said. REUTERS/Sabah al-Bazee (IRAQ)

Truck Bombs Kill 175 in Iraq's North
Religious Sect Targeted By 4 Coordinated Blasts

By Megan Greenwell and Dlovan Brwari
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 15, 2007; A01

BAGHDAD, Aug. 14 -- At least 175 people were killed Tuesday night by four truck bombs in a massive coordinated attack against members of a small religious sect, the Yazidis, in northern Iraq, the Iraqi army said.
The nearly simultaneous explosions, in three Yazidi communities near the town of Sinjar, added up to the deadliest attack in Iraq this year and one of the most lethal since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Hundreds of wounded people were flown or driven to hospitals, overwhelming every emergency room in the region, according to George Shlimon, vice mayor of the nearby city of Dahuk.
In Baghdad, the U.S. military reported the deaths of nine American military personnel in three incidents, including the crash of a twin-rotor Chinook helicopter. A truck bomb rendered impassable a bridge on a major route from Baghdad to the north.
Khidr Farhan was on his way to buy vegetables when the first truck bomb exploded near the market in his tiny Yazidi enclave. "I found myself flying through the air, and my face was burning," he said from his hospital bed in Dahuk, where he was recovering from a concussion, a broken leg and a broken rib.
"I felt my leg hurting, and I knew my head was bleeding," he said. "Then I couldn't feel anything. When I woke up, I was in the hospital."
During an interview with a Washington Post special correspondent, Farhan began to cry. "Where is my family?" he said. "I left my wife and my four children at home. Did they die?"
Haji Sido was driving from his workplace to his home in the Tall Aziz community when another of the bombs exploded there. He was not injured, but most of the mud-walled huts in the village collapsed and dead bodies littered the ground, he recounted.
"I ran past people screaming on the ground," he said. "I didn't care, because I had to get to my family. When I got home, my wife said: 'Calm down and thank God. We are safe.' "
Like other recent, large-scale bombing attacks, Tuesday's took place in an area with a relatively small military presence. Since the United States sent an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq this year, insurgents have increasingly targeted areas outside military control. Last month, a bombing near the city of Kirkuk -- another northern city that did not receive additional troops -- killed about 150 people.
The Yazidis are an ancient group whose faith combines elements of many historical religions of the region. They worship a peacock archangel and are considered Satanists by some Muslims and Christians in Iraq, a characterization they reject.
Yazidis largely live apart from other Iraqis, in villages near the Syrian border, to maintain religious purity, and they are forbidden to fraternize with other groups. Most Yazidis speak Kurdish but object to being called Kurds.
Despite such isolation, tensions among the Yazidis, Muslim Kurds and Arab groups in northern Iraq have led to increasingly violent incidents. In April, a 17-year-old Yazidi girl was stoned to death after she eloped with a Sunni Muslim man and converted to Islam. Cellphone video footage of her death, called an "honor killing" by other Yazidis, was broadcast widely on the Internet, setting off a wave of attacks against the group.
Two weeks later, 23 Yazidi factory workers were dragged off a bus and executed in Mosul in apparent retaliation for the teenager's death. Police attributed the attack to the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
No one asserted responsibility for Tuesday's bombings. Khairi Bozani, a Yazidi who lives in Sinjar, called them the most recent step in a campaign by other Iraqi groups to drive Yazidis out of the country. "They are trying to finish the Yazidis," Bozani said. "If the girl hadn't been killed, they would have found another excuse to attack us."
In Anbar province Tuesday, five Americans died when the Chinook helicopter went down during a training flight, the military said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Three other U.S. soldiers were killed Monday by a roadside bomb in the province of Nineveh, in northwestern Iraq, officials said, while one was killed in combat in western Baghdad.
The bridge that was hit by a truck bomb was located in Taji, north of Baghdad.
The vehicle, a fuel tanker, had just passed through an Iraqi army checkpoint about 8:30 a.m. when it detonated on the bridge. The blast killed 10 people and sent three cars plunging into a canal that joins the Tigris River, authorities said. It also destroyed the northern section of the bridge.
The bridge had been operating with only one lane since a bombing in May. It is part of an important artery between Baghdad and Mosul, the biggest city in the north.
In recent months, suicide bombers have repeatedly attacked key bridges around the capital in an attempt to disrupt road traffic and isolate the city. In April, a truck bomb destroyed a large portion of the historic Sarafiya bridge over the Tigris River; on Sunday, a replacement floating span was officially opened.
Also Tuesday, a deputy oil minister was kidnapped by armed men at his home in the Oil Ministry compound in eastern Baghdad, according to ministry spokesman Assem Jihad. Abdel Jabar al-Wagaa, the senior assistant to Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani, was seized along with several other ministry staff members, Jihad said.
The abduction was carried out by gunmen wearing Iraqi security force uniforms who entered the compound late Tuesday afternoon in more than a dozen official vehicles, according to the spokesman.
On May 29, five Britons were kidnapped from the nearby Finance Ministry. No group has asserted responsibility for either incident, and the victims have not been located.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that it has begun a major new offensive involving 16,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. Operation Lightning Hammer is targeting fighters of al-Qaeda in Iraq in the areas surrounding Baqubah, the capital of Diyala.
The number of bombings in Baqubah and Baghdad has declined significantly since 30,000 additional U.S. troops arrived in Iraq this year. But large-scale attacks in smaller towns and rural areas have led some observers to conclude that insurgent groups have merely relocated.
In an interview last week, Brig. Gen. John M. "Mick" Bednarek, who has led the military operation in Baqubah, said that the city has been largely stabilized and that many of the 10,000 troops there would be used to expand the U.S. presence elsewhere in Diyala.
Talks among Iraq's top political leaders continued Tuesday at a summit that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said he hopes can repair his fractured government.
Maliki did not speak publicly after Tuesday's meetings, but other leaders said the discussions are to continue Wednesday.
Brwari reported from Mosul. Special correspondents Naseer Nouri and Dalya Hassan in Baghdad contributed to this report.

August 15, 2007
Death Toll in Iraq Bombings Rises to 250
By JAMES GLANZ

BAGHDAD, Aug. 15 — The toll in a horrific quadruple bombing in an area of mud and stone houses in the remote northern desert on Tuesday evening reached 250 dead and 350 wounded, several local officials said today, making it the single deadliest coordinated attack since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Rescuers and recovery teams were still digging through as many as 200 flattened houses and the death toll could still rise, the officials said. “It is impossible for us to give an exact figure for the dead and wounded,” said Dr. Kifah Kattu, director general the hospital in Sinjar, a few miles north of where the explosions occurred. The four truck bombs were set off in a Kurdish-speaking area dominated by members of the Yazidi religious sect, which combines elements of Islam and ancient Persian religions.
Dr. Kattu cited one village in the area of the explosions, called Al Aziz, where he said 40 of the simple homes had been obliterated and no dead or wounded had yet been recovered. A farmer who survived one explosion, Hasson Dalali, 59, said in a hospital in Tal Afar, a town 25 miles east of the explosions, that he had lost eight members of his family.
“I saw a flash in the sky; I never saw anything like this before,” Mr. Dalali said. He said that after two huge explosions threw him to the ground where he was working his fields, he rushed to his house to check on his family. “The house was completely flattened to the ground,” Mr. Dalali said. “I was looking for any survivor from my family in the rubble. I found only my 12-year-old nephew.”
The nephew had broken ribs and legs and severe wounds to the head, Mr. Dalali said.
Security officials said that the devastation came when two pairs of truck bombs exploded about 5 miles apart in an area close to the Syrian border in what is known as the Shaam Desert. An official at the Interior Ministry in Baghdad said that precise information on the bombings was particularly difficult to obtain because the road between Sinjar and Tal Afar was partly controlled by an Qaeda-linked insurgent group, the Islamic State of Iraq, which is a prime suspect in the bombings.
The area has long been a focus of insurgent activity, prompting a major American-led offensive in 2005 designed to clear the area of groups linked to al Qaeda. Nevertheless, last March a twin truck bombing killed 152 people in Tal Afar, and in July, 155 people died in a single enormous explosion in the northern town of Amerli, the largest death toll in a single attack until this one.
All three towns lie north of the main areas affected by the increase in American troop strength that began in March, supporting the notion that, as in numerous earlier American offensives, insurgents have moved from where they are being attacked and restarted their operations elsewhere.
Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, the top American military spokesman in Iraq, said on Wednesday that there were improvements in security as a result of the troop increase but also said progress was “gradual and sometimes it is uneven, just as we see a mosaic of uneven conditions in Iraq today.”
Asked why insurgents would pick such simple villages in the desert for such a colossal attack, General Bergner said: “Perhaps their vulnerability. Perhaps they were a target that they could attack.”
Religious and ethnic minorities have been constant targets of violence in Iraq, and the Amerli bombing was aimed at a community of Shiite Turkomans, who remain in the country in extremely small numbers. But the tension in Yazidi areas has been particularly high since April, when, in a primitive episode captured on video, Yazidis stoned to death a woman of their own sect for dating a Sunni Arab.
After a video of the stoning appeared on the Internet, Sunni gunmen stopped minibuses filled with Yazidis and killed 23 of them.
Stephen Farrell and other employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Tal Afar, Mosul and Baghdad.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

CREDIT: Reuters
The wreckage of a vehicle used in a car-bomb attack lies on a road in Kirkuk, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad on Tuesday. One policeman was killed while eight other people were wounded, police said.

Bombers target Yazidi religious minority group, wounding 200
Reuters
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The wreckage of a vehicle used in a car-bomb attack lies on a road in Kirkuk, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad on Tuesday. One policeman was killed while eight other people were wounded, police said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Suicide bombers driving fuel tankers killed at least 175 people in apparently coordinated attacks in northwestern Iraq on Tuesday, the Iraqi army said, in one of the worst incidents of its kind in the four-year-old war.
Iraqi army captain Mohammad al-Jaad said at least another 200 people were wounded in the bombings in Yazidi residential compounds in the Kahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair areas near the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, close to the Syrian border.
The mayor of Sinjar, Dakheel Qassim Hasoun, gave the same casualty figures.
Police earlier said Tuesday's bombings appeared to target the Yazidis, members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect who live in northern Iraq and Syria.
The United States has sent an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq this year and moved them from large bases into small neighbourhood outposts in an effort to reduce sectarian violence in the capital and surrounding provinces.
The U.S. military said it was helping to ferry wounded people to hospitals in the town of Tal Afar.
First Lieut. Stephen Bomar, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said initial reports suggested 30 people were killed and 60 wounded in attacks by two suicide bombers.
In November 2006, six car bombs in different parts of northeast Baghdad's sprawling Shi'ite slum of Sadr City killed 202 people and wounded 250, while multiple car bombs around the capital killed 191 around Baghdad in April.
In the worst single attack this year, a truck packed with explosives blew up in a market in the northern town of Tuz Khurmato in July, killing 150 people and wounding 250.
Earlier on Tuesday, a suicide truck bomber killed 10 people and destroyed a bridge linking Baghdad to the north.
The U.S. military also announced that 10 service members had died in the past two days, including five in a helicopter crash.
It said the CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed near al-Taqaddum air base outside Falluja, 50 km west of Baghdad, while on a "routine post-maintenance check flight."
There was no indication of whether it was shot down and an investigation was under way.
The deaths of the five on board the helicopter takes the total number of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein to at least 3,699.
So far in August at least 41 U.S. service members have died, already more than half of July's total of 71.
U.S. President George W. Bush, under pressure to show results in the unpopular war or start bringing troops home, has warned that August would be a bloody month.
U.S. forces launched Operation Lightning Hammer, a big offensive of 16,000 troops beginning with an airborne assault overnight, part of a major new push targeting Sunni Islamist al-Qaida fighters and Shi'ite militias accused of links with Iran.
The latest operation targets militants who fled an earlier crackdown in the Diyala provincial capital of Baquba. The larger, countrywide Operation Phantom Strike was announced on Monday.
Al-Qaida is widely seen as trying to influence debate in Washington by stepping up attacks in Iraq before a crucial progress report on the war is delivered to Congress on Sept. 15.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said U.S. forces would launch a series of operations over the next 30 days.
Yazidis have been the target of attacks before. In April, gunmen shot dead 23 Yazidi factory workers in Mosul in apparent retaliation for the stoning of a teenage Yazidi girl several weeks earlier.
Police said the girl had been stoned to death by local Yazidis after falling in love with a Muslim man and converting to Islam.
Yazidis in Iraq say they have often faced discrimination because the chief angel they venerate as a manifestation of God is often identified as the fallen angel Satan in biblical terminology.
Yazidis, who say they suffered massacres during the secular rule of Saddam Hussein, also believe God created good and evil in the world.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive

Death toll from Iraq bombings rises
Posted Wed Aug 15, 2007 5:22pm AEST
ABC Online, Australia - Aug 15, 2007

The death toll from brutal truck bombings targeting the ancient Yazidi religious sect in northern Iraq has risen to more than 200, according to a local government official.
The Mayor of Sinjar, a town in the northern province of Nineveh where four truck bombs exploded on Tuesday, voiced fears that the toll could rise further.
"More than 200 people were killed and an equal number of people are wounded," Dakhil Qassim Hassun said.
"The casualties are expected to rise as many victims are still trapped under the debris."
Four truck bombs exploded in the villages of Al-Khataniyah and Al-Adnaniyah, which are mainly inhabited by Yazidis, local officials said.
Authorities have imposed a total curfew in the area.
Mr Hassoun said only vehicles involved in rescue efforts would be allowed to travel through the area.
He said it would be impossible to establish a final death toll any time soon because many bodies were still buried in the rubble of up to 30 houses destroyed in the blasts.
Yazidis - who number some 500,000 - speak a dialect of Kurdish but follow a pre-Islamic religion and have their own cultural traditions.
US response
The White House swiftly condemned the bombings as "barbaric attacks on innocent civilians," and vowed to help Iraqi forces "beat back these vicious and heartless murderers," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
The US military gave a lower death toll of 60, but said five car bombs had exploded in the region.
"Four vehicles were reported to have entered a crowded bus station and exploded as soon as they were inside of Khataniyah... killing approximately 30 people," the military said in a statement.
It said another car bomb exploded in a residential area of al-Jazeera, south-west of Khataniyah and also killed another 30 people.
US forces also said an unknown number of people were trapped under the debris and up to 20 houses were destroyed.
- AFP/Reuters

Iraqi officials: Truck bombings killed at least 500

* Story Highlights
* NEW: High number of deaths reported by local officials in northern Iraq
* Suicide truck bombs targeted mainly Kurdish religious minority Yazidi sect
* Yazidis stoned teenage Yazidi girl to death for being seen with Sunni man
* Sunnis then killed about two dozen Yazidi men in retaliation

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The death toll in the suicide bombings Tuesday in northern Iraq has risen to at least 500, local officials in Nineveh province said Wednesday.
Iraqi Army and Mosul police sources earlier put the number at 260, but said it was likely to rise. 320 were reported wounded.
The Tuesday truck bombs that targeted the villages of Qahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair, in northern Iraq near the border with Syria, were a "trademark al Qaeda event" designed to sway U.S. public opinion against the war, a U.S. general said Wednesday.
The attacks, targeting Kurdish villages of the Yazidi religious minority, were attempts to "break the will" of the American people and show that the U.S. troop escalation -- the "surge" -- is failing, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon said.
The bombings highlight the kind of sectarian tensions the troop surge was designed to stop.
Al Qaeda in Iraq is predominantly Sunni, and Mixon said members of the Yazidi religious minority have received threatening letters, called "night letters," telling them "to leave because they are infidels."
"This is an act of ethnic cleansing, if you will -- almost genocide when you consider the fact the target they attacked and the fact that these Yazidis, out in a very remote part of Nineveh province, where there is very little security and really no security required to this point," Mixon said. VideoWatch the grim aftermath of the suicide bombings »
Sunni militants, including members of al Qaeda in Iraq, have targeted Yazidis in the area before.
Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said there were three suicide trucks carrying two tons of explosives. At least 30 houses and other buildings were destroyed.
Khalaf said the carnage looks like the aftermath of a "mini-nuclear explosion." More bodies are expected to be found. See a timeline of deadliest attacks in Iraq »
The U.S. military said there were five bombings -- four at a crowded bus station in Qahtaniya and a fifth in al-Jazeera.
The massacre comes ahead of next month's report to Congress by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on progress in Iraq.
"We still have a great deal of work to do against al Qaeda in Iraq, and we have great deal of work to do against al Qaeda networks in northern Iraq," Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman, said Wednesday.
The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed Sunni extremists for the "monstrous crime." He said a committee has been formed to investigate.
Ashraf Qazi, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative for Iraq, called the attack an "abominable crime aimed at widening the sectarian and ethnic divide in Iraq."
Qazi urged Iraqi authorities to bolster their efforts to protect minorities.
The Yazidi sect is a mainly Kurdish minority, an ancient group that worships seven angels, in the form of peacocks, who are subordinate to the supreme god who created the universe.
A couple of related incidents in the spring highlighted the tensions between Sunnis and Yazidis.
In April, a Kurdish Yazidi teenage girl was brutally beaten, kicked and stoned to death in northern Iraq by other Yazidis in what authorities said was an "honor killing" after she was seen with a Sunni Muslim man. Although she had not married him or converted, her attackers believed she had.
The Yazidis condemn mixing with people of another faith.
That killing is said to have spurred the killings of about two dozen Yazidi men by Sunni Muslims in the Mosul area two weeks later.
Attackers affiliated with al Qaeda pulled 24 Yazidi men out of a bus and slaughtered them, according to a provincial official.

CNN's Arwa Damon, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Raja Razek contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/15/iraq.main

Residents gather at the site of a suicide bomb attack in the village of Kahtaniya west of Mosul, northwest of Baghdad August 15, 2007. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

Iraqis dig for bodies after bombs kill 200
Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:42PM BST
By Paul Tait

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Rescuers dug through the rubble of bomb-flattened buildings in a northern Iraqi village on Wednesday as residents, many dazed and crying, looked for loved ones after suicide attacks that killed more than 200 people.
The U.S. military said al Qaeda was the "prime suspect" in Tuesday night's co-ordinated truck bombings that hit residential areas of members of the minority Yazidi sect, who are viewed by Sunni militants as infidels.
U.S. officials have said they feared al Qaeda would launch a "spectacular" strike on civilians in the weeks leading up to mid-September, when the U.S. Congress is due to receive a progress report on the military and political fronts in Iraq.
The U.S. military launched a major new offensive in Iraq this week in a bid to thwart attacks by al Qaeda and Shi'ite militias. The operations are focused on the farmlands and villages around Baghdad that have been havens for militants.
In scenes reminiscent of an earthquake zone, bodies lay in the street covered in blankets amid the shattered ruins of clay-built houses. The buildings, mostly one-storey structures, had been completely razed.
"This is a catastrophe that cannot be described in words," said the governor of Nineveh province, Duraid Kashmoula, adding that more than 200 people were killed and 300 wounded.
He said he believed the toll could rise as many were believed buried beneath the rubble that bulldozers were trying to shift. Many people were listed as missing.
Kashmoula declared the area a disaster zone and asked for central government help. When he toured the scene he was besieged by people pleading for help in finding loved ones.
"The scale of the destruction is unimaginable," said another visitor to the scene, a regional government official.
The official said attackers driving truck bombs made more lethal by cargos of pebbles struck the villages of Kahtaniya and al-Jazeera west of Iraq's third-largest city Mosul, wreaking devastation that stunned even war-numbed Iraqis.
Television pictures showed badly burned and screaming survivors, many of them children, in hospital.
"People there were desperate looking for their relatives. Some were digging through rubble with their hands. I saw 20 bodies in the street, some of them burned," said the official.
The death toll appeared to be the highest in any one attack since November, when six car bombs in different parts of Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City killed 200 people and wounded 250. Car bombs killed 191 around Baghdad on one day in April.
In a fresh attack in north Iraq on Wednesday, two car bombs struck a crowded market in a Kurdish area in the city of Kirkuk, killing five people and wounding 30, police said.
HALLMARKS
The U.S. military said it was too early to say who was responsible for Tuesday's truck blasts, but their scale and apparently coordinated nature were hallmarks of al Qaeda.
"We're looking at al Qaeda as the prime suspect," said U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver.
Iraq's political leaders, including Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, condemned the "heinous" bombings.
"This indiscriminate and heartless violence only strengthens our resolve to continue our mission against the terrorists who are plaguing the people of Iraq," U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker and military commander General David Petraeus, who will both deliver the progress report, said in a joint statement.
In the aftermath of the blast, authorities imposed a total curfew in the Sinjar area, which is close to the Syrian border.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Donnelly, U.S. military spokesman for northern Iraq, said U.S. forces were assisting Iraqi emergency agencies as they sifted through the rubble.
Yazidis are members of a pre-Islamic Kurdish sect who live in northern Iraq and Syria and say they are persecuted because of their beliefs. They tend to stay segregated from the people among whom they live.
"The town's residents are poor. They don't have any connection to a political party. The town has no police force and the army does not have a presence to protect it," said Kahtaniya resident Abu Salam.
In April, gunmen shot dead 23 Yazidi factory workers in Mosul in apparent retaliation for the stoning several weeks earlier of a teenaged Yazidi girl who police said had fallen in love with a Sunni Arab and converted to Islam.
(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny in Baghdad)
© Reuters 2006.

Erbil part of 'the other Iraq'

Bernd Debusmann
Reuters
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
ERBIL, Iraq -- The Ministry of Tourism for Kurdish northern Iraq has 417 employees and big plans.
"We need three or four times as many hotels as we have now," said the tourism minister, Nimrud Youkhana. "And we need to get more airlines to fly here."
Vacation in Iraq? More hotels in a country whose name evokes images of bombs, kidnappings and beheadings?
The three northern provinces, Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniya, have blossomed into a quasi-independent state in the 16 years since the United States placed a protective umbrella, or no-flight zone, over the region to stop a genocidal anti-Kurdish campaign waged by Saddam Hussein.
Administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government, the provinces have largely escaped the violence that has been tearing apart the rest of Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam and unleashed long-suppressed sectarian hostility.
"We have some way to go still," Youkhana said, "but we plan to eventually hold annual folklore events like the Jerash festival," an event in Jordan that draws international performers each summer.
The ministry is hoping to attract customers like Gulf Arabs who appreciate mountain resorts in an Alpine setting with a relaxed attitude toward alcohol, as well as Europeans in search of exotic destinations and archaeological remains dating back thousands of years.
There was even an ad campaign on U.S. television last year for "The Other Iraq," in which locals spoke of the relatively safely of the area compared to the rest of Iraq.
Youkhana's plans, and the mere existence of the Tourism Ministry, highlight a bullish view of the future of the Kurdish region, an optimism evident in building projects, from a 6,000-shop mall to a string of U.S.-style gated communities with names like Dream City, Empire Villas and American Village.
Near the airport, Naz City, a new complex of 14 high-rise apartment towers, is cabled for high-speed Internet. Hotels under construction include one by the German luxury chain Kempinski.
And rising in the shadow of Erbil's citadel, near where Alexander the Great defeated King Darius of Persia, the Nishtiman mall features the region's first escalator, a magnet for children riding it up and down in wide-eyed wonder.
There are no detailed figures on how much money has been invested in the region since 2003. The Board of Investment, a government agency set up last summer, has approved more than $3.5 billion in development projects.
The Kurds' main argument to persuade foreigners to visit and invest is security: there is no other place in Iraq where a foreigner can shop in local markets or walk the streets without fear of being killed or kidnapped.
"I feel safer in Erbil or Sulaimaniya than in Camden, New Jersey," said Harry Schute, a retired U.S. Army colonel who served in Iraq and is now a security adviser to the regional government's president, Massoud Barzani. "But people hear 'Iraq' and they think violence. There's a lack of understanding that Baghdad and Erbil are different worlds."
So different that the regional government has all the trappings of an independent state - its own flag, its own army, its own border patrol, its own national anthem, its own education system, even its own stamp inked into the passports of visitors.
Turkey, Iran and Syria -- all of which have sizable Kurdish minorities -- are viewing the regional government's progress with considerable concern. They fear that full independence for the Iraqi region would set off a chain reaction in the region.
The Iraqi Kurds' sense of tranquillity was shattered by two bombs in May - a truck bomb outside the regional government's Interior Ministry killed 15 people and wounded more than 100 and three days later, a car bomb in the office of Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party killed 30 people and injured 50.
The government responded by stepping up security, already tight, and virtually sealing the roads into regional-government-controlled territory to non-Kurds. Travelers from outside the region are not allowed to pass unless a Kurdish resident meets them in person and "guarantees" their stay.
Despite the May bombs, Austrian Airlines, the only European carrier with a regular service to Erbil, added a flight to its schedule in July to bring Vienna-Erbil connections to four a week. The flights are usually crowded.
"The bomb attacks did not dent business interest," said Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, who heads the Kurdish Development Corporation. "In fact, inquiries picked up after a few days."
They did not dent a booming business in luxury cars, either. "Things are looking good," said Lezan Shafeea, a sales manager at the sprawling Mercedes dealership in Erbil. "We are selling more top-end models, at $138,500 apiece, than midsize cars."
These are cash-only deals, because the region's embryonic financial system has no provision for consumer credit.
Obstacles to opening up the region to the world, Kurdish officials say, include the travel advisories governments issue to their citizens. The U.S. State Department, for example, makes no distinction between the Kurdish north and the rest of Iraq and "continues to strongly warn" against travel there.
But other countries have taken the region off their list of life-threatening destinations, said Falah Mustafa Bakir, who heads the Foreign Relations Department and is the region's de facto foreign minister. "Denmark, Japan, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands have all changed their advisories," he said.
Not even the rosiest optimist predicts a travel boom soon to the region, but a British company, Hinterland Travel, led a group of tourists in their 50s and 60s on a package tour through the three provinces administered by the regional government in May. Another is scheduled for September. "This is for people interested in archaeology and history," said the company's owner, Geoff Hann. "And who are not faint of heart."
© Reuters 2007

Iraqi Officials Lead Recovery Efforts After Devastating Khahtaniya and Jazeera Car-Bomb Attacks
Fri, 08/17/2007 - 14:47 — admin

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2007 – Local, provincial and central government leaders converged in western Nineveh province, Iraq, as 3rd Iraqi Army Division soldiers and emergency workers in the villages of Khahtaniya and Jazeera continued their rescue efforts in the wake of five car-bomb attacks that killed an estimated 275 people and wounded 400 others Aug. 14.

National, provincial and local leaders were greeted with cheers by citizens and relief workers. The group walked the streets assessing damages in both villages and interacting with citizens.

“So far the accounting of casualties has been very speculative,” said Army Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. “The villagers and rescue workers are still trying to find those missing, and their efforts, and those of the local, provincial and central government leadership, along with the ISF here, have been tremendous. These people are clearly unified in this effort.”

Soldiers from 3rd Iraqi Army Division, in conjunction with U.S. soldiers from 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, and 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry Regiment, are assisting the recovery efforts. The 3rd Iraqi Army Division has provided earth-moving equipment and food and medical supplies to the villages, and Iraqi police are securing the areas, U.S. officials said.

“This is an act of desperation by a group of maniacs who continue to offer only death, destruction and violence to the innocent citizens of Iraq,” said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of 25th Infantry Division and Multinational Division North. “The efforts of the 3rd (Iraqi Army) soldiers are heroic as they continue to work tirelessly to save as many citizens as they can, proving their commitment to all of Iraq’s people regardless of ethnicity or sect.”

Coalition forces have provided 2,880 humanitarian meals, 4,608 bottled waters and vast amounts of medical supplies to include medicines and bandages. Coalition forces also have airlifted 5,760 additional meals, with 3,500 more being coordinated for distribution, and enough medical supplies to support roughly 2,000 casualties.

