RevolutionMuslim.Com Daily Blog

RevolutionMuslim.com is IslamPolicy.com

2010-11-12T18:12:00.006-05:00

:السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

I am saddened to announce that revolutionmuslim.com has been shut down due to an alleged, reckless post that has now been the cause of the incarceration of one of our brothers (May Allah hasten his release). We have seen a few arrests of late, with alleged ties to Revolution Muslim, and while most of what the media reports is distorted to say the least the blogs and forums have also been abuzz with imaginative and hypothetical speculation (as usual), most of which has assumed the worst and been representative of lies.

I want to express my great apology for being inactive and for remaining silent for the past few months. I have been going through some personal alterations with regard to physical, mental and spiritual space and was eager to alter some of the approach I had been being informed of when this recent spate of bad news hit. Perhaps prematurely, this post is to announce the initiation of IslamPolicy.com, the new home of Revolution Muslim.

Firstly, I would like to say that we pray and anticipate the best for our brothers and sisters all over the globe who are incarcerated at this time. We know that acts in Islam are based on intention, and that one is only granted the reward of what they intended. Some of our brothers and sisters, no matter how they may be perceived by others, were acting out of what we consider to be a pure intention. It has been narrated from Ibn Umar (ra) that Abu Bakr (ra) dispatched Yazeed ibn Abu Sufyan (ra) to Syria and that Abu Bakr (ra) walked along with him for about two miles when they said to him (ra), “O, Khalifah of the Messenger of Allah would you not go back?” and that he said, “No, for I have heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying that, “he whose feet are covered with dust in the path of Allah, Allah will save him from the fire.” Indeed our brothers and sisters may have taken the words, “O you who believe why do say that which you do not do?” to heart and so we ask that they are rewarded for their intentions and that they are rewarded the same as if they had attained their lofty goals.

Still recent events should serve as reminders. We live in an age where intention is not enough. We live in an age where we need increased knowledge and understanding as well, and so we set forth continuing on a path hoping to please Allah. It is imperative at this juncture that we redefine our mission, advance our platform, and improve our position. Inshallah, this Eid al Adha marks the end of our two year plan of action entitled By All Means Necessary (link). This plan outlined the objectives that Revolution Muslim held and was a guide for my decisions. However, few of our affiliates read it and so perhaps misunderstood the purpose of our organization. In retrospect the document should be read by those that seek a greater understanding of our call, but for brevity I will highlight the closing paragraphs here. By All Means Necessary conluded two years ago by stating that,

We have learned a great deal over the last few years. Osama Bin Laden is still alive and Al-Qaeda is plotting attacks that “outdo by far” September 11. According to a former senior Yemeni Al-Qaeda operative, Al-Qaeda has reinforced training camps across the globe. Victory is recognizable in Afghanistan, more may occur in Iraq with recent developments and the prospect of an attack by Israel on Iran. The Shabaab in Somalia are getting closer to regaining Mogadishu as the Ethiopian forces look poised to withdrawal at the end of the year. The incoming American Administration looks destined to be a mule of the international financiers and may be reverting towards a protectionism that will create discord between China and the U.S. and destroy the value of the dollar. Chaos abounds in international markets. The mujahedeen are still waging a successful jihad, but the majority of Muslims cannot foresee the justice of an Islamic State. They are largely unaware of the effect the corporatacracy has on their lives, largely afraid of the rulers the corporatocracy defends. We must pose and become the solution to this paradigmatic problem. It is the best we can do. Revolution Muslim issues a challenge to Muslims across the globe to accept a role in working toward the establishment of the state. Say Somalia would be taken tomorrow. We have problems with piracy, drinking water, health care and political divisions. The world would pose an economic barricade with no foreign investment. The State has oil, resources, agricultural capabilities and a strategic location and the right crew with the right connections could come in with some serious policy recommendations, community organizing and etcetera and protect the State. However, there may not be an internet connection for quite some time and there is little use chatting when the whole world gathers around to destroy you. This is a bold challenge but one that can be met. These are our objectives for the following two years; call it a strategic plan for advancing the objectives outlined in the Mission Statement of Revolution Muslim. Inshallah by the completion of two years heijra will be possible. May Allah make it soon!!!

Having passed two years, much of it remains true, our predictions about the Obama Administration and friction between West and East were accurate, the lands of jihad are spreading, and the ummah still has little clear understanding about what the Islamic State would look like were it established. Thus, the next two years will, inshallah, concentrate on the solution that is the establishment of the state, defining its specifics, enhancing the sophistication of calls for it, and helping prepare and advance progress, while maintaining support for brothers and sisters working for it across the globe.

In order to attain that objective, modification is necessary. Inshallah, on the Eid, IslamPolicy.com will release its methodology which will clarify the next stage of our struggle and at that time we will be setting forth a very idealistic set of lofty goals. The only way they will ever be attained is if we get the help of fellow Muslims. And so please watch IslamPolicy.com for the platform, pass this message and the accompanying videos around the web via email, posting on forums, blogs, websites, facebook, twitter and etcetera so that people know of the change in sites.

Of course we will include all the brothers and sisters that are willing to aid and abide in the effort but would like to make some alterations having observed that they are due. The video above highlights the principles that will drive these changes. Please feel free to comment or criticize.

Inshallah, we will be back soon, founding an online radio show, magazine, extensive blog and other activities, while keeping the ummah connected to the sincere callers to Islam. Because his words are so much more beneficial than mine I depart for now with a selection from Ibn Qayyim’s book The Path to Guidance:

There are matters to which he (the sincere servant) has been guided but he is in need of further guidance with respect to them since guidance to the path is one thing, but guidance upon the path is something else. Do we not see that a man knows the path to a certain city, that the path is such and such? However, he is not capable of traversing this path because traversing it requires specific guidance in the journey itself, such as travelling at a certain time as opposed to another, taking a certain amount of water in such and such a desert, resting at this place as opposed to that one. All of this is guidance upon the journey. The one who (merely) knows that this is the path neglects all of this, perishes and is cut off from the desired goal

We ask Allah, having guided us to the path to place us upon it and I close with this from the Quran praying that it is the sincere reality of my intention:

أُرِيدُ إِلاَّ الإِصْلاَحَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ وَمَا تَوْفِيقِي إِلاَّ بِاللّهِ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ

I only desire (your) betterment to the best of my power; and my success (in my task) can only come from Allah. In Him I trust, and unto Him I look.

It is truly a pleasure to be back in contact with you all. I look forward to hearing the ideas of all: old friends and new. Welcome to IslamPolicy.com, where the revolution in Islam continues inshallah!

~Younus Abdullah Muhammad

ALL VISITORS LOOKING FOR REVOLUTION MUSLIM PLEASE GO TO REVOLUTIONMUSLIM.INFO

2010-11-10T13:30:00.001-05:00

Domain revolutionmuslim.com has been placed on freeze due to the illegal efforts of authorities to suppress this dawa. Please visit ISLAMPOLICY.COM or REVOLUTIONMUSLIM.INFO and notify others of this change while we sort things out inshallah and keep us in your du'aa....

RM STAFF

2010-04-24T19:22:00.001-04:00

Watch CBS News Videos Online

We have received a high volume of reaction to our efforts to counter the South Park cartoons depiction of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) and after dealing with repairing the damage to the website, letting the situation die down a bit, and getting some of the events we are working on that we hold as important as well, we will return for open dialogue with those that are interested. In order to engage in this dialog however, some statements must be made.

We received an overwhelming amount of media response due to one sentence included in a post last week. The media, in its eternal ignorant manner rushed to cover the controversy especially because it dealt with the South Park cartoon, something as American as Apple pie. However, what cannot be displayed by a mainstream media that is focused only on sound bytes and controlled by elite interests is depth and two-way dialog. To display this we recorded an interview with the AFP – here is how long it lasted:

Now here is what was published:

South Park creators threatened over Mohammad depiction

Posted Thu Apr 22, 2010 9:29am AEST

South Park episodes have often drawn criticism. (www.dan-dare.org)

A US Muslim group has issued an internet warning to creators of the satirical animated TV show South Park over a depiction of the Prophet Mohammad in a bear outfit.

"We have to warn Matt (Stone) and Trey (Parker) that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show," said a post on RevolutionMuslim.com.

The website posted an accompaning graphic photo of the late Dutch filmmaker Van Gogh, who was killed in 2004 by an Islamic militant over a movie he made that accused Islam of condoning violence against women.

Also posted was link to a news article with details of a mansion in Colorado that Parker and Stone apparently own, suggesting they know where to find the South Park creators.

Younus Abdullah Muhammad, head of Revolution Muslim, said the post was not a threat.

"How is that a threat? Showing a case study right there of what happened to another individual who conducted himself in a very similar manner? It's just evidence," he told Reuters.

Muhammad said his group "didn't tell anyone to go to their houses and conduct violence."

He added he is not worried the post would lead to violence against Parker or Stone.

The episode in question aired last week on Comedy Central.

The cable channel declined to comment.

- Reuters

Close to nothing right, and only what highlights the call that this was a direct threat and suits their needs?

Now here is the typical response that media like this breeds – However we do want to continue a discussion that will open not a clash of civilizations but an opportunity for understanding which is apparent from efforts to establish dialog.

While thousands of calls came in threatening us, and saying nothing intelligent at all in opposition, many voiced their opposition intelligently, and we can understand many of the positions. We had many intelligent conversations around this controversy and one is included below to display the way that we can discuss the events and circumstances of the age.

Here is a sample of one of the critical but productive e-mails we received:

I forwarded your recent email about the South Park issue to everyone I know, along with this preface:

Hello,

A U.S.-based Islamic fundamentalist organization called Revolution Muslim is getting a lot of media attention lately due to what most perceive as thinly veiled threats posted on their website against the creators of South Park. These threats were allegedly made in retaliation for mocking the Prophet Mohammed in a recent episode of the show. If you haven't already heard about this issue, you can catch up on it here.

I contacted Revolution Muslim months ago, long before they made headlines in connection with the South Park issue, and have been on their mailing list (using an alternate name and email address) for months. I learned of their existence when I saw an extremely alarming television news report in which members of the group were shown preaching hatred against the United States on a street corner near the largest mosque in New York City. It is a marvel to most people, including me, that such unambiguously treasonous hate-mongering is protected as free-speech in the United States, but Revolution Muslim gets away with it because they are careful not to say anything that is illegal under current laws.

In response to what they regard as unbalanced mainstream media coverage of the South Park issue, Revolution Islam sent out an email today in order to tell their side of the story. I'm sure most people will agree with me that the author writes well, and presents his point of view intelligently. Many will also agree with much of what he has to say about U.S. foreign policy, and some will share my odd admiration for his tenacity and courage. However, I predict that almost nobody will fail to be horrified, as I am, by his narrow conception of free speech, and by his eagerness to condone a literal interpretation of the Koran's commandments regarding how to deal with those who insult the Prophet.

Before reading the email, I would like anyone who is prone to stereotyping all Muslims as terrorists to note that the author addresses many of his criticisms toward other Muslims, the majority of whom are evidently too moderate for his taste. This is a clear indication that Revolution Muslim does not speak for mainstream Islam, though I admit they may speak for what a dangerously large minority seem to think of as pure Islam.

