Monday Winds of War Briefing
Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Friday. Monday's Winds of War briefings are given by Peace Like a River and Security Watchtower.
Top Topics
* Afghan and coalition troops killed about 45 insurgents in attacks on Taliban camps in southern Afghanistan as U.S.-led forces pressed on with their largest offensive since 2001, military officials said Saturday. A total of about 85 suspected militants have been killed in the past week as some 10,000 U.S.-led troops spread out over four southern provinces in the campaign dubbed Operation Mountain Thrust aimed at quelling a Taliban resurgence.
* At least 52 people have been killed in Sri Lanka as heavy sea and land battles erupted while Tamil Tiger rebels warned that the island would plunge in a "fatal war" if the military kept up air strikes.
* Palestinians fired five more Qassam rockets into Israel on Friday, which responded with an airstrike on a vehicle carrying militants in Gaza city, killing one (see also Gaza Rocket Threat). According to Hamas, they were prepared to resume the ceasefire if Israel refrained from targeted strikes in Gaza.
* Russian special forces have killed Abdul Khalim Saidullayev, leader of the separatist Chechen militants in a major coup for Russia's fight against terrorism. Two Russian soldiers were also killed in the raid, which took place in the village of Argun. In response, Chechen militants are vowing to continue their fight.
Other topics today include: Trial of Egyptian bombers; Gaza weapons smuggling; IDF raids in West Bank; Iran remains defiant; Iran-Syria defense agreement; U.S. House votes against Iraq withdrawal; al Qaeda plot to hit NY subway; Explosions in Danshube; Militants killed in Ingushetia; Fighting in southern Afghanistan; Taliban suffering heavy losses; Bombing in Balochistan; Violence in Kashmir; fighting in Sri Lanka; Abu Sayyaf leader captured; Thai forces captured Indonesian bombmaker; North Korean missile launch; Unrest in East Timor; Controversy simmers of Bashir release; Terror suspects appear in British court; Violence in Nigeria; and more.
Iran & the Middle East
* The trial of 14 Egyptians accused of terror involvement in an April 2005 attack, has begun in Cairo. Three tourists were killed and 19 others wounded in the duo suicide bombings.
* The "Quartet" of world power seeking a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians have agreed on a plan to resume aid for Palestinians, frozen since the Hamas government came to power.
* Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee ten days ago that weapons smuggling from Egypt into the Gaza Strip has increased greatly since the Israeli withdrawal on 12 September 2005 (H/T: Matt from Eurabian Times).
* Israeli defense forces captured 11 terrorists belonging to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Tanzim organizations in raids throughout Judea and Samaria.
* According to Palestinian militant Abu Yousuf, weapons transferred last week by the Israeli's to the presidential guard units of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, have been used in attacks against Israelis (H/T: Matt from Eurabian Times).
* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is attempting to rally Arab nations to block Israeli's plans to redraw its borders.
* Amir Taheri explains in Arab News why the U.S. is unlikely to get any help at next month's G-8 Summit, towards checking Iran's nuclear ambitions.
* According to reports, Iran is prepared to limit its nuclear program but will not suspend uranium enrichment as a pre-condition for multi-party talks.
* Hossein Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, is calling for the United States military to overthrow the regime in Teheran, saying his "grandfather's revolution has devoured its children and has strayed from its course."
* Iran and Syria have signed a defense cooperation agreement that would include the Syrian procurement of Iranian missiles, air defense systems and main battle tanks.
America Domestic Security & the Americas
* On Friday, the US House voted 256 to 153 to affirm "that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror." Of the 153, 149 Democrats voted against the resolution.
* A Time magazine report says Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system with a lethal gas similar to that used in Nazi death camps. They were stopped not by any intelligence breakthrough, but by an order from Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman Zawahiri.
* In Trinidad, the state intends to respond to allegations made by incarcerated Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr that Prime Minister Patrick Manning had waived a multi-million debt in exchange for election muscle during the run up to the 2002 general elections.
* The first ship of the U.S. Navy’s newest class of aircraft carrier (CVN-21) is likely to be named the USS Gerald Ford, after the nations 38th President.