Source: AFISIraqi Officials Lead Recovery Efforts After Devastating Khahtaniya and Jazeera Car-Bomb Attacks
Fri, 08/17/2007 - 14:47 — admin
WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2007 – Local, provincial and central government leaders converged in western Nineveh province, Iraq, as 3rd Iraqi Army Division soldiers and emergency workers in the villages of Khahtaniya and Jazeera continued their rescue efforts in the wake of five car-bomb attacks that killed an estimated 275 people and wounded 400 others Aug. 14.
National, provincial and local leaders were greeted with cheers by citizens and relief workers. The group walked the streets assessing damages in both villages and interacting with citizens.
“So far the accounting of casualties has been very speculative,” said Army Col. Stephen Twitty, commander of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. “The villagers and rescue workers are still trying to find those missing, and their efforts, and those of the local, provincial and central government leadership, along with the ISF here, have been tremendous. These people are clearly unified in this effort.”
Soldiers from 3rd Iraqi Army Division, in conjunction with U.S. soldiers from 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, and 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry Regiment, are assisting the recovery efforts. The 3rd Iraqi Army Division has provided earth-moving equipment and food and medical supplies to the villages, and Iraqi police are securing the areas, U.S. officials said.
“This is an act of desperation by a group of maniacs who continue to offer only death, destruction and violence to the innocent citizens of Iraq,” said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of 25th Infantry Division and Multinational Division North. “The efforts of the 3rd (Iraqi Army) soldiers are heroic as they continue to work tirelessly to save as many citizens as they can, proving their commitment to all of Iraq’s people regardless of ethnicity or sect.”
Coalition forces have provided 2,880 humanitarian meals, 4,608 bottled waters and vast amounts of medical supplies to include medicines and bandages. Coalition forces also have airlifted 5,760 additional meals, with 3,500 more being coordinated for distribution, and enough medical supplies to support roughly 2,000 casualties.
Source: AFIS

Baghdad, Iraq: Car bomb destroys bridge, kills 10

2007-08-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

Iraqi policemen inspect the wreckage of a car used in a car bomb attack on a road in south Kirkuk, 255 kms (160 miles) north of Baghdad. Gunmen dressed as local security forces on Tuesday stormed into a heavily guarded state compound in Baghdad to kidnap the deputy oil minister in the highest profile abduction in Iraq for months.(AFP/Marwan Ibrahim)

10 Killed in Iraq Bridge Bombing
By JON ELSEN and DAMIEN CAVE
New York Times

A suicide attack on a bridge north of Baghdad killed 10 people today while disrupting an American supply route, as American and Iraqi forces began a big push north of the capital.
It was the second time in four months that the strategic bridge has been struck. This time, the explosion rendered the span unusable and sent at least three vehicles plunging 25 feet into a branch of the Tigris River. In addition to the 10 deaths, 6 people were injured.
The bridge connects two parts of Taji, a town near an American air base some 12 miles north of the capital, on the main road to Tikrit and other Sunni areas to the northwest.
In May, a car bomb damaged one lane of the two-lane bridge; the explosion early today destroyed the other.
The attacker detonated his payload after going through an Iraqi army checkpoint about 40 yards away from the span, The Associated Press reported, citing police.
American troops and divers pulled several bodies out of the river soon after the explosion.
Some 16,000 American and Iraqi troops began an operation north of Baghdad today that was aimed at insurgents who have fled a crackdown in Baquba, news services reported, citing the military.
The push, called Operation Lightning Hammer, began with a late-night air assault.
“Our main goal with Lightning Hammer is to eliminate the terrorist organizations,” said Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of American forces north of Baghdad, in a statement. Referring to a province in the area, General Mixon said the goal was to “show them that they truly have no safe haven — especially in Diyala.”
The operation is part of a broader American push, announced on Monday, that is meant to build on successes in Baghdad and surrounding areas by taking aim at the Sunni Arab insurgent group called Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia and at Iranian-allied Shiite militia fighters around the country.
General Mixon said troops were pursuing militant cells that had been disrupted and forced into hiding by previous operations.
On Monday, three American soldiers were killed in an explosion near their vehicle in the province of Ninevah in the northwest. Another American soldier died during fighting in Baghdad on Monday, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the military.
Employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Baghdad and Taji, Iraq.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Suicide bomber destroys key Iraqi bridge
14 Aug 2007, 2126 hrs IST,AFP
Times of India

BAGHDAD: A suicide truck bomber destroyed a key bridge outside Baghdad on Tuesday, as US and Iraqi troops swept through flashpoints seeking to rein in militants ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The blast shattered the concrete bridge linking Baghdad to northern provinces and sent cars and three civilian plunging into the river below, killing eight people, security officials said.
In other violence, a car bomb targeting a police patrol killed one policeman in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police Colonel Burhan Tayeb said.
Eight others, including three policemen, were wounded in the attack. In another brutal attack, the pregnant wife of a police chief was gunned down while four people were shot dead while they lay sleeping on a rooftop in Iraq.
The US military, meanwhile, reported that another five American were soldiers killed.
The insurgent attacks came despite a massive operation -- codenamed Phantom Strike -- launched on Monday targeting Shiite extremist networks and insurgents affiliated to Al-Qaeda.
The US military said four suspected Shiite militants were killed in a raid on Baghdad's volatile slum of Sadr City on Tuesday while dozens of others were arrested during crackdowns in other parts of the country.
Sadr City is a notorious bastion of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, and the target was a "rogue" militia leader and his operatives suspected of attacks against US forces in Baghdad, the military said.
"These militants are also known to have ties to illicit materials smuggled from Iran that have been used in extra-judicial killings," it said, adding that they had broken away from the main Mahdi Army militia of Sadr.
The US military accuses Shiite militants and Sadr's Mahdi Army of being behind the deaths of thousands of Sunni Arabs since Iraq's relentless sectarian conflict broke out last year.
It claims some of the militants are members of special cells trained, armed and funded by Iranian-linked groups to launch attacks on US-led forces. Tehran denies it sponsors the militants.
Some 16,000 troops, meanwhile, have surged into restive Diyala province in an attempt to crack down on Sunni insurgents and "capture or kill Al-Qaeda responsible for the violence against Iraqi civilians," the military said.
Operation Lightning Hammer was launched late Monday in the province, the second most dangerous after Baghdad, with an "air assault into targeted locations," he added.
The nationwide crackdown is an attempt to curb violence ahead of Ramadan -- the Muslim month of fasting -- which begins in the second week of September.
General David Petraeus, the head of coalition forces in Iraq, is also due to give a crucial progress report on operations in Iraq in early September, a report that could radically affect Washington's war strategy.
The US military said separately that more than a dozen Shiite militants, mostly "rogue" elements of the Mahdi Army responsible for bombings and murders, have been arrested elsewhere in the country since Phantom Strike began.
Eight of those picked up in Baghdad were described as "high-level leaders linked to JAM (Jaish al-Mahdi) special groups that carry out attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces."
Sadr, who enjoys grassroot support among Iraqi Shiites, is a powerful political player in the embattled government led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has called for a summit this week of senior leaders from Iraq's bitterly divided communities to try to salvage his crumbling coalition.
Some of Iraq's leaders were already holding preparatory talks ahead of the summit.
Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, the senior Sunni Arab in the government, met Massud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish administration in northern Iraq, and was set to meet other Kurdish leaders on Wednesday.
On Monday, the influential Barzani also met Maliki and President Jalal Talabani to discuss the upcoming meeting of political leaders, for which no precise date has been publicly announced.
But lawmaker Omar Abdul Sattar from the main Sunni bloc, the National Concord Front that walked out of the coalition on August 1, feared Maliki would blame the opposition parties "for the political mess" at the upcoming summit.
Despite the crackdown, police reported that gunmen slaughtered the pregnant wife of a police officer, his brother and 12-year-old son in the town of Suweira, 50 kilometers south of Baghdad.
In another pre-dawn attack, gunmen killed three women and a man in the mainly Shiite village of Ghraiya, in Diyala, a local medic said.

Baghdad, Iraq: US troops discover car bomb

2007-08-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

U.S. Tomahawks discover car bomb in southern Baghdad
by SOPnewswire
Posted August 14, 2007

Tomahawks discover car bomb in southern Baghdad
4th IBCT, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs, Multi-National Division � Baghdad

BAGHDAD � Multi-National Division � Baghdad troops discovered a vehicleborne improvised explosive device Aug. 12 in the eastern portion of the Rashid District of the Iraqi capital.
Soldiers of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment
�Tomahawks,� attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division operating in southern Baghdad, found a white sedan rigged with a 107mm projectile.
A Coalition explosive ordnance disposal team was dispatched to detonate the device. There were no civilian casualties or damage from the controlled detonation.

Algiers, Algeria: Car bomb targets ex-militant

2007-08-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

View of the wreckage of a car after it exploded Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 in an eastern suburb of Algiers. A car bomb exploded Tuesday, severely injuring Mustapha Kertali, 55, a former leader of the Islamic Salvation Army, one of several militant groups involved in an insurgency in the North African country in the 1990s, who has in recent years allied himself with efforts by the Algerian president to end extremist violence, security forces said. (AP Photo)

Algeria bomb targets ex-militant

A former Algerian militant leader Mustapha Kertali has been seriously wounded by a car bomb in Larba, 25km south of the capital, Algiers.
His car exploded after he had attended morning prayers at his local mosque.
Mr Kertali, who is in intensive care, worked with various armed groups during Algeria's civil insurgency until a 1999 peace accord, after which he disarmed.
He became a backer of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who granted former Islamist militants amnesty.
The BBC's Mohamed Areski Himeur in Algiers says it is not known who planted the bomb.
It may have been the work of active Islamists who consider him a traitor for giving up the fight, he says.
It could also be committed by relatives of victims of those killed during the time when he headed an armed group.
Parallel mayor
Mr Kertali became mayor of Larba in 1990 for the banned Islamic Salvation Front (Fis), which was later disbanded when the party looked set to win general elections.
Mr Kertali was a member of the Armed Islamist Group (GIA) and then went on to join the armed wing of Fis.
Our correspondent says Mr Kertali has become a well-known personality in Larba after returning to civilian life, acting as a kind of parallel mayor.
An estimated 150,000 people died in a decade of civil unrest after the elections were cancelled.
Insecurity has been increasing in Algeria, and across North Africa, since the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) re-launched itself as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb at the beginning of this year.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6946126.stm
Published: 2007/08/14 13:17:29 GMT
© BBC MMVII

Mustapha Kertali, 55, a former leader of the Islamic Salvation Army, one of several militant groups involved in an insurgency in the North African country in the 1990s, is seen in Algeria in this June 18, 2007 file photo. A car bomb exploded Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007 in an eastern suburb of Algeria's capital, Algiers, severely injuring Kertali, who has in recent years allied himself with efforts by the Algerian president to end extremist violence, security forces said. (AP Photo)

Car bomb badly injures reformed former Algerian militant leader

The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

ALGIERS, Algeria: A car bomb exploded Tuesday in an eastern suburb of Algeria's capital, severely wounding a former militant leader who has supported efforts in recent years by the president to end extremist violence, security forces said.
Mustapha Kertali had completed morning prayers in Larbaa near his home when the bomb detonated in his car, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. He was in critical condition at a nearby hospital.
Kertali, 55, was a former leader of the Islamic Salvation Army, one of several militant groups involved in an insurgency in the North African country in the 1990s. It was disbanded as part of a 1999 accord with the government.
Since then, Kertali went into business and has been an outspoken supporter of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's amnesty programs aimed at ending violence that erupted in 1992 when the military canceled a legislative election that an Islamist party was set to win.
Up to 200,000 people have been killed in the bloodshed. While large-scale violence has died down, scattered attacks have continued — largely by a former insurgent group now known as al-Qaida in North Africa.
Meanwhile, police said Tuesday that a bomb killed three military officers during a sweep aimed at rooting out extremists from a forested region east of Algiers. The bombing occurred in the Amdjoudh forest Sunday, according to a police official in the regional capital, Tizi-Ouzou.
The officers had been looking for extremists believed linked to the al-Qaida group who were suspected of plotting attacks around the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts in mid-September, the official said.

Algeria: Ex-militant group leader wounded in blast

Mustafa KertaliA former Algerian Islamist leader Mustafa Kertali has been seriously injured by a car bomb in Larba, 25km south of the capital, Algiers. According to press reports, his car went off after he had attended morning prayers at his local mosque.
Kertali, who was evacuated to intensive care, worked with various armed groups during Algeria's civil war until a 1999 peace accord, after which he disarmed. According to the BBC, he became a backer of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
The report suggested the latest attack may have been the work of active Islamists who consider Kertali a traitor for giving up the fight.
Born in 1946, he was elected FIS mayor of Larba in 1991. After the military banned FIS, he joined the Armed Islamic Group in fighting the government, becoming an emir. In late 1995, however, he left it - motivated, he claimed, by its atrocities, and objecting to the new leadership of Djamel Zitouni.
© 2007 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

Bomb attack seriously injures FIS leader
magharebia.com - Aug 15, 2007
15/08/2007

A car bomb seriously wounded the founder and former senior member of the banned Algerian Salvation Islamist Front (FIS) Mustapha Kartali on Tuesday (August 14th), Algerian and international press reports said. Kartali’s car exploded when he was driving on his way back from a mosque in Larbaa. His leg was amputated in the hospital, but there was no danger to his life, local media quoted Madani Mezrag, another former FIS leader as saying. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
In other news, El Watan and Ech Chourouk quoted security sources as saying on Wednesday that suicide bomber Zubeir Abu Sajida, involved in the deadly Algiers attacks on April 11th, has been arrested. Thirty-four people were killed and more than 200 others injured in the attacks on the Government Palace and a police station in an Algiers suburbs. Abu Sajida, who was born in 1973 in the province of Tiaret, was previously seen in a video tape broadcast by al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb claiming responsibility for the attacks.

Marib, Yemen: 9 car bomb cell members arrested

2007-08-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

9 terror suspects arrested in Yemen
Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:21:13
Source: Agencies

Nine terror suspects have been arrested in Yemen.
Yemeni security forces have arrested nine citizens allegedly involved in last month's car bomb attack which claimed the lives of 10 people.
Helicopters were reportedly used to track down the suspects south of the capital Sanaa on Monday.
"Among the suspects are three Yemenis who have recently returned from Iraq," the security official said on condition of anonymity.
The attack occurred in early July when a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into the tour group's convoy at a temple linked to the ancient Queen of Sheba in the central province of Marib, killing eight Spaniards and two Yemenis.
According to the officials, the body of the Yemeni suicide bomber, 21-year-old Abdu Mohammed Saad Ahmed, was identified by the use of the DNA.
Ahmed was part of a 10-person terror group that included eight Yemenis, a Saudi national and an Egyptian, the government said.
Dewidar, an alleged al-Qaeda operative, was killed three days after the attack while resisting arrest.
Although more than a dozen people have been arrested in connection with the investigation, none of the members of the terror cell have been captured.

HRF/BGH

US: Car bomb tracking radar

2007-08-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

Radar Bankshots for All-City Surveillance
By Noah Shachtman EmailAugust 13, 2007 | 3:47:00 PMCategories: You can run...

Nicholas Weaver is a researcher at the International Computer Science Institute in California.

Radars -- especially a high frequency ones -- are very precise. But they can't see around walls and buildings. Which means if your radar is in a plane looking down into a city, you actually can't see all that much -- buildings hide most of the good stuff.

A radar beam doesn't just reflect off objects, though. It can also scatter, bouncing around the landscape before returning to the radar (or a separate sensor). Normally, this "multipathing," as its called, is a bad thing, confusing the radar. But DARPA is hoping to take advantage of the scattering. Even if a radar can't see between two buildings, it could bounce a beam off of one building into the gap between them, looking for cars on the hidden street below. It's like an electromagnetic bank shot.

For example, if such a radar was available today, 4 or 5 aircraft or drones over Baghdad could provide an "Automobile AWACS": allowing the US military to know where all cars in the city are and track their movements, which would be a huge boon for counterinsurgency and intelligence work (tracing a car-bomb as it travels through the city, tracing back from an attack, or even attempting to create a 'graph of association' of who meets with who) as well as providing significant early warning for troops on the ground. A conference to kick-start this "Multipath Exploitation Radar" project is being held this Wednesday, in Virginia.

Actually building such a radar, on the other hand, is a "DARPA-hard" problem in the classic sense -- a project tough enough for the Pentagon's way-out research arm to handle. It will require breakthroughs and integration in mapping, LADAR, RADAR, computer graphics algorithms, digital signal processing, and computation. And the DARPA proposal gives a lot of insight into how to do it and the interesting problems involved.

Begin by creating a highly detailed three dimensional model of the city and all its buildings by flying over it with a LADAR/RADAR combination. Not only does this map need to be very precise (accomplished by the LADAR), but it also needs estimates on how individual buildings (and even surfaces on buildings) will scatter the radar signal.

This map is now used by a flying radar, operating at 10,000 to 15,000 feet, in order to track cars on the streets below. If the radar has an unoccluded view of the street, it just operates normally: reflecting signals off the cars in the street to track where they are and how fast they are moving. But if its view of the street would be blocked by a building it uses multipathing.

When looking at a street in multipath mode, the radar needs to calculate where the beam should be reflected and scattered off the building behind the street. This problem is effectively raytracing, a graphics technique used to create some highly photo-realistic images by predicting how light rays will move through space and bounce off objects in the scene. A truly massive amount of computing, as well as possibly new algorithms in what are effectively computer graphics and digital signal processing, will be necessary for the radar to operate.

The project itself begins with an existing high-frequency radar which will be modified to include a huge amount of data collection hardware to record the raw information generated by the radar. Then tests will be conducted in an urban environment by first making a detailed LADAR model and then using the radar for several minutes to focus on a 1/2 km by 1/2 km grid within the city, with all the data from the highly instrumented radar recorded to files. These gigabyte data traces would be used in a subsequent second phase to develop the algorithms and computing systems necessary to interpret the radar results.

It won't solve the multipath radar problem, even if it works out perfectly. But it will but create the dataset necessary to test possible algorithms in a follow-on project.

But if you are waiting for such a dataset, you better be involved in some related defense research. I'm almost certain the dataset will at least be tagged For Official Use Only, at least. If the radar used was classified, the data will probably be at least at that level of classification. That's because the raw data would not only be a huge boon to researchers hoping to enhance our radars, but to anyone interested in evading our radars as well.

-- Nicholas Weaver

France: ETA car bomb explosives cache discovered

2007-08-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

The three ETA activists arrested in France on 26th July (L-R): Galder Biotz, Juan Cruz Maiza Artola and Iker Iparraguirre. Photo – Interior Ministry.

ETA explosives cache discovered in the French Basque Country
By m.p
typicallyspanish.com
Aug 14, 2007 - 7:09 AM

Police in France have discovered an explosives cache believed to belong to the ETA terrorist organisation in a rented garage in an underground car park in Biarritz, in the French Basque Country. The initial discovery was made by the owner of the garage, who immediately informed police.
EFE reports that officers found a large quantity of the explosive known as penthrite, together with drums containing between 30 and 40 kilos of sulphur and chloratite, also used to manufacture explosives. There were also three firearms, timing devices, 150 detonators, detonating cord and at least two bombs of the type used for car bomb attacks.
The garage had been rented out for six months from 1st February, with the total payment made in advance.
The find comes after six ETA arrests in France last month, including the terrorists’ suspected Logistics Chief, Juan Cruz Maiza Artola, and the head of the terrorists’ special operations base in France, José Antonio Araníbar. A van loaded with 140 kilos of explosives was seized in one of the two operations.
There was news from Europa Press last night that the man who rented the premises could be Maiza Artola, according to photographic identification by the garage owner. The news agency quotes sources close to the investigation saying that Araníbar was put in charge of its content and was due to hand over the arsenal to an ETA commando to be used for an attack in Spain. He was arrested in early July.
In the Basque Country, meanwhile, there were Molotov cocktail attacks last night on the local justice of the peace building and seven bank cash machines in Amorebieta, Vizcaya province, where the ETA terrorist, Sabin Euba, also known as Pelopintxo, died of cancer on 5th August. Two of three demonstrations planned in his tribute were stopped from going ahead.
There was other violence in San Sebastián last night, where the offices of the PNV Basque Nationalist Party were attacked, and in Vitoria, where a City Hall vehicle was set on fire.

Khost, Afghanistan: US soldiers wounded by car bomb

2007-08-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

Suicide bomber targets coalition convoy in Afghanistan
NOOR KHAN The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 08/13/2007 10:51:18 AM EDT

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber targeted a U.S.-led coalition convoy in eastern Afghanistan today, while Afghan security forces clashed with the Taliban militants in the south, leaving nine militants dead, officials said.
The blast in Khost province killed the bomber, said Gen. Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief. There were no immediate reports of casualties among the U.S. forces.
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said they were aware of a car bomb explosion in the east but did not have further details on the incident.
In the south, Afghan police and army soldiers battled militants Sunday in Kandahar province's Shohrawak district, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.
The joint Afghan forces thwarted a planned militant ambush at the district chief's compound, and the ensuing clash left nine militants dead, Saqib said. Authorities recovered the militants' bodies and weapons, he said.
During a cleanup operation after the battle, a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle in the same district, killing five officers and wounding two others, Saqib said.
Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply during the last two months. More than 3,700 people, mostly militants, have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.
In the northeastern province of Badakhshan, police arrested a man with a suicide vest today who said he was from Kazakhstan, said Shamsul Rahman, the deputy governor. The man said other suicide bombers were in Badakhshan, Rahman said, prompting police to launch a search operation.
Yesterday, in eastern Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan, a roadside bomb blast killed three U.S. troops, the governor's spokesman said, bringing to six the number of international forces killed over the weekend.
The American deaths bring to at least 356 members of the U.S. military who have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Pentagon.
Meanwhile, working to soothe relations with neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan's president said Sunday that a "particularly dark form" of terrorism confronts the region, while tribal leaders called for engaging in dialogue with the Taliban to confront extremism.
Speaking at the close of a four-day meeting of tribal leaders meant to counter rising militant violence, Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan and Afghanistan face a great danger from fringe groups that preach hate and radicalism. He also admitted that Taliban fighters seek safe haven in Pakistan before crossing the border to launch attacks.
The tribal meeting's closing statement said that a 50-man team of prominent leaders from both countries would hold regular meetings and work to "expedite the ongoing process of dialogue for peace and reconciliation with the opposition," a reference to Taliban militants.
Musharraf, after landing back in Pakistan, said the committee should "engage warring forces in Afghanistan to bring the terrorism and extremism to an end." Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the past has also encouraged dialogue with Taliban fighters to persuade them to support the government.
The White House has been working to broker what in the past has been a very public dispute between the Karzai and Musharraf, two of its close allies. The idea for the meeting, or jirga, came nearly a year ago during a meeting involving President Bush, Musharraf and Karzai.
Musharraf, who entered the grand, white tent with Karzai, said the two countries, as "true Muslims," must isolate die-hard militants and "win the hearts and minds" of the people.
He called the close of the jirga a beginning to the peace process and not the end of it.
Washington fears al-Qaida is regrouping in the lawless tribal border region. Key tribal leaders from Pakistan's North and South Waziristan boycotted the peace meeting, with some saying they feared reprisal attacks from the Taliban.
Karzai spoke only briefly Sunday following a longer address on Thursday, but relations between the two leaders appeared warmer than in the past, such as their White House meeting last fall when the two refused to shake hands in front of the press corps.
In the past, Karzai has complained that Taliban fighters operate from havens in Pakistan's tribal region along their border. Musharraf denies that, but also has said that he would act if the Afghans provided good intelligence on militants operating in the region.
On Sunday, Musharraf said both Afghanistan and Pakistan must be "watchful against the machinations of outsiders who may try to create mistrust and a gulf between the two brotherly countries."
He did not say who the outsiders are but referred to them as extremists and fanatics, a possible reference to the hundreds of foreign fighters in the region the U.S. military says come from Chechnya, Africa and Arab Gulf states.
But Musharraf indicated that even the Taliban, who are responsible for the roadside bombs and suicide attacks that have killed hundreds of international and Afghan troops and civilians the last several years, have a place in Afghanistan.
"Taliban are part of the Afghan society. Most of them may be ignorant and misguided, but all of them are not die-hard militants and fanatics who defy even the most fundamental values of our culture and our faith," he said.
A Taliban spokesman, meanwhile, reiterated on Sunday that two sick South Korean hostages would be released soon, although he did not say when. Negotiations between two Taliban leaders and South Korean officials over the fate of the remaining 21 hostages took place in Ghazni city on Friday and Saturday, but no new talks were held Sunday.
The governor of Ghazni province said Sunday that journalists could not take pictures or video or interview people close to the offices of the Afghan Red Cross, where the negotiations are being held and where on Saturday the two Taliban leaders held an impromptu news conference, the first such event in Afghanistan since the militants' fall in late 2001.
Musharraf said Pakistan and Afghanistan are confronted with a "particularly dark form" of terrorism and that he had "no doubt" that Taliban militants find support in Pakistan and cross over into Afghanistan.
"Our societies face a great danger in the shape of fringe groups, a small minority that preaches hate, violence and backwardness," he said. "We must rescue our societies from this new danger and work together to effectively defeat the forces of extremism and terrorism."
Musharraf's appearance was a boost for the jirga. He had pulled out of speaking at the opening session on Thursday because of domestic issues, instead sending Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
"Afghanistan has confidence in its neighboring country," Karzai said. "I'm praying that both countries have peace and prosperity."
The Taliban, ousted by U.S.-led forces in late 2001, have stepped up attacks in the past two years. The violence has killed thousands, raising fears for Afghanistan's fledgling democracy.
Refuting allegations from some Afghan officials that Pakistan tries to undermine progress in Afghanistan, Musharraf said Pakistan wants to see a strong, peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
"It is therefore painful for us to hear allegations that we are deliberately causing disturbance or violence in your country. We do not have such a policy and we will never have such a shortsighted and disastrous policy," he said.

Violence Flares Up in Pakistan, Four Killed
by Diane Smith 19:49, August 13th 2007
Violence Flares Up in Pakistan, Four Killed
Violence erupted again in Pakistan’s tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, four persons being killed and eight wounded by a fierce explosion that occurred Monday, reports from the area said.
A car bomb went off near a populated site in the Swat district in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), police sources informed. An investigation was launched, police being unable to confirm whether the blast was caused by a suicide attack or a remote controlled detonation.
In another incident, three militants were killed by government troops in South Waziristan after they attacked two army outposts. According to a military spokesman, insurgents launched several rockets at the posts and soldiers retaliated with gunfire, injuring other militants.
Reports from North Waziristan informed on Monday that two bodies allegedly belonging to two Afghan citizens were found on Sunday in the region. Both persons were beheaded as the perpetrators left a note saying “all those spying for the Americans will meet the same fate.”
Hundreds of people have been killed for allegedly spying in the same volatile tribal regions in the past years.
The Islamabad government was criticized by Afghanistan and the United States for not doing enough to rout out insurgency that has reached alarming levels in the northwest areas bordering Afghanistan.
Intelligence reports allege that Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters are hiding in the mountainous region and carry out cross-border attacks. During this weekend’s peace jirga that took place in Kabul, tribal and religious leaders, along with politicians from Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to cooperate and impose new measures that would stop arms smuggling across the frontier, militants and narcotics traffic - a main source of funds for insurgency.
© 2007 - eFluxMedia

Afghan forces thwart Taliban attack, kill nine
Mon Aug 13, 2007 7:54PM IST

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan security forces killed nine Taliban insurgents as they were preparing to attack a district police headquarters close to the Pakistan border, a provincial police chief said on Monday.
"We had intelligence that a sizeable group of Taliban militants were gathered in Spin Boldak district near the Pakistan border in an attempt to overrun the district police headquarters," said Sayed Agha Saqib, police chief of the southern province of Kandahar.
"Our soldiers thwarted the enemy's plan and killed nine of the Taliban insurgents," he said.
Taliban rebels have briefly overrun a number of isolated district centres, defeating the lightly armed and poorly trained police then withdrawing before the more powerful Afghan army or foreign forces arrive.
Spin Boldak is a border town on the main road from Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold, to Quetta in Pakistan, where Afghan officials say militants train, rest and recuperate.
Also near Spin Boldak, five Afghan police were killed and three more wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, Saqib said on Monday.
Two soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition force in Afghanistan were wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in the eastern province of Khost, a U.S. military spokesman said.
In a another incident, Afghan police arrested two suicide bombers along with explosives vests in the northern province of Badakhshan on Monday, an Interior Ministry statement said.
One of them is a foreign national who entered Afghanistan with a passport, the other one is an Afghan citizen, the statement said.
Taliban insurgents are conducting a campaign of bombings, ambushes and kidnapping to convince ordinary Afghans their government and its Western backers are incapable of providing security.
© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved

Marajudin Pathan, governor of Gazni province, where 23 South Koreans were taken hostage, talks to journalists in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2007. He said that South Korean officials and Taliban militants will determine late Tuesday a location for their first face-to-face talks over the hostages' fate. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)

Taliban Free 2 South Korean Women
By AMIR SHAH
Monday, August 13, 2007

Two South Korean women among 23 hostages kidnapped by Taliban militants in mid-July were handed over to officials from the international Red Cross on Monday.
The two women wept as they got out of a gray Toyota Corolla driven by an Afghan elder and into two waiting Red Cross SUVs.
The women, who the Taliban have said are ill, were part of a South Korean church group kidnapped by militants on July 19. Two of the hostages were killed.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) _ A suicide bomber targeted a U.S.-led coalition convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, while Afghan security forces clashed with the Taliban militants in the south, leaving nine militants dead, officials said Monday.
The blast in Khost province killed the bomber, said Gen. Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief. There were no immediate reports of casualties among the U.S. forces.
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said they were aware of a car bomb explosion in the east but did not have further details on the incident.
In the south, Afghan police and army soldiers battled militants Sunday in Kandahar province's Shohrawak district, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.
The joint Afghan forces thwarted a planned militant ambush at the district chief's compound, and the ensuing clash left nine militants dead, Saqib said. Authorities recovered the militants' bodies and weapons, he said.
During a cleanup operation after the battle, a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle in the same district, killing five officers and wounding two others, Saqib said.
Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply during the last two months. More than 3,700 people, mostly militants, have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.
In the northeastern province of Badakhshan, police arrested a man with a suicide vest on Monday who said he was from Kazakhstan, said Shamsul Rahman, the deputy governor. The man said other suicide bombers were in Badakhshan, Rahman said, prompting police to launch a search operation.
___

Associated Press Writer Amir Shah in Ghazni, Afghanistan contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2006 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

Army engineers work to connect Afghanistan one road at a time
By Sgt. David E. Roscoe, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ORGUN-E, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2007 – U.S. Army engineers in Afghanistan are doing their part to restore security and the country’s economy by building roads, bridges and levees to connect Afghanistan’s people.
Afghanistan’s rugged terrain and mountainous landscape isolates most of the population from the country’s major cities and industrial area. Lack of funding, harsh seasonal weather and flash floods have made it almost impossible to maintain a lasting road system within the country. Only about 35,000 kilometers of roads connect the country’s economic centers. This explains why one of the main goals for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other engineer units is to build and repair an efficient road system in Afghanistan.
However, major concerns arise for soldiers constructing roads in a combat environment. Improvised explosive devices, car bombs and ambushes are a constant threat to soldiers working on roads.
“Our company has been attacked by one IED and one (car bomb), found three IEDs, and been ambushed three times while conducting road-construction missions in Afghanistan,” Army Capt. Nicholas O. Melin, commander of Company B, 864th Engineer Combat Battalion, said. “The motivating thing about all this is that our soldiers are not allowing these obstacles to stop them, and they have maintained their good spirits in the face of danger.”
Unpredictable rainfall in Afghanistan also has been a major threat for local homes and crops as local rivers flood. This was the case in Sira Qala, a community outside Forward Operating Base Sharana, where an aging levee suffered major flood damage threatening the village’s economy.
Army 1st Lt. Robert Green, Equipment Platoon leader with Headquarters and Support Company, 864th Engineer Combat Battalion, was tasked to repair the levee. “I think it was an important construction mission with an immediate impact on the population,” he said. “While it may not be a permanent solution to the problem, it will at least continue to protect the village for another couple seasons.”
Connecting Afghan civilians to cities with medical facilities also has been a major road construction goal for the battalion, dubbed Task Force Pacemaker for its Afghanistan deployment. In June, the battalion’s Company A completed a 15-kilometer road that connected the village of Khyur Khot to the town of Mest.
“The Alpha Company road-construction mission was very important because it connected the locals in that area to the town of Mest, which has medical facilities,” Army Capt. Mona A. Tanner, TF Pacemaker plans officer, said. “The road also provided coalition forces with freedom of movement between the two areas. The Alpha Company soldiers were consistent, determined and didn’t let delays weaken their spirits.”
Army Lt. Col. Mark J. Deschenes, the TF Pacemaker commander, added: “The primary purpose of Task Force Pacemaker’s road-construction mission is to maximize mobility for coalition forces and the Afghan people. The roads that we are constructing support economic growth and an efficient security presence in the country. Locals are able to travel from point A to point B easier than they were able to in the past.
“They are able to reach medical services and job opportunities with less difficulty,” he added. “The roads also allow for an increased security capability for coalition forces, the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police, providing a safer environment for everyone.”
(Army Sgt. David E. Roscoe is assigned to Task Force Pacemaker.)