You will never get this kind of "in-depth coverage" unless you dig deeper than what CNN and Fox choose to report. This should be highly illuminating for everybody.

I have questions:

1.) Given that the Koran clearly and unambiguously calls for killing anyone who insults the Prophet, would you personally kill Matt Stone and/or Trey Parker given the chance? If your answer is no, how do you justify your answer in light of your insistence on adhering to the letter of Islamic law?

2.) What if Matt Stone and Trey Parker expressed a willingness to engage in peaceful dialogue with Muslims regarding the matter of free speech, but stopped short of repenting for their depiction of the Prophet? Would Koranic law still require that they die?

3.) What is your opinion of depictions of the Prophet in general, as in art works that attempt to render him respectfully?

Thank you for the email update. I do not agree with all your principles, but I do admire that you stick up for them in the face of so much opposition.

Hoping for peace,

We will, inshallah, answer these questions and others like them in open format coming soon, please stay tuned to revolutionmuslim.com

We hope that we can engage those of you that want to discuss the recent South Park controversy in the coming days and sometime early next week we will, Allah willing. So, we are imploring those of you that want an opportunity to talk to us to send an email to revolutionmuslim@gmail.com – so we can listen to your side, your rationale, I am sure there is much we can agree on and once the site is up and running again we will hold this dialoug. Of course, the mainstream press will not and is not capable of covering this dialog, but we ultimately would like to discuss our views with South Park Creators as well so that we may be able to alter the way that media contributes to war, death, destruction, and most importantly preventing that an informed citizenry exists so that democracy functions in its truest intent. Certainly no coverage of our clarifying statements were quoted in any of the text and these people, like politicians, only care about what sells and gets viewers, rather than performing the role of paving the way for the generation of important information. We ask you to join us, look forward to hearing from you and thank those that took time to express their views intelligently by phone, e-mail, or letter.

‘South Park’ Episode Altered After Muslim Group’s Warning

2010-04-22T22:39:00.000-04:00

By DAVE ITZKOFF New York Times

Published: April 22, 2010

“South Park,” the Comedy Central series, is an animated show that tries its best to push buttons and the boundaries of free speech by mocking every high-profile target in sight, from Hollywood celebrities to religious figures. But its creators may have gotten more than they bargained for with two recent episodes that satirized the Prophet Muhammad — one that elicited an ominous message from an Islamic group based in New York, and one that was censored by the cable network that shows it.

On April 14 Comedy Central broadcast the 200th episode of “South Park,” a cartoon that Trey Parker and Matt Stonehave produced for that channel since 1997. In honor of the occasion, Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone populated the episode with nearly all the famous people their show has lampooned in its history, including celebrities like Tom Cruise and Barbra Streisand, as well as major religious figures, like Moses, Jesus and Buddha.

Cognizant that Islam forbids the depiction of its holiest prophet, Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker showed their “South Park” characters agonizing over how to bring Muhammad to their fictional Colorado town. At first the character said to be Muhammad is confined to a U-Haul trailer, and is heard speaking but is not shown. Later in the episode the character is let out of the trailer, dressed in a bear costume.

The next day the “South Park” episode was criticized by the group Revolution Muslim in a post at its Web site,revolutionmuslim.com. The post, written by a member named Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, said the episode “outright insulted” the prophet, adding: “We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid, and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”

Mr. van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker and a critic of religions including Islam, was killed by an Islamic militant in Amsterdam in 2004 after he made a film that discussed the abuse of Muslim women in some Islamic societies.

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Younus Abdullah Muhammad, a member of Revolution Muslim, repeated the group’s assertion that the post was a prediction rather than a threat. He said the post on the group’s blog “was intended in a principle that’s deeply rooted in the Islamic religion, which is called commanding the good and forbidding the evil.” He tied the group’s complaints about “South Park” to larger frustrations about American support for Israel and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Asked if the F.B.I. was investigating, Special Agent Richard Kolko, an F.B.I. spokesman in New York, said in a phone interview that the bureau did not “monitor people or groups, we investigate criminal activity.”

Mr. Kolko said: “The F.B.I. will investigate threats that occur over the Internet to determine if there is a potential for the threat to be carried out. However, in most cases these are First Amendment issues, and the F.B.I. vigorously defends people’s First Amendment rights.”

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the New York Police Department was “aware of the threat, and we’ve looked at it.”

He added, “We don’t think that this threat, as is currently assessed, rises to a crime right now.”

A law enforcement official, who requested anonymity because the investigation was continuing, said police investigators had met with people at Comedy Central and "made arrangements to address security concerns."

Comedy Central has previously given Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker a certain free rein with “South Park.” In a July 2001 episode, “Super Best Friends,” Muhammad was depicted alongside the founders of other religions, including Krishna and Lao Tzu.

But in 2006, when “South Park” wanted to weigh in on a controversy that erupted after Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, published cartoons satirizing Muhammad, it was not given the same latitude: a character said to be Muhammad was concealed behind a large black box labeled “CENSORED.” The measure was taken by the “South Park” producers partly at the insistence of Comedy Central, and partly as a commentary on the network’s policy of not allowing them to show the character, which the episode equated with giving in to the demands of extremists.

In a new episode of “South Park” broadcast Wednesday on Comedy Central, Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone exercised a degree of self-censorship. In continuing the previous week’s story line about the Prophet Muhammad, that character was hidden underneath a “CENSORED” graphic, and an audio bleep was heard when his name was said.

But in a message that appeared Thursday morning on SouthParkStudios.com, the Web site of Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker’s company, the studio said that Comedy Central had imposed further changes to the show.

“After we delivered the show, and prior to broadcast, Comedy Central placed numerous additional audio bleeps throughout the episode,” the message said. It added that the network was not allowing the episode to be streamed on the Web site, where “South Park” shows generally appear after they are broadcast on Comedy Central.

A spokesman for Comedy Central confirmed on Thursday that the network had added more bleeps to the episode than were in the version delivered by South Park Studios, and that it was not permitting the episode to be shown on the studio’s Web site. Comedy Central did not broadcast a repeat of the new “South Park” episode at midnight as it usually does, and instead showed a previous episode from this season. The channel was scheduled to do the same Thursday night.

Comedy Central declined to comment on the Revolution Muslim blog post or say if it was taking any precautions because of it.

In a statement, Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone wrote: “In the 14 years we’ve been doing ‘South Park’ we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central, and they made a determination to alter the episode.”

The episode was to end with a speech “about intimidation and fear,” Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone wrote, adding, “It didn’t mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too.”

They continued, “We’ll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different, and we’ll see what happens to it.”

Clarifying the South Park Response and Calling on Others to Join in the Defense of the Prophet Muhammad – RevolutionMuslim.com

2010-04-22T09:43:00.001-04:00

In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful, all praise is due to Allah the Lord of all that exists, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah Muhammad, and I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except for Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger,

As for what follows,

In light of the volume of attention being given to our response to the recent South Park episode we feel compelled to issue a statement clarifying the issue to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. We would like to point out that we are not against a rational dialogue with either group and would like to take this opportunity to ask all to read and respond with an objective mind. We live in an age of media concision, and a consequential reality which tends to afford very little opportunity for in depth discussion.

Our intention with this explanation is only, Allah willing, to create the possibility that a deeper and more productive dialogue may be initiated. We seek to create an opportunity for correction of wrongs and the alteration of behavior that many may suggest is insignificant, but nevertheless is a behavior which we hold to be not only sacrilegious, but which we feel typifies a cancer which bites at the root of global injustice. The cancer we are referring to is that of American imperialism and its coincident culture of pagan hedonistic barbarism, a culture which drives to dehumanize the intrinsic morality of the rest of the world. As it stands today the vast majority of the world has witnessed the cloud of American debauchery, and those whom it has not hovered over have at the very least been affected by its dust.

This past week South Park aired an episode which insulted three of our beloved prophets: Musa (Moses), 'Isa (Jesus), and Muhammad, peace be upon them all. Not only did they do this, but within the episode the makers of South Park made it very clear that they knew how the Muslims would feel and potentially respond to their show. In an effort to cover their actual intention to incite, the creators of South Park carefully contrived a plotline that they believed could only stump those Muslim extremists that may arise to defend the honor of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). They wished to degrade and mock a man who is held in highest regard by Muslims and many Non-Muslims alike, and indeed many have categorized Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the most influential human being that ever walked on Earth.
By placing the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a bear suit, the creators of South Park sought to insult the sacred, and show their blatant and general disregard for religion. By insulting our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) without the outright depicting of his image, the creators of South Park thought that they had found some loophole in the Muslim faith for them to mock.

If you were to ask any American how many people had been killed in the Iraq war, then he would give you some number around 4,000. The reality is that many estimates put the complete death toll of this war at figures above 1,000,000. America is a country which murdered 500,000 Iraqi children in the decade before September 11th, 2001 under the Iraq sanctions. This is a fact which the American Secretary of State at the time Madeleine Albright admitted to. The attacks on September 11th did not even equal a week of the murder inflicted on the Muslim people by the American imperialist agenda, yet the United States unanimously viewed these attacks as a justification to kill additional hundreds of thousands of Muslims. America props up brutal dictators on our soil simply because they are friendly and they control the oil. America’s military supports the Israeli regime which stole the land it controls from Muslims. The closest thing it has done to helping the Palestinian people is to periodically give fewer munitions to Israel for them to kill Palestinians with. How can anyone possibly champion the values of such a people? In the last century only the Soviet regime and the Maoist regime murdered more innocent people than America. Not even the tyrant of the twentieth century, Adolf Hitler, beats out America on this list. However, for some reason the makers of South Park in their self-righteous obscenity feel compelled to impose upon Muslims the values of this regime. Furthermore, they felt compelled to do it through the mocking of the man whom we hold in the highest esteem, whose honor we would die for, the Messenger of Allah Muhammad bin ‘Abdullah (peace be upon him).

Furthermore this is a regime which openly says it is in a “battle of the hearts and minds” to change Islam in its policy papers, but then its leaders stand on the pulpit and deny this. For one to understand this literal war on Islam, then I refer you to the document, “Civil Democratic Islam” by the RAND Institute. There are many more documents of this nature even emanating from organizations such as the Air Force. If America was openly engaged in a campaign to change Christianity or Judaism, do you not think there would be outrage and sensitivity from these communities? It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but anyone with half an hour of free time can easily find these comments in any number of policy documents. Furthermore they can find evidence of America supporting certain scholars of Islam and hiding others with American taxpayer dollars. It is only natural for a group which is under an ideological assault from the United States to be hostile toward anything coming from an American citizen which is mocking this group.

While the makers of South Park are probably unaware of these issues, and they are merely pawns in a dangerous game, they are playing right into the hands of those who wish to change our religion. The destruction of the Islamic identity is not something which Muslims can tolerate, and this is something being directly funded by the American regime. It is no secret that America’s military uses American goods to spread its culture and propaganda in order to create docile societies. Just look at Somalia where the World Food Program refused to buy domestic food in favor of American food. How do you think Obama would feel if the flag of Al-Qa’ida was stamped on his coffee mug and there was nothing he could do about it? The issue of the honor of our Prophet (peace be upon him) is an issue of honor for this entire nation. Perhaps honor is a dead value in the West, but it will never die in the hearts of this Ummah (nation).