* According to a new book by Ron Suskind, U.S. authorities discovered in 2003 that Mohammad Sidique Khan was plotting attacks against the United States and included his name on a no-fly list, two years before his involvement in the 7 July 2005 London subway bombings. The British government has denied the allegations.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
* Three explosions in the Tajik capital of Danshube damaged a pipeline and several structures on Friday morning. Authorities are investigating the incidents.
* Two militants were killed and a militant base was discovered near Psedakh during a special operation in Ingushetia carried out by the Russian Federal security service.
* World-renowned Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli has created a monument entitled "To The Struggle Against World Terrorism," a gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia and the artist to the people of the United States. The monument will be dedicated on the five-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
* Wanted militant Andzor Barchashvili was killed on Sunday during a government operation in the Ingush village of Nesterovskaya.
* Timur Gayev, the Emir of Grozny, was captured at a bus stop in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan, along with four other militants.
* Russia and Belarus began exercises Union Shield 2006 in Belarus on Sunday, involving an estimated 8,800 troops, 40 tanks, 180 combat vehicles, and more than 40 artillery pieces.
Afghanistan & Southern Asia
* Taliban militants killed five people in an ambush Sunday while U.S.-led coalition troops moved deeper into Afghanistan's southern mountains in an offensive that has killed about 90 insurgents in less than a week, officials said.
* British troops said they had killed six Taliban rebels who had been firing mortars at one of Afghanistan's few functioning hydro-electric dams. British forces returned fire with mortars after they also came under fire late Saturday near the Kajaki dam and power plant in southern Helmand province, a British military spokesman said on Sunday.
* As fighting in Afghanistan has intensified over the past three months, the U.S. military has conducted 340 airstrikes there, more than twice the 160 carried out in the much higher-profile war in Iraq, according to data from the Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East.
* A mid-level Taliban commander said to lead more than 100 men in southern Afghanistan surrendered to a government reconciliation drive s authorities arrested 12 other rebels.
* A suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body blew himself up near an Afghan army vehicle in southwestern Afghanistan, wounding three civilians and two soldiers, an official said.
* In Afghanistan, on paper, the Peace Through Strength program maintains a blacklist of Taliban members who aren't eligible because of their serious crimes. But the program has been getting ambitious, using fresh recruits from the Taliban to send delegations to the highest levels of the insurgency with offers of amnesty.
* An update by Bill Roggio on Friday details recent Taliban activity in Afghanistan.
* Here is the CDI's Afghan update for the month of May. It is a roundup of events in Afghanistan throughout the month.
* Here is a roundup of events in Balochistan.
* In Balochistan, a restaurant and two shops were destroyed in a bomb blast in the Barkhan district’s Rakhni town on Friday. A tower of the Sibi-Harnai power transmission line was blown up near Sibi and security forces seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from the Neligh area of Sui during an operation. A checkpost of the FC was also attacked in the Bolan area. The bomb planted inside the Noor Restaurant in the Rakhni bazaar went off when the restaurant was closed for Friday prayers, official sources said.
* Pakistani troops shot dead two pro-Taliban militants after an attack on a military checkpoint in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said. Soldiers at the post near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan tribal district spotted two armed men and cautioned them to stop. But the pair opened fire and were killed in a "retaliatory strike" by the troops.
* Here are the daily updates from the South Asia Terrorism Portal for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
* The deputy superintendent of Karachi Central Prison was gunned down in broad daylight in one of the city’s busiest markets on Thursday. Eight gunmen peppered Amanullah Khan Niazi’s Toyota Corolla car with bullets as he was on his way to the Home Department.
* Suspected Islamist militants killed a villager in Indian Kashmir by slitting his throat and cut off the tongues and noses of four others, accusing them of being police informers, authorities said today. The attackers also beat up seven other villagers and set several houses ablaze late on Wednesday in a remote village near Mahore town, 65 km north-east of Jammu city, the Indian state's winter capital.
* A Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist was gunned down by police in Gandoh area of Doda district on Sunday, police said in Jammu.
* Security agencies were put on high alert in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday following reports that about two dozen terrorists had entered the region after sneaking across the LoC, days ahead of a visit to the area by Congress president Sonia Gandh.