Kalam, Pakistan: Car bomb kills four

2007-08-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Car bomb kills four in Pakistan amid further violence - Summary
Posted on : 2007-08-13 | Author : DPA
News Category : Asia

Islamabad - Four people were killed and eight were injured in a car bomb explosion in north-western Pakistan Monday as a fresh wave of violence hit the border region near Afghanistan, officials said. The blast occurred at a popular tourist spot in the Swat district in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Mohammed Kara, a local police duty officer, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
It was not immediately clear if a suicide bomber triggered the explosion, he added.
The Aaj news channel cited officials as increasing the earlier death toll from three to four.
The province has seen a rising incidence of retaliatory attacks by pro-Taliban militants since Pakistani government troops in July stormed the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad.
Also on Monday, Pakistani troops in the nearby border district of South Waziristan killed three pro-Taliban gunmen during an attack on two checkpoints.
Insurgents fired rockets at the posts in Dargai and Magai in a pre-dawn assault, injuring two soldiers, military spokesman Major General Arshad Waheed said.
Three militants were killed as the security forces returned fire and several more were injured.
Meanwhile, militants who last week abducted 16 paramilitary troops near South Waziristan's main town of Wana have demanded the release of ten of their comrades being held in custody, Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper reported.
In neighbouring North Waziristan, the decapitated bodies of two Afghan refugees were found on Sunday with notes saying they were killed for spying for the United States, reports said.
"All those spying for the Americans will meet the same fate," the note warned in the local Pashtu language.
The bullet-ridden body of a third Afghan refugee was found in the same area.
More than 250 bodies of suspected US spies and pro-government tribal elders were reportedly found in the border region in the past few years but no arrests have been made.
Pakistan has deployed around 90,000 soldiers along its tribal belt to contain Taliban militants and al-Qaeda elements. But Washington and Kabul say more must be done to eliminate safe-havens of groups that attack NATO-led international forces in Afghanistan.
Print Source :
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/93029.html

Car bomb kills four in Pakistan's Frontier Province
13 Aug 2007, 1842 hrs IST
Times of India

SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
ISLAMABAD: Four people were killed and six others injured in a car bomb blast in the restive North West Frontier Province on the eve of Pakistan's Independence Day.
The blast occurred near the town of Kalam in the mountainous Swat valley on Monday in which four persons were killed, District Police Office, Muhammad Iqbal told the TV channels here.
Though initial reports said that the deaths could have been caused by lightening, later it was confirmed that the incident took place due to explosion, he said.
Several suicide attacks and car bombings have rocked Pakistan' tribal areas and remote areas of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) bordering Afghanistan after the July 11 military raid on Lal Masjid here, in which over 90 Islamic militants were killed.

Car bomb kills three in Pakistan
Aug 13, 2007, 11:59 GMT
Islamabad - At least three people died and six were injured Monday in a car bomb attack in north-western Pakistan, police officials said.
The blast occurred at a tourist site in the Swat district in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), Mohammed Kara, a duty officer with the local police, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
It was not immediately clear if a suicide bomber triggered the explosion.
The province, located along the border with Afghanistan, has seen a rising incidence of attacks by pro-Taliban militants since Pakistani government troops in July stormed the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Three killed in explosion in NWFP
The Hindu

Islamabad, Aug. 13 (PTI): At least three persons were killed and several others injured in an explosion in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier province today.
According to TV channels, the car bomb blast occurred near Kalam town in Swat valley.
However, district police officer of Swat Iqbal Ahmed Khan said they were still trying to ascertain the cause of the explosion.
"It has occurred in a remote area," he said.

Marib, Yemen: Al Qaeda car bomb cell still active

2007-08-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

Yemeni tribesmen and a security officers inspect the site where a convoy carrying western tourists was hit by a suicide car bomb in Mareb city, July 2007. Yemeni security forces have said they have killed four wanted Al-Qaeda militants, including the alleged mastermind of a suicide bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists last month.(AFP/File/Khaled Fazaa)

New attacks hit government facilities in Marib, Al-Raimi still alive
Amel Al-Ariqi
Yemen Times

SANA’A, August 12 — Yemeni officials denied on Friday that the Marib electricity station has been subjected to a shell attack.
“Some random bullets have been shot from a far distance at the power generator that supplies the province with power, causing slight damages,” the security director of Marib province, Mohammed Al-Ghadra, stated.
Marib governor, Aref Al-Zuka reported that “some adherents to Al-Qaeda” fired shots from the distance towards the station and one of the security checkpoints, wounding a citizen who was passing by on the highway. Al-Zuka affirmed there were no damages to the station, adding that security personnel in Marib pursued the offenders in order to bring them before the relevant authorities.
According to security sources the attack, which occurred early Thursday morning, was carried out by gunmen who shot at a government building and police checkpoints around the town of Marib, located east of Sana’a.
Local and international media reported that Islamic militants utilized rocket-propelled grenades and other explosives to bomb the main power station in Marib, leaving the whole town in darkness overnight. Security officials suspect the gunmen were either Al-Qaeda militants or sympathizers.
The attack occurred a day after Yemeni counterterrorism forces killed four Al-Qaeda militants suspected to be involved in a car bomb attack that left eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis dead in Marib July 2.
An official source from the Ministry of Interior stated Friday that terrorists killed in a security raid Wednesday were planning further attacks. The source identified the suspects as Ali bin Ali Naser Doha, Naji Ali Jaradan, Abdul-Aziz Saeed Jaradan, Amer Hassan Saleh and Amar Obada al-Waeli.
The official source stated that the first three men were involved in terrorist attacks on Safer refinery in Marib and Al-Dhaba refinery in Hadramout last September, killing the assistant director of the criminal investigation in Marib and concealing terrorist escapees.
Qassem Al-Raimi, who escaped from a Sana’a prison in February 2006 and was one of the accused in the attack on Spanish tourists at Sun Temple, was not among the Al-Qaeda operatives killed in this security mission, Al-Zuka stated.
He explained that fingerprints of the four dead Al Qaeda members did not match Al-Raimi and therefore he is still a fugitive.
In related news, the U.S. Embassy in Yemen has warned Americans to reduce their profile because the country is experiencing “previously unseen” terrorist activity. In a message sent Monday to Americans living in Yemen, the embassy stated that the current terrorist threat was not temporary.
The message urged Americans to avoid large groups of Westerners, vary their travel routes and times to and from work and limit travel within the capital, Sana’a. “We are now experiencing terrorist actions previously unseen in Yemen,” the message read, also reminding Americans that there is an “active” Al-Qaeda presence in Yemen and Western interests “may continue to be targeted.”

Yemeni policemen and tribesmen inspect the wreckage of a car that was hit by a suicide car bomb in the restive northern region of Marib, July 2007. The bomb killed 10 people, mostly Spaniards. Yemeni security forces have said they have killed four wanted Al-Qaeda militants, including the alleged mastermind of a suicide bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists last month.(AFP/File/Khaled Fazaa)

Yemen forces capture suspects linked to attack on Spanish tourists
Aug 13, 2007, 12:27 GMT

Sana'a - Yemeni security forces raided a village in southern Yemen Monday and arrested five people believed to have links to militants accused of carrying last month's car bomb attack that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis, security officials said.
The officials said the predawn raid targeted more than a dozen suspects in the Moudiya district of Abyan province, 550 kilometres south-east of Sana'a.
'Five suspects were arrested in the operation, and nine others managed to escape,' said the official, spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said no one was injured in the raid, in which security forces were backed by helicopter surveillance.
This is the second raid against suspected al-Qaeda militants, since the July 2 car bombing of the Spanish tourist convoy near an archaeological site in Marib, some 190 kilometres north-east of Sana'a.
On Wednesday, security forces raided a village in Marib and killed four suspected al-Qaeda members believed to have been involved in the tourist attack. Among the slain suspects were two fugitives listed by police among ten men accused of plotting the July 2 attack.
Yemeni government officials have blamed the car bomb attack on the terrorist network al-Qaeda, and identified the suicide attacker as Abdu Muhammad Rahiqa, 21.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Baghdad, Iraq: US detains 17 of car bomb cell

2007-08-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

A destroyed vehicle lies at the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, August 10, 2007. A car bomb killed 11 people and wounded 45 others near a market in a Kurdish district of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, police said. REUTERS/Slahaldeen Rasheed (IRAQ)

Iraq explosion kills US soldiers
Four US soldiers have been killed by an explosion south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, the US military has said.

The soldiers were part of a task force to stop the flow of weapons and men to militant groups, it added.
The US military also said it had detained 30 militants with suspected links to al-Qaeda in raids around Iraq.
Meanwhile a joint US-Iraqi operation in the Sadr City area of Baghdad killed two civilians, according to a policeman quoted by Associated Press news agency.
AP said the joint force backed up by helicopters attacked houses in the Shia stronghold overnight.
The agency also said the house of an aide to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr had been raided in the holy city of Kufa, 160km (100 miles) from Baghdad.
Funeral
The 30 al-Qaeda suspects arrested at the weekend included 17 men detained in Karma near Baghdad, accused of links to car bomb attacks, including some using chlorine gas, the military said.
Other suspects were held in Baghdad, Mosul, Tarmiya, Samarra and Tikrit.
Meanwhile hundreds of mourners turned out in Najaf, another holy city, for the funeral of a governor and a police chief who were assassinated on Saturday.
Diwaniya province governor Khalil Jalil Hamza and police chief Maj-Gen Khaled Hassan were returning from a funeral when a bomb exploded beside their convoy.
The governor was a key figure in the Badr Organisation, the military wing of the largest Shia Muslim party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.
Security was tight for the funeral in the centre of Najaf.
The US administration has sent about 30,000 extra troops to Iraq since February, as part of a plan to improve security in and around Baghdad.
More than 3,000 American soldiers have died in combat since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6942815.stm

Published: 2007/08/12 12:04:23 GMT

Srinigar, Kashmir: Car bomb cell leader killed

2007-08-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

Harkat-ul Mujahideen militants. BBC

Self-styled Harkat-ul-Mujahideen commander shot dead in J&K
12 Aug 2007, 1603 hrs IST,PTI
Times of India

SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
SRINAGAR: A self-styled district commander of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militant outfit, who was planning major strikes on the eve of Independence Day, was on Sunday shot dead by police in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Abu Shaheen Afghani was killed in an operation by police at Krankishivan in Sopore area, 55 kms from here, Baramulla Senior Superintendent of Police Viplay Kumar told reporters.
He said the recoveries made from the scene of the shootout, included an explosive laden car to be used as a car bomb.
Kumar said the police received specific information that militants were planning a big strike in Sopore town on the eve of Independence Day and were hiding in the village on the outskirts of the town.
An operation was launched by Sopore Police and as the law enforcers cordoned off the target area, militants opened indiscriminate fire.
Afghani was gunned down in the ensuing shootout, the SSP said, adding his elimination was a big blow to the militants.
He said Afghani took over as the district commander of Baramulla following the arrest of Abu Bakr couple of months back and was mainly operating in Shiva-Dangerpora area of Sopore.
An AK-47 rifle, two AK magazines, one Chinese pistol, two pistol magazines, 30 rounds of ammunition, two hand grenades and one pouch were also recovered from the encounter site.
He said police have arrested some people during investigations but refused to divulge details.

NY, USA: Californinan claims to be behind car bomb in Pakistan

2007-08-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

NYPD Mobilizes Against Dirty Bomb Threat, But No Evidence Found So Far
August 11, 2007
NY1.com

New York City police are checking cars and monitoring the air this afternoon in response to an unsubstantiated terror threat involving a "dirty bomb," but so far authorities say they have found no evidence to verify the threat.
Authorities last night established a series of checkpoints in Lower Manhattan and at other Manhattan entry points, where officers were checking cars and trucks and questioning drivers in response to what the NYPD called a "reported radiological threat."
Officials also mobilized a battery of radiological sensors, including vehicular and helicopter-mounted devices, to sniff out a potential radiological explosive.
Authorities stressed that the threat is unconfirmed and that the city's terror alert status remained unchanged.
The New York Times reported early Saturday morning that the heightened security was prompted by a report on an Israeli website of electronic chatter between al Qaeda operatives, but NYPD officials would not confirm that.
The site, debka.com, is reportedly believed by the NYPD to have Israeli intelligence and military sources.
The website alleged that monitors had intercepted Internet chatter suggesting that al Qaeda was planning a radioactive truck attack on American targets that included New York, Los Angeles and Miami.
"The chatter came in a rush Thursday p.m. our time on various al Qaeda coded forums," an editor with the Jerusalem-based website said when contacted Saturday via e-mail. "Friday, it stopped, but was resumed Saturday. These are internal sites used by al Qaeda operatives. They don't usually refer specifically to operations on this scale. Our monitors therefore alerted us."
The website has "a very active monitoring department," according to the editor, that "works around the clock not only keeping track of al Qaeda but other Islamist terrorist groups."
"Most of what they put out is junk," the editor said of the al Qaeda communications. "Now and again there is something important, which we try and catch."
According to the website, an al Qaeda message intercepted on Thursday said that attacks would be carried out "by means of trucks loaded with radio-active material against America’s biggest city and financial nerve center."
The alleged al Qaeda communications accused Americans of failing to take seriously a videotape released last week by American-born al Qaeda member Adam Gadahn, in which Gadahn vowed a new wave of attacks on Americans at home and abroad.
"They will soon realize their mistake when American cities are hit by quality operations," one message allegedly said.
Gadahn, a native Californian, has been wanted by the FBI on treason charges since 2004. He claims he was behind a car bomb strike that killed an American diplomat last year in Pakistan.
Federal authorities said there was no evidence that New York City is in any danger.
"We are closely monitoring the situation," said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke. "There continues to be no credible information telling us that there's a threat to the homeland at this time."
On Friday night, Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a statement saying: "Earlier this evening, the NYPD began taking several public precautionary measures visible to New Yorkers to guard against an unverified threat that was found on the Internet."
"As New Yorkers, we have gone about our lives even with the daily threat level at 'orange' every day since September 11, 2001," the mayor's statement said. "That threat level has not changed because of this unverified threat, and we shouldn't let anyone terrorize us by spreading fear."

Kirkuk, Iraq: Car bomb kills 11 in Kurdish market

2007-08-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

Police and residents examine remains of the car bomb that exploded in a Kirkuk market. Several homes and shops were destroyed, police said. Photo Credit: By Emad Matti -- Associated Press

Car Bomb Hits Kirkuk Market
Attack Kills at Least 11 in Kurdish Area of Northern Iraqi City

By Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 11, 2007; A14
BAGHDAD, Aug. 10 -- A car bomb tore through a produce market in the northern city of Kirkuk on Friday morning, police said, killing at least 11 people and wounding 45 others.
The attack occurred in al-Hurriya, a Kurdish neighborhood in the southern part of the oil-rich city, as women shopped at the outdoor market. Several nearby homes and shops were destroyed, Kirkuk police Col. Pestton Mahmoud said.
Kirkuk has seen rising tensions among the city's Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen ethnic groups, which all have significant populations in the area. More than 85 people were killed by a truck bomb in Kirkuk on July 17.
Northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region is seeking to bring the city under its control, a move opposed by many Arabs and neighboring Turkey, which claims to represent the interests of the Turkmen minority. An Iraqi referendum on Kirkuk's status is scheduled for later this year.
Overall, the level of violence across Iraq was low on Thursday and Friday, in large part because of a three-day vehicle curfew in Baghdad that was intended to protect Shiite pilgrims traveling to a shrine in the Kadhimiyah neighborhood. Two people were reported killed during this year's holiday, in contrast to 2005, when nearly 1,000 people were killed after a stampede broke out among worshipers because of rumors of a suicide bomber.
The U.S. military announced Thursday that two American troops had been killed this week. A Marine died in combat Tuesday in Anbar province, and a soldier died Wednesday as a result of "non-hostile" causes.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi army said that Mwafaq Yassin, a senior leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, had been killed near Mosul on Friday. The army called Yassin the "right-hand man" to al-Qaeda in Iraq chief Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the pseudonym of an insurgent who the U.S. government says is an Egyptian with deep ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group.
Also Friday, Col. John Castles, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, told reporters that Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had gone to Iran.
Sadr leads the powerful Mahdi Army militia and commands the loyalty of 30 members of Iraq's parliament. Amid controversy over Iranian influence in Iraqi affairs, U.S. officials said earlier this year that Sadr spent several months in Iran, which his aides denied.
Castles, in a videoconference with Pentagon reporters, said the information on Sadr's whereabouts was based on U.S. intelligence reports, the Associated Press reported.
Ahmed al-Shaibani, a spokesman for Moqtada al-Sadr, denied that the cleric had left the country. "Moqtada al-Sadr is still in Iraq and is in Najaf among his followers and the people who love him," Shaibani said. "These are rumors and lies by the occupation forces."
Najaf residents said they believed Sadr had left the country because the usual stream of visitors into his compound had stopped recently and there have been fewer guards outside than usual.
Special correspondents Saad al-Izzi in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.

Firemen hose down a burning vehicle after a suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, August 10, 2007. A car bomb blew up near a market in a Kurdish district of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least seven people and wounding 45, local hospital doctors said. REUTERS/Slahaldeen Rasheed (IRAQ)

Car bomb kills 8 in Kurdish market

August 11, 2007

By Sally Buzbee - BAGHDAD (AP) — A car bomb killed at least eight persons in a northern Kurdish area yesterday, but Baghdad remained largely calm with a driving ban still in effect and thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims headed home.
U.S. military officials praised the performance of Iraqi security forces during the pilgrimage Thursday, in which hundreds of thousands of Shi'ites march to a northern Baghdad shrine, undisturbed by any major violence.
The driving ban and curfew imposed on Baghdad for three days will be lifted at dawn today.
"They have done an absolutely amazing job," said Col. John Castles, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82 Airborne Division, speaking of Iraqi forces who protected the march.
"We have been in solely a support role, in the background only. And this is something that the Iraqis planned themselves, coordinated and then executed, over a span of three or four days," Col. Castles said.
Col. Castles, whose soldiers are responsible for Sadr City, the Shi'ite slum where many pilgrims began their walk, also said radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is thought to have returned to Iran.
A spokesman at Sheik al-Sadr's headquarters in the holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, called the U.S. assertion a "baseless rumor."
"The Americans are just trying to find out where al-Sadr is," the spokesman said.
Sheik al-Sadr, the head of a major Shi'ite militia called the Mahdi Army, had taken refuge in Iran earlier this year as the United States began sending more troops into Iraq. He appeared again on May 25 in public in Iraq, but was last heard from inside the country on June 28.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who traveled to Turkey and Iran this week, stayed an extra day in Tehran yesterday for laser surgery to correct a distance vision problem in his right eye, according to a government official traveling with the Iraqi leader. He said the procedure was successful.
Separately, two U.S. soldiers were wounded when a U.S. helicopter went down south of the capital, the military said. Their injuries were not life-threatening.
The HH-60 helicopter was en route to support a planned mission when it made the forced landing in Youssifiyah, the U.S. military said.
An Iraqi army officer said the helicopter went down after hitting an electricity pole during a raid targeting an insurgent. The U.S. military did not confirm that.
It was the second helicopter to crash in less than two weeks. On July 31, an AH-64 Apache helicopter went down after coming under fire in eastern Baghdad but the two crew members were safely evacuated.
The car bomb, hidden in a parked car, hit a market in a Kurdish area of Kirkuk, a disputed oil-rich city 180 miles north of Baghdad.
Tensions have increased in Kirkuk as Kurds seek to include the city in their autonomous zone in northern Iraq — a move opposed by Arabs and Turkmen. Kirkuk has also seen an increase in violence by militants thought to have fled the recent U.S. crackdown in Baghdad.
In all, at least 55 persons were killed or found dead nationwide.

At least 7 killed in car bombing at Kirkuk market

An Iraqi soldier secures the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad August 10, 2007. A car bomb killed 11 people and wounded 45 others near a market in a Kurdish district of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, police said.

An Iraqi soldier secures the scene of a suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad August 10, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
BAGHDAD, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed and some 40 others were injured in a car bomb attack at a popular marketplace in Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, a municipal police chief said.
"A car bomb ripped though the Hurriyah vegetable market in Kikruk City at about 12:15 p.m. (0815), killing at least seven people and wounding 40 others," Brigadier Burhan Wasif, police chief of Kirkuk city told Xinhua by telephone.
The blast damaged several civilian cars and nearby shops, he added.
Ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the scene to ferry the wounded people to hospitals, he said.
U.S. and Iraqi forces immediately cordoned off the area to secure the scene, he added.

Residents stand near a destroyed vehicle after a suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, August 10, 2007. A car bomb blew up near a market in a Kurdish district of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least seven people and wounding 45, local hospital doctors said. REUTERS/Slahaldeen Rasheed (IRAQ)

Death toll in Kirkuk market car bombing rises to eight

The toll in a car bomb attack at a popular marketplace in Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk on Friday went up to eight people killed and 51 wounded, the city's police chief said.
"The final reports said that eight people were killed and 51 others were wounded in the car bombing of the crowded marketplace in Kirkuk," Brigadier Burhan Wasif told Xinhua by telephone.
Around midday a booby-trapped car ripped through a vegetable market in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Hurriyah in Kirkuk City, destroying many nearby stalls, shops and civilian cars, Wasif said.
Earlier, Wasif put the toll at seven people killed and some 40 others wounded.
Ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the scene to ferry the wounded people to hospitals in the city, some 250 km north of Baghdad, said the police chief, adding U.S. and Iraqi forces immediately cordoned off the area to secure the scene.
Tensions have heightened among Kirkuk's mixed population of Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen as the city's Kurds are seeking to annex the oil-rich city to the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq.
Source: Xinhua

Kirkuk, Iraq: 8807 car bomb wounds 4 police officers

2007-08-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

Medics rush an Iraqi police officer, injured by a parked car bomb, to the emergency room in Kirkuk, Iraq on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007. Police said the blast detonated next to a police patrol at midday, wounding four. (AP Photo/ Emad Matti)

Driving Ban Imposed in Baghdad
Iraqi Authorities Impose 3-Day Driving Ban in Baghdad Ahead of Shiite Holiday
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
The Associated Press

BAGHDAD

Iraqi authorities clamped a three-day driving ban on the capital and erected new checkpoints, while thousands of Shiite pilgrims began their annual trek toward a mosque in northern Baghdad to mark the anniversary of the death of one of Shiite Islam's key saints.
First-aid tents stocked with coolers of bottled water or offering food, dates, yoghurt and tea lined the streets as authorities scrambled to prevent a catastrophe from marring the ceremonies honoring Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, one of 12 principal Shiite saints who died in the year 799.
More than a million Shiite faithful flogging themselves with iron chains and slicing their foreheads with swords are expected to process Thursday toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in Baghdad's Shiite Kazimiyah neighborhood. The self-flagellation slowly turns their white cloaks red with blood in a ritual of grief banned under Saddam Hussein.
Sunni insurgents often target such gatherings. In 2005 the march was hit by tragedy, when thousands of Shiite pilgrims, panicked by rumors of a suicide bomber, broke into a stampede on a bridge. About 1,000 people died.
The top U.S. ground commander in the area, Task Force Justice leader Lt. Col. Steve Miska, said Wednesday that hundreds of additional Iraqi security forces had been deployed in Kazimiyah, but that American troops would stay away from the shrine out of religious sensitivity.
"There's paranoia surrounding this shrine. If anything happened here, it'd make the Golden Dome look like a precursor," Miska said, referring to the al-Qaida bombing of Samarra's Askariya shrine, which destroyed the mosque's golden dome and set off a wave of sectarian bloodletting that continues today.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, arrived in Iran on Wednesday for talks expected to focus on bilateral relations and improving the security situation in Iraq. It was the Iraqi premier's second visit to Tehran in less than one year.
"We are here today to boost commercial and security relations with neighboring countries," al-Maliki told The Associated Press on the plane to Iran. He said he would focus on overcoming "terrorism challenges" in the region.
Iraq, which like Iran is majority Shiite, has managed a difficult balancing act between Tehran and Washington since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, trying to maintain good relations with its powerful neighbor while not angering the Americans.
The U.S. has accused Iran of providing money and weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq. Iran denies the charges,
Baghdad residents awoke to find themselves facing a vehicle ban earlier than expected.
The Iraqi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi announced a curfew banning all cars, trucks, motorcycles and carts from moving in city streets that had been slated to begin at 10 p.m. Wednesday would begin 5 a.m. instead. It was to last until 5 a.m. Saturday.
Soldiers were deployed about 100 yards apart on streets in western Baghdad and traffic was barred by barbed wire and warning signs.
Pilgrims wearing traditional white frocks and waving green Shiite flags walked from all points of the capital toward the golden-domed mosque where al-Kadhim is believed to be buried in the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah. Many men wore wet towels on their heads for relief from the heat.
On a major highway, tents decorated with posters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr provided a shady place to rest.
Iraqi military vehicles played religious songs on loudspeakers. Security forces frisked men and searched women's bags while offering them water.
Talib Madhloom, a retired 53-year-old teacher who was making his way east to the shrine said it was important to honor al-Kadhim despite the heat and security concerns.
"We get bravery, courage and patience from the martyrdom of Imam Moussa al-Kadim," he said. "He was poisoned to death while he was unjustifiably imprisoned for 14 years and he was named for his self control over his anger."
An 11 year-old girl walking in central Baghdad held the hands of her two younger brothers as they walked ahead of their family. She was heading to an Iraqi Red Crescent tent seeking water. "We came early in the morning from Rashid area. We are so tired," she said.
Um Mohammed, 50, had crossed into Baghdad from the volatile province of Diyala to the north.
"All Diyala people came on foot after conducting dawn prayers this morning. The road was packed with walking people from Diyala," she said. "I came with my daughters and daughters-in-law. I could not walk as fast as they did, so I told them to go ahead of me. My knees could not hold me anymore, so I had to sit dawn every now and then."
By Wednesday morning, some 1,500 pilgrims had already passed through one of several checkpoints into the area, according to an Iraqi police lieutenant who identified himself only as Fadil, because of security concerns.
Some 400 plainclothes Iraqi agents, part of a mostly Shiite organization called the Public Order Committees, would take up positions at checkpoints, Miska said.
U.S. officials said more than a million pilgrims were expected Thursday in Kazimiyah, but some Iraqi officials put the figure at four million.
While the streets of Baghdad were relatively calm with the driving ban, violence struck Iraqis elsewhere.
A roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing one officer and wounding six others.
Gunmen also targeted the former mayor of the Shiite holy city of Najaf who is now an official at a water treatment center in a drive-by shooting. The official, Tala Hillal, was wounded and his driver was killed in the attack, the latest in a series of assassination attempts against clerics, academics and security officials.