Free speech is a vital tool in the staving of oppression, but this function has its limits. It is hard to understand how one can feel self-righteous while defending somebody as an "equal opportunity offender." Such an illogical state of mind could only emanate from a selfish culture in which the suffering of the many is justified by the enjoyment of the few. And it may be an American "value" that all speech should be free including that which is obscene and aimed at emotionally oppressing a specific group of people, but this is not a value that the Muslims share with America as a whole. In fact, one of the major reasons there is such little opposition to American domination today is the reality that the principle of free speech, as envisioned by the founding fathers of the United States and by wise men and women throughout the ages, is a universal principle that may protect citizens from political, economic, or religious persecution. Today it is understood much differently; today “free speech” is interpreted as the right to promote pornography, homosexuality, slander, and libel against even that which is considered sacred. Indeed, it is in the shifting away from this conceptualization that America first deviated from its position as republic and assumed the role of global empire.

Is there a purpose, other than evil, in insulting something someone holds sacred? While insulting Jesus, Moses, or any other prophet would remove someone from Islam, we Muslims are also forbidden to insult the deities that other religions hold in high esteem. Allah says in the Qur'an:

وَلاَ تَسُبُّواْ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ فَيَسُبُّواْ اللّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ

Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance
Therefore, as Muslims we do not define speech which has no place in a moral society as "free speech." Furthermore, we will never tolerate the mocking or insulting of any one of the prophets, peace be upon them, from any source even if it was the Caliph (leader) of the entire Muslim world. It is truly sad that we did not speak out when they first insulted 'Isa (Jesus), Musa (Moses), or even the first time they mocked the final prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them all. However, simply because they have done something in the past and there was no outcry does not justify our silence in the present.

As for the Islamic ruling on the situation, then this is clear. There is no difference of opinion from those with any degree of a reputation that the punishment is death. Ibn Taymiyyah a great scholar of Islam says, "Whoever curses the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) -a Muslim or a non Muslim- then he must be killed...and this is the opinion of the general body of Islamic scholars.”

Likewise Ibn Mundhir, another classical scholar, said, "It is the consensus (ijma’) of our scholars that the one who curses the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) should be executed!"

This is also the opinion of Imams Malik, al-Laith, Ahmed, Ishaq, Shafi'i, and Numan Abu Haneefah.

This shows that taking this stance is virtually obligatory, but it does not mean that our taking this stance is in some way an absolute call toward the requirement that the creators of South Park must be killed, nor a deliberate attempt at incitement, it is only to declare the truth regardless of consequence and to offer an awareness in the mind of Westerners when they consider doing the same thing.

Many are proclaiming that the South Park episode’s insult was minimal and some might inquire about a situation where the insult is not that great. The renowned scholar Imam Malik said, "If someone says that the button of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is dirty, then he should be executed!"

And then Qadi I'yad says, "And we don't know any different opinion, this is a consensus and we don't know any different opinion!"

Before continuing it must be made clear that anyone who knows anything about Usool ul-Fiqh (the fundamentals of jurisprudence) knows that ijma' (consensus) is a hujjah (proof) as the Prophet, salaa Allahu 'alayhi wa salam, said, "My Ummah cannot have consensus on something that is wrong." This means that the above opinions are the accepted opinions and these statements are proof that this is the case. While the details of this conversation may have lost our non-Muslim audience in evidences from the religion we implore you to read on and advise you that the system of law in Islam, known as shariah, is the most amazing thing the mind could ever encounter.

In the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) two key events stand out that provide evidence for the permissibility and indeed preference for retaliation against those that insult him. In the first, a blind Muslim man who had a Jewish wife (and some say servant) assassinated his wife when she continuously cursed and mocked Muhammad (peace be upon him). In the other, a Jewish poet by the name of Ka’b bin al-Ashraf was killed for his poetry insulting the Prophet even though he was living under peaceful covenant with the Muslims and was within his own territory. If anyone is in need of details and sources for these occurrences feel free to contact us and we will forward them to serious inquirers. At this point, it must be known that this is the position in Islam, that there is consensus in it and that for those that argue the harm coming as a consequence exceeds the benefit, then they should know that this is at best an argument that entails a difference of opinion although the evidence suggests that adopting the platform that we ourselves have taken is best.

The law, known as shariah, in Islam is sacred and it is for no man to change, alter, or disregard when reacting to events like the recent degrading of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) on South Park. Indeed there is an Islamic ruling on nearly every affair and Muslims must seek their response in the religion and not in the personal desire and false manipulation of subjective introspection via philosophy or, as in most cases, emotional attachment to socialized norms.
Allah says in the Quran, “And do not clothe the truth with the falsehood, nor hide the truth while you know (2:42).”

It is not for us to convey what we desire but to convey the religion in its entirety no matter the consequence.

Allah also says in the Quran, “Surely you can have no true faith until you refer to the Prophet Muhammad in all your affairs. (4:65).”

Thus the postings that have caused so much controversy on revolutionmuslim.com with regard to this matter were actually not the publication of the opinion of some Muslims but a referral and deferment to Islamic Law, thus fulfilling our divine obligation to command the good and forbid the evil by teaching and preaching the religion of Islam no matter how strange that way of life may seem to some. This is a divine order, obligatory for at least some Muslims in any community to fulfill. Allah says,

وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain felicity. (3:104)
Ibn Kathir, in his renown exogenesis of the Holy Quran says that this is not restricted to people with official authority, or in this case is not restricted to those that are seeking appeasements with the American Empire who are in actuality from amongst its staunchest allies, those who despite this claim to be Muslim and have been granted positions of leadership here in this country. Ibn Kathir states, “The objective of this Ayah is that there should be a segment of this Muslim Ummah fulfilling this task, even though it is also an obligation on every member of this Ummah, each according to his ability. Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

مَنْ رَأَى مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ، فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِع فَبِقَلْبِهِ، وَذلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الْإِيمَان

“Whoever among you witnesses an evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is unable, then let him change it with his tongue. If he is unable, then let him change it with his heart, and this is the weakest faith.”

Speaking out against ending this kind of insult toward the Prophet Muhammad is completely in line with the tenets of the religion. Indeed we find it to be a tragedy that there has been virtually no reaction from the so-called leaders of the Muslim community whom CNN and other organizations tout as representing “mainstream Islam.” We are saddened by the fact that this story is about what we have said rather than the impact it has on the Muslims as a whole.
Thus our position remains that it is likely the creators of South Park will indeed end up like Theo Van Gogh. This is a reality. The story is already getting international attention and the journalism oversees is not as objective as it is here. In fact, we can tell you with certainty that at least one Dutch newspaper has completely made up quotations to make their story more sensational. We are not trying to directly incite violence, but we are trying to explain the gravity of the situation and prevent this from occurring ever again. As stated in the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) above, if one cannot alter the situation with their hand then they must speak out against it and try to change it that way.

We would also like Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone to understand the tastelessness of their portrayal, apologize and reflect on the words that follow. An apology or at least recognition of bad taste might not remedy the situation, but it would go a long way toward turning this situation from a gaping wound into an ugly scar. Any Muslim that condones this type of behavior or minimizes it does not fulfill the obligation of hating it with his or her heart and thus, as is stated emphatically in the hadith, may fall outside the necessary status of holding onto even the weakest of faith. Many conquered peopled become completely oblivious to the function of their oppressor in enslaving their minds so we seek no harm against them, but do hope that they may be inspired to adopt a proactive stance and work alongside us in the struggle to liberate Islam and Muslims from foreign control.

Individual Muslims may react in quite the same manner as those non-Muslims, claiming that we are making Islam look backwards and ancient, overreacting and bringing about more harm than good. These same individuals decry every act of so-called terrorism while remaining completely silent in the face of U.S. terror; every time a leader of those courageously defending occupied Muslim lands from occupation is killed or captured they applaud. They constantly sit silent as tanks and troopers are deployed and have little to say as the empire expands. In fact, they hurry to the American Empire to let them know they are with them, at least in some of the matter. Today, as Obama perpetuates a War on Islam, they perpetuate the tale that the United States is at war with a fringe group of extremists. Allah explains this phenomenon in the Quran by saying,

فَتَرَى الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ يُسَارِعُونَ فِيهِمْ يَقُولُونَ نَخْشَى أَن تُصِيبَنَا دَآئِرَةٌ فَعَسَى اللّهُ أَن يَأْتِيَ
بِالْفَتْحِ أَوْ أَمْرٍ مِّنْ عِندِهِ فَيُصْبِحُواْ عَلَى مَا أَسَرُّواْ فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ نَادِمِينَ

Those in whose hearts is a disease - you see how eagerly they run about amongst them, saying: "We do fear that a change of fortune may bring us disaster." Ah! perhaps Allah will give you victory, or a decision according to His will. Then will they repent of the thoughts which they secretly harbored in their hearts

Today Muslims the world over run and say that Muslims like us do not represent Islam, as if in some way speaking out against imperialism is in fact causing it. In order to survive, empires must conscript support, and they usually impose loyal indigenous elite over the lands they conquer. Oftentimes these loyal elite find ways of influencing the home front as well. Empire is primarily concerned with preserving political, economic, and military dominance and therefore tends to portray itself as tolerant and pluralistic of the cultures and customs of they come to conquer. However, a closer objective analysis always reveals that this tolerance is a guise of strategy and is only apparent where the conquered are willing to retain personal customs and control in exchange for the sacrifice of indigenous sovereignty over wealth, natural resource, and political decision. Thus while empires rape and extract the material wealth of the people they dominate, they grant the seeming retention of indigenous language, custom, religion and the like.
In reality, this focus on power and control leads to the actual loss of spiritual, psychological, and emotional health and, as an oligarchy is imposed, the educated class is granted modest concessions and then political and economic rights of the general people are violated for the long term. This requires that what a conquered people consider sacred must be portrayed as backwards. While this process tends to occur subconsciously it leads to a sense of power and privilege on the home shores of the imperialist, and that serves as a justification for the atrocities committed and thereby minimized on the frontier. The term “sand-nigger” or “camel jockey” did not start with American soldiers on the ground in Iraq, but was a phrase coined during Britain’s imperialist adventure in the Middle East. The ‘other’s’ culture and custom must always be degraded in order to retain a justification for physical domination. Media always plays a role in perpetuating these ideas.

The process of imperialism thereafter splits a conquered people up into two camps: the good and the bad. The good are those who accept domination and vie for safety by adopting the position that the Empire is not an imperialist entity at all, but rather a liberator – the bad are those that refuse to sacrifice autonomy and continue to fight on… Americans should be all too familiar with the process; the very foundation of their nation is built upon the genocide of the indigenous Native Americans. So too then in its occurrence, ‘good’ Indians collaborated with American settlers against the ‘bad’ Indians; they demonized them for fighting and not accepting defeat and were subsequently displayed by the imperialist power as proof for the benign nature of America’s early expansion. The genocide of Indians would have been impossible without their collaboration. We face similar situations as Muslims today.

This phenomenon is true of Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Persian, Dutch, and British empires as well. Indeed all imperialist powers employ the same means of control. The creators of South Park so too emulate this process in their work and in their own right contribute greatly to the passive acceptance of a sick status quo. The contemporary American Empire is dependent on a hedonistic, consumerist mindset that effectively numbs the general world populace and keeps them ignorant and oblivious to the imperialist reality.