* A top leader of India's main Maoist group has been killed in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, police say. Police say the Maoist leader, Ravi Kumar, was shot dead in an exchange on Friday night.
* Sri Lanka's air force bombed areas around the headquarters of Tamil Tiger rebels for a second night on Friday as victims of a suspected rebel civilian bus ambush were buried in a mass grave. Jets raided areas near the de facto rebel capital Kilinochchi at first light, but attacks then ceased apparently while the funerals of the 64 people killed in Thursday's attack were held. Witnesses said bombing resumed at nightfall.
* Sri Lankan troops in boats and helicopters battled Tamil rebels Saturday, and witnesses accused government forces of opening fire in a fishing village, killing five people — one inside a church — and wounding dozens.
* In Sri Lanka, no one is betting on a quick return to calm, certainly not the 2,000 Sri Lankans who have crossed over to India since April or the 500 others who have flocked to this area hoping to follow suit. A dozen people have drowned making the attempt.
* Suspected Tamil Tiger rebel attacks killed three policemen and left two soldiers missing on Sunday, the army said, and rebels said they were attacked by government forces as a recent upsurge of violence continued.
Far East & Southeast Asia
* Philippine forces have captured Basit Usman, who served as an "executioner" for Abu Sayyaf on the southern island of Mindanao. Usman took part in a June 2001 attack which Abu Sayyaf kidnapped and executed 10 farmers.
* Thai security forces have captured Sabri Amiruddin, an Indonesian who had a kilo of fertilizer and two kilos of nails in his possession.
* Japan and the United States are both warning North Korea not to test fire the expected launch of a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile, saying the move would lead to greater isolation. Signs out of North Korea are pointing towards an imminent launch (H/T: Matt from Eurabian Times).
* On Monday, Australia summoned the North Korean ambassador to warn North Korea against conducting the long-range ballistic missile test, saying such a move would have "serious consequences."
* North Korea is vowing to "increase the military deterrent" against the United States, which according to Pyongyang is "hell-bent on provocations for war."
* Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is touring six African nations in an effort to boost economic and trade ties, as well as access to raw materials such as oil, copper and timber.
* At the request of President Xanana Gusmao, rebels in East Timor are handing over weapons to foreign peacekeepers, but the group is still opposed to Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.
* Following a U.S. travel advisory on Saturday, Filipino authorities are saying there is no immediate threat from terrorist attacks, despite the recent series of intimidating bombings, defense and military officials.
* Australians are angry over the release of radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader of al Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah, and sentenced to prison for involvement with the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Prime Minister John Howard is prepared to express the anger in a meeting later this month with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
* Australian troops will still have a role in Iraq after foreign forces hand over security to Iraqi forces in the country's south, Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday, indicating his country's troops would not be brought home anytime soon.
* More international police will soon be sent to East Timor to restore order following recent deadly violence.
Europe
* The British government deported an Algerian man suspected of being a senior member of a group linked to al Qaeda, in the first of what it expected to be a wave of deportations.
* The global war on terror must observe the rule of law, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Friday in a thinly-veiled criticism of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
* On Friday, Omar Khyam, 24, and Jawad Akbar, 22, appeared in front of a jury at Old Bailey courthouse, where tapes were played of the men talking about crashing a jet with 300 people on board with the help of 30 sympathisers.
* A French appeals court on Friday eased restrictions on the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an Iranian exiled opposition group with links to an armed guerrilla movement which is listed as a terrorist group by the United States. In response, Iran condemned the decision as "a green light to terrorism and violence."
* The British government has warned citizens of the UK that al Qaeda was targeting westerners in Saudi Arabia, and terror attacks could be imminent (H/T: Matt from Eurabian Times).
* Abubaker Deghayes, a British-Muslim cleric at the al-Quds mosque, told an undercover reporter that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George Bush were both "legitimate targets" for terrorist attacks.
Africa
* At least six people were killed in the southeast Nigerian city of Onitsha when a feud between a separatist group and a transport union degenerated into street battles, residents said on Saturday. One witness said men armed with guns and machetes boarded a bus, forced out all the passengers and shot and beheaded one of them at the roadside.