Associated Press writers Lauren Frayer and Bushra Juhi in Baghdad contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

Baghdad, Iraq: 2006 Car bomb Cameraman's death was 'unlawful'

2007-08-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

Paul Douglas had two children and three grandchildren

Cameraman's death was 'unlawful'

A coroner has recorded a verdict of unlawful killing on a television cameraman killed in Iraq.
Paul Douglas, 48, was killed when a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint near the centre of Baghdad on 29 May, 2006.
The married father of two from Wootton, Bedfordshire, had worked for the US network CBS for 17 years, covering conflicts all over the world.
Deputy coroner for Bedfordshire Martin Oldham recorded the verdict of unlawful killing at Bedford Coroner's Court.
A soldier, an interpreter and British soundman James Brolan, 42, were also killed. CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier survived with serious injuries.
Mr Douglas had worked for CBS News in many countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Bosnia, since the early 1990s.
He leaves a wife, Linda; two daughters, Kelly, 29, and Joanne, 26; and three grandchildren.

Tarmiyah, Iraq: US Airstrike Kills Car Bomb Cell Leader

2007-08-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

U.S. Airstrike Kills Senior Al-Qaida Leader Near Baghdad

August 7, 2007 10:57 p.m. EST

Matthew Borghese - AHN News Writer
Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - The U.S. launched a series of strikes in Baghdad aimed at killing a senior member of al-Qaida in Iraq. Intelligence located an al-Qaida leader believed to be in command of car bomb terror cells at a house west of Tarmiyah.
After ascertaining that the building was hostile, Coalition forces ordered an airstrike on the leader's position. According to the Pentagon, five suspected terrorists were killed while Coalition troops observed secondary explosions at the building, indicating the presence of explosives.
Ground forces then launched a sweep of the position, but encountered enemy small-arms fire; one gunman was killed in the exchange. The U.S. says the soldiers found a cache of "heavy machine guns, booby traps and vehicles wired with explosives."
"Taking down the bombing network in Baghdad is a top priority for us," Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, said. "We will continue targeting the leaders who coordinate and execute murderous attacks on the Iraqi people."
Pentagon reports say other raids in the area were successful in killing eight suspected terrorists and arresting 14 others over the past two days.

Copyright © AHN Media Corp - All rights reserved.

Coalition Forces Target al Qaeda Leaders Around Baghdad
American Forces Press Service
2007-08-08

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2007 – Coalition forces killed eight terrorists and detained 14 suspected terrorists during coordinated operations targeting a senior al Qaeda leader west of Tarmiyah over the past two days.
Forces conducted an operation yesterday targeting the al Qaeda emir of the northern belts around Baghdad, who is associated with deadly car bomb attacks in the city.
Surveillance indicated the senior leader and his associates had entered a building in a remote area. Coalition forces declared the target hostile and called in an air strike. Secondary explosions ignited after the initial strike, indicating there were explosives inside. Forces assess five terrorists were killed in the strike.
When ground forces approached the site to assess damage, a terrorist engaged them with small-arms fire. Countering in self-defense, forces returned fire and killed the armed man. The ground forces resumed their approach to the building but discovered multiple fighting positions, heavy machine guns, booby traps and vehicles wired with explosives. Coalition forces evacuated the area and called in air assets to destroy the enemy weapons.
Acting on intelligence gained from yesterday’s operation, coalition forces conducted additional coordinated raids in the area this morning. During the first of those, forces used explosives to breach a door and enter a targeted building. A woman standing behind the door was killed in the explosion. Iraqis on the scene told coalition forces her husband had told her to block the door from the Americans.
As ground forces secured the building, one man was discovered concealing himself in another room, armed with grenades and a rifle aimed at the assault force. Coalition forces engaged the armed man and killed him. As they secured additional buildings on the scene, a man rushed to a window and attempted to pull a rifle from behind the curtains. Forces reacted to the hostile threat by engaging the man and killing him.
During a raid on another building, ground forces brought the occupants of a building outside to secure the area. One man, after previously being compliant, turned and rushed back into the building. Coalition forces, perceiving a hostile threat, engaged the man and wounded him. He was treated on site and taken to a military medical facility for further treatment. He and six other suspected terrorists were detained during the raid.
Coalition forces detained three more suspected terrorists during raids on four more buildings in the area.
"Taking down the bombing network in Baghdad is a top priority for us," said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. "We will continue targeting the leaders who coordinate and execute murderous attacks on the Iraqi people."
In other operations today:
-- Coalition forces targeted and captured an individual north of Tikrit believed to be involved in terrorist activities in Salah ad Din province. Intelligence reports indicate the suspect is tied to al Qaeda and controls sensitive operational documents and media for the terrorist group. The ground forces detained two additional suspected terrorists during the raid.
-- In Mosul, coalition forces captured a high-level member of a terrorist group whose leader was detained during a coalition operation. The group is linked with al Qaeda and is known for placing improvised explosive devices.
-- Coalition forces raided six buildings in Bayji targeting an al Qaeda leader there who allegedly oversees hundreds of terrorist fighters. On scene, the ground forces found a suitcase filled with Iraqi currency and detained seven suspected terrorists for their alleged ties to the targeted individual.
-- In Baghdad, forces targeted a cell leader in the city's car bomb network who is also believed to be involved in an April police station bombing. During the raid, the ground forces detained four suspected terrorists. "We're making it clear with our operations: no terrorist is safe," said Garver. "We are targeting all those who are trying to derail Iraq's progress."
In operations over the past few days:
-- Soldiers from the 3rd Iraqi Army Division stopped a tanker truck loaded with 5,000 pounds of explosives yesterday following a shootout with unknown enemy forces in the Sinjar area near the Syrian border. The Iraqi soldiers were conducting a cordon-and-search operation in the village of Azaem when they were engaged by 12 enemy fighters with small-arms fire. The soldiers returned fire, killing three and capturing the remaining nine. In addition to the explosives, they also discovered a machine gun and nearly 2,000 rounds of AK-47 and 9 mm ammunition.
-- Iraqi security forces, with U.S. Special Forces acting as advisers, detained an extremist group battalion commander Aug. 5 in Baghdad. The suspected Shia extremist is believed to command five companies of terrorists who conduct bomb and mortar attacks against Iraqi forces in the area. The suspect also allegedly participated in the murder of several local nationals.
-- Iraqi special operations forces, with U.S. Special Forces acting as advisors, detained a suspected al Qaeda emir in Radwaniyah Aug. 5. The alleged Sunni extremist commander is believed responsible for conducting attacks against coalition forces and Iraqi security forces southwest of Baghdad. Another suspected extremist also was detained.
-- Paratroopers the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, captured a suspected rogue militia company commander wanted for a string of attacks using explosively formed projectiles, murder and intimidation against citizens in North Babil during Operation Marne Avalanche Aug. 5. They also detained five suspected members of his ring.
-- Iraqi army forces and U.S. Special Forces detained five suspected insurgents believed to be part of a Thar Thar region al Qaeda cell during a helicopter assault raid Aug. 4. Iraqi soldiers detained the five persons of interest without incident at a residence located in a rural area west of Balad. Seven assault rifles, a shotgun, assorted ammunition magazines, compact discs and propaganda materials also were seized during the operation. The detainees are believed to be members of an al Qaeda cell allegedly responsible for hijacking semi trailers, planting improvised explosive devices on coalition forces supply routes and aiding foreign fighters.
-- Elements of the 8th Iraqi Army Division, with U.S. Special Forces as advisors, detained a suspected insurgent recruiter and organizer for an extremist militia operating in Najaf during an intelligence-driven operation in southern Iraq Aug. 4. The alleged insurgent is suspected of using local charities as a front to screen and recruit individuals by offering them $500 to emplace improvised explosive devices. He also is suspected of facilitating cross-border training, garnering financial support, and transporting equipment and weapons with Persian militant groups to be used against Iraqi and coalition forces. He is suspected of supplying the IED that killed two coalition soldiers in Karbala and is linked to other deadly attacks in Diwaniyah, Najaf and Karbala.
-- Iraqi soldiers joined U.S. troops from Task Force Steel in a joint operation dubbed Algeria III in support of Operation Marne Avalanche Aug. 4 in North Babil, to secure the area from insurgent activity. Soldiers from the 8th Iraqi Army Division and the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division moved from house to house searching for any presence of insurgent activity or violations of the rule of law set forth by the Iraqi government. "This operation was one of the biggest operations our company has done with Iraqi security forces," said Army Capt. Jim Browning, a company commander within the 3rd Infantry Division. "Everything on this mission was totally led by the Iraqi army. We were just there for support." The Iraqi-led operation yielded a pair of night-vision goggles, three detainees and five AK-47 assault rifles with ammunition. "The operation was a complete success," Browning said. "The Iraqi army soldiers have made vast improvements since we last conducted an operation with them, and I am confident that they will only continue to get better."
-- Iraqi Army and coalition forces in Diyala province targeted al Qaeda operatives and other terrorist forces during an operation beginning Aug. 4, in a continued effort to deny the enemy the use of any perceived safe havens in the Diyala River Valley. During the operation, two booby-trapped houses were discovered and destroyed. In addition, two weapons caches, four improvised explosive devices and one al Qaeda vehicle were discovered and destroyed.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Corps Iraq and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Arabian Peninsula news releases.)

Hibhib, Iraq: soldier killed 3 wounded in a suicide car bomb

2007-08-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

Iraqi Security Developments - Tuesday
Locals Say 36 Headless Bodies Found in District Controlled by U.S.-Backed Sunnis
By ZEYAD KASIM 08/07/2007 8:39 PM ET
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - AUGUST 06: A U.S. military helicopter flies at dusk August 6, 2007 over Baghdad, Iraq. Twenty-eight people, including 19 children, were killed today when a suicide bomber detonated his bomb-laden truck in a residential area in the northern
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - AUGUST 06: A U.S. military helicopter flies at dusk August 6, 2007 over Baghdad, Iraq. Twenty-eight people, including 19 children, were killed today when a suicide bomber detonated his bomb-laden truck in a residential area in the northern

Security developments in Iraq on Tuesday, August 7, 2007:

Iraqis reported killed (Monday and Tuesday): 229. Iraqis reported wounded: 150.

U.S. troops reported killed (Saturday to Monday): 9. U.S. troops reported wounded: 3.

British troops reported killed: 1.

Map by Zeyad Kasim
BAGHDAD – Police found the bodies of 16 people shot execution style in different parts of the capital on Tuesday, police said. Fourteen were found in west Baghdad’s Karkh sector (three in Amil, three in Bayya’, two in Dora, two in Hurriya, two in Mansour, one in Risala, and one in Abu Ghraib) and two were found in east Baghdad’s Palestine Street and Bab Al-Sheikh areas, police said. Seventeen bodies were found on Monday.

TALAFAR - A truck bomb killed at least 33 people and wounded 52 others when it exploded in a Shi'ite district of the northern town of Tala’far (60 km west of Mosul) on Monday morning, police said, according to Reuters. At least 10 homes were flattened by the blast.

BAGHDAD – Eyewitnesses said they found the decapitated bodies of 36 people in the predominately Sunni district of Amiriya on Tuesday, according to Radio Sawa and Eye Iraq Media. They said the bodies belonged to members of a delegation from the nearby Jihad district attending a funeral reception in Amiriya. The district is under the control of the Amiriya Revolutionaries, former insurgents who split from the Islamic Army group to fight Al-Qaeda. Tahseen Al-Sheikhli, the spokesman for the Imposing Law operation in Baghda, confirmed that 36 bodies were found in the district.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb concealed in rubbish near a bus garage killed eight people and wounded 10 when it blew up in the southern Baghdad district of Jisr Diyala as street cleaners were sweeping the road, police said, according to Reuters and VOI.

BAGHDAD – Four people were killed and six wounded in a mortar attack against the Kamaliya district of eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, according to Reuters.

BAGHDAD - A bomb in a bus killed two people and wounded nine others, including women and children, in Baghdad's eastern Shi'ite neighbourhood of Ghadir, police said.

BAGHDAD – The fortified Green Zone in Baghdad was hit with at least ten mortar shells on dawn Monday, eyewitnesses said, according to VOI. U.S. and Iraqi authorities did not comment on the attack, and there were no news of casualties.

BAGHDAD – Eight U.S. soldiers were killed and one wounded in three separate attacks in Baghdad and the Diyala governorate, the U.S. military said today. One U.S. soldier was killed and two others wounded in combat in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, the U.S. military said on Monday.

BAGHDAD – Gunmen killed a bodyguard of MP Salih Al-Mutlag near his house in the Saidiya district of Baghdad on Monday night, police said, according to WNA.

BAGHDAD – Gunmen killed Sheikh Issa Al-Mohammedi, the imam of the Jabbar mosque in the Khadhraa district of Baghdad, and wounded two of his sons on Monday night, according to the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq.

BAGHDAD – A spokesman for the Sadr Movement said a Sadrist official, Hazim Al-A’raji, escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen attacked his motorcade in the Shi’ite district of Kadhimiya on Sunday. Five of his bodyguards were wounded in the attack.

MOSUL – Medical sources said the morgue in Mosul received the bodies of seven people who were killed in different incidents on Monday, according to McClatchy newspapers.

MOSUL – Twelve soldiers were wounded in a suicide truck bombing targeting an Iraqi Army base in the Intisar district of Mosul on Monday night, an Iraqi Army spokesman said today.

SHIRQAT - Police found the bodies of five Iraqi soldiers in the northern town of Shirqat on Monday, police said, according to Reuters and VOI. They had been kidnapped on the main Mosul-Baghdad road on Sunday afternoon, the source said.

KIRKUK – Four policemen were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion targeting their patrol in southern Kirkuk on Monday, police said.

KIRKUK - Police said three policemen were wounded in a firefight with Western security contractors 25 km southwest of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, according to Reuters.

KIRKUK – Three policemen were wounded during clashes with gunmen who attacked their checkpoint near the Braima village south west of Kirkuk on Monday evening, police said, according to VOI.

KIRKUK – The body of a taxi driver who had been kidnapped five days ago was found east of Kirkuk on Monday night, police said.

HAWIJA - Police said they found the bodies of two people near the town of Hawija, south west of Kirkuk on Monday, according to Reuters and VOI.

HAWIJA – Security forces killed a woman and wounded her child on the Kirkuk-Hawija road on Monday night, police said.

HAWIJA – Gunmen broke into a house in the Tanak area of Hawija and shot a woman, seriously wounding her, on Monday afternoon, police said, according to VOI.

SAMARRA – Three women and two children were killed and two other children wounded in a mortar attack that hit a residential area in Samarra (110 km north of Baghdad) on Tuesday, police said, according to Reuters and VOI.

DHILUIYA – Six civilians were killed and 16 others wounded in a U.S. air strike on the Jubour district of Dhilu’iya on dawn Monday after gunmen attacked a U.S. patrol in the area, police said, according to VOI. The U.S. military did not comment on the incident, but it said it killed seven Al-Qaeda insurgents in an air strike east of Balad.

BAQUBA - Police said they found 60 decomposed bodies in a thicket close to a village near Baquba north of Baghdad on Sunday.

BAQUBA – Gunmen kidnapped Talal Ahmed Abdullah, an Iraqi photographer working for the Associated Press, in Ba’quba on Tuesday, police said.

BAQUBA – Medical sources in Baquba said the morgue received the bodies of two women who were killed in the Gatoun suburb west of Baquba on Tuesday, according to McClatchy newspapers.

BAQUBA – Police found the body of a civilian in the Hudeid village west of Baquba on Tuesday morning. Another civilian was wounded in the area when gunmen opened fire on him.

BAQUBA – The administrator of the Abbara village north of Baquba escaped an assassination attempt when gunmen opened fire on his motorcade, wounding three of his guards on Tuesday, according to McClatchy newspapers.

KHALIS – Gunmen kidnapped four people guarding a Shi’ite husseiniya in the village of Khuwailis south of the town of Khalis on Monday night, police said.

HIBHIB – A soldier was killed and three wounded in a suicide car bomb targeting their checkpoint in the Arab Shawka area north of Hibhib on Tuesday morning, police said, according to McClatchy newspapers.

KAN’AN – Gunmen killed two civilians in the town of Kan’an south east of Baquba on Tuesday, police said.

MUQDADIYA – A joint U.S.-Iraqi force detained 12 suspected militants, including an Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader, during raids in the town of Muqdadiya on dawn Monday, police said, according to VOI.

MUQDADIYA – A child was killed and another wounded when gunmen opened random fire in the Ballour area of Muqdadiya on Tuesday, police said.

DALI ABBAS – Gunmen blew up the house of a prominent Sunni tribal leader and member of Iraqi parliament on the Iraqi Accord Front slate in the small town of Dali Abbas north west of Muqdadiya on Tuesday, eyewitnesses told VOI. The house belonged to Sheikh Amer Habeeb Al-Khaizeran, a chief of the Azza tribe, which inhabits many parts of Baghdad and the Diyala governorate. Khaizeran and his family were not in the house when it was detonated, the sources said.

FALLUJAH – A policeman was killed and two people wounded, one of them a civilian, in a roadside bomb explosion targeting a police patrol in the Ba’ath district of Fallujah on Monday, police said, according to VOI.

HADITHA – Eyewitnesses said a roadside bomb explosion targeted a U.S. military patrol, damaging a Hummer vehicle and wounding several soldiers, on the main road between Haditha and Ana on Monday, according to VOI.

MAHMOUDIYA – Gunmen opened fire on pedestrians, killing two and wounding six, in Mahmoudiya on Tuesday, police said, according to Reuters.

KARBALA – The head of a non-governmental humanitarian organization was assassinated by two gunmen in a drive-by shooting in Karbala, eyewitnesses and medical sources said. Betoul Mohammed, head of the Al-Betoul Organization for Humanitarian Aid was shot in front of her house in the Mu’alimeen district on Monday morning, source said, according to VOI. Gunmen also assassinated a former police commissioner near his residence in the Husseiniya area on Tuesday.

KARBALA – Karbala Governor Aqeel Al-Khaz’ali said police arrested two members of security forces who confessed to planning an attack with suicide vests on holy shrines in the city. The two suspects said they were members of the Islamic Army insurgent group, the governor said.

HILLA – A roadside bomb exploded in front of an office belonging to Shi’ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani in the city of Hilla on Monday afternoon without casualties, police said. There was no one at the office at the time of the explosion, which caused damages to the building.

HILLA – Three Interior Ministry commandos were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion against their patrol in Hilla on Tuesday, police said, according to Reuters.

WAHDA – Gunmen abducted four civilians who were distributing water to Shi’ite pilgrims heading to Baghdad to visit the shrine of Imam Musa Al-Kadhim on Tuesday in the suburb of Wahda south east of Baghdad, police said.

KUT – Police found the bodies of five people in Kut on Tuesday, police said, according to WNA.

KUT – An Iraqi reporter for the state-run Al-Sabah newspaper was released by his kidnappers on the outskirts of Kut on Tuesday, his brother told VOI. Hassan Shaheed Al-Azzawi was kidnapped on Monday, the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory reported yesterday.

DIWANIYA – A roadside bomb exploded near a Polish military patrol in Diwaniya on Tuesday, according to WNA. There were no reports of casualties. NASIRIYA – Three policemen were wounded during clashes with gunmen in several parts of Nasiriya on Monday night, police said, according to WNA.

NASIRIYA – Two roadside bombs exploded in central Nasiriya near the Dhi Qar governorate building without casualties on Tuesday evening, according to Nasiriya News Network.

BASRAH – A civilian was killed when a Katyusha rocket hit his home in the Baradha’iya district of southeast Basrah on dawn Monday, police said. The rocket was targeting the main British military compound in the area. Police also discovered a large weapons and ammunition cache in the Jihad district of western Basrah on Monday.

BASRAH – A British soldier was killed as a result of small arms fire during an operation in Basrah on Monday night, the British Defense Ministry said in a statement.

BASRAH – Police said an electric pylon was destroyed during clashes between British troops and unknown gunmen near Hartha north of Basrah on Sunday night, according to VOI. A British military spokesman denied there were clashes with militants on Sunday night.

BASRAH – A British military spokesman said British troops killed three militants during clashes in Basrah and Safwan on Sunday. Six other suspected militants were killed and two civilians were wounded during search raids on Monday. The spokesman added that all British military bases were targeted by indirect fire over the last 24 hours.

Diyala, Iraq: US soldiers killed in campaign against car bomb cells

2007-08-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

Four US soldiers die in Iraq blasts
Web posted at: 8/8/2007 2:28:38
Source ::: REUTERS

BAGHDAD • Four more US soldiers were killed in two roadside bomb blasts in Iraq, the military said yesterday, raising the US death toll for the first six days of the month to 21 as thousands of troops battle militants in intense summer heat.
Washington is growing increasingly impatient with the lack of political progress by Iraq’s deeply divided political parties towards national reconciliation while US troops continue to die in roadside bombings, rocket and mortar attacks and shootings around the capital.
US President George W Bush has sent nearly 30,000 extra troops to help stabilise Iraq and give Maliki’s Shi’ite-led government breathing space to reach a political accommodation to end the sectarian violence that has torn the country apart.
Eighty soldiers were killed in July, a drop from the tolls in the previous three months, which were the deadliest quarter for US troops since the invasion in 2003.
August, however, is now on track to be one of the bloodiest months of the year, suggesting a resurgence in militant attacks.
Three US soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit their convoy south of Baghdad on Saturday, the military said, while a soldier was killed in the capital on Monday by a powerful roadside bomb of a type Washington says is being supplied to Shi’ite militias in Iraq by Iran.
Four other soldiers were killed on Monday in Diyala province, where US troops have launched a summer campaign against militants using the area as a staging ground for car bomb attacks in Baghdad.
Bush has warned that August will be a bloody month for US forces in Iraq as militants try to influence the debate over the war in Washington, where Democrats in Congress want troops pulled out within months.
A total of 3,682 US soldiers have been killed since the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Britain’s Defence Ministry said a British soldier was killed by small arms fire in the southern city of Basra on Monday, taking to 165 the number of British soldiers killed.
While US troops have recorded some successes against militants, Maliki’s brittle national unity government has unravelled, dealing a blow to efforts to pass laws which Washington sees as pivotal to reconciling the warring sides.
The Iraqi List said it was not quitting Maliki’s government, but the length of the boycott by its four ministers would be determined by the prime minister’s response to their action.
“The ministers will continue to run their ministries and will be in contact with the presidency council,” Jamal-Adin told the news conference.
He said the demands included the suspension of a committee charged with rooting out former members of Saddam’s Baath party and cleansing the security forces of sectarian influences.

Ceremony Commemorates Anniversary Of Purple Heart
Purple Heart Stamp Unveiled

POSTED: 7:18 pm CDT August 7, 2007
UPDATED: 8:50 pm CDT August 7, 2007

MADISON, Wis. -- More than two dozen recipients of the Purple Heart Medal gathered at the state Capitol Tuesday to commemorate the 225th anniversary of the award.
The military honor dates back to President George Washington and honors members of the military wounded or killed in action.
"I received my Purple Heart on Sept. 20, 2005, in Iraq on a rescue mission. I saved some of my friends who were hit by a car bomb," said Sgt. Lamar Deule Jr.
Deule was among the recipients at Tuesday's ceremony.
It's a great honor, and they've all helped me a great deal coping with my wounds," Deule said.
The medal worn by Wisconsin veterans was originally the badge of military merit. In 1932, it became the Purple Heart, and those who shared the honor Tuesday fought in wars from World War II to the war in Iraq.
"May all who see (the Purple Heart) know that they have served and they have fought for the freedom we enjoy today," said Maj. Gen. Al Wilkening, Wisconsin adjutant general.
Family and friends who supported the Purple Heart recipients were also recognized Tuesday.
"(We recognize) those who saw us through our recovery and today still help us with our physical and mental adjustments," said Bill Hustad, of the Military Order of Purple Heart Chapter 770.
Also as part of Purple Heart Day, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled the new Purple Heart stamp, which went on sale Tuesday.
Copyright 2007 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved.

Baghdad, Karkh District, Iraq: Soldiers treat boy wounded by car bomb

2007-08-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

Pvt. Francis Kianco of Troop A, 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, prepares to redress a young boy's wounds caused by a car bomb. Kianco and members of the "Death Stalker" platoon found the boy in his home during a joint patrol with Iraqi soldiers in Baghdad's Karkh District Photo by Spc. Alexis Harrison

Thinking of Home, Calvary Unit Maintains Focus in Iraq

Aug 07, 2007
BY Spc. Alexis Harrison
BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Aug. 7, 2007) - Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment have found themselves in some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital.
After more than a year patrolling and surviving the streets of Baghdad, the squadron finds itself on the downhill slope toward home at Fort Lewis, Wash. Although many Soldiers are counting down the remaining days, they are still patrolling the streets of Karkh district.
Second Lt. Michael Patti has only been with the Soldiers for about six months. When he heard he was being assigned to the 1st Sqdn., 14th Cav. Regt., 2nd Lt. Patti said he expected a less-than-friendly welcome from Soldiers who moved several times, fought through many battles, only to receive word of an extension.
To his surprise, 2nd Lt. Patti said he fell into the platoon seamlessly.
"I thought I was going to walk into a unit that was beaten down, tired and angry about getting extended," he said. "I haven't seen anything like what I expected. Leaders do a great job keeping the Soldiers heads in the fight even this late in the deployment. Fourteen months into this and they're still a force to be reckoned with."
Second Lt. Patti credits leaders in general, but he extends a special thanks to those in his platoon. He said leaders like Sgt. Brandon Bashore make all the difference when they patrol.
The sergeant said he understands going home is something they all think of, but he knows complacency has no place in the unit.
"There's a big difference between being comfortable and being complacent," Sgt. Bashore said. "We're comfortable in what we do because we've been doing it for so long, but being complacent would mean that we wouldn't care. You have to take things seriously out here. No matter what happens, we all have to make it back together."
Sgt. Bashore said he's been able to focus on his troops more due to improvements made by the Iraqi army company they patrol with.
"I'm able to keep better control of my Soldiers because the IA has really stepped up lately," he said. "They've become quite an asset to us and the community."
Second Lt. Patti also noticed a big change in the Iraqi soldiers. He said what was once an unmotivated unit has turned into something the people can be proud of.
"There were a lot of problems with the IA when I first arrived in April," he said. "We would show up to the outpost the IA would be manning and have to wait for them for an hour before they'd be ready to go out on a patrol. Sometimes there'd be only six of them in one truck that would come out with us."
Now, when the "Death Stalkers" arrive to the outpost, dozens of Iraqi troops stand up; ready to go, in full uniform.
Second Lt. Patti said the relationship between the two forces has grown into a friendship, but it doesn't end there. Traffic control points are improved, search techniques have been passed on and etiquette are just a few more things the lieutenant and sergeant have noticed improvements in.
"When you treat people with respect like the IA has been doing lately, word gets around and people start to work with us a little more," Sgt. Bashore said.
The platoon recently wrapped up an ongoing operation aimed at cataloging all the military-age males in the area. Spc. Jacob Campbell said having good relations makes the job much faster and easier.
Spc. Campbell, who was trained on the identification system, noticed people welcome the troops into their homes now; whereas in times past, the people wouldn't want to be seen talking to American or Iraqi troops.
Joint patrols, clearing operations and building good relations proved to be a "triple-edged" sword, 2nd Lt. Patti said. While he and his troops hope to leave a lasting impression on the Iraqi soldiers, 2nd Lt. Patti said the level of professionalism and discipline will remain where it is until the day they step on the plane headed to Fort Lewis.
(Spc. Alexis Harrison serves with 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs.)