We saw this clearly when the attacks on September 11th, 2001 occurred. Americans were told that this was due to Muslims hating their freedom and democracy, and they were never told that the perpetrators of the attack cited the death of millions of Muslims at the hands of U.S. foreign policy. With the help of media, Americans are kept oblivious to the heinous crimes of the empire overseas and especially in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past eight years by a complacent news media and garbage consumerist television shows like South Park which serve as the new opiate of the masses. All one has to do to see the impact Matt Stone and Trey Parker have had in spreading Islamophobia already is to go on any rightwing extremist website like the Jawa Report and count the number of times the words “Derka Derka Muhammad Jihad” are written. Furthermore, when one logs on to these sites they will see the inconceivable volume of people who call for the eradication of all Muslims around the world.

While we are often labeled a hate site, we do not call people to this type of filth. In the past some members did do that and we wish to distance ourselves from that at this point. The genocide of the Jews was a terrible event that should never be allowed to repeat itself. However, their genocide is not a justification to replicate the Warsaw Ghetto in the city of Gaza. Similarly it is a justification for neither imposing an apartheid rule on a people nor even forcing them to change their preferred system of government.

One of the only ways we could ever end American Imperialism would be to take away the ideological justification it finds through its mainstream media outlets. It should be apparent that we perceive this incident not in isolation, but as part of a broader narrative that is part and parcel of a much more complex and deeply seeded crisis.

Thomas Friedman, a proponent of this empire, explains the contemporary order is sustained by, “the presence of American power and America’s willingness to use that power against those who would threaten the system of globalization… The hidden hand of the market will never work without the fist,” but it is also true that the hidden hand of the market would never work without a mind-numbing American media that can help to pacify those that would otherwise stand opposed to the economic domination and the military domination it is dependent upon. The stance that we have taken is a derivative of this much deeper war, and our intention is not only to fulfill the command of forbidding evil in Islam but to engage both Muslims and non-Muslims alike in a much deeper discussion. Certainly, the mainstream media will never allow that to happen, but there are massive alternative opportunities in this era known as the Age of Information. It should be understood that we will not lie down and accept America’s imperialist conquest of Muslim lands. We will speak against any and all activities that lead to the perpetuation of this empire. The South Park episode does that by portraying the most important individual for Muslims, presently the predominant one’s being conquered, as backwards and irrational. This gives cause and justification to the narrative the empire is not conquering at all and instead is attempting to liberate and this reality must be addressed and confronted head on.

Finally, Allah says in the Quran,

انْفِرُواْ خِفَافًا وَثِقَالاً وَجَاهِدُواْ بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

Go forth, whether light or heavy, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if you but knew.

In the end, we seek justice and preservation of Islamic religious beliefs and culture. We will not stand passive and silent in these tumultuous times. We implore conscious people everywhere to do the same and we are open to the advice, suggestions, and general conversation with all those that would like to engage in detailed discussion, we plan on hosting some open dialogue opportunities as soon as our website is back up and running. We call humanity to the solution that is the religion of Islam and to recognize the beauty of this fabulous religion given by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the entire world.

We hope that the creators of South Park may read this and respond, that before sending hate mail and condemning us that we may partake in dialogue, and that the Western media’s degradation of the most blessed of men ceases. Otherwise we warn all that many reactions will not involve speech, and that defending those that insult, belittle, or degrade the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a requirement of the religion. As Osama bin Laden said with regard to the cartoons of Denmark, “If there is no check in the freedom of your words, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions.”

Dogs leading dogs...

2010-01-24T10:17:00.003-05:00

Dog surge along with troop surge in Afghan war

By Associated Press Writer Eric Talmadge, Sat Jan 23, 10:47 am ET

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan has led to a dog surge — and unexpected problems in procuring high-quality dog food with enough protein and nutrients for hundreds of canines used to find explosives and perform other energy-intensive missions.

Along with about 37,000 U.S. and NATO troops, the number of military working dogs being brought into the country to search for mines, explosives and to accompany soldiers on patrol is increasing substantially, according to Nick Guidas, the American K-9 project manager for Afghanistan.

Guidas, a civilian contractor who primarily oversees dog operations in southern Afghanistan, said he has 50 dogs on operational teams and about 20 more awaiting missions. He expects that number to go up to 219 by July.

"It may go as high as 315 dogs in Afghanistan," he said Saturday at a crowded kennel full of highly trained German and Dutch Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and Labradors on this air base, the hub of U.S. and international security forces' operations in the volatile Kandahar area.

"Because of the surge there is more need for working dogs. But one of my main problems is getting dog food," he said. "It's hard to convince people sometimes that it's a priority, but it's a necessity if we are to keep these dogs working."

Guidas said because of the energy-intensive demands of their missions, the dogs require special food and can't just eat scraps.

The dog food, which is made commercially in the United States and has extra protein and nutrients to keep the dogs healthy while working in the heat and cold, must be shipped to Pakistan and then trucked to Kandahar.

But space on trucks is limited and prioritized. Food and supplies for humans come first, and logistics planners are still adjusting for the eating needs of the bigger pack of dogs to be put to work.

"It doesn't get a higher priority than a Coke or some potato chips," Guidas said of the dog food. "It moves when it moves."

Even so, the dogs have become an essential component of many units because of their versatility. They can be trained to search for a wide variety of explosives and parts used in making improvised bombs.

In the past month alone, military dogs in southern Afghanistan have made 20 finds of unexploded devices, weapon caches and other materiel.

The U.S. has about 2,800 military dogs, the largest canine force in the world. It has used dogs in combat since World War I.

The dogs don't come cheap. It costs about $40,000 per dog a year, and each goes through about five months of training. This year, Guidas expects the cost of the dog food that he needs to reach $200,000, up from about $80,000 last year.

He said each dog can work for five or six years, but the demands of the terrain and of the mission are harsh, particularly on the dogs' joints. If a dog is injured or sick, it is not sent out on operations.

Only two military dogs have been lost in southern Afghanistan in the past five years, Guidas said.

"We take very good care of these dogs," he said. "In some cases they are treated better than us."

News Update on Our Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki by Sheikh Abu Adnan (Hafidhullah)

2009-12-29T12:59:00.002-05:00

May Allah azwajal protect both our Shaykh Awlaki & Abu Adnan.

ISNA - The house dog, barks once more to please its kafir Masters.

2009-11-06T08:10:00.003-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ISNA Condemns Attacks on Fort Hood Soldiers and Expresses Condolences to the Victims and Their Families

(Washington, DC – November 05, 2009) The Islamic Society of North America condemns in the strongest terms the attack on soldiers at Fort Hood, resulting in the murder of at least a dozen soldiers and the wounding of many others. We express our deepest condolences to the victims and their families.

Although many details of the shooting are unknown at this time, it appears that the attack was led by a career soldier, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. The soldier who led this attack was either mentally unstable, or was motivated by a perverted ideology for which there can be no justification.

ISNA is proud of the many Muslim men and women who serve loyally in the United States military. We are grateful for the sacrifices made by all US soldiers, who represent the religious, racial and ethnic diversity of America, to defend the Constitution and our national security. ISNA, a faith endorser of US Muslim military chaplains, is proud of the service they provide, offering comfort and support to people of all faiths and beliefs. Just today, ISNA's chaplain endorser, Dr. Louay Safi, conducted a workshop at the US army base in Fort Bliss, Texas.

ISNA will be holding a press conference with national Muslim leaders to address this incident tomorrow morning. Time and location will be announced later tonight.

For more information, please contact

Imam Mohamed Hagmagid Ali, Vice President of ISNA at 571.437.4734 or 571.437.9566
Louay Safi, ISNA's Director of Communications and Leadership Development and Chaplain Endorser at 317.679.6350

RevolutionMuslim.com is now RevolutionMuslim.Info

2009-10-18T23:39:00.002-04:00

"Alhumdulilah we are back and made many mirror sites and bought some new domain names. Please update your bookmarks tell your friends,family and enemies that revolutionmuslim.com is now www.revolutionmuslim.info. We have this week a great new street dawa video and a debate between Alan Colmes from Fox Media and myself. The format will be changing and www.revolutionmuslim.info will be insha'Allah the hottest source of alternate Islamic media and a great place to learn our Deen." - Brother Yousef Al-Khattab.

Another reason why Allah Azawajal has saved Muslims from the agonies of Alcohol.

2009-10-18T23:32:00.002-04:00

Drinking Your Way to Health? Perhaps Not

"Experts with the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association say that though these studies do show some benefits to moderate drinking, the health risks from alcohol consumption far outweigh the potential rewards.

Drinking any alcohol at all is known to increase your risk for contracting a number of types of cancer, said Susan Gapstur, vice president of epidemiology for the American Cancer Society. These include cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon/rectum and breast."

Source

The confused-kuffar-imitating Youths hard at work.

2009-10-18T23:26:00.003-04:00

Youth Parliament: Pakistan & UK - The most amazing home videos are here

May Allah give victory to the Mujahideen

2009-10-18T23:13:00.002-04:00

Taliban vow to defeat army in Pakistan offensive

"A Taliban spokesman vowed the Islamist militants would fight to 'our last drop of blood" to defend their stronghold of South Waziristan, predicting the army would fail in its latest attempt to gain control over it.' "

" 'We know how to fight this war and defeat the enemy with the minimum loss of our men,' Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told The Associated Press from an undisclosed location. 'This is a war imposed on us, and we will defend our land until our last man and our last drop of blood. This is a war bound to end in the defeat of the Pakistan army.' "

"A resident in Wana — the main town in South Waziristan and in the heart of Taliban-held territory — said the insurgents had left the town and were stationed on the borders of the region, determined to block any army advance. 'All the Taliban who used to be around here have gone to take their position to protect the Mehsud boundary," Azamatullah Wazir said by telephone Sunday. 'The army will face difficulty to get in there.' "

" 'Militants are offering very tough resistance to any movement of troops,' Ehsan Mahsud, a resident of Makeen, a town in the region, told The AP in the town of Mir Ali, close to the battle zone. He and a friend arrived there early Sunday after traveling through the night."

The cowardly tactics of the not-so-great-Pakistani Army : "Mahsud said the army appeared to be mostly relying on airstrikes and artillery against militants occupying high ground. He said the insurgents were firing heavy machine guns at helicopter gunships, forcing the air force to use higher-flying jets."

Source

Taliban strength in Afghanistan nears military proportion

2009-10-15T08:34:00.001-04:00

By Jonathan S. Landay and Hal Bernton, McClatchy Newspapers Jonathan - Wed. Oct 14,2009

WASHINGTON -- A recent U.S. intelligence assessment has raised the estimated number of full-time Taliban -led insurgents fighting in Afghanistan to at least 25,000, underscoring how the crisis has worsened even as the U.S. and its allies have beefed up their military forces, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The U.S. official, who requested anonymity because the assessment is classified, said the estimate represented an increase of at least 5,000 fighters, or 25 percent, over what an estimate found last year.

On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry assured Afghans that America would continue to fight until "extremists and insurgents" were defeated in the war-torn nation.

The new intelligence estimate suggests that such a fight would be difficult. Not included in the 25,000 tally are the part-time fighters -- those Afghans who plant bombs or support the insurgents in other ways in return for money -- and also the criminal gangs who sometimes make common cause with the Taliban or other Pakistan -based groups.

