Posts Tagged ‘al-Qaeda’
Five persons were killed today when suspected US drones carried out a fresh missile strike in Pakistan’s troubled South Waziristan tribal region, known to be a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists.The drone fired three missiles at Karikot village in South Waziristan.
Security officials said that one of the missiles had targetted a moving vehicle killing all three armed people inside. Two more deaths were reported in other missile hits.It was not immediately known if the dead were foreigners or local tribesmen.
US drones operating from Afghanistan have carried out a series of missile strikes in Pakistan’s restive tribal belt since the middle of last year. A number of top Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives have been killed in these attacks.Pakistan has angrily opposed these strikes, describing them as a violation of its sovereignty.
American military deaths in Iraq have dropped dramatically this year, a trend observers attribute to the lasting effects of the U.S.-led surge offensive, more robust Iraqi security performance and civilians’ disgust with warfare. U.S. service members in Iraq have died this year: 222 in hostilities such as combat and attacks, and 87 in non-hostile circumstances such as traffic accidents, suicides and natural deaths.
The U.S. death toll has been much higher in past years. Last year, 906 died: 768 in combat and attacks and 138 in non-hostile circumstances. There were more than 800 deaths in 2004, 2005 and 2006 as well.
“It’s no single effort. It’s a combination of efforts,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commanding general of Multi-National Division-Baghdad. “The people of Iraq are tired of violence, and they are assisting the security forces; the government is improving its ability to govern and to apply the rule of law.”
The decline in deaths coincides with a decrease in attacks. Maj. Gen. David Perkins said that last year, Iraq experienced nearly 180 attacks a day and that last week, the number dropped to an average of 10 a day.
Gen. Thomas Metz, head of a military group dedicated to defending against roadside bombs, said this month that there had been a recent decline in the number of particularly powerful roadside bombs coming into Iraq from Iran. The bombs, called explosively formed penetrators, have been blamed for numerous U.S. troop deaths.
The improvement comes as the United States prepares to withdraw its combat troops from population centers in 2009 from all of Iraq by the end of 2011.Commanders and others say the successes of the U.S.-led surge in establishing stability last year and this year in Baghdad and nearby towns and villages have decimated militant leadership and operatives, leading to a decline in attacks.
“The Iraqi security forces have increased their capability in the last 13 months here in Baghdad,” Hammond said. “The coalition forces and the Iraqi forces, in a combined effort, have pressed the insurgents and al Qaeda; more than 3,300 of them have been detained in the past year.”
Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, said the military is much better at thwarting roadside bombs, has developed a better informant network and has been dismantling the al Qaeda in Iraq movement.
Maj. Brian Tribus, chief of media relations for Multi-National Corps-Iraq, emphasized the improved security performance and growth of Iraqi forces.U.S. deaths have dropped in part because Iraqi troops are taking more responsibility for fighting, he said. Iraqi troops often take the lead in security patrols, as 13 of 18 provinces now are under Iraqi security control.
Tribus said that more than three times as many Iraqi security forces as coalition forces were killed or wounded from June to November. In the same period last year, they sustained 1.3 times as many casualties.
Government offensives against Shiite militants in Basra, Amara and Baghdad’s Sadr City and against al Qaeda in Iraq in the Mosul region illustrate Iraqi competency and resolve, Tribus said. Those operations also helped security forces develop their skills.Another possible reason for the improved security has been the growth of the “Awakening” movement, in which Sunni tribes decided to take a stand against al Qaeda in Iraq in Anbar province.
This movement’s ideals spread to other regions, and from it, a U.S.- and Iraqi-backed program called the Sons of Iraq emerged. The largely Sunni militias, which include some former insurgents, have assisted in security duties.Sunnis once played a dominant role in the insurgency. Sunnis, who had more clout under Saddam Hussein’s rule, are embracing the new governmental system.
“The Sons of Iraq represent one of the many success stories in Iraqi neighborhoods and communities,” said Sgt. Brooke Murphy, a Multi-National Forces-Iraq spokeswoman. “This organization began as simple groups of concerned local citizens striving to reclaim their neighborhoods from terrorists and criminals.”She said “the importance of their contribution” can be gauged by efforts of the Iraqi government and U.S. military to register members into Iraqi security forces and non-security related jobs.Tribus said the focus on advising and partnering Iraqi security forces will contribute to lower U.S. and coalition deaths.
Al-Qaeda militants launched a pre-dawn breakout from a police station in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, triggering a shootout that left 13 people dead.
“During an exchange of fire between prisoners trying to escape and police officers in the station, six policemen and seven prisoners were killed,” provincial police chief Tareq al-Dulaimi said.
Three prisoners managed to flee but one was re-arrested, Dulaimi said, adding that another four policemen were wounded in the shootout that occurred at 0730 IST at Forsan police station in the centre of Ramadi.
Ramadi police have imposed a curfew in the city following the incident, an interior ministry source said, adding that three fugitive Al-Qaeda militants were “emirs” or local chiefs.The ministry source said that a prisoner wanting to go to the toilet was escorted from his cell by a policeman, kicking off what appeared to be a well-planned operation.
“The policeman was overpowered by the inmate who seized his weapon and shot him,”.”He then opened up the other cells and and he and his fellow prisoners grabbed weapons from the police station’s armoury, opening fire on the policemen.”
The predominantly Sunni Arab city of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, was a key Al-Qaeda stronghold in the aftermath of the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime by US-led forces in 2003.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan have been ranked among the 50 most powerful people in the world.
Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who controls the the country’s nuclear weapons, is placed 20th on the list of the global “power elite” at the beginning of 2009 .
Obama, who scripted history by becoming the first black-American to be voted to the White House, is followed by Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Markel and powerful Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Placing Sonia Gandhi at 17th spot, Indian political scene is riven by factions, Congress remains the strongest national force and rules unchallenged. “In the world’s largest democracy, she is the queen.”
Shahrukh Khan, who occupies 41st spot, as the ‘King of Bollywood’. “It’s not just that his (Shahrukh Khan’s) romantic flicks make gazillions it’s where those gazillions come from. Khan is huge in the Muslim world, even in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the mullahs ban his films.
“Their main appeal is certainly the song-and-dance numbers, but Khan (a Muslim married to a Hindu) makes devoutly secular films where love trounces bigotry,” .”Here’s hoping tolerance will leap from reel life to real life.”
On Kayani, it says, that in theory this mumbling chain-smoking Pakistan army chief answers to resident Asif Ali Zardari. But Kayani and his troops remain the dominant power in what could be the most dangerous country in the world.
“He’s responsible for Pakistan’s nukes; for the battle against al-Qaeda and its tribal allies along the Afghan border; and for managing tensions with neighbour India,” the magazine stresses, noting that so far, his army has kept itself out of politics and seems focused on the battle against ‘jihadists’.
“In the wake of the November terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Kayani stood firm on Pakistan’s sovereignty while also taking measures against the alleged sponsors of the outrage,” it says. About 47-year-old Obama, it says the presidency of the “intensely charismatic” Democrat, who will be inaugurated on January 20, will be judged on how he handles the economic crisis that now envelops the US and the world. “For Obama to be remembered as a great President, he has to do nothing less than rescue capitalism.”
For bin Laden, who finds 42nd spot, the manhunt may not have been successful, but it has driven him far underground. Once a glutton for publicity, he has not shot a new video since September 2007, and no audio message from him has been heard since May 2008.
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