Yemen: convoy carrying Spanish tourists hit by a suicide car bomb

2007-08-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

Yemeni tribesmen inspect the site where a convoy carrying Spanish tourists was hit by a suicide car bomb on July 2 in the restive northern region of the Marib province. (Photo: Khaled Fazaa / AFP-Getty Images)

Yemen
Terrorism Fears Inhibit Tourism
Mohamed Al-Azaki, Sana'a, Yemen, August 7, 2007

SEE RELATED:
Marib, Yemen: Suicide car bomb cell round up

"After the Spaniards, who will be next to die in this vibrant, 'living museum'?" a group of Italian tourists asked as they left Yemen after a recent deadly bombing attack.
It was an appropriate, yet frightful, question posed after an al-Qaeda car bomb attack detonated near the Sun Temple archeological site in the Marib province, some 93 miles (150 km) east of the capital Sana'a, killing eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis on July 2.
Security investigations are underway, and the offer of a $76,000 reward by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh for information which leads to the capture of those responsible for the attack is still valid.
Exactly one month after the suicide bombing, Yemen's Interior Ministry published the photographs of 10 men it said were involved in the terrorist incident.
The photographs of the suspects appeared in the military newspaper 26 September, which reported that ministry officials identified the suicide bomber as Abdo Saad Rahiqa, who carried out the deadly attack with the help of seven Yemeni terrorists, including one from Saudi Arabia and an Egyptian national.
"It was almost a revenge story for the killing of their senior al-Qaeda operative, Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harthi — a suspect in the U.S.S. Cole bombing — when his car was destroyed in Marib by a Hellfire missile launched from an unmanned Predator drone in May 2002," said a security official in Marib, who declined to provide any further details because of the sensitivity surrounding the situation.
Yemen's oil and gas industry, the source of two-thirds of the country's GDP, but tiny by global standards, has also been attacked recently. Last September, al-Qaeda affiliates were blamed for two attacks on Western-run oil refineries; one at Safer in Marib, and the other at Athubah in Hadhramout, in the eastern part of the country.
An al-Qaeda message at the time warned that these attacks were "only the first spark" and that future operations would be "severe and bitter." Now the terrorist network has attacked the tourism industry, the second arm of the national economy and the source of a third of Yemen's GDP.
"The Al-Qaeda group always vows to turn Yemen into a 'quagmire' for the West and U.S. in particular, due to Yemen's alliance with the U.S.-led war on terrorism that has targeted Islam, as they [al-Qaeda] see it," said Abdul-Elah Shayiee, a Yemeni specialist in terrorism affairs.
So could Yemen follow on the heels of Afghanistan and Iraq as the third major venue in the war on terrorism? Al-Qaeda seems ready to gear up for conflict in this area.
Thirty-six suspects are currently on trial in Sana'a, accused of forming an organization calling itself the "al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula-Yemen."
But this swathe of ancient Arabia — a wonderful mix of green mountains, deserts and cloud-high villages where time stands still — is literally an outdoor museum within which tourists are escorted by soldiers dressed in white robes, combat jackets and checkered head cloths. The soldiers typically demand that tourists give them money for buying qat ("hag-al-qat" in Yemeni), a narcotic plant whose leaves are chewed by the majority of Yemeni adults near the end of every day.
Roads are dotted with checkpoints controlled by soldiers, or tribesmen with a proclivity for abducting foreigners. The kidnapping of tourists remains an active threat. Tribesmen nab visitors in order to pressure the government into providing them with better services or for the release of jailed relatives.
Usually, hostages are treated like honored guests and released unharmed, but in 1998, four Westerners were killed during a botched rescue attempt.
Therefore, any tour traveling outside of the capital to Marib, where the most important archeological sites in Yemen — related to the Queen of Sheba, who is believed to have ruled over an empire supported by the export of spices such as frankincense and myrrh — requires extreme patience.
Tribes, including some in Marib, have had a strained relationship with the central government for decades.
Yet, Yemen is still a charming country to visit, a land of fascinating mountains, verdant valleys and barren deserts, but according to Nabil al-Faqeeh, the minister of tourism, its enemies want to destroy this heaven.
The optimal way to tour Yemen safely is to be part of a group. Official permits are required by tour operators to leave the capital, as they can arrange for transport.
The government will not send armed escorts if only a few are traveling. However, it will do so when there are plenty of tourists heading in the same direction on the same day, to protect Westerners from being kidnapped.
Threats against tourists have escalated from kidnapping to terrorist attacks. The provided security has been insufficient, and the tactic of going out in groups has apparently failed.
"Everything went upside down," explained Ahmed Salim, owner of a tourism company in Marib. "Tourism is the backbone of economy here, but the challenge is how to get the trust of tourists all over again."
Yemen has been trying to make the Queen of Sheba temple, known for the columns marking its entrance, a major tourist attraction, especially after it was renovated several years ago.
Marib, which is home to four powerful tribes with more than 70 branches, has earned a reputation for being wild and has been known to be a hotbed of support for al-Qaeda.
"In Marib, all hotels are not the perfect places to relax," said a soldier, dressed in yellow and brownish camouflage fatigues, stationed at the gate of a main hotel here. "If the hotel was left unguarded, tribesmen could easily grab tourists from their beds or maybe al-Qaeda comes to blow it up."
Western tourists are eager to come to Yemen, which is one of the oldest continuously inhabited regions in the world, according to the Bible and the Holy Koran. However, the uncomfortable relations between the government and tribes on one hand, and al-Qaeda's deadly threats on the other both stand as a barrier against that.
According to Yemeni folklore, Sana'a was built by the eldest son of Prophet Noah, "Shem" or "Sam" in Arabic; it may also have been the town of Azal described in the Old Testament. To this day, Sana'a is nicknamed "Sam City."
About 90 miles east of Sana'a lies another city connected with a Biblical character. Marib, former capital of Sheba (or Saba) — the mightiest kingdom of ancient Arabia — is the most famous archaeological site in modern Yemen.
The Koran, in a chapter called "Saba" describes the ancient kingdom this way:
"There was indeed a sign for Sheba in their dwelling place: Two gardens on the right hand and the left (as who should say), 'Eat of the provision of your Lord and render thanks to Him. A fair land and an indulgent Lord!' "
The Bible references a visit made by the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon in Jerusalem, where she arrived with camels bearing spices, gold and precious stones. "Never again did spices come in such quantity as that which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon," according to a passage in 1 Kings 10:10.
Old Marib, dotted with 1960's mud-brick buildings on top of a tiny hill, lies deserted. A few miles away are the remnants of the throne and the Mahram Bilqis (Temple of Bilqis). Bilqis is the name given to the Queen of Saba in Islamic traditional stories. Not far away lies what remains of the famous old dam of Bilqis, which was built in the 8th century B.C. and stood for well over 1,000 years.

Copyright © 1997-2007 Worldpress.org. All Rights Reserved.

The front page of the Yemen security forces magazine, ‘22 September,’ with photos of the suspects in the car bomb attack in July. Photo – EFE.

From typicallyspanish.com

National
Four suspects in Spanish tour group attack killed in Yemen
By m.p
Aug 8, 2007 - 9:10 PM

Four suspected members of Al Qaeda have been killed in clashes with security forces in the northeast of Yemen. It was part of an anti-terrorist operation following the suicide bomb attack in Mareb province early last month which killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemeni guides.
The news was confirmed to Reuters by the President of Yemen, Abdullah Saleh.
Reports from the Spanish news agency EFE on the operation in the Samraa area, south of Mareb, on Wednesday said another three people suspected of planning and carrying out the car bomb attack were taken into custody.
They quoted sources in the Yemen security forces saying one police officer was killed and three others were injured.
The operation came three days after a meeting between leaders of the tribe which lives in the region, the Obeida, and the country’s president. The tribal leaders are reported to have offered their help in capturing those responsible for the terrorist attack.
The 2nd August edition of the Yemen armed forces’ weekly magazine ’22 September’ has meanwhile published photos of the 10 terrorists who allegedly took part in the attack. Amongst them is a 20 year old named as Abdu Mohamad Sad Ahmad Reheqa, who is named as the suspected suicide bomber.
EFE names an Egyptian man, Ahmed Basiuni Dueider, who is accused of providing logistical support to the group, and who was killed in a shootout with Yemen security forces in the western part of the capital, Saná, on 4th July.

Four al-Qaeda suspects killed by Yemeni forces
Aug 8, 2007, 10:47 GMT
Sana'a, Yemen - Yemeni forces on Wednesday killed four suspected al-Qaeda militants involved in a car bomb attack that left eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis dead last month in north- central Yemen, security sources said.
Military helicopters took part in the operation that began with hunting down two cars carrying the suspects in the al-Samraa area near the provincial capital of Marib, some 190 kilometres north-east of the capital Sana'a, the sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Two anti-terrorism personnel were injured in the fighting with the suspects, they added.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Basgar, Algeria: Police roll up car bomb cell

2007-08-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

Foreign Terrorists killed in clashes with Algerian army

07/08/2007
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/news/awi/newsbriefs/general/2007/08/07/newsbrief-01
Six foreign fighters, including three Tunisians, two Libyans and a Moroccan were found dead among 30 terrorists killed in clashes with the Algerian army in Tébessa province, Liberte reported on Tuesday (August 7th). The security operation in the area started last Wednesday. The foreign fighters were officially identified by Algerian security services in collaboration with the services of the other Maghreb countries, where they had been wanted for several years for belonging to an international terrorist organisation. The paper quotes security sources as saying that some 70 terrorists are active in the area, including fifteen foreigners who are mostly Tunisians.
In related news, police in Bashar have dismantled a seven-person terrorist group suspected of plotting a suicide car bomb attack against a military barracks near the border with Morocco, El Khabar reported on Monday. Ash-Sharq al-Awsat put the number of arrested terrorists to 10 and quoted an Algerian intelligence source as saying that the group's movements had been followed for some time and that all of them belong to al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb. Weapons, CDs and fatwa recordings from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat were confiscated in the homes of the arrested.

Hilla, Iraq: Car bomb targets school

2007-08-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sawt al-Iraq reports that on Tuesday afternoon a car bomb targeted a school in Hilla that was associated with Grand Ayatollah Sistani. No casualties were mentioned, but it suffered damage. In Najaf during the past two months, schools and other institutions belonging to Sistani have been targeted and four of his aides have been assassinated.

Tal Afar, Iraq: Suicide truck blast kills 28, mostly children

2007-08-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

Samir Jawaad, 6, is treated Monday after a roadside bomb exploded in the Iraqi capital's Zafaraniya district.

Suicide truck blast kills 28, mostly children, in northern Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden truck into a village near the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar on Monday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 50 others, an Iraqi army official said.
At least 19 of those killed were children, Tal Afar Mayor Najim Abdullah al-Jabouri said.
The blast left a 10-foot crater in the ground and damaged 10 homes in the Shiite Turkmen village of Qubbak, about six miles (10 kilometers) northeast of Tal Afar, the army official told CNN.
In Baghdad, three roadside bombs detonated in various neighborhoods, killing at least 11 people and wounding 33 others, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
he deadliest of the blasts came in southeast Baghdad's Zafaraniya district, where eight people were killed and 16 were wounded.
Another bomb in the Ghadir neighborhood of southeastern Baghdad killed three people and wounded 11 others.
Political turmoil
Meanwhile, Cabinet ministers from the political party led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi boycotted a government meeting Monday, in the latest challenge to current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's year-old coalition.
Iyad Jamal al-Deen, a member of parliament from Allawi's Iraqi National List, said the party's four ministers have not resigned from the government, as six members of the leading Sunni Arab party did last week.
But he said al-Maliki's government has yet to meet the demands Allawi's party made in February, including the passage of legislation that would allow former members of executed dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to return to public life and other measures considered key to national reconciliation.
Allawi's list, composed of secular politicians from both the Sunni and Shiite communities, holds 25 seats in the 275-member Council of Representatives, Iraq's parliament.
It held five seats in al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated Cabinet when it took office, but Justice Minister Hashem al-Shibli resigned in March after complaining that sectarian and regional divisions were paralyzing the government.
The party still holds the state, communications, human rights and science and technology portfolios.
The boycott follows last Wednesday's withdrawal of the country's largest Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accord Front, from al-Maliki's government. The group held six seats in the 39-member Cabinet, including a deputy prime minister's post.
The Sunni bloc has been critical of legislative stalemates and the government's failure to pass national reconciliation bills. In announcing its withdrawal, it said the "arrogance" of al-Maliki's government has prevented any meaningful reforms that could bring about a political settlement of the country's four-year insurgency and widespread sectarian warfare.
The Sunni bloc's departure was the second political walkout from the al-Maliki government. Six Cabinet ministers from the bloc of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr left the government earlier this year.
Al-Maliki has appointed acting ministers to replace al-Sadr's followers, but has not yet appointed replacements for the Sunni ministers. The country's top Sunni politician, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, is staying in his post for the time being, and has told President Bush that he would keep his party engaged in the political process, his office said.
Other developments
• An explosion in Diyala province killed four U.S. soldiers and wounded 12 others Monday, the U.S. military said. The soldiers were part of the Army's Task Force Lightning, which has been battling insurgents around the provincial capital Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, since June. Another soldier died in Baghdad when a sophisticated roadside bomb known as an explosively formed penetrator hit his vehicle during combat on the city's west side, the U.S. command in Baghdad said. Monday's deaths bring the U.S. toll in Iraq to 3,668 since the March 2003. Seven Department of Defense contractors have also been killed.
• Iraq security forces found the bodies of five Iraqi soldiers Monday in the town of Sharqat, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Tikrit, police said. The soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes, were on leave from a base in Mosul and were heading to Baghdad in a private car.
• Mortar rounds landed in the Sunni town of Dhuluiya on Monday, killing six people and wounding 16 others, police said. Dhuluiya is about 55 miles (90 kilometers) north of Baghdad.
• U.S. and Iranian diplomats held a third round of security talks Monday morning at al-Maliki's office in central Baghdad, an official with al-Maliki's office said. The U.S. and Iran have had no formal relations since 1980, but Iraq has twice hosted meetings between Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iranian ambassador to Iraq, to discuss security issues in the war-ravaged nation. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend
CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Suicide Bomb Kills 28 in Northern Iraq
By HAMID AHMED 08.06.07, 12:29 PM ET
BAGHDAD -

A suicide bomber slammed his truck into a densely populated residential area in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar on Monday, killing at least 28 people, including 19 children, local authorities said.
The attack occurred in a crowded Shiite neighborhood of the religiously mixed city, about 250 miles northwest of Baghdad. The powerful blast caused houses to collapse in the morning as many families were getting ready for the day, and officials said the death toll could rise.
"Rescue teams are still searching for casualties among the rubble," said Ali Abbo, the head of the human rights committee.
The attacker drove a dump truck filled with explosives and covered with a layer of gravel, Brig. Gen. Najim Abdullah said, adding that at least 19 children were among the 28 killed. At least 40 others were wounded, said Brig. Gen. Rahim al-Jibouri, commander of Tal Afar police.
Abbo said the hospital in Tal Afar had been filled to capacity, forcing the ambulances to take many victims to Dahuk, about 45 miles to the north.
Several residents said the area is heavily populated, with four families sharing the same house in some cases, and boys and girls were playing hopscotch and marbles outside the houses at the time of the explosion.
Sheik Mohammed Qassim, 52, said the explosion shifted the furniture in his house and smashed all his windows.
"We rushed outside to see a big cloud of dust and smoke and shrapnel covering the street," he said, adding that a 16-foot-wide hole was left in the street. He said he and his neighbors then began searching for survivors in the rubble with their own hands.
Within an hour of the attack, authorities had imposed a curfew on the city, he said.
In Baghdad, meanwhile, lawmakers said that five Cabinet ministers loyal to Iraq's first post-Saddam leader will boycott government meetings, further deepening the political crisis that threatens to swamp the administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The boycott of the Iraqiya List ministers loyal to former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi leaves the government, at least temporarily, with no Sunni participants. It was a deep blow to al-Maliki's attempts to reconcile the country's majority Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds.
Iraqiya List lawmaker Iyad Jamal-Aldin said the Allawi bloc decided to boycott because al-Maliki has failed to respond to demands for political reform issued five months ago. He said the boycott was not tied to the decision last week by the top Sunni political bloc to pull its six ministers out of the 40-member Cabinet.
The Iraqi Accordance Front left the government Aug. 1 because of al-Maliki's failure to respond to a set of demands, including the release of security detainees not charged with specific crimes, the disbanding of militias and the participation of all groups represented in the government in dealing with security issues.
The latest boycott raises to 17 the number of government ministers who have either suspended membership or quit this year.
Also Monday, the United States and Iran held expert-level talks on security issues in Baghdad, more than two weeks after the ambassadors of the two archenemies agreed to establish a committee to discuss efforts to stabilize Iraq.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman, Lou Fintor, said the discussions were "frank and serious" and focused on the violence plaguing Iraq. "We agreed to continue our discussions at a date to be established through diplomatic channels," Fintor said.
Washington has accused Tehran of fueling the violence in Iraq by arming and training Shiite extremists, but it agreed during the July 24 ambassadorial talks to set up a security subcommittee to carry forward talks on restoring stability in the country.
Relations have been strained in recent months over Iran's nuclear program and support for radical militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, as well as by U.S. military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf.
Tehran's detention of four Iranian-Americans for allegedly conspiring against the government has further deepened tensions. Washington has called for their release and says the charges against them are false.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the U.S. second in command, said Sunday that rogue Shiite militiamen with Iranian weapons and training launched 73 percent of the attacks that killed or wounded American forces last month in Baghdad, nearly double the figure six months earlier.
Tehran has denied U.S. allegations that it is fueling the violence in Iraq.
In other violence, a U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded Sunday during fighting in eastern Baghdad, the military said. Eastern Baghdad is predominantly Shiite and has seen frequent attacks on U.S. forces by Shiite militia fighters.
Elsewhere, 60 bodies were found in a mainly Sunni area that had been under the control of al-Qaida in Iraq west of Baqouba, according to a Diyala provincial police official. U.S. and Iraqi forces recently have touted successes in an operation aimed at restoring control in the volatile region northeast of Baghdad.
At least 29 people were killed or found dead in other parts of Iraq, according to police who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to disclose the information.
Meanwhile, authorities girded for a major Shiite pilgrimage later this week in Baghdad to commemorate the 8th century death of Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, one of the 12 principal Shiite saints who is buried in a mosque in the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah.
The procession was struck by tragedy in 2005, when thousands of pilgrims panicked by rumors of a suicide bomber broke into a stampede on a bridge, leaving some 1,000 dead. Police later said no explosives were found on the bridge and poor crowd control and the climate of fear in Iraq were largely to blame. Sunni insurgents have often targeted such gatherings to foment sectarian war.
Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman for Baghdad, said security forces would intensify checkpoints during this week's pilgrimage and marchers would be banned from carrying weapons, cell phones and even bags. It was not clear those restrictions would be enforced.
Al-Moussawi said the government was also considering a driving ban but had not made a decision.
Associated Press Writer Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Truck bomb kills 27, flattens buildings
Article from: Reuters

From correspondents in Baghdad

August 06, 2007 04:17pm
A TRUCK bomb in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar has killed 27 people and flattened several houses.
The attack occurred in a crowded Shi'ite neighbourhood of the mixed city, about 420km northwest of Baghdad.
At least 28 others were wounded in the attack, said Brigadier General Rahim al-Jibouri, commander of Tal Afar police told the Associated Press.
The attacker drove a dump truck filled with explosives and covered with a thin layer of construction materials, Brig-Gen al-Jibouri said.
As thousands of US and Iraqi security forces focus on pushing insurgents out of Baghdad and other flashpoint cities under a five-month-old security plan, militants have increasingly resorted to attacks in villages and outlying rural areas.

Riga, Latvia: Car bomb target points finger

2007-08-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Car bomb target points finger

Aug 07, 2007
By Talis Saule Archdeacon
baltictimes.com

RIGA - State Revenue Service Customs Criminal Board head Vladimirs Vaskevics made a series of statements on Aug. 2 and 6 about the identity of attackers involved in a May 21 attempt on his life.
Vaskevics made the accusations in interviews with the Russian newspapers Cas and Telegraf. During the interviews, he pointed to a number of individuals and organizations as having played a part in the car bomb attack.
In his Aug. 2 interview with the Russian language daily Cas, Vaskevics accused Latvian businessman Raimonds Stalbergs of organizing the attack. “If the minister is speaking about it, I do not see any need in keeping it secret. I think Stalbergs is involved in the case. Although I doubt that he was alone. I think he could not organize such a murder attempt alone. I would like to underscore that in my opinion it is not a simple murder attempt, but terrorism,” he said.
The daily noted that Stalbergs is suspected of extortion of 7 million euros from Inara Vilkaste, Vaskevics’ former wife. Interior Minister Ivars Godmanis has mentioned Stalbergs as possibly having been involved in the bombing of Vaskevics car.
In an Aug 6 interview with the Russian language daily Telegraf, Vaskevics then listed a number of other organizations that he believes were involved. He said that he believes that the “criminal world rooted in state officials” are the real culprits behind the attack, adding that “some printed media” assisted in the attack. He went on to accuse the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau of having a role in the attack, saying that it is possible the criminal circles involved passed rumors on to the organization at the time of the attack.
Vaskevics also revealed during the interview that he had received threatening messages on his mobile phone sometime before the bombing attempt. “I received threats in an SMS message on my cell phone. I must admit that almost all threats were fulfilled. Professional work,” Vaskevics said.
In a reaction to the statements, representatives of the state police service told The Baltic Times that the criminal investigation into the bombing would not be affected by Vaskevics’ statements to the media.
“He can tell [them] whatever he wants to tell [them], but in this case we have our own investigation. Of course we will listen to whatever he has to say to the police, but what he says to the media is his own business,” they said. The police refused to provide any further comments due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
State revenue service head Dzintars Jakans said shortly after the bombing that the motive behind the attack was most likely his professional work, as large amounts of cigarettes, fuel and drugs were apprehended before the attack. Vaskevics, however, denied that this theory is a possibility in his interview with Cas.
Vaskevics was rushed to hospital on May 21 after a bomb went off in his Subaru while he was placing documents in the back seat. Approximately 200 grams of TNT were used in the attack, an amount that experts say would have been enough to “blow up a house” if used properly. Experts said that the bomb was probably not intended to kill the customs official.
Immediately following the attack he was in a serious condition with numerous fractures and burns, but is now recovering from the injuries. “I was recently discharged from the hospital. I am on rehabilitation at present. I am trying to do everything to regain my shape,” he said in his Aug 2 interview.

Mahmoudiyah, Iraq: car bomb kills 1 wounds 3

2007-08-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

Civilian killed in car bomb explosion in south of Baghdad
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-05 20:11

BAGHDAD, -- An Iraqi civilian was killed and three others wounded in a car bomb explosion in a town in south of Baghdad on August, an Interior Ministry source said.
"A car bomb rigged with explosives detonated in the afternoon on the main road on Mahmoudiyah town, 30 km south of Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding three others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Separately, clashes erupted in Baghdad's northern district of Kadhumiyah between Iraqi soldiers and Mahdi militants loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the source said, without providing details about casualties.
Meanwhile, a Sadr office source said that Sheikh Hazim al-Araji, head of Sadr office in Kadhumiyah, escaped an assassination attempt after gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniform attacked him while he left his office close to the Shiite sacred shrine of Imam al- Kadhum.
Five of Araji's office were wounded in the attack after Araji's bodyguards traded fire with the attackers, he said.

Jinan, China: MP kills mistress with car bomb

2007-08-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Former Chinese MP pleads guilty to mistress murder

Posted Tue Aug 7, 2007 3:26pm AEST

A former Chinese lawmaker has pleaded guilty to organising the murder of his young mistress with a car bomb.
Duan Yihe, 61, who was a delegate to the local parliament in Jinan, the capital of eastern China's Shandong province, stood trial in a regional court on Monday (local time).
Duan was arrested last month after a bomb explosion killed his 31-year-old mistress on July 9 in Jinan.
He pleaded guilty to hiring his nephew, a local policeman, to plant the bomb in his mistress' car.
Duan also pleaded guilty to taking bribes and swindling money of up to 1.69 million yuan ($A260,000).
He was further unable to account for another 1.3 million yuan ($A200,000) in his assets, which was beyond his reasonable income level, local media reported.
Duan's nephew Chen Zhi, and the boss of a local auto repair shop Chen Changbing, pleaded guilty to planting the bomb in the victim's car.
There was no mention on when the verdict would be delivered.
Duan has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and stripped of all his official posts.
The relationship between Duan and the mistress began in 1993, but turned sour in 1999, the report said.
- AFP

Chinese ex-official nabbed for murder

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:17:42
Source: Agencies
A former Chinese lawmaker Duan Yihe has been arrested in connection with the murder of his young mistress in a car bomb attack.
Duan Yihe, 61, director of the Standing Committee of the Jinan Municipal People's Congress, is alleged to have hired his nephew-in-law, a policeman, to plant a car bomb that killed Liu Haiping on July 9.
He had been trying to split up with Liu since 1999 due to what he called "conflicts" in their relationship, but Liu refused.
Duan also pleaded guilty to taking bribes and swindling money of up to 1.69 million yuan ($223,000).
He was further unable to account for another 1.3 million yuan in his assets, which was beyond his reasonable income level, the report said.
Duan has been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and stripped of all his official posts.
China's leaders have repeatedly acknowledged that corruption is rife within the Communist Party, and seedy accounts of mistresses often accompany the downfall of cadres who get nabbed for graft.
MB/BGH

Parachinar, Pakistan: Suicide Car Blast Kills 9

2007-08-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Local tribesmen examine the wreckage of a damaged car at the site of suicide bombing in Parachinar, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Peshawar, Pakistan on Saturday, August 4, 2007. A suicide attacker slammed an explosive-laden car into traffic at a busy bus station in northwestern Pakistan, unleashing a blast that killed nine people and wounded 35 others, officials said. (AP Photo/Dilawar Hussain)

Suicide Car Blast Kills 9 in Pakistan
By RIAZ KHAN 08.04.07, 6:24 AM ET

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -

A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb at a busy bus station in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least nine people and wounding 35 others, officials said.
Elsewhere in the region, four soldiers and 10 militants were killed in a checkpoint shootout.
The attacker rammed an explosive-laden car into another vehicle near a bus packed with passengers in Parachinar, a town in the North West Frontier Province, said Mohammed Kamal, a local police official.
"According to our information, it was a suicide attack, and the body parts of the attacker are being collected," Kamal said.
Sahabzada Mohammed Anis, the top government official in the town, said the dead and injured were rushed to hospitals in Parachinar, about 150 miles south of the provincial capital of Peshawar.
Mohammed Sultan, a doctor at the Parachinar Hospital, said they received five bodies after the blast, and that four of the injured died later. At least two other victims were still in critical condition, he said.
In the other attack Saturday, pro-Taliban militants assaulted a security checkpoint in Oblanki, a remote area of the North Waziristan tribal region, triggering a shootout that killed four soldiers and 10 militants, officials said. Five other soldiers were wounded, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad.
The security situation in Pakistan, especially in the tribal zone bordering Afghanistan, has been deteriorating for weeks, and almost daily attacks have killed more than 300 people.
Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, and it has deployed about 90,000 soldiers in its tribal regions since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to flush out remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida, who are believed to be hiding there.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is under increasing pressure from Washington to crack down in the tribal region.
The surge in violence has followed tribal leaders' withdrawal from a 2006 peace deal with the government, and amid widespread anger at an army raid of Islamabad's radical Red Mosque last month that left at least 102 people dead.
Arshad said Saturday's gunbattle raged for two hours and ended when the militants fled to nearby mountains with some of the bodies of slain associates.
A local intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said the assailants shouted "God is great" and used rockets, assault rifles and other munitions to target the checkpoint.
Two helicopter gunships were used to pursue the fleeing fighters, he said
Separately, militants fired eight rockets at a security checkpoint near Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, but caused no damage or casualties, the official said.
Pakistan used to be a main supporter of Afghanistan's former Taliban regime, but Musharraf switched sides after the attacks in the U.S. He has since said that his fight against terrorism would continue until it is reasonably assured that militancy, extremism and terrorism have been defeated.
Associated Press writers Bashirullah Khan in Miran Shah and Munir Ahmad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Book review: Car Bomb University

2007-08-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

Terror on Wheels

Destruction is also designed, Mike Davis explains in “Buda’s Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb,” his examination of the terror device (Verso, 2007). The book takes its name from the 1920 disaster in which an Italian anarchist named Mario Buda loaded a horse-drawn wagon with dynamite and exploded it on Wall Street in Manhattan, killing 40 people. Mr. Davis follows the evolution of the car bomb from the Balkans to Palestine, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Lebanon and, of course, Iraq. He reports that a pamphlet published by the Wisconsin Fish and Game Department helped student radicals build bombs in 1969. The formula for mixing fertilizer with fuel oil to blast out duck ponds was later employed by Timothy J. McVeigh in Oklahoma City. PHIL PATTON nytimes.com

Car Bomb University

A review of Buda’s Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb by Mike Davis.

BY FREE TIMES WRITERS

A review of Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb by Mike Davis

By Michael Carriere

To many Americans, the events of Sept. 11 seemed to have no historical precedent. The attacks appeared so devious, so unexpected, that even the most seasoned political commentators found themselves at a loss to adequately describe how such a terrible campaign came to exist. Even today, more than five years later, we still struggle to make sense of both the hows and the whys of that dreadful day. And, for the most part, we seem to be losing that struggle, as any sort of penetrating analysis has become overshadowed by shallow calls for blind revenge and appeals to a mawkish sentimentality.
Such an environment makes Mike Davis’ latest book, Buda’s Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb (Verso), necessary reading. Viewing the planes that hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon as “car bombs with wings,” Davis gives the reader the history that allowed for such a development to ever occur. Moving from America in 1920 (when Italian immigrant anarchist Mario Buda detonated the first modern car bomb on Wall Street), to Vietnam in the 1950s and ’60s, Lebanon, Colombia and Afghanistan in the ’80s and, of course, present-day Iraq, Davis profoundly illustrates why car bombs have come to be known as the “poor man’s Air Force.” They are inexpensive, pack a wallop and, unlike many forms of political protest, make a statement that “is almost impossible to deny or censor.” For a terrorist intent on creating an atmosphere of sheer panic, no tool is more grimly efficient.
By walking readers through the history of the modern car bomb, Davis’ work has the potential to inform current debates on U.S. foreign policy. One sees this most clearly in his example of the use of car bombs during the Vietnam War, a campaign that forced American troops, in the words of one contemporary Vietnamese observer, to live “behind huge wire nettings, resembling cages.” By 1966, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara was calling for the creation of the $130 million Long Binh complex, a self-contained “military suburb” 15 miles northeast of Hanoi. This compound included baseball diamonds, movie houses and air-conditioned bungalows, but its isolation spoke volumes. The United States was no longer seen as a pillar of strength in the region. As America retreats further and further into the Green Zone in Iraq today (as a result of similar car bomb attacks), it would behoove us as a nation to revisit the lessons this historical moment may reveal.
Yet Buda’s Wagon is perhaps most persuasive when revealing America’s role in the events leading up to 9/11. To Davis, America has played a major role in the evolution and dissemination of car bomb technology, a fact made apparent by former CIA director William Casey helping to found a “Car Bomb University” for the mujahedin attempting to drive the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. According to Davis, “It was the greatest transfer of terrorist technology in history: There was no need for angry Islamists to take car-bomb extension courses from Hezbollah when they could matriculate in a CIA-supported urban-sabotage course in Pakistan’s frontier provinces.” Among the proud alumni of such courses are Ramzi Yousef, who designed the first 1993 World Trade Center attack, and his uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11. With such training in mind, it becomes increasing clear that the airplanes that caused so much damage on that fateful day must now be seen as the new breed of car bomb.