The assessment attributed the growth in the Taliban and their major allies, such as the Haqqani Network and Hezb-e-Islami, to a number of factors, including a growing sense among many Afghans that the insurgents are gaining ground over U.S.-led NATO troops and Afghan security forces.

"The rise can be attributed to, among other things, a sense that the central government in Kabul isn't delivering (on services), increased local support for insurgent groups, and the perception that the Taliban and others are gaining a firmer foothold and expanding their capabilities," the U.S. official said.

"They (the insurgents) don't need to win a popularity contest," said Michael O'Hanlon , a military analyst at the center-left Brookings Institution in Washington . "They are actually doing a good job in creating a complex psychological brew. The first part is building on frustration with the government. The second part is increasing their own appeal or at least taking the edge off of the hatred that people had felt for them before. But on top of that they are selectively using intimidation to stoke a climate of fear. And on top of that they have momentum."

Click here for more...

Allah provides for the mujahideen.

2009-10-14T08:22:00.003-04:00

Taliban wealthier than al-Qaeda: US Treasury
Tuesday, 13 Oct, 2009

WASHINGTON: The Taliban are in much stronger financial shape than al-Qaeda and rely on a wide range of criminal activities to pay for attacks on US and coalition forces in Afghanistan, a senior Treasury Department official said on Monday.

David Cohen, the department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, said the extremist group extorts money from poppy farmers and heroin traffickers involved in Afghanistan’s booming drug trade. The Taliban also demand protection payments from legitimate Afghan businesses, he said during a speech at a conference on money laundering enforcement.

President Barack Obama and his top advisers are discussing whether many more troops may be needed in the 8-year-old Afghanistan conflict. A critical part of the deliberations is whether the fight should be a more narrow one against al-Qaeda or a broader battle against the Taliban-led insurgency.

According to Cohen, al-Qaeda is a cash-strapped organisation that is losing its influence.

That condition is the product, he said, of a long-running effort by the United States and its allies to cut off the terror group’s sources of funding by targeting its deep-pocketed donors and interfering with its ability to move money.

In the first half of 2009, he said, al-Qaeda’s leaders made four public appeals for money to bolster recruitment and training.

‘We assess that al-Qaeda is in its weakest financial condition in several years, and that, as a result, its influence is waning,’ Cohen said at the conference, sponsored by the American Bankers Association and the American Bar Association.

But Cohen cautioned that situation could reverse quickly because multiple donors ‘who are ready, willing and able to contribute to al-Qaeda’ still exists.

The Taliban, meanwhile, appear to be heading in the other direction despite an international effort to shut down the movement’s cash supply. Drugs are a major money-maker for the group.

Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has said the Taliban get most of their cash from private benefactors in the Persian Gulf.

Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said in his 66-page assessment of the war that the diversity of the Taliban’s streams of cash makes it difficult to blunt their ability to operate.

Cohen said portions of the Taliban’s illicit proceeds make their way out of the country and into the global financial system. But he did not specify how much or detail the money’s suspected entry points.

Source

Terrorizing the Saudi tyrants.

2009-10-14T08:19:00.003-04:00

Shootout kills two al-Qaeda members, one Saudi soldier

RIYADH: A shootout Tuesday between Saudi security forces and al-Qaeda militants — some of whom were disguised as women and wearing explosives belts — left two of the militants and a soldier dead, the Interior Ministry said.

Another soldier was lightly injured in the clash at a checkpoint in the south of the country, near the border with Yemen, said ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki.

The shootout was the first known confrontation between authorities and al-Qaeda since a suicide bomber injured Assistant Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in the western seaport of Jeddah on August 27.

The attacker was a member of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

In Tuesday's attack, security forces at the checkpoint stopped a car carrying three men, two of whom were disguised as women, al-Turki said in a statement.

When a female inspector approached the car to check the identities of those dressed as women, the three opened fire.

He said two of the militants were wearing explosives vests and hiding hand grenades in their clothes.

More grenades as well as machine-guns and materials used in making explosives were found in the car.

One of the assailants was captured.

The statement said no other details will be released now because the investigation is ongoing.

It was not clear whether the militants were part of al-Qaeda's operations in Yemen.

Saudi officials have expressed concern that al-Qaeda could use Yemen as a sanctuary to launch cross-border attacks after the network's Saudi and Yemeni branches merged in January.

The Interior Ministry has spearheaded the kingdom's aggressive campaign against al-Qaeda, killing or capturing most of its leaders after a string of attacks that started in 2003.

Al-Qaeda launched its campaign of attacks, primarily targeting foreigners and oil infrastructure, in a bid to bring down the Saudi ruling family, which it considers repressive, corrupt and in support of the United States' policies in the Middle East.

Source

The slaves of the taghout attack Islam.

2009-10-14T08:16:00.004-04:00

Pakistan: airstrikes killed 9 militants

Associated Press Writer Ishtiaq Mahsud - Wed Oct 14, 2009

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – Pakistani jets pounded militant hide-outs along the Afghan border and killed at least nine guerrillas, intelligence officials said Wednesday, part of a stepped-up campaign of airstrikes before an expected government offensive in South Waziristan.

Government officials have been threatening an operation in the lawless border area for months, but a string of recent suicide bombings blamed on the Taliban appeared to have strengthened their resolve to engage in what will likely be a long and bloody confrontation.

Military jets have been hitting suspected Taliban strongholds in the region for weeks. The airstrikes have grown more frequent in recent days in what appears to be an effort to soften up the militants ahead of a ground assault.

The military launched a new wave of air attacks across the militant heartland late Tuesday and early Wednesday, hitting at least five different areas, two intelligence officials said. One attack on a hide-out in Makeen killed three insurgents, and another in Barwand killed six, they said. Meanwhile, forces in an army camp in Razmak shelled militant positions in the surrounding mountains, they said.

Source

We, Muslims will never forget.

2009-10-10T13:57:00.003-04:00

May, 2008 : "Iraqi police found the bullet-riddled Quran with graffiti inside the cover on a firing range near a police station in Radwaniyah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, U.S. military spokesman Col. Bill Buckner said.

American commanders launched an inquiry that led to disciplinary action against the unidentified soldier, who has been removed from Iraq, Buckner said.

Members of the local U.S.-allied group said the Quran was found with 14 bullet holes in a field after U.S. troops withdrew from a base in the area. "

US forces leave isolated Afghan base after attack

2009-10-10T13:44:00.003-04:00

By Todd Pitman, Associated Press Writer – Fri Oct 9, 2009.

KABUL – Taliban fighters claimed Friday their flag was flying victoriously over an eastern Afghan village U.S. forces abandoned after suffering casualties in one of the war's deadliest battles for American troops.

The withdrawal this week from mountainous Kamdesh, an isolated hamlet near the Pakistan border, was planned well before the intense Oct. 3 attack left a pair of outposts in ruins and eight American troops dead.

The NATO-led coalition said the move was part of a new strategy outlined months ago by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, to shut down remote difficult-to-defend outposts and redirect forces toward larger population areas to protect more civilians.

The strategy has an inadvertent consequence, however: Every inch of ground the U.S. cedes, emboldened Taliban militants are likely to take and trumpet as a victory over another superpower.

The Afghan war entered its ninth year this week with President Barack Obama's administration pondering how to counter an insurgency growing more powerful by the day.

Source

A handful few, attack with hearts of lions...

2009-10-10T13:39:00.002-04:00

Gunmen hold hostages in Pakistan army headquarters

By Associated Press Writer Asif Shahzad, Oct. 10, 2009

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan – Militants held several security officers hostage inside an intelligence wing of the army headquarters Saturday after they and others attacked the complex in an audacious assault on Pakistan's most powerful institution.

The attack, which left at least 10 people dead, was the third major militant strike in Pakistan in a week and came as the government was planning an imminent offensive against Islamist militants in their strongholds in the rugged mountains along the border with Afghanistan.

It showed that the militants retain the ability to strike at the very heart of Pakistan's security apparatus despite recent military operations against their forces and the killing of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a CIA drone attack in August.

An army statement said more than two assailants were holding several officers hostage in the "security office building" inside the heavily fortified complex close to the capital. The army uses that term to refer to the headquarters of either the military intelligence or the country's premier spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence.

The whereabouts of military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha were not known. Separate army statements said Kayani attended meetings at the headquarters and at the president's office in nearby Islamabad during the day.

The attack began shortly before noon when the gunmen, dressed in camouflage military uniforms and wielding assault rifles and grenades, drove in a white van up to the army compound and opened fire, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas and a witness said.

"There was fierce firing, and then there was a blast," said Khan Bahadur, a shuttle van driver who was standing outside the gate of the compound. "Soldiers were running here and there," he said. "The firing continued for about a half-hour. There was smoke everywhere. Then there was a break, and then firing again."

After a 45-minute gunfight, four of the attackers were killed, said Abbas, who told the private Geo news television channel the assault over and the situation "under full control."

But more than an hour later, gunshots rang out from the compound, and Abbas confirmed that gunmen had eluded security forces and slipped into the headquarters compound in Rawalpindi. The city is filled with security checkpoints and police roadblocks.

"We are trying to finish it (the siege) at the earliest, clear the area of terrorists and restore complete control," Abbas told Dunya TV.

Abbas said six troops were killed and five wounded, one critically. Those killed included a brigadier and a lieutenant colonel, according to a military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Source

The Army of the non-Islamic Republic of Pakistan torturing Muslims.

2009-10-08T18:02:00.001-04:00

Sheikh Awlaki (may Allah protect him) : Could Yemen be the Next Surprise of the Season?