* The leader of the Islamic militia that seized Somalia's capital said Saturday that 300 Ethiopian soldiers had entered the country to help his rivals, but he promised not to attack the weak government that represented his only challenge. An Ethiopian official denied Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's claims, but said his government had massed troops along the border and was monitoring the Islamic militants' advance across the country.
* The leader of Somalia's newly dominant Islamists denied any links to al Qaeda on Saturday and warned the interim government not to put any conditions on proposed peace talks in Yemen. Islamic Courts Union Chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed gave his first news conference to foreign journalists days after the fall of Jowhar, where his militias routed warlords from their last stronghold, 90 km (55 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu.
* A US military vessel has picked up two defeated Somali warlords from Mogadishu, while a third defected to the Islamic Courts militia now in control of the capital, officials said.
* In Senegal, the begging industry has become so successful that children are smuggled from neighboring Mali, Gambia or Mauritania to beg in Dakar, U.N. child agency UNICEF said. Koranic schools are fueling the child trafficking.
The Global War
* Senior law enforcement officials from G8 countries convened Thursday in Moscow for two days of talks on combating terrorism and organized crime. Protection of transportation and communication networks should top the list of security concerns, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said.
* Ryan Schmalz and Carl Wingate, sailors aboard the USS Cole when it was attacked in 2001, recall the attack, which was carried out by al Qaeda and killed 17 of their shipmates.
* Abu Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi, a key insurgency leader in Iraq, said the U.S. killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a 'great loss,' but one that will strengthen the militants' determination, according to an audio tape broadcast Friday.
* Barry Rubin explains in the Turkish Daily News why capturing or killing terrorist leaders matters for those in need of having this explained.
Thanks for reading! If you found something here you want to blog about yourself (and we hope you do), all we ask is that you do as we do and offer a Hat Tip hyperlink to today's "Winds of War". If you think we missed something important, use the Comments section to let us know. For ongoing tips, email "MondayWindsOfWar", over here @windsofchange.net.
Top Topics
* Afghan and coalition troops killed about 45 insurgents in attacks on Taliban camps in southern Afghanistan as U.S.-led forces pressed on with their largest offensive since 2001, military officials said Saturday. A total of about 85 suspected militants have been killed in the past week as some 10,000 U.S.-led troops spread out over four southern provinces in the campaign dubbed Operation Mountain Thrust aimed at quelling a Taliban resurgence.
* At least 52 people have been killed in Sri Lanka as heavy sea and land battles erupted while Tamil Tiger rebels warned that the island would plunge in a "fatal war" if the military kept up air strikes.
* Palestinians fired five more Qassam rockets into Israel on Friday, which responded with an airstrike on a vehicle carrying militants in Gaza city, killing one (see also Gaza Rocket Threat). According to Hamas, they were prepared to resume the ceasefire if Israel refrained from targeted strikes in Gaza.
* Russian special forces have killed Abdul Khalim Saidullayev, leader of the separatist Chechen militants in a major coup for Russia's fight against terrorism. Two Russian soldiers were also killed in the raid, which took place in the village of Argun. In response, Chechen militants are vowing to continue their fight.
Other topics today include: Trial of Egyptian bombers; Gaza weapons smuggling; IDF raids in West Bank; Iran remains defiant; Iran-Syria defense agreement; U.S. House votes against Iraq withdrawal; al Qaeda plot to hit NY subway; Explosions in Danshube; Militants killed in Ingushetia; Fighting in southern Afghanistan; Taliban suffering heavy losses; Bombing in Balochistan; Violence in Kashmir; fighting in Sri Lanka; Abu Sayyaf leader captured; Thai forces captured Indonesian bombmaker; North Korean missile launch; Unrest in East Timor; Controversy simmers of Bashir release; Terror suspects appear in British court; Violence in Nigeria; and more.
Iran & the Middle East
* The trial of 14 Egyptians accused of terror involvement in an April 2005 attack, has begun in Cairo. Three tourists were killed and 19 others wounded in the duo suicide bombings.