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
From the world's first car bomb in 1920 (actually a horse-drawn wagon, exploded by anarchist Mario Buda in downtown Manhattan), to those incessantly exploding in Iraq, Davis shows how these "quotidian workhorses of urban terrorism" are responsible for "producing the most significant mutations in city form and urban lifestyle." Whether the product of fringe militancy or "clandestine state terrorism," Davis shows, the car bomb has a limitless capacity to create and sustain fear (largely because of low cost and technological accessibility). Given the weapon's ubiquity in modern times, a "brief history" scarcely allows room for the numerous theaters of conflict within which the car bomb has evolved, including Northern Ireland, Beirut, Israel, the U.S. and Colombia, let alone much political background on, say, the Tamil Tigers' bombing campaign in Sri Lanka. At its best, this is a gripping supplementary history, full of surprising, often contrarian facts and voices behind some of the most spectacular acts of violence on record. Despite clearly populist sympathies, Davis steers away from romanticism, keeping tight focus on the indiscriminate violence inflicted upon innocents. Packed with horrific and heartrending details, the book goes beyond the statistics to portray the human and moral costs of this gruesome political lever. Photos. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description
This brief history of the car bomb traces the political development of this most influential weapon of terror and resistance.

On a September day in 1920, an angry Italian anarchist named Mario Buda exploded a horse-drawn wagon filled with dynamite and iron scrap near New York's Wall Street, killing 40 people. Since Buda's prototype the car bomb has evolved into a "poor man's air force," a generic weapon of mass destruction that now craters cities from Bombay to Oklahoma City. In this gripping and disturbing history, Mike Davis traces its worldwide use and development, in the process exposing the role of state intelligence agencies—particularly those of the United States, Israel, India, and Pakistan—in globalizing urban terrorist techniques. Davis argues that it is the incessant impact of car bombs, rather than the more apocalyptic threats of nuclear or bio-terrorism, that is changing cities and urban lifestyles, as privileged centers of power increasingly surround themselves with "rings of steel" against a weapon that nevertheless seems impossible to defeat.

About the Author
MacArthur Fellow Mike Davis lives in San Diego. He is the author of Planet of Slums, Prisoners of the American Dream, City of Quartz, Ecology of Fear, Magical Urbanism, Late Victorian Holocausts, Dead Cities, and The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu.

Mike Davis' Buda’s Wagon - a brief history of the car bomb
by Simon Basketter
In the last week of January, car bombs killed over 150 people in Iraq.
Mike Davis, in his new book Buda’s Wagon: A brief history of the car bomb, recounts the background of these “workhorses of urban terrorism”.
Often the product of fringe militancy or “clandestine state terrorism”, Davis shows that the car bomb has a limitless capacity to create and sustain fear.
This is, he argues, largely because of its low cost and technological accessibility.
He writes, “Vehicle bombs are stealth weapons of surprising power and destructive efficiency.”
However, as Davis puts it, “Like even the ‘smartest’ of aerial bombs, car bombs are inherently indiscriminate. ‘Collateral damage’ is virtually inevitable.
“If the logic of an attack is to slaughter innocents and sow panic in the widest circle, to operate a ‘strategy of tension’, or just demoralise a society, car bombs are ideal.
“But they are equally effective at destroying the moral credibility of a cause and alienating its mass base of support, as both the IRA and the ETA in Spain have independently discovered.”
Davis steers away from romanticism, keeping tight focus on the indiscriminate violence inflicted upon innocents.
Packed with horrific details, the book goes beyond the statistics to portray the human and moral costs of this gruesome political lever.
He exposes the role of state intelligence agencies – particularly those of the US, Israel, India, and Pakistan – in globalising urban terrorist techniques.
He points out, “Anonymity, in addition, greatly recommends car bombs to those who like to disguise their handiwork, including the CIA, the Israeli Mossad, the Syrian GSD, the Iranian Pasdaran, and the Pakistani ISI – all of whom have caused unspeakable carnage with such devices.”
The Zionist Stern Gang brought the car bomb to the Middle East. In the 1950s the CIA brought it to Vietnam.
It was brought to Algeria by far-right French ex army officers trying to destroy the independence struggle. In each case, the weapon produced blowback when adopted by their enemies.
Davis argues at the end of the book, “Since there is little likelihood of socio-economic reforms or concessions to self determination that might lead to the large scale ‘decommissioning of minds’ the car bomb has a brilliant future.
“Every laser-guided missile falling on an apartment house in southern Beirut or mud-walled compound in Kandahar is a future suicide truck bomb headed for the centre of Tel Aviv or perhaps downtown Los Angeles.”

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April 13, 2006

A History of the Car Bomb (Part 1)
by Mike Davis
http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=8846
Buda's Wagon (1920)

"You have shown no pity to us! We will do likewise. We will dynamite you!"
- Anarchist warning (1919)
On a warm September day in 1920, a few months after the arrest of his comrades Sacco and Vanzetti, a vengeful Italian anarchist named Mario Buda parked his horse-drawn wagon near the corner of Wall and Broad Streets, directly across from J. P. Morgan Company. He nonchalantly climbed down and disappeared, unnoticed, into the lunchtime crowd. A few blocks away, a startled postal worker found strange leaflets warning: "Free the Political Prisoners or it will be Sure Death for All of You!" They were signed: "American Anarchist Fighters." The bells of nearby Trinity Church began to toll at noon. When they stopped, the wagon – packed with dynamite and iron slugs – exploded in a fireball of shrapnel.
"The horse and wagon were blown to bits," writes Paul Avrich, the celebrated historian of American anarchism who uncovered the true story. "Glass showered down from office windows, and awnings twelve stories above the street burst into flames. People fled in terror as a great cloud of dust enveloped the area. In Morgan's offices, Thomas Joyce of the securities department fell dead on his desk amid a rubble of plaster and walls. Outside scores of bodies littered the streets."
Buda was undoubtedly disappointed when he learned that J.P. Morgan himself was not among the 40 dead and more than 200 wounded – the great robber baron was away in Scotland at his hunting lodge. Nonetheless, a poor immigrant with some stolen dynamite, a pile of scrap metal, and an old horse had managed to bring unprecedented terror to the inner sanctum of American capitalism.
His Wall Street bomb was the culmination of a half-century of anarchist fantasies about avenging angels made of dynamite; but it was also an invention, like Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, far ahead of the imagination of its time. Only after the barbarism of strategic bombing had become commonplace, and when air forces routinely pursued insurgents into the labyrinths of poor cities, would the truly radical potential of Buda's "infernal machine" be fully realized.
Buda's wagon was, in essence, the prototype car bomb: the first use of an inconspicuous vehicle, anonymous in almost any urban setting, to transport large quantities of high explosive into precise range of a high-value target. It was not replicated, as far as I have been able to determine, until Jan. 12, 1947, when the Stern Gang drove a truckload of explosives into a British police station in Haifa, Palestine, killing four and injuring 140. The Stern Gang (a pro-fascist splinter group led by Avraham Stern that broke away from the right-wing Zionist paramilitary Irgun) would soon use truck and car bombs to kill Palestinians as well: a creative atrocity immediately reciprocated by British deserters fighting on the side of Palestinian nationalists.
Vehicle bombs thereafter were used sporadically – producing notable massacres in Saigon (1952), Algiers (1962), and Palermo (1963) – but the gates of hell were only truly opened in 1972, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) accidentally, so the legend goes, improvised the first ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO) car bomb. These new-generation bombs, requiring only ordinary industrial ingredients and synthetic fertilizer, were cheap to fabricate and astonishingly powerful: they elevated urban terrorism from the artisanal to the industrial level, and made possible sustained blitzes against entire city centers as well as the complete destruction of ferro-concrete skyscrapers and residential blocks.
The car bomb, in other words, suddenly became a semi-strategic weapon that, under certain circumstances, was comparable to airpower in its ability to knock out critical urban nodes and headquarters as well as terrorize the populations of entire cities. Indeed, the suicide truck bombs that devastated the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 prevailed – at least in a geopolitical sense – over the combined firepower of the fighter-bombers and battleships of the U.S. Sixth Fleet and forced the Reagan administration to retreat from Lebanon.
Hezbollah's ruthless and brilliant use of car bombs in Lebanon in the 1980s to counter the advanced military technology of the United States, France, and Israel soon emboldened a dozen other groups to bring their insurgencies and jihads home to the metropolis. Some of the new-generation car bombers were graduates of terrorism schools set up by the CIA and Pakistani intelligence (the ISI), with Saudi financing, in the mid-1980s to train mujahedin to terrorize the Russians then occupying Kabul. Between 1992 and 1998, 16 major vehicle bomb attacks in 13 different cities killed 1,050 people and wounded nearly 12,000. More importantly from a geopolitical standpoint, the IRA and Gama'a al-Islamiyya inflicted billions of dollars of damage on the two leading control-centers of the world economy – the city of London (1992, 1993, and 1996) and lower Manhattan (1993) – and forced a reorganization of the global reinsurance industry.
In the new millennium, 85 years after that first massacre on Wall Street, car bombs have become almost as generically global as iPods and HIV-AIDS, cratering the streets of cities from Bogota to Bali. Suicide truck bombs, once the distinctive signature of Hezbollah, have been franchised to Sri Lanka, Chechnya/Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait, and Indonesia. On any graph of urban terrorism, the curve representing car bombs is rising steeply, almost exponentially. U.S.-occupied Iraq, of course, is a relentless inferno with more than 9,000 casualties – mainly civilian – attributed to vehicle bombs in the two-year period between July 2003 and June 2005. Since then, the frequency of car-bomb attacks has dramatically increased: 140 per month in the fall of 2005, 13 in Baghdad on New Year's Day 2006 alone. If roadside bombs or IEDs are the most effective device against American armored vehicles, car bombs are the weapon of choice for slaughtering Shi'ite civilians in front of mosques and markets and instigating an apocalyptic sectarian war.
Under siege from weapons indistinguishable from ordinary traffic, the apparatuses of administration and finance are retreating inside "rings of steel" and "green zones," but the larger challenge of the car bomb seems intractable. Stolen nukes, sarin gas, and anthrax may be the "sum of our fears," but the car bomb is the quotidian workhorse of urban terrorism. Before considering its genealogy, however, it may be helpful to summarize those characteristics that make Buda's wagon such a formidable and undoubtedly permanent source of urban insecurity.
First, vehicle bombs are stealth weapons of surprising power and destructive efficiency. Trucks, vans, or even SUVs can easily transport the equivalent of several conventional 1,000-pound bombs to the doorstep of a prime target. Moreover, their destructive power is still evolving, thanks to the constant tinkering of ingenious bomb-makers. We have yet to face the full horror of semi-trailer-sized explosions with a lethal blast range of 200 yards or of dirty bombs sheathed in enough nuclear waste to render mid-Manhattan radioactive for generations.
Second, they are extraordinarily cheap: 40 or 50 people can be massacred with a stolen car and maybe $400 of fertilizer and bootlegged electronics. Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, bragged that his most expensive outlay was in long-distance phone calls. The explosive itself (one half ton of urea) cost $3,615 plus the $59 per day rental for a 10-foot-long Ryder van. In contrast, the cruise missiles that have become the classic American riposte to overseas terrorist attacks cost $1.1 million each.
Third, car bombings are operationally simple to organize. Although some still refuse to believe that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols didn't have secret assistance from a government or dark entity, two men in the proverbial phone booth – a security-guard and a farmer – successfully planned and executed the horrendous Oklahoma City bombing with instructional books and information acquired from the gun-show circuit.
Fourth, like even the "smartest" of aerial bombs, car bombs are inherently indiscriminate: "Collateral damage" is virtually inevitable. If the logic of an attack is to slaughter innocents and sow panic in the widest circle, to operate a "strategy of tension," or just to demoralize a society, car bombs are ideal. But they are equally effective at destroying the moral credibility of a cause and alienating its mass base of support, as both the IRA and the ETA in Spain have independently discovered. The car bomb is an inherently fascist weapon.
Fifth, car bombs are highly anonymous and leave minimal forensic evidence. Buda quietly went home to Italy, leaving William Burns, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Bureau of Investigation (later, to be renamed the FBI) to make fools of themselves as they chased one false lead after another for a decade. Most of Buda's descendants have also escaped identification and arrest. Anonymity, in addition, greatly recommends car bombs to those who like to disguise their handiwork, including the CIA, the Israeli Mossad, the Syrian GSD, the Iranian Pasdaran, and the Pakistani ISI – all of whom have caused unspeakable carnage with such devices.
Preliminary Detonations (1948-63)
"Reds' Time Bombs Rip Saigon Center"
- New York Times' headline (Jan. 10, 1952)
The members of the Stern Gang were ardent students of violence, self-declared Jewish admirers of Mussolini who steeped themselves in the terrorist traditions of the pre-1917 Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party, the Macedonian IMRO, and the Italian Blackshirts. As the most extreme wing of the Zionist movement in Palestine – "fascists" to the Haganah and "terrorists" to the British – they were morally and tactically unfettered by considerations of diplomacy or world opinion. They had a fierce and well-deserved reputation for the originality of their operations and the unexpectedness of their attacks. On Jan. 12, 1947, as part of their campaign to prevent any compromise between mainstream Zionism and the British Labor government, they exploded a powerful truck bomb in the central police station in Haifa, resulting in 144 casualties. Three months later, they repeated the tactic in Tel Aviv, blowing up the Sarona police barracks (five dead) with a stolen postal truck filled with dynamite.
In December 1947, following the UN vote to partition Palestine, full-scale fighting broke out between Jewish and Arab communities from Haifa to Gaza. The Stern Gang, which rejected anything less than the restoration of a biblical Israel, now gave the truck bomb its debut as a weapon of mass terror. On Jan. 4, 1948, two men in Arab dress drove a truck ostensibly loaded with oranges into the center of Jaffa and parked it next to the New Seray Building, which housed the Palestinian municipal government as well as a soup-kitchen for poor children. They cooly lingered for coffee at a nearby café before leaving a few minutes ahead of the detonation.
"A thunderous explosion," writes Adam LeBor in his history of Jaffa, "then shook the city. Broken glass and shattered masonry blew out across Clock Tower Square. The New Seray's centre and side walls collapsed in a pile of rubble and twisted beams. Only the neo-classical façade survived. After a moment of silence, the screams began, 26 were killed, hundreds injured. Most were civilians, including many children eating at the charity kitchen." The bomb missed the local Palestinian leadership who had moved to another building, but the atrocity was highly successful in terrifying residents and setting the stage for their eventual flight.
It also provoked the Palestinians to cruel repayment in kind. The Arab High Committee had its own secret weapon – blond-haired British deserters, fighting on the side of the Palestinians. Nine days after the Jaffa bombing, some of these deserters, led by Eddie Brown, a former police corporal whose brother had been murdered by the Irgun, commandeered a postal delivery truck which they packed with explosives and detonated in the center of Haifa's Jewish quarter, injuring 50 people. Two weeks later, Brown, driving a stolen car and followed by a five-ton truck driven by a Palestinian in a police uniform, successfully passed through British and Haganah checkpoints and entered Jerusalem's New City. The driver parked in front of the Palestine Post, lit the fuse, and then escaped with Brown in his car. The newspaper headquarters was devastated with one dead and 20 wounded.
According to a chronicler of the episode, Abdel Kader el-Husseini, the military leader of the Arab Higher Committee, was so impressed by the success of these operations – inadvertently inspired by the Stern Gang – that he authorized an ambitious sequel employing six British deserters. "This time three trucks were used, escorted by a stolen British armored car with a young blond man in police uniform standing in the turret." Again, the convoy easily passed through checkpoints and drove to the Atlantic Hotel on Ben Yehuda Street. A curious night watchman was murdered when he confronted the gang, who then drove off in the armored car after setting charges in the three trucks. The explosion was huge and the toll accordingly grim: 46 dead and 130 wounded.
The window of opportunity for such attacks – the possibility of passing from one zone to another – was rapidly closing as Palestinians and Jews braced for all-out warfare, but a final attack prefigured the car bomb's brilliant future as a tool of assassination. On March 11, the official limousine of the American consul-general, flying the stars and stripes and driven by the usual chauffeur, was admitted to the courtyard of the heavily-guarded Jewish Agency compound. The driver, a Christian Palestinian named Abu Yussef, hoped to kill Zionist leader David Ben Gurion, but the limousine was moved just before it exploded; nonetheless, 13 officials of the Jewish Foundation Fund died and 40 were injured.
This brief but furious exchange of car bombs between Arabs and Jews would enter into the collective memory of their conflict, but would not be resumed on a large scale until Israel and its Phalangist allies began to terrorize West Beirut with bombings in 1981: a provocation that would awake a Shi'ite sleeping dragon. Meanwhile, the real sequel was played out in Saigon: a series of car and motorcycle bomb atrocities in 1952-53 that Graham Greene incorporated into the plot of his novel, The Quiet American, and which he portrayed as secretly orchestrated by his CIA operative Alden Pyle, who is conspiring to substitute a pro-American party for both the Viet-Minh (upon whom the actual bombings would be blamed) and the French (who are unable to guarantee public safety).
The real-life Quiet American was the counterinsurgency expert Col. Edward Lansdale (fresh from victories against peasant Communists in the Philippines), and the real leader of the "Third Force" was his protégé, Gen. Trinh Minh The of the Cao Dai religious sect. There is no doubt, writes The's biographer, that the general "instigated many terrorist outrages in Saigon, using clockwork plastic charges loaded into vehicles, or hidden inside bicycle frames with charges. Notably, the Li An Minh [The's army] blew up cars in front of the Opera House in Saigon in 1952. These 'time-bombs' were reportedly made of 50-kg ordnance, used by the French air force, unexploded and collected by the Li An Minh."
Lansdale was dispatched to Saigon by Allen Dulles of the CIA some months after the Opera atrocity (hideously immortalized in a Life photographer's image of the upright corpse of a rickshaw driver with both legs blown off), which was officially blamed on Ho Chi Minh. Although Lansdale was well aware of Gen. The's authorship of these sophisticated attacks (the explosives were hidden in false compartments next to car gas tanks), he nonetheless championed the Cao Dai warlord as a patriot in the mould of Washington and Jefferson. After either French agents or Viet-Minh cadre assassinated The, Lansdale eulogized him to a journalist as "a good man. He was moderate, he was a pretty good general, he was on our side, and he cost twenty-five thousand dollars."

Whether by emulation or reinvention, car bombs showed up next in another war-torn French colony – Algiers during the last days of the pied noirs or French colonial settlers. Some of the embittered French officers in Saigon in 1952-53 would also become cadres of the Organisation de l'Armé Secrete (OAS), led by General Raoul Salan. In April 1961, after the failure of its uprising against French President Charles de Gaulle, who was prepared to negotiate a settlement with the Algerian rebels, the OAS turned to terrorism – a veritable festival de plastique – with all the formidable experience of its veteran paratroopers and legionnaires. Its declared enemies included De Gaulle himself, French security forces, communists, peace activists (including philosopher and activist Jean-Paul Sartre), and especially Algerian civilians. The most deadly of their car bombs killed 62 Muslim stevedores lining up for work at the docks in Algiers in May 1962, but succeeded only in bolstering the Algerian resolve to drive all the pied-noirs into the sea.
The next destination for the car bomb was Palermo, Sicily. Angelo La Barbera, the Mafia capo of Palermo-Center, undoubtedly paid careful attention to the Algerian bombings and may even have borrowed some OAS expertise when he launched his devastating attack on his Mafia rival, "Little Bird" Greco, in February 1963. Greco's bastion was the town of Ciaculli outside Palermo where he was protected by an army of henchmen. La Barbera surmounted this obstacle with the aid of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. "This dainty four-door family saloon," writes John Dickie in his history of the Cosa Nostra, "was one of the symbols of Italy's economic miracle – 'svelte, practical, comfortable, safe, and convenient,' as the adverts proclaimed." The first explosive-packed Giulietta destroyed Greco's house; the second, a few weeks later, killed one of his key allies. Greco's gunmen retaliated, wounding La Barbera in Milan in May; in response, La Barbera's ambitious lieutenants Pietro Torreta and Tommaso Buscetta (later to become the most famous of all Mafia pentiti) unleashed more deadly Giuliettas.
On June 30, 1963, "the umpteenth Giulietta stuffed with TNT" was left in one of the tangerine groves that surround Ciaculli. A tank of butane with a fuse was clearly visible in the back seat. A Giulietta had already exploded that morning in a nearby town, killing two people, so the carabinieri were cautious and summoned army engineers for assistance. "Two hours later two bomb disposal experts arrived, cut the fuse, and pronounced the vehicle safe to approach. But when Lt. Mario Malausa made to inspect the contents of the boot, he detonated the huge quantity of TNT it contained. He and six other men were blown to pieces by an explosion that scorched and stripped the tangerine trees for hundreds of metres around." (The site is today marked by one of the several monuments to bomb victims in the Palermo region.)
Before this "First Mafia War" ended in 1964, the Sicilian population had learned to tremble at the very sight of a Giulietta, and car bombings had become a permanent part of the Mafia repertoire. They were employed again during an even bloodier second Mafia war or Matanza in 1981-83, then turned against the Italian public in the early 1990s after the conviction of Cosa Nostra leaders in a series of sensational "maxi-trials." The most notorious of these blind-rage car bombings – presumably organized by "Tractor" Provenzano and his notorious Corleonese gang – was the explosion in May 1993 that damaged the world-famous Uffizi Gallery in the heart of Florence and killed five pedestrians, injuring 40 others.
"The Black Stuff"
"We could feel the rattle where we stood. Then we knew we were onto something, and it took off from there."
- IRA veteran talking about the first ANFO car bomb
The first-generation car bombs – Jaffa-Jerusalem, Saigon, Algiers, and Palermo – were deadly enough (with a maximum yield usually equal to several hundred pounds of TNT), but required access to stolen industrial or military explosives. Journeymen bomb-makers, however, were aware of a homemade alternative – notoriously dangerous to concoct, but offering almost unlimited vistas of destruction at a low cost. Ammonium nitrate is a universally available synthetic fertilizer and industrial ingredient with extraordinary explosive properties, as witnessed by such accidental cataclysms as an explosion at a chemical plant in Oppau, Germany, in 1921 – the shock waves were felt 150 miles away and only a vast crater remained where the plant had been – and a Texas City disaster in 1947 (600 dead and 90 percent of the town structurally damaged). Ammonium nitrate is sold in half-ton quantities affordable by even the most cash-strapped terrorist, but the process of mixing it with fuel oil to create an ANFO explosive is more than a little tricky as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) found out in late 1971.
"The car bomb was [re]discovered entirely by accident," explains journalist Ed Maloney in his The Secret History of the IRA, "but its deployment by the Belfast IRA was not. The chain of events began in late December 1971 when the IRA's quartermaster general, Jack McCabe, was fatally injured in an explosion caused when an experimental, fertilizer-based homemade mix known as the 'black stuff' exploded as he was blending it with a shovel in his garage on the northern outskirts of Dublin. [Provisionals'] GHQ warned that the mix was too dangerous to handle, but Belfast had already received a consignment, and someone had the idea of disposing of it by dumping it in a car with a fuse and a timer and leaving it somewhere in downtown Belfast." The resulting explosion made a big impression upon the Belfast leadership.
The "black stuff" – which the IRA soon learned how to handle safely – freed the underground army from supply-side constraints: the car bomb enhanced destructive capacity yet reduced the likelihood of Volunteers being arrested or accidentally blown up. The ANFO-car bomb combination, in other words, was an unexpected military revolution, but one fraught with the potential for political and moral disaster. "The sheer size of the devices," emphasizes Moloney, "greatly increased the risk of civilian deaths in careless or bungled operations."
The IRA Army Council led by Sean MacStiofain, however, found the new weapon's awesome capabilities too seductive to worry about ways in which its grisly consequences might backfire on them. Indeed, car bombs reinforced the illusion, shared by most of the top leadership in 1972, that the IRA was one final military offensive away from victory over the English government. Accordingly, in March 1972, two car bombs were sent into Belfast city center followed by garbled phone warnings that led police to inadvertently evacuate people in the direction of one of the explosions: Five civilians were killed along with two members of the security forces. Despite the public outcry as well as the immediate traffic closure of the Royal Avenue shopping precinct, the Belfast Brigade's enthusiasm for the new weapon remained undiminished and the leadership plotted a huge attack designed to bring normal commercial life in Northern Ireland to an abrupt halt. MacStiofain boasted of an offensive of "the utmost ferocity and ruthessness" that would wreck the "colonial infrastructure."
On Friday, July 21, IRA Volunteers left 20 car bombs or concealed charges on the periphery of the now-gated city center, with detonations timed to follow one another at approximately five-minute intervals. The first car bomb exploded in front of the Ulster Bank in north Belfast and blew both legs off a Catholic passerby; successive explosions damaged two railroad stations, the Ulster bus depot on Oxford Street, various railway junctions, and a mixed Catholic-Protestant residential area on Cavehill Road. "At the height of the bombing, the center of Belfast resembled a city under artillery fire; clouds of suffocating smoke enveloped buildings as one explosion followed another, almost drowning out the hysterical screams of panicked shoppers." A series of telephoned IRA warnings just created more chaos, as civilians fled from one explosion only to be driven back by another. Seven civilians and two soldiers were killed and more than 130 people were seriously wounded.
Although not an economic knockout punch, "Bloody Friday" was the beginning of a "no business as usual" bombing campaign that quickly inflicted significant damage on the Northern Ireland economy, particularly its ability to attract private and foreign investment. The terror of that day also compelled authorities to tighten their anti-car-bomb "ring of steel" around the Belfast city center, making it the prototype for other fortified enclaves and future "green zones." In the tradition of their ancestors, the Fenians, who had originated dynamite terrorism in the 1870s, Irish Republicans had again added new pages to the textbook of urban guerrilla warfare. Foreign aficionados, particularly in the Middle East, undoubtedly paid close attention to the twin innovations of the ANFO car bomb and its employment in a protracted bombing campaign against an entire urban-regional economy.
What was less well understood outside of Ireland, however, was the enormity of the wound that the IRA's car bombs inflicted on the Republican movement itself. Bloody Friday destroyed much of the IRA's heroic-underdog popular image, produced deep revulsion amongst ordinary Catholics, and gave the British government an unexpected reprieve from the worldwide condemnation it had earned for the Blood Sunday massacre in Derry and internment without trial. Moreover, it gave the Army the perfect pretext to launch massive Operation Motorman: 13,000 troops led by Centurian tanks entered the "no-go" areas of Derry and Belfast and reclaimed control of the streets from the Republican movement. The same day, a bloody, bungled car bomb attack on the village of Claudy in County Londonderry killed eight people. (Protestant Loyalist paramilitary groups – who never bothered with warnings and deliberately targeted civilians on the other side – would claim Bloody Friday and Claudy as sanctions for their triple car bomb attack on Dublin during afternoon rush hour on May 17, 1974, which left 33 dead, the highest one-day toll in the course of the "Troubles.")
The Belfast debacle led to a major turnover in IRA leadership, but failed to dispel their almost cargo-cult-like belief in the capacity of car bombs to turn the tide of battle. Forced onto the defensive by Motorman and the backlash to Bloody Friday, they decided to strike at the very heart of British power instead. The Belfast Brigade planned to send 10 car bombs to London via the Dublin-Liverpool ferry using fresh volunteers with clean records, including two young sisters, Marion and Dolours Price. Snags arose and only four cars arrived in London; one of these was detonated in front of the Old Bailey, another in the center of Whitehall, close to the prime minister's house at Number 10 Downing Street. One hundred and eighty Londoners were injured and one was killed. Although the eight IRA bombers were quickly caught, they were acclaimed in the West Belfast ghettoes and the operation became a template for future Provisional bombing campaigns in London, culminating in the huge explosions that shattered the City of London and unnerved the world insurance industry in 1992 and 1993.
Hell's Kitchen (the 1980s)
"We are soldiers of God and we crave death. We are ready to turn Lebanon into another Vietnam."
- Hezbollah communiqué
Never in history has a single city been the battlefield for so many contesting ideologies, sectarian allegiances, local vendettas, or foreign conspiracies and interventions as Beirut in the early 1980s. Belfast's triangular conflicts – three armed camps (Republican, Loyalist, and British) and their splinter groups – seemed straightforward compared to the fractal, Russian-doll-like complexity of Lebanon's civil wars (Shi'ite versus Palestinian, for example) within civil wars (Maronite versus Muslim and Druze) within regional conflicts (Israel versus Syria) and surrogate wars (Iran versus the United States) within, ultimately, the Cold War. In the fall of 1971, for example, there were 58 different armed groups in West Beirut alone. With so many people trying to kill each other for so many different reasons, Beirut became to the technology of urban violence what a tropical rainforest is to the evolution of plants.
Car bombs began to regularly terrorize Muslim West Beirut in the fall of 1981, apparently as part of an Israeli strategy to evict the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from Lebanon. The Israeli secret service, the Mossad, had previously employed car bombs in Beirut to assassinate Palestinian leaders (novelist Ghassan Kanfani in July 1972, for example), so no one was especially surprised when evidence emerged that Israel was sponsoring the carnage. According to Middle Eastern scholar Rashid Khalidi, "A sequence of public confessions by captured drivers made clear these [car bombings] were being utilized by the Israelis and their Phalangist allies to increase the pressure on the PLO to leave."
Journalist Robert Fisk was in Beirut when an "enormous [car] bomb blew a 45-foot-crater in the road and brought down an entire block of apartments. The building collapsed like a concertina, crushing more than 50 of its occupants to death, most of them Shia refugees from southern Lebanon." Several of the car bombers were captured and confessed that the bombs had been rigged by the Shin Bet, the Israeli equivalent of the FBI or the British Special Branch. But if such atrocities were designed to drive a wedge of terror between the PLO and Lebanese Muslims, they had the inadvertent result (as did the Israeli air force's later cluster-bombing of civilian neighborhoods) of turning the Shias from informal Israeli allies into shrewd and resolute enemies.
The new face of Shi'ite militancy was Hezbollah, formed in mid-1982 out of an amalgamation of Islamic Amal with other pro-Khomeini groupuscules. Trained and advised by the Iranian Pasdaran in the Bekaa Valley, Hezbollah was both an indigenous resistance movement with deep roots in the Shi'ite slums of southern Beirut and, at the same time, the long arm of Iran's theocratic revolution. Although some experts espouse alternative theories, Islamic Amal/Hezbollah is usually seen as the author, with Iranian and Syrian assistance, of the devastating attacks on American and French forces in Beirut during 1983. Hezbollah's diabolic innovation was to marry the IRA's ANFO car bombs to the kamikaze – using suicide drivers to crash truckloads of explosives into the lobbies of embassies and barracks in Beirut, and later into Israeli checkpoints and patrols in southern Lebanon.
The United States and France became targets of Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian patrons after the Multinational Force in Beirut, which supposedly had landed to allow for the safe evacuation of the PLO from that city, evolved into the informal and then open ally of the Maronite government in its civil war against the Muslim-Druze majority. The first retaliation against President Reagan's policy occurred on April 18, 1983, when a pickup truck carrying 2,000 pounds of ANFO explosives suddenly swerved across traffic into the driveway of the oceanfront U.S. embassy in Beirut. The driver gunned the truck past a startled guard and crashed through the lobby door. "Even by Beirut standards," writes former CIA agent Robert Baer, "it was an enormous blast, shattering windows. The USS Guadalcanal, anchored five miles off the coast, shuddered from the tremors. At ground zero, the center of the seven-story embassy lifted up hundreds of feet into the air, remained suspended for what seemed an eternity, and then collapsed in a cloud of dust, people, splintered furniture, and paper."
Whether as a result of superb intelligence or sheer luck, the bombing coincided with a visit to the embassy of Robert Ames, the CIA's national intelligence officer for the Near East. It killed him ("his hand was found floating a mile offshore, the wedding ring still on his finger") and all six members of the Beirut CIA station. "Never before had the CIA lost so many officers in a single attack. It was a tragedy from which the agency would never recover." It also left the Americans blind in Beirut, forcing them to scrounge for intelligence scraps from the French embassy or the British listening station offshore on Cyprus. (A year later, Hezbollah completed their massacre of the CIA in Beirut when they kidnapped and executed the replacement station chief, William Buckley.) As a result, the Agency never foresaw the coming of the mother-of-all-vehicle-bomb attacks.
Over the protests of Col. Gerahty, the commander of the U.S. Marines onshore in Beirut, Ronald Reagan's national security adviser, Robert McFarlane, ordered the Sixth Fleet in September to open fire on Druze militia who were storming Lebanese Army Forces positions in the hills above Beirut – bringing the United States into the conflict brazenly on the side of the reactionary Amin Gemayel government. A month later, a five-ton Mercedes dump truck hurled past sandbagged Marine sentries and smashed through a guardhouse into the ground floor of the "Beirut Hilton," the U.S. military barracks in a former PLO headquarters next to the international airport. The truck's payload was an incredible 12,000 pounds of high explosives. "It is said to have been the largest non-nuclear blast ever [deliberately] detonated on the face of the earth." "The force of the explosion," continues Eric Hammel in his history of the Marine landing force, "initially lifted the entire four-story structure, shearing the bases of the concrete support columns, each measuring 15 feet in circumference and reinforced by numerous one and three quarter inch steel rods. The airborne building then fell in upon itself. A massive shock wave and ball of flaming gas was hurled in all directions." The Marine (and Navy) death toll of 241 was the Corps' highest single-day loss since Iwo Jima in 1945.
Meanwhile, another Hezbollah kamikaze had crashed his explosive-laden van into the French barracks in West Beirut, toppling the eight-story structure, killing 58 soldiers. If the airport bomb repaid the Americans for saving Gemayal, this second explosion was probably a response to the French decision to supply Saddam Hussein with Super-Etendard jets and Exocet missiles to attack Iran. The hazy distinction between local Shi'ite grievances and the interests of Tehran was blurred further when two members of Hezbollah joined with 18 Iraqi Shias to truck-bomb the U.S. embassy in Kuwait in mid-December. The French embassy, the control tower at the airport, the main oil refinery and an expatriate residential compound were also targeted in what was clearly a stern warning to Iran's enemies.
Following another truck bombing against the French in Beirut as well as deadly attacks on Marine outposts, the Multinational Force began to withdraw from Lebanon in February 1984. It was Reagan's most stunning geopolitical defeat. In the impolite phrase of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, "Essentially we turned tail and ran and left Lebanon." American power in Lebanon, added Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, was neutralized by "just 12,000 pounds of dynamite and a stolen truck."
[This article – a preliminary sketch for a book-length study – will appear next year in Indefensible Space: The Architecture of the National Insecurity State (Routledge 2007), edited by Michael Sorkin.]