2009-10-08T17:01:00.001-04:00

Posted: 07 Oct 2009 01:08 AM PDT

The jihad movement around the world has witnessed a surprising growth during the past few years. After 9-11 America had succeeded in pulling together an international coalition in order to fight the mujahedeen. It invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, put pressure on governments around the world to throw anyone with association with Jihad behind bars and to stop the flow of money into Jihad movements. All over the world the mujahedeen have suffered an international effort under the leadership of America to bring an end to Jihad. But Eight years later the mujahedeen are wining on every front and are expanding into new ones. It appeared difficult back then to imagine that the world would be the way it is today just 8 years after 9-11.
That is because Rasulullah(saaws) said: “A group of my ummah will continue fighting in the path of Allah and they will not be harmed by those who are against them.”
The American people gave G.W. Bush unanimous backing to fight against the mujahedeen and gave him a blank check to spend as much as needed to fulfill that objective. The result? He failed, and he failed miserably. So if America failed to defeat the mujahedeen when it gave its president unlimited support, how can it win with Obama who is on a short leash? If America failed to win when it was at its pinnacle of economic strength, how can it win today with a recession – if not a depression- at hand?
The simple answer is: America cannot and will not win. The tables have turned and there is no rolling back of the worldwide Jihad movement. The ideas of Jihad are proliferating around the world, the mujahedeen movements are gaining strength and the battlefields are expanding with the mujahedeen introducing new fronts.
In Afghanistan the rural areas are mostly under the control of the Taliban and there is a steady improvement in the growth and strength of the mujahedeen. In Iraq even though the US claims an improvement in the security situation but one needs to ask the question at what cost is that achieved? The amount of money America is spending on Iraq with a recession at hand is unattainable.
The Jihad of this era started in Palestine, followed by Afghanistan, then Chechnya, then Iraq, then Somalia, then the Maghreb, and the new front might very well turn out to be Yemen.
And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world.
Why? First, the Arabian Peninsula has always been a land of mujahedeen even though there has been no fighting occurring on its soil. In Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Iraq the participation of mujahedeen from the Arabian Peninsula represented the largest block of foreign mujahedeen. When Jihad starts in the Arabian Peninsula, Jihad would be coming back to its home.
Second, he Arabian Peninsula is home to Makkah and Madinah. To free the Holy places from the rule of apostasy and tyranny is to free the heart of Islam.
Third, the rulers in the Arabian Peninsula are playing a central role in the fight against Islam especially the al Saud family. The al Saud of today are the Abdullah bin Ubay of yesterday. They have perfected the art of hypocrisy. They fight Islam in the name of Islam. They wear cloaks of sheep on hearts of wolfs. There cannot be Islamic rule and a return to khilafah without removing them from existence and this is the responsibility of the mujahedeen of the Arabian Peninsula.
America and its allies in the area are plotting against the mujahedeen, nevertheless their growth increases by the day. May Allah grant the true believers victory and grant them steadfastness on His path.
Their intention is to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will complete His light even thought the disbelievers may detest it. (al Saff 61)

http://www.anwar-alawlaki.com/

Report: Global Muslim population hits 1.57 billion

2009-10-08T16:52:00.003-04:00

And Sheikh Khalid Yassin would say "1.57 billion Muslims!!! 1.57 billion Red matches! Nothing you can do with them, except make more matches!!!" -RM.

Article By AP Religion Writer Eric Gorski, Ap Religion Writer – Thu Oct 8, 2009

The global Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly 1 in 4 people in the world practice Islam, according to a report Wednesday billed as the most comprehensive of its kind.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report provides a precise number for a population whose size has long has been subject to guesswork, with estimates ranging anywhere from 1 billion to 1.8 billion.

The project, three years in the making, also presents a portrait of the Muslim world that might surprise some. For instance, Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon, China has more Muslims than Syria, Russia has more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined, and Ethiopia has nearly as many Muslims as Afghanistan.

"This whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is really just obliterated by this report," said Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University who reviewed an advance copy.

Pew officials call the report the most thorough on the size and distribution of adherents of the world's second largest religion behind Christianity, which has an estimated 2.1 billion to 2.2 billion followers.

Source

Martyrdom op. on Indian embassy in Afghanistan

2009-10-08T16:46:00.003-04:00

Taliban suicide attack kills 17 in Afghan capital

Associated Press Writer Rahim Faiez, Oct. 08, 2009

KABUL – A suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle outside the Indian Embassy in the bustling center of the Afghan capital Thursday, killing 17 people in the second major attack in the city in less than a month. The Afghan Foreign Ministry hinted at Pakistani involvement — a charge Pakistan denied.

The blast occurred a day after the war entered its ninth year and as President Barack Obama was deliberating a request by the top commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal for up to 40,000 more troops. Opponents of a troop increase want to shift focus to missile strikes and special operations against al-Qaida-linked groups in Pakistan.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack — the second against the Indian Embassy in the past two years — and specified that the Indians were the target.

In New Delhi, India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the driver of the sport utility vehicle "came up to the outer perimeter wall of the embassy in a car loaded with explosives." Three Indian paramilitary guards were wounded by shrapnel, Rao said.

Rao did not say who the Indians believed was responsible for the attack, which occurred about 8:30 a.m. along a commercial street that is also home to the Interior Ministry.

However, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said the Thursday attack "was planned and implemented from outside of Afghan borders" by the same groups responsible for the July 2008 suicide bombing at the Indian Embassy that killed more than 60 people.

The ministry statement made no mention of Pakistan. However, the Afghan government blamed Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence for the 2008 bombing at the Indian Embassy as well as involvement in a string of attacks in the country.

U.S. officials suspected the 2008 embassy bombing and other high profile attacks were carried out by followers of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a longtime Afghan militant leader whose forces are battling U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan from sanctuaries in the border area of Pakistan. At U.S. urging, the Pakistani military says it's planning an offensive against extremists in the border area.

In Islamabad, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abdul Basit, condemned Thursday's bombing.

"Whenever terrorist activity occurs it should strengthen our resolve to eradicate and eliminate this menace," he said. Basit called allegations of a Pakistani role in the Kabul bombing "preposterous."

The Taliban did not say why it targeted the Indian Embassy. India and Pakistan, archrivals since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent, are competing for influence in Afghanistan among rival ethnic groups. India maintains close ties with the Tajik community, and Pakistan with the Pashtuns, who form the majority of the Taliban.

Thursday's blast was the deadliest attack in Kabul since Sept. 17, when a suicide bomber killed 16 people, including six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghan civilians, on a road in the center of the capital.

The Interior Ministry said 15 civilians and two Afghan police officers were killed in Thursday's blast. At least 76 people were wounded, the ministry said. President Hamid Karzai, the U.S. Embassy and the United Nations mission all condemned the attack.

Source

Wealth! A soldier of Allah against the enemies of the Muslims.

2009-10-08T16:32:00.005-04:00

Whodunit? Sneak attack on U.S. dollar

Eamon Javers Eamon Javers – Oct. 08th, 2009

It’s the biggest mystery in global finance right now: Who conducted a sneak attack on the U.S. dollar this week?

It began with a thinly sourced but highly explosive report Monday in a British newspaper: Arab oil sheiks are conspiring with the Russians and Chinese to quit using the dollar to set the value of oil trades — a direct threat to the global supremacy of the greenback.

Is it true? Everyone from the head of the Saudi central bank to U.S. officials scrambled to undercut the story, but no matter.

With the U.S. economy on the ropes and America by far the world’s biggest debtor, investors aren’t feeling as secure about the dollar as they used to. And the notion of second-tier economies ganging up on Uncle Sam didn’t sound so far-fetched.

For American officials, the possibility of the dollar losing its long-term dominance in global commerce is a nightmare scenario because it would likely mean sharply higher interest rates at home and a declining ability to finance the U.S. debt. No one believes it could really happen right now, but stories like the British report this week make it seem incrementally more likely.

So the piece by Robert Fisk of the Independent shocked currency traders around the world and almost instantly sent the value of the U.S. dollar spiraling downward and the price of gold skyrocketing to an all-time high, as a hedge against a weakened dollar.

The website drudgereport.com quickly amplified the impact of the story with a headline atop the site: ARAB STATES LAUNCH SECRET MOVES WITH CHINA, RUSSIA, FRANCE TO STOP USING DOLLAR FOR OIL TRADING ...

“You read that story, and you do two things: You sell the hell out of dollars and you buy gold,” said Les Alperstein, president of the financial research firm Washington Analysis. “The story has a lot of credibility, with some caveats.”

So who wanted dollars diving and gold rising? In other words, who is Fisk’s source, and why did he or she want to tank the dollar? It’s the global currency version of the old Washington parlor game of speculating on the real identity of Deep Throat.

No one knows.

But one thing is for certain: With the price of gold jumping to $1,048.20 per ounce, traders who moved early enough stood to make millions.

So in government circles in Washington, speculation immediately centered on gold traders: With the skyrocketing price of gold, they’d be the biggest beneficiaries of the article.

Fisk’s story itself isn’t much help in solving the mystery — it is sourced vaguely to “Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong,” and it included one blind quote, attributed to “a prominent Hong Kong broker.” That doesn’t narrow down the pool very much.

The story doesn’t name any officials who had allegedly participated in the secret meetings involving the Arab states. It didn’t say where the meetings occurred or when. Other than saying the plan is to stop using the dollar by 2018, there was precious little detail to the account.

Around the world, traders turned to Wikipedia to find out more about Fisk himself. There, they learned that Fisk is a legendary British foreign correspondent who has been based in Beirut for more than 30 years and has won a slew of journalism awards. They also learned that he is one of only a few journalists to have interviewed Osama bin Laden (three times) and that he has expressed doubts that the United States has told the full story about the Sept. 11 attacks.

An analyst’s report from the Royal Bank of Scotland concluded, “Fisk is a veteran of the Middle East. ... he is also increasingly associated with more radical theories thus weakening the credibility of the story.”

Beyond the specifics of the story, the geopolitical implications of the report sent shudders from Riyadh to London to Washington: Has the long-dominant American economy been so humbled by the economic crisis that these nations would mount a frontal attack on the dollar, the underpinning of the world’s biggest economy?

That question is on the minds of global investors, who are keeping a skittish eye on the weakening dollar. And over the past several months there has been a steady drumbeat of Chinese, Russian and other officials who have talked openly about finding a replacement for the dollar as the global economy’s default currency. Any effort to do that would be fraught with difficulty. But however unlikely, the possibility represents a threat to the American economy, which has come to depend on the significant advantages it reaps from minting the currency most used around the world.

In another era, the dollar could shrug off such a vaguely sourced, thinly detailed story.

But not anymore.

The dollar is weak and vulnerable to rumor-mongering because many traders believe it will only get weaker. “The fundamental reason why this occurred is that after 9.8 percent unemployment on Friday, nobody can say with certainty that the recovery is sustainable,” said one analyst familiar with the situation.

“In years past, when the U.S. economic dominance was more pronounced and emerging markets were marginal players in the global economy,” noted an analyst’s report from HSBC, “the debate on pricing commodities in currencies other than the [U.S. dollar] typically came down to the lack of practicality. ... Today, emerging markets are clearly wielding much more influence in the global economy, and they want more, as will be borne out in this week’s IMF meetings.”

And that means U.S. officials whose job it is to defend the dollar may have their work cut out for them in the months to come.

Source

Taliban claim responsibility for deadly UN blast

2009-10-06T08:22:00.001-04:00

Associated Press Writer Munir Ahmad, Oct. 06, 2009

ISLAMABAD – Taliban militants claimed responsibility Tuesday for the deadly suicide bombing at the U.N. food agency's heavily fortified compound in Islamabad, saying international relief work in Pakistan was not in "the interest of Muslims."

The attack, which killed five workers for the World Food Program on Monday, pushed the U.N. to temporarily close its offices in the country. It also exposed the vulnerability of international relief agencies helping millions of Pakistanis ahead of an anticipated military offensive against the Taliban in their South Waziristan stronghold.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the Taliban carried out the bombing to avenge the Aug. 5 slaying of their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in a U.S. drone attack and that the country "should expect a few more" attacks.

Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq confirmed his group was behind the bombing and lashed out at foreign aid workers.

"We proudly claim responsibility for the suicide attack at the U.N. office in Islamabad. We will send more bombers for such attacks," he told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location. "The U.N. and other foreign (aid groups) are not working in the interest of Muslims. We are watching their activities. They are infidels."

He said the Taliban would not attack Muslim relief groups, but that future targets would also include Pakistani security officials, government offices and American installations.

World Food Program spokesman Amjad Jamal defended the agency's work as "totally humanitarian."

"We provide food. Our food is for the vulnerable groups, the poor groups who cannot afford one meal a day," he said.

Pakistani religious scholar Mufti Muneebur Rehman disputed the Taliban claim that international aid work was against Islam.