* The "Quartet" of world power seeking a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians have agreed on a plan to resume aid for Palestinians, frozen since the Hamas government came to power.
* Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee ten days ago that weapons smuggling from Egypt into the Gaza Strip has increased greatly since the Israeli withdrawal on 12 September 2005 (H/T: Matt from Eurabian Times).
* Israeli defense forces captured 11 terrorists belonging to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Tanzim organizations in raids throughout Judea and Samaria.
* According to Palestinian militant Abu Yousuf, weapons transferred last week by the Israeli's to the presidential guard units of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, have been used in attacks against Israelis (H/T: Matt from Eurabian Times).
* Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is attempting to rally Arab nations to block Israeli's plans to redraw its borders.
* Amir Taheri explains in Arab News why the U.S. is unlikely to get any help at next month's G-8 Summit, towards checking Iran's nuclear ambitions.
* According to reports, Iran is prepared to limit its nuclear program but will not suspend uranium enrichment as a pre-condition for multi-party talks.
* Hossein Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, is calling for the United States military to overthrow the regime in Teheran, saying his "grandfather's revolution has devoured its children and has strayed from its course."
* Iran and Syria have signed a defense cooperation agreement that would include the Syrian procurement of Iranian missiles, air defense systems and main battle tanks.
America Domestic Security & the Americas
* On Friday, the US House voted 256 to 153 to affirm "that the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror." Of the 153, 149 Democrats voted against the resolution.
* A Time magazine report says Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system with a lethal gas similar to that used in Nazi death camps. They were stopped not by any intelligence breakthrough, but by an order from Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman Zawahiri.
* In Trinidad, the state intends to respond to allegations made by incarcerated Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr that Prime Minister Patrick Manning had waived a multi-million debt in exchange for election muscle during the run up to the 2002 general elections.
* The first ship of the U.S. Navy’s newest class of aircraft carrier (CVN-21) is likely to be named the USS Gerald Ford, after the nations 38th President.
* According to a new book by Ron Suskind, U.S. authorities discovered in 2003 that Mohammad Sidique Khan was plotting attacks against the United States and included his name on a no-fly list, two years before his involvement in the 7 July 2005 London subway bombings. The British government has denied the allegations.
Russia, Caucasus & Central Asia
* Three explosions in the Tajik capital of Danshube damaged a pipeline and several structures on Friday morning. Authorities are investigating the incidents.
* Two militants were killed and a militant base was discovered near Psedakh during a special operation in Ingushetia carried out by the Russian Federal security service.
* World-renowned Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli has created a monument entitled "To The Struggle Against World Terrorism," a gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia and the artist to the people of the United States. The monument will be dedicated on the five-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
* Wanted militant Andzor Barchashvili was killed on Sunday during a government operation in the Ingush village of Nesterovskaya.
* Timur Gayev, the Emir of Grozny, was captured at a bus stop in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan, along with four other militants.
* Russia and Belarus began exercises Union Shield 2006 in Belarus on Sunday, involving an estimated 8,800 troops, 40 tanks, 180 combat vehicles, and more than 40 artillery pieces.
Afghanistan & Southern Asia
* Taliban militants killed five people in an ambush Sunday while U.S.-led coalition troops moved deeper into Afghanistan's southern mountains in an offensive that has killed about 90 insurgents in less than a week, officials said.
* British troops said they had killed six Taliban rebels who had been firing mortars at one of Afghanistan's few functioning hydro-electric dams. British forces returned fire with mortars after they also came under fire late Saturday near the Kajaki dam and power plant in southern Helmand province, a British military spokesman said on Sunday.
* As fighting in Afghanistan has intensified over the past three months, the U.S. military has conducted 340 airstrikes there, more than twice the 160 carried out in the much higher-profile war in Iraq, according to data from the Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters for the Middle East.
* A mid-level Taliban commander said to lead more than 100 men in southern Afghanistan surrendered to a government reconciliation drive s authorities arrested 12 other rebels.
* A suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body blew himself up near an Afghan army vehicle in southwestern Afghanistan, wounding three civilians and two soldiers, an official said.