Mike Davis is the author most recently of The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu (The New Press) and Planet of Slums (Verso). He lives in San Diego.

Copyright 2006 Mike Davis

Motherwell, South Africa: car bomber to appeal ruling

2007-08-03T14:03:00.000-07:00

South African High Court in Pretoria (Associated Press)

Motherwell bomber to appeal ruling
August 03 2007 at 05:37PM

Motherwell bomber Wal du Toit was on Friday granted leave to appeal a High Court ruling that he has no right to return to his police job despite getting amnesty.
The challenge will be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloeomfontein.
Pretoria High Court judge Fanie Mynhardt, who granted the leave, in June dismissed with costs Du Toit's application to be reinstated with retroactive effect dating back 11 years.
Du Toit was a brigadier and national commander of the security police's technical unit when he was dismissed from his post in 1996.
In June that year he and fellow security policemen Gideon Nieuwoudt and Martinus Ras were convicted and sentenced to 15, 20 and 10 years' imprisonment respectively for their role in the car bomb murders of three fellow security police officer and a civilian at Motherwell outside Port Elizabeth in 1989.
Nieuwoudt has since died of cancer.
Du Toit applied for amnesty along with other security police officers for the Motherwell incident, claiming the bombing was politically motivated.
An amnesty committee turned them down in 1999, but Du Toit successfully appealed the ruling in the Cape High Court, after which a new committee did grant amnesty in December 2005.
Du Toit maintained in his reinstatement application this year that the amnesty had wiped his slate clean and that he was entitled to be reinstated as if he had never been convicted and sentenced for the Motherwell incident.
He said he also relied on an undertaking by former national police commissioner George Fivaz, who had signed a letter in December 1999 informing Du Toit that he would be reinstated if he was granted amnesty.
However Fivaz' successor Jackie Selebi said Fivaz had received incorrect legal advice and that the Police Act allowed reinstatement only where there had been an acquittal or absolution.
Judge Mynhardt said in June that Du Toit's services had been legally terminated after his conviction and sentence, and in terms of the Police Act he could be reinstated only if he applied within 30 days after his appeal against his conviction and sentence had succeeded and he was acquitted, or his sentence had been changed to a non-custodial one.
In Du Toit's case, such an appeal was never heard, the judge said.
He said that in terms of the 1995 Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, amnesty only erased a conviction and sentence, and did not stipulate that the crime should also be regarded as never having been committed.
Counsel for Du Toit argued before Mynhardt this week that he had erred in his findings and should have found that amnesty resulted in the act being considered as never having been committed at all.
It was argued that his findings would mean that amnesty was no more than a mere indemnity against criminal and civil steps. - Sapa

Glasgow, UK: Airport terror attack Jeep driver dies of his burns

2007-08-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

The scene of the attack on the terminal building at Glasgow airport in Scotland in this July 1, 2007 file photo. Indian engineer Kafeel Ahmed who suffered severe burns when he allegedly mounted an al Qaeda attack on the Glasgow airport has died in hospital, British police said on Friday. REUTERS/Chris McNulty/Daily Mail/Pool

Airport terror attack Jeep driver dies of his burns
WILLIAM TINNING August 03 2007

A terror suspect being treated for severe burns after the Glasgow Airport attack has died in hospital, police said last night.
Kafeel Ahmed, 27, was being treated in a specialist burns unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary following the attack on Saturday June 30. It is understood he had been under armed guard.
A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: "We can confirm that the man seriously injured during the course of the incident at Glasgow Airport on Saturday June 30 has died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
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"The man died earlier this evening and the circumstances surrounding the death have been reported to the procurator- fiscal."
Ahmed was one of two men held at the airport after a Jeep was rammed repeatedly into the main terminal building and burst into flames.
The would-be suicide bomber was wrestled to the ground by police and members of the public after setting himself on fire, having jumped from the vehicle. The incident happened a day after police found two unexploded car bombs in central London.
Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah, who was believed to be a passenger in the vehicle at Glasgow Airport, was charged on July 6 with conspiring to cause explosions.
Ahmed, from Bangalore, India, had suffered third-degree burns to 90% of his body when arrested. He was initially treated at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley, but was transferred to Glasgow Royal Infirmary within a few days of the attack.
The severity of his injuries led some medical experts to predict he would not survive. Some said he might not even live a week after the incident.
In the days after the attack, one of the medical team who treated him said his condition was "beyond repair".
Speaking anonymously to a news organisation, he said: "The prognosis is not good and he is not likely to survive. He has third-degree burns over most of his torso and limbs. It is beyond repair and because he has lost so much skin, he is now vulnerable to infection and won't be able to fight it."
One report later quoted senior police sources as saying that Ahmed was being kept alive on the orders of MI5.
They claimed the security services wanted him alive to avoid a backlash from radical Muslims.
It is understood he was on a life-support machine in hospital. Police and medical sources claimed the decision to keep him alive was more to do with politics than clinical judgment.
One medical source estimated the combined cost of round-the-clock security and medical treatment for Ahmed since the attack had reached £150,000.
He had been in a coma since the incident. Most burns experts believed he was effectively dead. Last week it emerged that special shark-skin implants costing £20,000 were being used to treat his injuries.
It was initially thought he was a medical doctor. However, it was later confirmed he was an engineer who had a doctorate in aeronautical engineering. He had studied at Queen's University, Belfast, and Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge.
Seven men and one woman were initially held over the car-bomb attack on Glasgow and the attempted attacks in central London.
As well as Mr Abdullah, those arrested included Mohammed Asha, stopped on the M6 in Cheshire on June 30. He was also charged with conspiracy to cause explosions. Two trainee doctors, arrested at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley on July 1, were later freed without charge.
© All rights reserved.

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Northern Ireland linked terrorist dies

utvlive.com
Kafeel Ahmed, the terrorist suspect who studied at Queens University, Belfast has died in hospital.
Kafeel Ahmed, 27, was being cared for at a specialist unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary after the incident on June 30.
Originally from Bangalore, India, Ahmed had studied aeronautical engineering at Queen`s in 2001.
He then worked at the university as a research assistant spending some three years in Northern Ireland.
A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: "We can confirm that the man seriously injured during the course of the incident at Glasgow Airport on Saturday June 30 has died in Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
"The circumstances surrounding the death have been reported to the procurator fiscal."
Ahmed was under police guard at GRI after being transferred from The Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
The engineer, from Bangalore, India, was one of two men detained at the airport after a burning car was driven into the terminal building.
Fellow suspect Bilal Abdullah, 27, an Iraqi doctor, was arrested and charged with conspiring to cause explosions "of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury".
Ahmed was said to have suffered 90% burns in the incident. He spent 33 days in hospital before succumbing to his injuries.
The Glasgow Airport attack followed two suspected car bomb attempts in central London when police discovered two vehicles allegedly laden with gas canisters and fuel.
Eight people were initially held over the incidents, of which three were eventually charged.

Las Vegas, US: car bomb explosion at the Luxor Hotel-Casino in May

2007-08-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

Officials investigate the scene of an explosion in a Las Vegas parking lot that killed a man. Isaac Brekken / AP

Vegas bombing victim’s past investigated
Casino worker was in U.S. illegally, had two girlfriends, his cousin says
Updated: 3:02 p.m. ET May 10, 2007

LAS VEGAS - Family members of a man killed in an explosion on the Las Vegas Strip were planning to bring his body back to Mexico while investigators looked into his background for clues.
Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio, 24, died Monday after a homemade bomb on his car exploded as he picked it up inside the Luxor hotel-casino's parking garage. He was leaving work at a hot dog stand and was with his girlfriend, who was not injured.
Investigators have said they believe he was the intended victim of the blast, though they have not offered a reason he was targeted.
"He was not part of any gang," Max Dorantes, a cousin, said Wednesday. "He was a working guy, a very good guy. He worked two jobs. He was one of my good friends."
Dorantes, 22, of Newport, Ore., said his cousin had been in the U.S. illegally for about three years and had two girlfriends — one a co-worker at the hot dog stand and another who left their 6-month-old son with relatives at home in Mexico when she traveled to Las Vegas about two weeks ago. He said he was not sure if the women knew about each other.
Tom Mangan, a senior agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said investigators were reviewing Dorantes Antonio's dating relationships, his immigration status, his travels between Mexico and the U.S. and his work.
"The questions are: Who would want to do this? Why this guy? And why this method?" Mangan said. "That information is going to come out once we delve into the details about this guy."

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Two arrested in Las Vegas Strip bombing probe
By Ken Ritter
Associated Press
9:12 a.m. May 11, 2007
LAS VEGAS — Two people have been arrested after one man was questioned as a "person of interest" in a deadly Las Vegas Strip parking lot bombing, police said Friday.
Word of the arrests came after one man was detained on false identification charges and his home was searched for clues in the bombing that killed an immigrant worker at a hot dog stand, police said.
Police said a second person also was taken into custody and scheduled a 10:30 a.m. news conference, but released no further information.
The identity of the man who was detained was not made public after he was taken into custody shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday. He was driving a vehicle not far from his home south of the Las Vegas Strip, said Officer Bill Cassell, a Las Vegas police spokesman.
Police searched the man's home late Thursday "looking for anything tied to the case, including components that could be used to make an explosive device or any items that could tie him or others to the Luxor homicide," Cassell said.
The police spokesman would not say what led police to the man, whom he said was sought on local warrants for possession of false identification and possession of materials to make false identification.
"He was detained for questioning," Cassell said. "He will be arrested on the warrants."
The development came hours after police released blurry freeze-frame images of a car and appealed for public help to find it and a person who placed the deadly bomb on the victim's car early Monday in a parking structure behind the Luxor hotel-casino.
Cassell would not say Friday whether police found the car. He said the man who was taken into custody was not driving it.
Police identified what they described as the "suspect vehicle" from surveillance video shot at 1:14 a.m. and at 2:28 a.m. in parking garages behind the Luxor and neighboring Excalibur hotel-casino.
Surveillance cameras did not capture the bomber or the 4:11 a.m. blast, police Lt. Lewis Roberts said, and the license plate of what appears to be a silver two-door sedan is not seen.
Roberts said Thursday that police were still trying to determine a motive for the explosion that mortally wounded 24-year-old Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio and blew a 12-inch hole in his 1996 Dodge Stratus. Dorantes Antonio died at a hospital about two hours later of a head injury.
A woman who was with Dorantes Antonio escaped injury. Dorantes Antonio's relatives have described her as a girlfriend, while authorities refer to her as a co-worker at the Nathan's Famous hot dog stand inside the pyramid-shaped Luxor.
Police have said Dorantes Antonio was the intended target and the bombing was not a terrorist act or a mob hit. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the motion-activated bomb blew up with the force of a stick of dynamite. Authorities have not disputed reports that the device was hidden inside a cup.
"The way the device was placed, the way it was detonated, and the death of our victim leads us to believe he was the intended target and no one else," Roberts said.
"But we won't know until we know what he's all about whether he had any enemies out of the country, and whether he had enemies when he got to the country," Roberts said. "And not only him, but the people he was with."
Roberts declined to say what police and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents learned about Dorantes Antonio's relationship with three illegal immigrants arrested at his house after the bombing.
Two men were from Mexico and one was from Guatemala, said Lori Haley an ICE regional spokeswoman in Laguna Niguel, Calif. She said the Guatemalan also was sought on a probation violation in Newport, Ore., where he was convicted of first-degree sexual assault.
The woman with whom Dorantes Antonio worked at the hot dog stand also was in ICE custody, pending deportation to Guatemala, Haley said.

Police Detain 2 In Vegas Bombing
(CBS) LAS VEGAS Two people were being held in connection with a deadly bombing at a Los Vegas Strip parking lot, police said Friday.
One man was questioned as a "person of interest" after being detained on false identification charges, and his home was searched for clues in the bombing that killed an immigrant worker at a hot dog stand on Monday, police said.
The homemade bomb had been left on the victim's car at Luxor hotel-casino's parking garage and went off after he picked it up.
Police said a second person also was taken into custody but released no further information.
The identity of the man who was detained was not made public after he was taken into custody Thursday evening.
Police searched the man's home late Thursday "looking for anything tied to the case, including components that could be used to make an explosive device or any items that could tie him or others to the Luxor homicide," Cassell said.
Police would not say what led them to the man.
"He was detained for questioning," Cassell said. "He will be arrested on the warrants."
The development came hours after police released blurry freeze-frame images of a car and appealed for public help to find it and the person who placed the deadly bomb.
Police Lt. Lewis Roberts said Thursday that police were still trying to determine a motive for the explosion that mortally wounded 24-year-old Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio. Dorantes Antonio died at a hospital about two hours later of a head injury.
A woman who was with Dorantes Antonio escaped injury.
Police have said Dorantes Antonio was the intended target and the bombing was not a terrorist act or a mob hit. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the motion-activated bomb blew up with the force of a stick of dynamite.
Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents were involved in the initial investigation.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. )

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Family of Las Vegas Strip bombing victim puzzled by killing
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Puzzled family members made plans Wednesday to return the body of a man killed in a Las Vegas Strip bombing to Mexico as investigators looked into his background for a motive.
"They don't understand the killing or the way of the killing," said Johannes Jacome Cid, consul in charge at the Mexican Consulate in Las Vegas, who is advising the relatives of Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio.
Dorantes Antonio, 24, was killed early Monday when a homemade bomb left on this roof of his car at the Luxor hotel-casino's parking garage exploded as he picked it up.
Jacome Cid was helping the family handle donations to a bank account to transport Dorantes Antonio's body back to the town of San Jose Miahuatlan, in the Mexican state of Puebla.
Max Dorantes, a cousin helping make funeral plans, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he and other relatives had no idea who left the small bomb that killed Dorantes Antonio as he left work at a Nathan's Famous hot dog stand with a girlfriend. The woman escaped injury.
"He was not part of any gang," Max Dorantes said. "He was a working guy, a very good guy. He worked two jobs. He was one of my good friends."
Max Dorantes, 22, of Newport, Ore., confirmed that his cousin was in the U.S. illegally and had two girlfriends - one a co-worker at Nathan's and the other who left their 6-month-old son with relatives at home in Mexico when she traveled to Las Vegas about two weeks ago.
Max Dorantes said he was not sure if the two women knew about each other.
Investigators, who have said they believe Dorantes Antonio was the intended target of the blast, said the explosion was not a terrorist act or a mob hit.
Tom Mangan, a senior special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said investigators were fitting together the puzzle of Dorantes Antonio's dual dating relationships, his immigration status, his travels between Mexico and the U.S. and his work.
"The questions are: Who would want to do this? Why this guy? And why this method?" Mangan said. "That information is going to come out once we delve into the details about this guy."
Authorities say the motion-activated device exploded with the force of a stick of dynamite, mortally wounding him in the head and blowing a 12-inch hole in the 1996 Dodge Stratus that Max Dorantes sold him in November. Dorantes Antonio died about two hours later at a hospital.
Police have been reviewing surveillance videotapes of the parking garage to try to identify who left the device and when.
Police have not identified the woman who was walking with Dorantes Antonio when he reached his car, but said she was cooperating with investigators. Max Dorantes said she was from Guatemala and had been dating Dorantes Antonio for about six months.
Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio had been in the United States illegally for about three years, his cousin said. He worked nights at Nathan's Famous hot dogs inside the pyramid-shaped Luxor hotel-casino, and days at Quiznos sandwich shop inside the neighboring Excalibur.
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested three suspected illegal immigrants at Dorantes Antonio's house after the explosion, said Virginia Kice, regional spokeswoman for the federal agency in Laguna Niguel, Calif. Two men were from Mexico and one was from Guatemala, Kice said.
Frank Bonnano, chief executive of the Nathan's franchise owner, Fifth Avenue Restaurant Group in Las Vegas, said he believed Dorantes Antonio provided residency documentation when he was hired.
Quiznos manager Chris Spanna said Dorantes Antonio submitted a Social Security card and a required Las Vegas police health card when he was hired three weeks ago. Spanna said he did not know until Wednesday that Dorantes Antonio was not in the United States legally.
Funeral arrangements were being handled by Nevada Funeral Service in Las Vegas, which said plans and services were private.

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Police release blurry image of car in Las Vegas Strip bombing
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Police released blurry freeze-frame images Thursday of a car that investigators think was used to shuttle a deadly bomb to a Las Vegas Strip resort where it exploded and killed a young illegal immigrant who had gotten off work at an all-night hot dog stand.
"This is the vehicle that we believe is our suspect vehicle," Lt. Lewis Roberts said as he appealed for the public's help in finding the car seen on surveillance video at 1:14 a.m. and at 2:28 a.m. Monday in a parking garage behind the Luxor hotel-casino.
"We know the car was there twice, and the second time it parked next to our victim's vehicle," Roberts said. "We can't really tell if anyone gets out of the vehicle, but it stays there for a little while and then backs up and leaves."
Surveillance cameras did not capture the bomber or the 4:11 a.m. blast, Roberts said. The license plate of what Robert said appears to be a silver two-door sedan is not seen.
The homicide commander said he expected progress would be slow in the case, which involves local, state and federal agencies in the U.S. and Mexico.
"At this point, we don't have a definitive motive for what happened here," Roberts said. "We have a victim that's a fairly young Hispanic male working at Nathan's hot dogs (who) ends up being a victim of a homicide - a horrible homicide - and at this point, we don't know why."
The explosion mortally wounded 24-year-old Willebaldo Dorantes Antonio and blew a 12-inch hole in his 1996 Dodge Stratus. Dorantes Antonio died at a hospital about two hours later of a head injury, the Clark County coroner said.
A woman who was with Dorantes Antonio escaped injury. Dorantes Antonio's relatives have described her as a girlfriend, while authorities refer to her as a co-worker at the Nathan's Famous hot dog stand inside the pyramid-shaped Luxor.
Police have said Dorantes Antonio was the intended target and the bombing was not a terrorist act or a mob hit. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the motion-activated bomb blew up with the force of a stick of dynamite. Authorities have not disputed reports that the device was hidden inside a cup.
"The way the device was placed, the way it was detonated, and the death of our victim leads us to believe he was the intended target and no one else," Roberts said.
"But we won't know until we know what he's all about whether he had any enemies out of the country, and whether he had enemies when he got to the country," Roberts said. "And not only him, but the people he was with."
Family members were raising money through the Mexican Consulate in Las Vegas to return Dorantes Antonio's body to the town of San Jose Miahuatlan, in the Mexican state of Puebla.
A cousin, 22-year-old Max Dorantes of Newport, Ore., on Wednesday characterized Dorantes Antonio as a hardworking man who was in the U.S. illegally, worked two jobs, and had two girlfriends.
Besides the Nathan's co-worker, whom Max Dorantes said was from Guatemala, a woman with whom Dorantes Antonio had a 6-month-old son arrived in Las Vegas from Mexico about two weeks ago. The child remained with relatives in Mexico, Max Dorantes said.
Antonio Dorantes started a second job about that time. He worked days at a Quiznos inside the Excalibur hotel-casino, sandwich shop manager Chris Spanna said.
Roberts declined to say what police and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents learned about Dorantes Antonio's relationship with three illegal immigrants arrested at his house after the bombing.
Two men were from Mexico and one was from Guatemala, said Lori Haley an ICE regional spokeswoman in Laguna Niguel, Calif. She said the Guatemalan also was sought on a probation violation in Newport, Ore., where he was convicted of first-degree sexual assault.
The woman with whom Dorantes Antonio worked at the hot dog stand also was in ICE custody, pending deportation to Guatemala, Haley said.