"Helping somebody in need is one of the best traits of Islam," he said. "A good Muslim would be the first to help any non-Muslim in trouble."

The suicide bomber was dressed as a security officer and was allowed to enter the World Food Program offices — apparently bypassing the normal security procedures — after asking guards outside if he could use the bathroom.

The U.N. announced it was temporarily closing its offices, but said its Pakistani partner organizations would continue distributing food, medicine and other humanitarian assistance. The world body said it would reassess the situation over the next several days.

Malik, who was visiting those injured in the bombing at a hospital, said the government had taken several of the guards outside the U.N. offices into custody for questioning as part of the investigation into the security lapse.

The United Nations had already considered itself a likely target in Pakistan. Its offices are surrounded by blast walls, while staffers are driven in bulletproof cars and not allowed to bring their families with them on assignment.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said those killed in the bombing Monday were serving a "noble cause."

"They will be remembered for their commendable services by the people of Pakistan," Gilani wrote in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon, according to state-run media. "Such cowardly terrorist acts will never weaken our resolve to fight against this scourge."

The attack came a day after the new Pakistani Taliban leader met reporters close to the Afghan border, vowing more attacks in response to U.S. missile strikes. Ending speculation he had been killed, Hakimullah Mehsud denied government claims the militants were in disarray and said his fighters would repel any army offensive on their stronghold in South Waziristan.

Source

2 NATO soldiers reported killed in Afghanistan

2009-10-05T08:32:00.000-04:00

By Associated Press Writer Rahim Faiez, Mon Oct 5, 2009.

KABUL – Bombs killed two NATO troopers, including one American, following the deadliest attack against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in more than a year, military officials said Monday.

A NATO statement said a U.S. soldier died of wounds suffered in a bombing Sunday in southern Afghanistan.

The statement said a second service member died of wounds in a roadside bombing Monday, also in the south, but the victim's nationality was not released.

At least 16 U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan so far this month — matching the American death toll for all of October in 2008.

The latest deaths followed a fierce weekend assault on a pair of remote outposts in the northeastern province of Nuristan in which eight U.S. service members were killed and about 20 Afghan security troopers were captured. It was the deadliest attack against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in more than a year.

Afghan officials reported the situation in Nuristan was generally calm Monday after two days of fighting in the remote area near the border with Pakistan. The assault began at dawn Saturday in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan province and raged throughout the day. Sporadic clashes were reported Sunday.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay said the assailants included a mix of "tribal militias," Taliban and fighters loyal to Sirajuddin Haqqani, an al-Qaida-linked militant based in sanctuaries in the tribal areas of Pakistan near the Afghan border.

The top U.S. and NATO commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, plans to shift U.S. troops away from remote outposts that are difficult to defend and move them into more heavily populated areas as part of his new strategy to focus on protecting Afghan civilians.

McChrystal has said more resources are needed to fight the Taliban and has asked for up to 40,000 more troops.

Some of President Barack Obama's advisers oppose a major increase and have suggested the U.S. focus on going after al-Qaida figures across the border in Pakistan.

8 US troops killed in fierce Afghan fighting

2009-10-05T08:30:00.000-04:00

By Associated Press Writers Robert H. Reid And Rahim Faiez, Sun Oct 4, 2009

KABUL – Hundreds of insurgents armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed a pair of remote outposts near the Pakistan border, killing eight U.S. soldiers and capturing more than 20 Afghan security troops in the deadliest assault against U.S. forces in more than a year, military officials said Sunday.

The fierce gunbattle, which erupted at dawn Saturday in the Kamdesh district of mountainous Nuristan province and raged throughout the day, is likely to fuel the debate in Washington over the direction of the troubled eight-year war.

It was the heaviest U.S. loss of life in a single battle since July 2008, when nine American soldiers were killed in a raid on an outpost in Wanat in the same province.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, plans to shift U.S. troops away from remote outposts that are difficult to defend and move them into more heavily populated areas as part of his new strategy to focus on protecting Afghan civilians.

U.S. troops used artillery, helicopter gunships and airstrikes Saturday to repel the attackers, inflicting "heavy enemy casualties," according to a NATO statement. Fighting persisted in the area Sunday, U.S. and Afghan officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay said the assailants included a mix of "tribal militias," Taliban and fighters loyal to Sirajudin Haqqani, an al-Qaida-linked militant based in sanctuaries in the tribal areas of Pakistan near the Afghan border.

Afghan authorities said the hostile force included fighters who had been driven out of the Swat Valley of neighboring Pakistan after a Pakistani military offensive there last spring.

"This was a complex attack in a difficult area," U.S. Col. Randy George, the area commander, said in a statement. "Both the U.S. and Afghan soldiers fought bravely together."

Details of the attack remained unclear Sunday and there were conflicting reports of Afghan losses due to poor communications in the area, located just 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the Pakistani border and about 150 miles (230 kilometers) from Kabul.

A NATO statement said the attacks were launched from a mosque and a nearby village on opposite sides of a hill, which included the two outposts — one mostly American position on the summit and another mostly Afghan police garrison on a lower slope.

NATO said eight Americans and two Afghan security troopers were killed.

An Afghan military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security issues, said three Afghan soldiers and one policeman had been killed in two days of fighting. He also said at least seven Afghan army soldiers were missing and feared captured.

In addition, provincial police chief Mohammad Qasim Jangulbagh said 15 Afghan policemen had been captured, including the local police chief and his deputy. Jangulbagh estimated that about 300 militants took part in the attack.

"Kamdesh is one of the most dangerous areas of Nuristan province," he said, noting that the area is across the border from parts of Pakistan where al-Qaida-linked militants operate.

Jangulbagh said that after Pakistani forces drove militants from most of the Swat Valley five months ago, militants "received orders to come to Nuristan and destabilize the situation."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said militants overran both outposts, but U.S. spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said U.S. troops were holding the outposts Sunday. She also said a roadside bomb killed a U.S. service member southwest of Kabul on Saturday, bringing the U.S. death toll for the month to 15.

The fighting occurred in a region where towering mountains and dense pine forests have long served as a staging area for Taliban and al-Qaida fighters who move freely across the Pakistani frontier.

Source

Martyrdom op. in Pakistan executed

2009-10-05T08:27:00.001-04:00

Suicide bomber kills 5 at UN office in Pakistan

By ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writer Zarar Khan, Associated Press Writer – 50 mins ago

ISLAMABAD – A suicide bomber disguised as a security officer struck the lobby of the U.N. food agency's Pakistan headquarters Monday, killing five people a day after the new leader of the Pakistani Taliban vowed fresh assaults, authorities and witnesses said.

The blast raises questions as to how the bomber managed to evade tight security at the heavily fortified World Food Program compound in the capital, Islamabad. It could also hamper the work of WFP and other aid agencies assisting Pakistanis displaced by army offensives against al-Qaida and the Taliban in their strongholds close to the Afghan border.

Hours after the attack, which the world body said it was closing its offices in Pakistan temporarily.

"This is a heinous crime committed against those who have been working tirelessly to assist the poor and vulnerable on the front lines of hunger and other human suffering in Pakistan," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in Geneva. He said the U.N. would continue, however, providing humanitarian assistance to the Pakistani people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Militants have carried out scores of suicide attacks in Pakistan over the last 2 1/2 years, several of them targeting foreigners and their interests. Under U.S. pressure, Pakistani security forces have recently had some success combatting the extremists.

The blast Monday shattered windows in the lobby of the compound in an upscale residential area of Islamabad and left victims lying on the ground in pools of blood, witnesses said. The office is close to a home belonging to President Asif Ali Zardari.

"There was a huge bang, and something hit me. I fell on the floor bleeding," said Adam Motiwala, an information officer at the U.N. agency who was hospitalized with injuries to his head, leg and ribs.

Medical officials at two hospitals said five people had been killed in the attack, including an Iraqi working for the agency. Two of those killed were Pakistani women. Several others were injured, two of them critically, the WFP said in a statement.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attacker was wearing the uniform of a paramilitary police officer and asked a guard if he could go inside the building to use the bathroom. He was carrying around 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of explosives.

Police official Bin Yamin said the attacker, who was in his 20s, detonated his explosives in the lobby. It was unclear how he made that far. Typically, visitors to U.N. buildings in Islamabad are screened and patted down for weapons and explosives in secure chambers some distance from the entrance to the building.

U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson condemned the targeting of aid workers as an attack against Pakistani society.

"Such cruel acts expose the true nature of the terrorists' agenda," she said.

The bombing was the first such attack in Islamabad since June, when two police where killed. Another blast in June on a luxury hotel in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed two U.N. staffers and injured others.

Malik said the bombing Monday proved the militants were growing desperate in response to recent government offensives against the groups.

"These terrorists, they are injured snakes," he said.

On Sunday, Hakimullah Mehsud, the new leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, met with reporters in the country's tribal areas for the first time since winning control of the militants. His appearance, flanked by other Taliban commanders in a show of unity, ended speculation that he was killed in a leadership battle within the militant group sparked by the August slaying of his predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, in a missile strike.

"We all are sitting before you which proves all the news about myself ... was totally baseless and false," he said.

Mehsud spoke to a small group of reporters as he sat on a blanket on the ground in the shade of a tree, flanked by guards carrying heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

He spoke on condition his comments not be published until the reporters left the area Monday out of concern their use of satellite phones to file the story could lead Pakistani forces to him.

Mehsud vowed to strike back at Pakistan and the U.S. for the increasing number of drone attacks in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

Source

The wrath of Allah azawajal decends on Indonesia (Padang) again.

2009-10-03T08:31:00.007-04:00

Pics from www.news.com.au, www.abc.net.au

3 US troops killed by attacks in east Afghanistan

2009-10-03T08:29:00.001-04:00

Oct. 3rd, 2009

KABUL – Three American troops were killed by attacks in eastern Afghanistan, the military said Saturday, adding to the toll as the Obama administration debates its strategy in the troubled eight-year war.

Two of the Americans were killed Friday in a firefight with militants in Wardak, an eastern province bordering Kabul. The third service member died Friday of wounds from a bomb attack in Wardak the day before. The newly reported deaths came the same day as a suicide attack on a U.S. convoy in the south killed two Americans.

U.S. and NATO deaths dropped in September over the previous two months — possibly due to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan or because no major offensives were launched. But since President Barack Obama's decision to send 21,000 more troops to curb the growing Taliban-led insurgency, international and civilian tolls have risen steadily.

In far western Afghanistan, a Taliban attack Saturday on a NATO supply convoy killed a civilian contractor escorting the trucks, said Raouf Ahmadi, a regional police spokesman.

U.S. forces mounted major operations in July and August in southern Afghanistan to try to dislodge the Taliban from longtime strongholds and improve security ahead of the Aug. 20 presidential election, the outcome of which remains in doubt because of allegations of massive fraud by supporters of President Hamid Karzai.

Source

6 or more Afghan civilians die in airstrike

2009-10-01T08:36:00.000-04:00

By LORI HINNANT, Associated Press Writer , Oct. 01, 2009

KABUL – An airstrike on a compound in southwestern Afghanistan killed at least six civilians, a local tribal leader said Thursday, after the U.S. military reported that ground forces were coming under fire from inside the residence and called in aircraft.