* In Afghanistan, on paper, the Peace Through Strength program maintains a blacklist of Taliban members who aren't eligible because of their serious crimes. But the program has been getting ambitious, using fresh recruits from the Taliban to send delegations to the highest levels of the insurgency with offers of amnesty.
* An update by Bill Roggio on Friday details recent Taliban activity in Afghanistan.
* Here is the CDI's Afghan update for the month of May. It is a roundup of events in Afghanistan throughout the month.
* Here is a roundup of events in Balochistan.
* In Balochistan, a restaurant and two shops were destroyed in a bomb blast in the Barkhan district’s Rakhni town on Friday. A tower of the Sibi-Harnai power transmission line was blown up near Sibi and security forces seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from the Neligh area of Sui during an operation. A checkpost of the FC was also attacked in the Bolan area. The bomb planted inside the Noor Restaurant in the Rakhni bazaar went off when the restaurant was closed for Friday prayers, official sources said.
* Pakistani troops shot dead two pro-Taliban militants after an attack on a military checkpoint in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said. Soldiers at the post near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan tribal district spotted two armed men and cautioned them to stop. But the pair opened fire and were killed in a "retaliatory strike" by the troops.
* Here are the daily updates from the South Asia Terrorism Portal for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
* The deputy superintendent of Karachi Central Prison was gunned down in broad daylight in one of the city’s busiest markets on Thursday. Eight gunmen peppered Amanullah Khan Niazi’s Toyota Corolla car with bullets as he was on his way to the Home Department.
* Suspected Islamist militants killed a villager in Indian Kashmir by slitting his throat and cut off the tongues and noses of four others, accusing them of being police informers, authorities said today. The attackers also beat up seven other villagers and set several houses ablaze late on Wednesday in a remote village near Mahore town, 65 km north-east of Jammu city, the Indian state's winter capital.
* A Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist was gunned down by police in Gandoh area of Doda district on Sunday, police said in Jammu.
* Security agencies were put on high alert in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday following reports that about two dozen terrorists had entered the region after sneaking across the LoC, days ahead of a visit to the area by Congress president Sonia Gandh.
* A top leader of India's main Maoist group has been killed in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, police say. Police say the Maoist leader, Ravi Kumar, was shot dead in an exchange on Friday night.
* Sri Lanka's air force bombed areas around the headquarters of Tamil Tiger rebels for a second night on Friday as victims of a suspected rebel civilian bus ambush were buried in a mass grave. Jets raided areas near the de facto rebel capital Kilinochchi at first light, but attacks then ceased apparently while the funerals of the 64 people killed in Thursday's attack were held. Witnesses said bombing resumed at nightfall.
* Sri Lankan troops in boats and helicopters battled Tamil rebels Saturday, and witnesses accused government forces of opening fire in a fishing village, killing five people — one inside a church — and wounding dozens.
* In Sri Lanka, no one is betting on a quick return to calm, certainly not the 2,000 Sri Lankans who have crossed over to India since April or the 500 others who have flocked to this area hoping to follow suit. A dozen people have drowned making the attempt.
* Suspected Tamil Tiger rebel attacks killed three policemen and left two soldiers missing on Sunday, the army said, and rebels said they were attacked by government forces as a recent upsurge of violence continued.
Far East & Southeast Asia
* Philippine forces have captured Basit Usman, who served as an "executioner" for Abu Sayyaf on the southern island of Mindanao. Usman took part in a June 2001 attack which Abu Sayyaf kidnapped and executed 10 farmers.
* Thai security forces have captured Sabri Amiruddin, an Indonesian who had a kilo of fertilizer and two kilos of nails in his possession.
* Japan and the United States are both warning North Korea not to test fire the expected launch of a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile, saying the move would lead to greater isolation. Signs out of North Korea are pointing towards an imminent launch (H/T: Matt from Eurabian Times).
* On Monday, Australia summoned the North Korean ambassador to warn North Korea against conducting the long-range ballistic missile test, saying such a move would have "serious consequences."
* North Korea is vowing to "increase the military deterrent" against the United States, which according to Pyongyang is "hell-bent on provocations for war."
* Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is touring six African nations in an effort to boost economic and trade ties, as well as access to raw materials such as oil, copper and timber.
* At the request of President Xanana Gusmao, rebels in East Timor are handing over weapons to foreign peacekeepers, but the group is still opposed to Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.
* Following a U.S. travel advisory on Saturday, Filipino authorities are saying there is no immediate threat from terrorist attacks, despite the recent series of intimidating bombings, defense and military officials.
* Australians are angry over the release of radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader of al Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah, and sentenced to prison for involvement with the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Prime Minister John Howard is prepared to express the anger in a meeting later this month with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
* Australian troops will still have a role in Iraq after foreign forces hand over security to Iraqi forces in the country's south, Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday, indicating his country's troops would not be brought home anytime soon.
* More international police will soon be sent to East Timor to restore order following recent deadly violence.
Europe
* The British government deported an Algerian man suspected of being a senior member of a group linked to al Qaeda, in the first of what it expected to be a wave of deportations.
* The global war on terror must observe the rule of law, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Friday in a thinly-veiled criticism of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
* On Friday, Omar Khyam, 24, and Jawad Akbar, 22, appeared in front of a jury at Old Bailey courthouse, where tapes were played of the men talking about crashing a jet with 300 people on board with the help of 30 sympathisers.
* A French appeals court on Friday eased restrictions on the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an Iranian exiled opposition group with links to an armed guerrilla movement which is listed as a terrorist group by the United States. In response, Iran condemned the decision as "a green light to terrorism and violence."
* The British government has warned citizens of the UK that al Qaeda was targeting westerners in Saudi Arabia, and terror attacks could be imminent (H/T: Matt from Eurabian Times).
* Abubaker Deghayes, a British-Muslim cleric at the al-Quds mosque, told an undercover reporter that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George Bush were both "legitimate targets" for terrorist attacks.
Africa
* At least six people were killed in the southeast Nigerian city of Onitsha when a feud between a separatist group and a transport union degenerated into street battles, residents said on Saturday. One witness said men armed with guns and machetes boarded a bus, forced out all the passengers and shot and beheaded one of them at the roadside.
* The leader of the Islamic militia that seized Somalia's capital said Saturday that 300 Ethiopian soldiers had entered the country to help his rivals, but he promised not to attack the weak government that represented his only challenge. An Ethiopian official denied Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's claims, but said his government had massed troops along the border and was monitoring the Islamic militants' advance across the country.
* The leader of Somalia's newly dominant Islamists denied any links to al Qaeda on Saturday and warned the interim government not to put any conditions on proposed peace talks in Yemen. Islamic Courts Union Chairman Sheikh Sharif Ahmed gave his first news conference to foreign journalists days after the fall of Jowhar, where his militias routed warlords from their last stronghold, 90 km (55 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu.
* A US military vessel has picked up two defeated Somali warlords from Mogadishu, while a third defected to the Islamic Courts militia now in control of the capital, officials said.
* In Senegal, the begging industry has become so successful that children are smuggled from neighboring Mali, Gambia or Mauritania to beg in Dakar, U.N. child agency UNICEF said. Koranic schools are fueling the child trafficking.
The Global War
* Senior law enforcement officials from G8 countries convened Thursday in Moscow for two days of talks on combating terrorism and organized crime. Protection of transportation and communication networks should top the list of security concerns, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said.
* Ryan Schmalz and Carl Wingate, sailors aboard the USS Cole when it was attacked in 2001, recall the attack, which was carried out by al Qaeda and killed 17 of their shipmates.
* Abu Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi, a key insurgency leader in Iraq, said the U.S. killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a 'great loss,' but one that will strengthen the militants' determination, according to an audio tape broadcast Friday.
* Barry Rubin explains in the Turkish Daily News why capturing or killing terrorist leaders matters for those in need of having this explained.
Thanks for reading! If you found something here you want to blog about yourself (and we hope you do), all we ask is that you do as we do and offer a Hat Tip hyperlink to today's "Winds of War". If you think we missed something important, use the Comments section to let us know. For ongoing tips, email "MondayWindsOfWar", over here @windsofchange.net.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home