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Metro To Release Photos of Luxor Bomb Suspect Vehicle

By Homeland Security NTARC News | May 9, 2007

Las Vegas Eyewitness News is saying Metro will release still pictures of a suspect vehicle in this bombing investigation on Thursday. The pictures will come from the surveillance tape.
There is new information about the man killed in that bomb blast at the Luxor on Monday. Family members confirm the victim’s name. Willebaldo Dorantes-Antonio is from Puebla, Mexico.
The 24-year-old worked at Nathan’s Famous hot dog restaurant in the hotel’s food court. Tuesday morning his family visited the Mexican consulate for help in making arrangements for the funeral. Family members were visibly still shaken over the murder as they walked away from the consulate.
They did not want to go on camera, but told Eyewitness News they are making arrangements for Dorantes-Antonio’s body to be shipped back to his hometown. They hope investigators can find out who set the bomb.
As those arrangements are being made, Metro investigators along with federal agents examined the evidence collected from the Luxor parking garage near the explosion. They will continue to look for who wanted the 24-year-old dead and why.
Dorantes-Antonio had just gotten off work. He and a female friend walked into the upper level of the parking garage around 4 a.m. Police say and sources at the MGM say that Dorantes-Antonio noticed a cup sitting on the roof of his car. When he reached over to pick up, it exploded.
Dorantes-Antonio was badly injured and died a short time later at the hospital. Shrapnel from the bomb hit other nearby cars, but luckily the woman with Dorantes-Antonio was not hurt.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Clark County coroner reported that Willebaldo-Dorantes died from a penetrating head wound.
ATF special agent Tom Mangan says they learned more about the device. “We are very happy with the post blast investigation with the amount of components we have been able to recover,” Mangan said.
He says investigators pieced together most of the bomb. Sources say it was in a cup sitting on top of Dorantes-Antonio’s car. Mangan confirmed it was detonated by motion, meaning the bomb went off when Dorantes picked up the cup.
ATF special agent Mangan says the components of the device can lead investigators to who put it on the roof of Dorantes-Antonio’s car. “It gives us certain clues to who constructed it. It gives us clues to the way it was made up. The way it was designed.”
ATF agents can actually get fingerprints off parts of the bomb with specialized equipment. Mangan says the bomb blast was equivalent to a stick of dynamite. Pieces from the blast will now be sent to a specialized lab near San Francisco.
Deputy Chief Ted Moody with Metro Police says they believe he was targeted and that they are also reviewing surveillance video.
“There is video in that lot, and we’re still in the process of trying to determine what if anything is contained on those videos will be helpful to us in our investigation,” said Moody.
So far, police aren’t talking about a motive. They say this is still a very active investigation and among other things, they are trying to reconstruct the bomb to get clues.
An autopsy was conducted on Dorantes-Antonio’s body Tuesday morning, but the results from the coroner still aren’t available.
So far, law enforcement agents aren’t saying if they have any suspects.
Source -LasVegasNOW.com

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A Question Recurs: How Safe Is Las Vegas?
By STEVE FRIESS

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 2 — The morning after a gunman opened fire inside the New York-New York Hotel-Casino a month ago, Sylvia Cunningham, a tourist from Dallas, received two text messages from her mother urging her to cut short her annual six-day trip to Las Vegas.
She and her fiancé ignored that advice, but the shooting made her wonder how well the city was prepared to prevent a terrorist attack.
“It did dawn on me after my mom bugged me, but Vegas is probably a pretty easy place for a psycho to do damage,” said Ms. Cunningham, a 27-year-old legal secretary. “Everybody comes and goes as they please. Who would know if that Elvis impersonator were a suicide bomber?”
Casino and law enforcement officials say the Las Vegas Strip is among the safest, most carefully monitored public gathering places in the world. But the city, known internationally as a symbol of American hedonism, has long been considered a likely prime target of terrorists. And two recent violent incidents — the New York-New York shooting and a deadly car bomb explosion at the Luxor Hotel-Casino in May — have gotten the attention not only of tourists but also of security experts.
“We have not had an event here in Las Vegas the equivalent of the events of 9/11 or anything close to that, and that hasn’t been by accident,” said Bill Young, a former sheriff here and now security chief for Station Casinos, owner of 10 casinos in the area. “With all that said, it’s going to be very, very, very difficult to prevent lone criminals who have the intentions of harming themselves and others.”
That was the case at New York-New York shortly after midnight on July 6. Steven F. Zegrean, 51, of Las Vegas is charged with opening fire then with a semiautomatic handgun from a balcony overlooking the casino floor. Four people were wounded, none critically, before four tourists tackled him. In the Luxor explosion, on May 7, the police have accused two men of leaving a homemade bomb in a coffee cup atop the car of a 24-year-old restaurant employee who died in the blast.
The police say Mr. Zegrean was attempting suicide, hoping that officers would kill him. The bombing, they say, was motivated by a dispute over a woman.
Las Vegas was one of four cities cited by the F.B.I. as having received specific credible threats that prompted heightened security on New Year’s Eve in 2003, and some Strip resorts were recorded on videos found in the possession of two men who earlier that year were convicted of being part of a Detroit terror cell. (The convictions were later overturned on the ground that prosecutors had withheld evidence from the defense.) In addition, several of the Sept. 11 hijackers visited Las Vegas before their attacks for what the F.B.I. believes were planning sessions.
The Strip is famous for its video surveillance of nearly every public inch of casino-resorts, scrutiny to which Mr. Young points as a deterrent “for any criminal who does not wish to be caught.” In addition, more than 6,000 private security personnel supplement and train with the police force, said Kathleen Suey, deputy chief in charge of the Police Department’s homeland security division.
Still, more than 40 million tourists visit the city each year, and “there’s really no way of screening that many people without greatly limiting access,” said Christopher E. McGoey, a security consultant who has advised several Las Vegas casinos.
“It’s a vacation place,” Mr. McGoey said. “People don’t want to be walking around with passports or going through metal detectors or screenings. It’s always going to be a relatively soft target.”
In the New York-New York case, Mr. Zegrean had paced the indoor balcony for hours wearing a trench coat before the shooting. One of his tacklers, Justin Lampert, a 24-year-old Iraq war veteran from North Dakota, was surprised that it took tourists to avert a massacre.
“You would’ve thought some security guy would have seen him, since he was wearing a trench coat and it’s 115 degrees outside,” Mr. Lampert said. “I would expect that to stand out in somebody’s mind. They do need to spruce up security. But if they do that, they’ll probably lose some of the income from people who won’t come because of the hassles.”
Las Vegas resorts have been leaders in adopting some new security technology, said Alan Feldman, senior vice president of MGM Mirage, owner of the Luxor, New York-New York and eight other Strip properties. While Mr. Feldman would not discuss many of MGM’s security initiatives, for fear of compromising them, he did note that the company was experimenting with a facial-recognition system that could someday spot people traveling with fake IDs.
In addition, Ms. Suey noted that the homeland security division would add 28 uniformed officers this fall — the police do not disclose the division’s total strength — and that Las Vegas was one of just a dozen cities with an officer working full time at the Department of Homeland Security’s headquarters to relay information on terrorist chatter.
Both recent events were “good exercises for us,” Ms. Suey said.
“When someone places a coffee cup on top of a car,” she said, “that’s not something prior to this that would have caught our attention. Would it now? Absolutely.”

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Kirkuk, Iraq: Iraqi and U.S. forces arrest five insurgents, disrupt car bomb cell

2007-08-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Younis Muhammad, seven, is bandaged by a nurse after a parked car bomb killed 12 civilians and wounded 17 on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007 in central Baghdad, Iraq. Five cars were destroyed by the blast, which occurred in al-Hurriyah square in the Karradah neighborhood, where explosives had been planted in a vehicle, and were detonated around 10:15 a.m., police said. (AP Photo/ Adil al-Khazali)

FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Aug.3
03 Aug 2007 11:59:41 GMT
Source: Reuters
Aug.3 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1130 GMT on Friday:

KIRKUK - Iraqi security forces and U.S. forces arrested five insurgents and disrupted a car bomb cell on Wednesday in Kirkuk 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers and wounded 11 others when it targeted their patrol in an eastern section of Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. military said.
BAGHDAD - One American soldier was killed and three others were wounded during a combat operation in western Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. military said.
BAGHDAD - U.S. forces and Iraqi police arrested four insurgents on Wednesday in the al-Amin section eastern Baghdad, U.S. military said.
NAJAF - Gunmen killed sheikh Fadil al-Aqeel, Shi'ite imam of the al-Hasan mosque in Najaf 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, in a drive-by shooting when he returned home from the mosque on Thursday, police said

Marib, Yemen: Suicide car bomb cell round up

2007-08-03T13:22:00.000-07:00

Yemeni policemen and tribesmen inspect the wreckage of a car that was hit by a suicide car bomb in the restive northern region of Marib, July 2007. The bomb killed 10 people, mostly Spaniards. Yemen has said that one of its nationals carried out the suicide bombing at the tourist site with the help of Saudi and Egyptian militants.(AFP/File/Khaled Fazaa)

Yemen names suicide bomber who attacked tourists

REUTERS
6:06 a.m. August 3, 2007
SANAA – A 21-year-old Yemeni man carried out the suicide bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis last month, a Yemeni security source said on Friday.
Abdou Mohammad Rahiqa was identified through DNA tests, said the source, adding authorities were looking for nine people suspected of involvement in the attack, including a Saudi citizen.
Yemen has said its security forces killed an Egyptian who helped mastermind the suicide car bomb attack at the Queen of Sheba Temple in Marib, about 150 km (95 miles) east of the capital Sanaa.
Yemen, which joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism after al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, has offered a $75,500 reward for information leading to the capture of those behind the attack.
Al Qaeda issued a statement days before the attack demanding the release of some of its members jailed in Yemen and threatening unspecified action.
Yemen, the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is viewed in the West as a haven for Islamist militants. It has seen several major bombings.
One of the poorest countries outside Africa, Yemen has been trying to encourage tourists put off by kidnappings and bombings and boost foreign

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Talafar, Iraq: Car bomb kills 2 wounds 22

2007-08-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

A picture released by the US Army in 2005 shows Iraqi school children watch as Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez(2nd R), the commander of Task Force Freedom, partolling a neighborhood in the town of Tal Afar, north of Baghdad. Insurgent attacks along the Afghan-Pakistani border doubled in June over the previous year and foreign fighters have flowed into Afghanistan from the Middle East in greater numbers, Rodriguez said Wednesday.(AFP/US Army/File/James Wilt)

Scores killed in series of attacks across Iraq

Baghdad, Aug 3 : Scores of Iraqis were killed and wounded in a series of explosions across conflict-torn Iraq while the US military said three soldiers were killed in separate strikes.
At least 15 people were killed and 17 more wounded Thursday when a suicide bomber detonated a car rigged with explosives at a police recruiting centre near Baquba, independent Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported citing a police source.
The attacker detonated the bomb near a crowd of police recruits outside the centre in the Hibhib district, 25 km north of Baquba. The blast also damaged the building and set ablaze several cars nearby.
Media reports had earlier said two car bombs had jolted Baquba, which is located 60 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Diyala province has been a scene of recurring acts of violence.
Three US soldiers were killed and 12 others wounded in other attacks Thursday in the country, the US military in Iraq said.
One US soldier was killed and two others injured Wednesday in an explosion near their vehicle while they were on patrol near the southern city of Basra. Two more US soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in an artillery attack Tuesday, the military said without disclosing the location of the incident.
Also Thursday, at least two civilians were killed and 22 others wounded when a car bomb exploded in Talafar, VOI reported. The bomb was detonated near a youth centre in the city, chief of Talafar police Brigadier Ibrahim al-Juburi told the agency.
Talafar lies near Iraq's border with Syria, about 70 km west of Mosul.
In Balad, 110 km north of Baghdad, at least one child was killed and six more wounded when mortar shells jolted a residential area, VOI quoted a medical source as saying.
The six children were admitted to Balad General Hospital and the body of a seventh child was received at the hospital morgue after mortars hit their houses in the al-Hussein neighbourhood in central Balad, the hospital director, Qassim al-Qeissi, told the agency.
Also Thursday, five brothers who had been kidnapped a day earlier were found dead, while their five-year-old brother was found alive near the bodies, in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, local residents told VOI.
"The bodies were found dumped near al Yourgon village on the main road linking Kirkuk to al-Rashad," an eyewitness said.
Iraqi military forces, meanwhile, killed a gunman who had described himself as the "defence minister" of the militant Islamic State in Iraq group, according to state-run broadcaster al-Iraqiya.
No further details were immediately available. The Islamic State in Iraq is an affiliate of the Al Qaeda terrorist network.
In southern Baghdad, unidentified gunmen broke into a house in the Sunni district of Wahda, killed a man in front of his family and abducted four of his sons, an Iraqi police source told VOI.
The gunmen also set fire to a vehicle belonging to the family. The police have not yet found the motive behind the attack.
In other developments, joint Iraqi-US forces raided the village of Sari Tabh, north of Kirkuk, and arrested 17 suspected gunmen, seizing weapons and ammunition, VOI reported, again citing a police source.

--- IANS

Kabul, Afghanistan: Suicide car bomb hits US convoy

2007-08-02T22:50:00.000-07:00

A soldier prays near Afghanistan's main top-security prison, Pul-e-Charkhi, in Kabul.

Suicide car bomb hits US convoy in Kabul

>A suicide car bomb wounded three troops from a US-led force and three Afghan civilians in Kabul on Tuesday, the US military said in a statement.
The Taliban guerrillas who are fighting against the Afghan government and foreign troops stationed in the country, claimed responsibility for the attack, part of rising violence in recent months.
The attack occurred near a US base on a main road out of Kabul, said a spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
"I saw pieces of a body and blood on the road and a damaged American vehicle and the bomber's car was totally destroyed," said witness Abdul Hamid.
A Kabul-based Western security analyst said troops, who had cordoned off the bomb site, opened fire and killed one policeman and wounded three others, but the report could not be verified.
Afghan officials were not immediately available for comment and the ISAF spokeswoman could not confirm there had been a shooting incident following the bomb attack.
Ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban largely rely on roadside bomb attacks and suicide raids as part of their campaign.
On Monday, a Taliban bomber on foot blew himself up among a group of Afghan soldiers in the northern town of Kunduz, officials said. Thirteen people, including seven soldiers, were wounded in that attack.
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© Copyright 2007 Hindustan Times

Manila, Philippines: Police detain suspect in 2005 foiled car bomb attack

2007-08-02T22:38:00.000-07:00

Police detain suspect in 2005 foiled car bomb attack

An Islamic militant accused of plotting a foiled 2005 bomb attack has been detained in the Philippines, police said Thursday.
Ricardo Ayeras, described by the authorities as a founding member of the Rajah Solaiman Movement, was arrested in a police raid in his home in Mandaluyong City on Sunday, police said.
The arrest came as Asean foreign ministers held talks at the Philippine International Convention Center. The police did not say, however, if Ayeras was plotting to disrupt the ministers’ meeting.
The Rajah Solaiman is closely allied to the Abu Sayyaf, a militant Islamic group with alleged ties to al-Qaeda that is blamed for the worst terrorist attacks in the country.
Police said the group was made up of Christians who had converted to Islam, and had been blamed for a number of bombings in the country.
They said Ayeras, who goes by the name Abdul Kareem Ayeras, had been charged with rebellion over a foiled bomb attack in Manila in 2005.
A lower court in Manila issued an arrest warrant last month and recommended the suspect should not be granted bail.
Police said Ayeras and another RSM member, Pio de Vera, were supposed to supply the explosives for a car bomb to be used in the 2005 attack. Ayeras was supposed to drive the car.
Reynante Ayeras, Ricardo’s 29-year-old brother, filed a complaint with the Mandaluyong police, saying his brother was forcibly taken from their home.
Reynante said a white van with license plate XAS-309 stopped in front of their house on Sunday afternoon. Four men with handguns got out and grabbed his brother, who was preparing a meal in the kitchen.
Ayeras had denied that he was a member of the RSM. He also said he had never met RSM leader Hilarion Santos, as alleged by the police. Ayeras, who was presented to the media in Muslim clothing, said he is a Catholic and that he was tortured into confession when he was arrested by the PNP in January this year.
--AFP and Francis Earl A. Cueto

Hibhib, Iraq: Suicide car bomb kills 13 at Iraq police station

2007-08-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Iraqi soldiers check vehicles at a checkpoint in Diwaniya, 180 km from Baghdad, August 1, 2007. Picture taken August 1, 2007. A suicide bomber drove a car bomb into an Iraqi police station on Thursday, killing 13 people. REUTERS/Imad al-Khozai

Suicide Bomber Kills 13 at Iraqi Police Post

By Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 3, 2007; A12
BAGHDAD, Aug. 2 -- A suicide car bomber drove into a police station north of Baghdad on Thursday and detonated his explosives, killing 13 people, police said.
The attack in Hibhib, just north of Baghdad in Diyala province, took place as police recruits were lined up outside the station, according to Diyala police Lt. Muhammad Hakman. Hakman said police arrested a man acting suspiciously near the station just before the bomb detonated. The man is suspected to have aided the bomber, he said.
Hibhib, a small town with a largely Sunni population, is where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, was killed by an American airstrike last year, and Hakman said he believes Thursday's attack was the work of that group. The number of insurgents in the town linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq has risen recently as military operations in Baqubah, Baghdad and western Anbar province pushed them out of those areas, Hakman said.
News of the attack came shortly after the U.S. military announced that the Iraqi army had killed a man in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday who was suspected of leading al-Qaeda in Iraq there.
The military said an Iraqi army convoy had spotted the man, identified only as Safi, as he rode in a pickup truck. Soldiers attempted to pull the vehicle over. The man's bodyguards opened fire on the soldiers, who shot back, killing the bodyguards and Safi.
On Thursday night, police said, mortar shells hit the Baghdad offices of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the country's largest Sunni political group. The attack came a day after the group announced it would withdraw five of its six ministers from the government in protest against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's policies. In a public statement Thursday, Maliki formally asked the Accordance Front to reconsider its decision.
Meanwhile, police in the northern city of Kirkuk announced that they had found a young boy crying next to the corpses of his five adult brothers. The five were apparently killed in sectarian violence after they and the boy were abducted Wednesday as they drove south out of the city, police said.
News that a child had apparently been present during the killings created nationwide outrage. Newscasters on Arabic-language television stations spoke at length about the incident, and several prominent politicians and religious leaders condemned the kidnappers.
The U.S. military said two U.S. troops were killed Tuesday in Baghdad by indirect fire, a term that usually means a rocket or mortar attack. The announcement raises the number of U.S. troops killed in July to 80, one fewer than in March. U.S. death tolls exceeded 100 in April, May and June.
Special correspondent Naseer Nouri contributed to this report.

Suicide car bomb kills 13 at Iraq police station

By Peter Graff2 hours, 40 minutes ago
A suicide bomber drove a car bomb into an Iraqi police station on Thursday, killing 13 people, while politicians prepared for a summit to restore a coalition government after the main Sunni group quit.
The attack followed a day of major bombings in Baghdad, in which 70 people were killed.
A police source said the bomber struck recruits lined up to join the police force in the town of Hibhib, north of Baghdad. The dead included six policemen and seven civilians. Fifteen people were wounded.
Leaders of Iraq's main groups are due to meet in coming days to try to stitch back their coalition, which was set up last year and has so far failed in its aim of reducing violence or agreeing on laws aimed at reconciliation.
The office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, said he would remain in permanent contact with the Sunni Accordance Front, despite its decision to pull its six ministers out of the government on Wednesday.
The Front said it was quitting Maliki's coalition because he had failed to meet its demands, including giving the Sunni bloc a greater share in security matters.
Another large Shi'ite faction, that of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, quit the government in April.
Thursday's attack took place in Diyala province, the area north of the capital which has been a focus of a U.S. offensive over the past two months after Washington dispatched extra troops to Iraq to help stabilize the country.
Washington says the area has seen an influx of al Qaeda militants driven out of Baghdad and western Anbar province as a result of the U.S. offensive and a revolt against the militants by local tribes.
Further north, more than 1,000 Iraqi troops launched a crackdown on militants in Samarra, where an attack on a Shi'ite shrine last year triggered sectarian fighting across Iraq. The mosque was attacked again in June.
The Iraqi forces closed streets and imposed a curfew. The U.S. military said the goal of the Iraqi operation was to stabilize the city so the shrine could be rebuilt.
Washington has seen the number of its troops killed in Iraq fall over the past month after the deadliest three-month period of the war. Commanders say the figures show their new strategy is working.
But figures compiled by the ministries of health and interior show the number of civilians killed in July rose by a third to 1,653, after a sharp drop in June.

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.

Al-Qaeda warlord shot dead, emirs nabbed in Iraq raids
BAGHDAD
03-Aug-07
brunei
IRAQI troops killed a local al-Qaeda warlord and US soldiers arrested two of the extremist network's chieftains, during several operations announced yesterday in the wake of deadly bomb attacks.
The raids were announced after a series of car bombings killed at least 70 people in Baghdad on Wednesday, which served as a bloody backdrop to mounting political crisis in Iraq's shrinking coalition government.
A militant known as Safi, touted as al-Qaeda in Iraq's emir of Mosul, was killed in a shootout with Iraqi soldiers on Wednesday after he and two cohorts were spotted driving in the country's third largest city, the US military said.
An Iraqi unit gave chase and halted the vehicle. Safi and his bodyguards jumped out and opened fire. Iraqi troops returned fire and the three members of the al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate were killed, the US Army said.
American forces also announced the arrest of two other alleged al-Qaeda in Iraq emirs during operations targeting senior leaders and propaganda cells in the terror network on Wednesday and Thursday.
They said they captured the alleged al-Qaeda "sniper emir", whom they suspect was involved in a plot against the mayor of Mosul last March and has allegedly claimed the killing of at least one US-led coalition soldier.
A suicide bomber drove a car bomb into an Iraqi police station yesterday, killing 13 people, while politicians prepared for a summit to restore a coalition government after the main Sunni group quit.
The attack followed a day of major bombings in Baghdad, in which 70 people were killed.
Agencies

US 'underestimated' mistrust in Iraq
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Friday, August 03, 2007

Washington underestimated the difficulty of getting Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites to agree on key national reconciliation measures, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates admitted Thursday. At the end of a regional tour, he called the withdrawal of the main Sunni bloc from the Baghdad government "discouraging."
Meanwhile, Iraqi politicians said they were hoping for a breakthrough to restore a unity government after the withdrawal of the Accordance Front, but the magnitude of the sectarian conflict was underlined by the slaying of five brothers.
A suicide bomber drove a car bomb into a queue of recruits at a police station north of Baghdad, killing 13 people a day after bombs killed more than 70 people in the capital.
Gates told reporters as he flew back to Washington that gains made in security in western Iraq's Anbar Province and at the local level were cause for optimism, but he also acknowledged they were offset by divisions at the top.
"In some ways we probably all underestimated the depth of mistrust and how difficult it would be for these guys to come together on legislation, which let's face it is not some kind of secondary thing," he said.
"The kinds of legislation they're talking about will establish the framework of Iraq for the future, so it's almost like our constitutional convention," Gates said.
"And the difficulty in coming to grips with those we may all have underestimated six or eight months ago," he added.
All six ministers from Iraq's largest Sunni bloc tendered their resignation from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition government on Wednesday following a month-long spat.
The decision by the Accordance Front triggered what Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salah called the worst political crisis since Iraq's new Constitution was adopted.
But a senior member of Parliament from Maliki's Shiite bloc said a "breakthrough is possible" in resolving the standoff.
"Talks are continuing among the heads of the political blocs. The prime minister and the (Shiite) Alliance are ready to find a solution along with the Accordance Front. Things are not that difficult," Rida Jawad al-Takki told Reuters.
Politicians from leading groups are due to have a summit in the coming days in the hopes of restoring the power-sharing system.
"Now there are daily meetings and committees are working to prepare for the summit, in which we hope the leaders will avoid any escalations and agree on common issues," Salim al-Jubouri, a leading Accordance Front member of Parliament told Reuters.
Maliki's office said the prime minister would remain in "permanent contact" with the Front despite their decision to quit the government.
Gates said the developments on the political side "are somewhat discouraging at the national level. And clearly the withdrawal of the Sunnis from the government is discouraging. "My hope is it can all be patched back together," he said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb
But Gates added that he was "optimistic on the security side because of what I see in Al-Anbar, and what we're seeing in some ... other provinces where we're getting cooperation."
"I think the key is, not only establishing the security, but being able to hold on to those areas and for Iraqi Army and police to be able to provide the continuity of that security over time," he added. "It's under that umbrella I think progress will be made at a national level."
Gates said that political setbacks would have to be weighed against improvements in security when the top commander in Iraq and the US ambassador report to Congress in mid-September.
Demonstrating the viciousness of sectarian violence, a young boy, crying but unharmed, was found next to the bodies of his five brothers near the northern city of Kirkuk after they were kidnapped by gunmen a day earlier.Thursday's biggest attack took place in Diyala Province, the area north of the capital which has been a focus of a US offensive over the past two months after Washington dispatched extra troops to Iraq to help stabilize the country.
A police source said the suicide bomber struck recruits lined up to join the police force in the town of Hibhib, north of Baghdad. The dead included six policemen and seven civilians.
Meanwhile, a militant known as Safi, touted as Al-Qaeda in Iraq's emir of Mosul, was killed in a shootout with Iraqi soldiers on Wednesday after he and two cohorts were spotted driving in the country's third-largest city, the US military said Thursday.
US forces also announced the arrest of two other alleged Al-Qaeda in Iraq emirs during operations targeting senior leaders and propaganda cells in the terror network on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Thursday, more than 1,000 Iraqi troops backed by US paratroopers launched an operation to expel Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate from Samarra, two months after it was accused of attacking a revered Shiite shrine there, the military said.
Gates was speaking at the end of a tour of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates which focused on Iraq, Iran's nuclear program and US arms contracts.
Gates had harsh words for Iran on Thursday.
"We can't wait years for them to try to change their policies. The more countries in the world that cooperate in the UN sanctions and in bringing pressures to bear on this government, that its policies are antithetical to the interests of all its neighbors, the better off we'll be," he said.
Both he and Rice urged Middle East allies to press on with financial sanctions against Iran.
"There's not really room for bystanders here," he said, adding that the Arab leaders are unanimous in their concern about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. - Agencies

Dora Baghdad, Iraq: Car bomb kills 3 wounds 5

2007-08-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

Residents stand at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, August 1, 2007. (Mohammed Ameen/Reuters)

At least three people killed in southern Baghdad car bomb attack

At least three people were killed and five others injured in a car bomb attack at a marketplace in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry source said.
"A car bomb parking at the Athoriyen popular market in Doura district detonated in the afternoon, killing at least three people and wounding five others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The blast also damaged several nearby shops and cars, the source said.
In a separate development, the death toll rose to 20 from a suicide car bomb attack in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood which also wounded 49 others, a ministry source said.
The attack took place near the al-Hurriyah Square at about 10: 30 a.m. (0630 GMT) earlier in the day, the source said.
Violence continues infesting Baghdad streets despite a more- than-five-month U.S. and Iraqi security plan aiming at putting rampant violence under control.
Source: Xinhua

Over 70 Killed In Three Bombing Attacks In Baghdad []
8/1/2007 2:41:27 PM Three separate bombings in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad left over 70 people dead Wednesday.
The deadliest attack occurred in western Baghdad when a fuel tanker loaded with explosives detonated at a gas station. The early afternoon blast killed at least 50 people and left another 60 wounded. Several cars were also damaged in the attack.
An earlier attack took place in Baghdad's Karrada district. A suicide car bomber set off his explosives near several popular businesses in the district's square, leaving at least 15 people dead and another 20 injured.
The third attack occurred in Baghdad's predominantly Christian Dora district. A car bomb detonated in a busy market inside the district, killing three and wounding another five.
The attacks marked a deadly start to the month of August for Iraqi civilians, who had just undergone the second-deadliest month of the year so far for Iraqi civilians in July.

Iraq’s largest Sunni Arab bloc withdraws from government; Baghdad bombings kill 70

By Qassim Abdul;-Zahra and Sinan Salaheddin/Associated Press Writers
August 1, 2007

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s largest Sunni Arab political bloc announced its withdrawal from the government Wednesday, undermining efforts to seek reconciliation among the country’s rival factions, and three bombings in Baghdad killed at least 70 people.
In one attack, 50 people were killed and 60 wounded when a suicide attacker exploded a fuel truck near a gas station in western Baghdad. Another 17 died in a separate car bomb attack in central Baghdad. And in a mostly Christian section of the capital, a parked car bombing killed three people.
The U.S. military announced the deaths of four American soldiers, three of whom were killed by a sophisticated, armor-piercing bomb. Britain also announced the death of one of its soldiers, by a roadside bombing in Basra.
The White House on Wednesday downplayed the significance of the Accordance Front’s leaving the government. Press secretary Tony Snow said that while it is important for all the political blocs to participate, reconciliation efforts are ongoing. He noted that Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and the minister of defense, both Sunnis, remain in place.
"We’re keeping an eye on the situation, but let’s keep in mind that it is not a complete withdrawal from the political process," Snow said.
The Accordance Front has 44 of parliament’s 275 seats. Its withdrawal from the 14-month-old government is the second such action by a faction of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s "national unity" coalition. Five Cabinet ministers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr quit the government in April to protest al-Maliki’s reluctance to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
Rafaa al-Issawi, a leading member of the Accordance Front, said at a news conference Wednesday that the Sunni bloc’s six Cabinet ministers would submit their resignations later in the day.
Al-Issawi said the decision to pull out from the government followed what he called al-Maliki’s failure to respond to the Accordance Front. It gave him seven days to meet its demands, and the ultimatum expired Wednesday.
Among the demands: a pardon for security detainees not charged with specific crimes, the disbanding of militias and the participation of all groups represented in the government in dealing with security issues.
"The government is continuing with its arrogance, refusing to change its stand and has slammed shut the door to any meaningful reforms necessary for saving Iraq," al-Issawi said.
"We had hoped that the government would respond to these demands or at least acknowledge the failure of its policies, which led Iraq to a level of misery it had not seen in modern history. But its stand did not surprise us at all," he said, reading from a prepared statement.

Three Mysterious Car Bombs Kill, Injure 200 In Baghdad;
Aug 02, 2007US Locks Down Samarra
By Muhammad Abu Nasr | Iraqi Resistance Report

Three mysterious bombs exploded in Baghdad on Wednesday that killed and injured upwards of 200 as US forces locked down Samarra launching a campaign of raids and searches following the downing of a US helicopter and as the Danish Defence Minister comes under fire.
In a dispatch posted at 4:25pm Baghdad time Wednesday afternoon, the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq (AMSI) reported that an explosives-laden tank truck and two car bombs exploded in various parts of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing or wounding at least 200 people.
The AMSI reported a source in the puppet police as saying that a man driving an explosives-laden fuel tanker slammed into a fuel station in the western Baghdad neighborhood of al-Mansur on Wednesday afternoon. The blast killed 50 people and wounded 60 more, by preliminary count.
Earlier, on Wednesday morning, the puppet police source said, a car bomb exploded near al-Hurriyah Square in central Baghdad’s al-Karradah district, killing and wounding 80 more. The sources said that in addition to the casualties, nearby shops and private cars were also damaged.
Yet another car bomb exploded in the southern Baghdad suburb of ad-Durah, killing eight people, by preliminary count.

INSURGENT TARGETS POLICE CHECKPOINT

(PressZoom) - BAGHDAD - An insurgent detonated a car bomb he was driving at an Iraqi Security Force checkpoint in the Doura portion of the East Rashid District July 9, killing seven ISF members.
The suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device exploded after an insurgent drove up to an Iraqi National Police checkpoint.
Multinational Division - Baghdad troops from 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, attached to the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, responded to the sound of the large explosion and found three Iraqi Army troops and four policemen killed in the blast.
Three civilians, four policemen and three other Iraqi soldiers
were also wounded in the attack. The wounded were evacuated to a Coalition Medical Treatment Facility.
The incident is under investigation.
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