Civilian deaths have been a source of friction between President Hamid Karzai and U.S. military commanders and have infuriated many ordinary Afghans, who claim international soldiers use heavy-handed tactics.

In Helmand province, local tribal leader Ghulam Mohammad Khan said a farmer, his wife and four children were among nine dead in the airstrike Wednesday evening. He said three guests at the compound also died, but he did not know their identities.

U.S. officials said they were investigating the reports of civilian deaths in the Helmand airstrike and met Thursday with local leaders.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal has made protecting innocent Afghans a priority since taking command this summer and has ordered troops to limit airstrikes.

In Logar province, in eastern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the governor said villagers claimed a U.S. operation overnight killed an innocent shopkeeper and complained that American forces had wrongly detained three civilians. Din Mohammad Darwesh, the spokesman, said villagers were refusing to bury the shopkeeper's body, in order to prove his innocence, and demanding the release of the three men.

Also Thursday, a U.S. military helicopter made an emergency landing after coming under rocket-propelled grenade fire in Nangahar province of eastern Afghanistan, U.S. spokeswoman Capt. Regina Willis said.

There were no serious injuries, she said.

The incidents occurred as President Barack Obama is considering whether to send thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to confront a growing Taliban-led insurgency.

Top military commanders and congressional Republicans are pushing for a troop increase, but there are division within the Obama administration on whether to escalate the U.S. presence.

White House officials say it may take weeks more before the president decides whether to overhaul the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan or send more troops.

Declarations of apostacy.

2009-09-29T08:55:00.003-04:00

Karzai Family Secrets

by Gerald Posner

One is branded a druglord; the other a corrupt tycoon—critics say President Karzai's brothers undermine Afghanistan. Both respond exclusively for the first time.

“My friend, I am ready to take a polygraph. I am innocent. If anyone can find any money from my family hidden in any bank in the world, I am telling you that they can keep it.” Ahmed Wali Karzai, the half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, is excited, his voice rising as he talks. He is tired of six years of news reports casting him as the Afghan Pablo Escobar.

“Our character is being assassinated before the entire world,” says Mahmoud Karzai, the president’s older brother, and the subject of widespread reports questioning a purported fortune through favoritism and tainted deals. “I am sick and tired of people thinking that I have accomplished what I have only because I am the president’s brother.”

“I am the most wanted person by al Qaeda and the Taliban. That is because I have brought the tribes together. I have done so much work for the Americans, so much of it secret, it is incredible how much I have helped the Americans. And I am repaid with these press reports?”

Ahmed and Mahmoud are cited by Afghanistan watchers as serious political liabilities to the country’s fragile democracy and to Hamid Karzai’s claim that his government is making progress against the systemic corruption that is part of the nation’s DNA.

Neither has ever been charged with any crime. The duo recently came out swinging, providing The Daily Beast exclusive and feisty interviews regarding what Ahmed calls “the slanders, lies, and vicious attacks” swirling around them.

First, some background. Afghan and American officials have privately accused Ahmed, who heads the powerful provincial council in Kandahar, of being a heroin kingpin in the nation that supplies 90 percent of the world’s opium supply. They cite a few examples. In 2004, Afghan security forces stumbled on a cache of heroin hidden in tractor-trailer outside Kandahar. The local commander, Habibullah Jan, said Ahmed called him and demanded the drugs be released. Jan was ambushed and shot to death in 2007, with government officials blaming the Taliban. In 2006, a DEA informant, Hajji Aman Kheri, gave a tip about a truck near Kandahar carrying 110 pounds of pure heroin, allegedly under the watchful eye of one of Ahmed’s bodyguards. And last month, the German magazine Stern reported that British troops seized several tons of raw opium on one of Ahmed’s farms.

Ahmed spent a half hour debunking the details of the various charges. Jan was a well-known political opponent of his brother, he says, and went on to become an opposition member of parliament. So why would he have told a political foe to release seized drugs? “Anyone who understands our politics would know this is impossible it would be so stupid.”

As for the 2006 heroin seizure, “I am guilty by association. Can I be responsible for everyone who used to work for me?” And as for reports that British troops seized opium on his farm, he gets agitated. “Look, my friend, what land? What happened to the opium? The driver? What happened to those people who were taking the drugs somewhere? Every major foreign intelligence and drug agency is operating in Afghanistan. If I am a drug dealer why have they not produced a shred of real evidence, not just get somebody to print false rumors?”

Evidently Hamid Karzai heard the rumors often enough that he wanted to know if they were true. In 2006, he summoned to the presidential palace both the American ambassador, Ronald Neumann, and the embassy’s CIA station chief. Also present were the British ambassador and his MI6 spymaster.

Source

Beer-drinking Muslim woman's caning to go ahead

2009-09-29T08:51:00.002-04:00

Julia Zappei, Associated Press Writer – Tue Sep 29, 5:18 am ET

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A Muslim woman sentenced to caning for drinking beer wants to get the punishment over with now that it has been confirmed by an Islamic appeals court judge, her father said Tuesday.

If the punishment is carried out, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, would become the first Muslim woman to be caned in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 28 million people are Muslims.

The case has ignited a debate in this moderate Muslim-majority country whether conservative Islamists, who advocate harsh punishments, are gaining influence over the justice system and whether Islamic laws should intrude into people's private lives.

According to local media reports Monday, chief Judge Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman of Pahang state's Shariah courts decided to uphold the sentence passed by the state high court on Kartika after a one-month review of the case. No date was immediately set for the caning.

Kartika's father, Shukarno Abdul Muttlib, 60, told The Associated Press that while the family had yet to be informed of the judge's latest decision, his daughter "accepts the punishment" and would like it to be carried out sooner rather than later.

"We obey the law," he said, adding that "it's a challenge ... (but) it's the way of my life."

Pahang court and religious department officials declined to talk about the case Tuesday. Others could not immediately be reached.

Kartika, a former model and nurse, was sentenced in July to six strokes of the cane and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) for drinking beer in December 2007 at a beach resort in violation of Islamic laws. Islam prohibits Muslims from drinking alcohol.

Kartika, who pleaded guilty, refused to appeal her sentence and was on the verge of being caned on Aug. 24. But the punishment was halted at the last minute following an uproar in the media and among rights activists.

Instead, the government asked the Shariah High Court Appeals Panel in Kuantan, the capital of Pahang, to review the verdict. Judge Abdul Hamid, who headed the panel, ruled that the sentence was correct and should go forward.

The caning would be done with a thin stick on the back and would be largely symbolic rather than aimed at causing pain, unlike the caning of rapists and drug smugglers with a thick rattan stick on bare buttocks that causes the skin to break and leave scars.

Deputy Home Minister Abu Seman Yusop said the prisons department has trained personnel who can carry out the caning in accordance with Islamic rules.

The date and time for the whipping will have to be decided by the court first, he said.

Malaysia follows a dual-track justice system. Shariah laws apply to Muslims in all personal matters. Non-Muslims — Chinese, Indians, Sikhs and other minorities — are covered by civil laws, and are free to drink.

Only three states in Malaysia — Pahang, Perlis and Kelantan — impose caning for drinking alcohol. In the other 10 states it is punishable by a fine.

Jihad in the Southeast.

2009-09-29T08:44:00.002-04:00

2 US soldiers killed in Philippines blast

By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer Jim Gomez, Associated Press Writer – Sept-29th, 2009

MANILA, Philippines – Two U.S. Navy construction troops and a Philippines marine were killed Tuesday in a roadside blast in the southern Philippines that officials said was likely an attack by suspected al-Qaida-linked militants.

It was believed to be just the second time U.S. soldiers have been killed in the southern Philippines in violence blamed on the Abu Sayyaf group since American counterterrorism troops were deployed to the region in 2002, and the first fatalities in seven years.

One Philippine marine also was killed and two others were wounded in the blast on Jolo island, a poor, predominantly Muslim region where the Americans have been providing combat training and weapons to Filipino troops battling the Abu Sayyaf.

Philippine officials described the blast as being caused by a land mine, a description normally used for military-grade weapons. The U.S. Embassy said it was an improvised explosive device.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said a Philippine military convoy joined by U.S. troops was on its way to Kagay village in Jolo's Indanan township where troops were building two school buildings and digging artesian wells when the land mine exploded.

One U.S. soldier died at the scene, while another who was critically wounded in the blast died a short time later, Brawner told The Associated Press.

They were from the Naval Construction Battalions, or Seabees, which gather skilled craftsmen like electricians and carpenters into special military units.

"They were not in combat," Brawner said. "These U.S. soldiers were there in the area to supervise the developmental projects in Indanan."

In a statement, the U.S. Embassy said the deaths happened when the soldiers' vehicle struck an improvised explosive device at about 8:45 a.m. (0045 GMT) during a resupply mission for the school construction project.

The troops were not identified pending notification of next of kin.

The Philippine government offered its condolences to the families of the slain soldiers and praised them for helping undertake civic projects and secure peace on Jolo, about 590 miles (950 kilometers) south of Manila, the capital.

Brawner said no suspects were immediately identified, but suspicion immediately fell on the well-armed Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for numerous bombings, beheadings and kidnappings of Filipinos and foreigners in the south in recent years.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, a military commander overseeing counterterrorism campaigns in the south, told The Associated Press that Abu Sayyaf had likely planted the explosive in Indanan, where the militants have jungle strongholds.

The U.S. Seabees were immediately pulled back from the school project in Indanan after the attack, Dolorfino said.

He said U.S troops have long been targets for militants in the south, and Tuesday's blast would not likely cause any change in Washington's resolve to keep troops there.

Two weeks ago, a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant or sympathizer hurled a grenade near U.S. troops unloading supplies at Jolo's pier. The Americans were not hurt, he said.

Abu Sayyaf attempts to sabotage U.S. projects indicated the militants were wary of losing community support, he said.

"They know that once education sets in, the villagers will be well-informed and hard to fool and to recruit," Dolorfino said.

Abu Sayyaf is believed to have about 400 fighters, to have received funds from al-Qaida and is suspected of sheltering militants from the larger Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.

An estimated 600 U.S. troops are currently stationed in the Philippines, mostly in the southern front lines of the Philippine military's operations against the Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiyah.

In October 2002, a U.S. Green Beret was killed along with two Filipinos when a bomb loaded with nails exploded outside a cafe in Zamboanga city.

Round & round they go.....how to undo their blunders, they will never know.

2009-09-29T08:34:00.005-04:00

Change of Tactics Needed in Afghanistan War, Chief of NATO Says

Viola Gienger Viola Gienger – Tue Sep 29, 12:01 am ET

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said nations waging the war in Afghanistan must change their tactics and promote successes or risk losing public support there and at home.

“Reaching our goal in Afghanistan is not guaranteed,” Rasmussen told an audience at the Atlantic Council policy group in Washington yesterday. More troops will be needed at least to train the Afghan National Security Forces, Rasmussen said, while cautioning that a revised strategy must be agreed upon before decisions are made about the additional resources.

“We cannot continue to do exactly what we’re doing now,” Rasmussen said, calling for more focus on civilian reconstruction to accompany the military campaign. “Things are going to have to change.”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization leads the 41-nation military campaign in Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime shielded al-Qaeda before being ousted by the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The U.S. has 65,000 troops in the country, with the remainder of the 103,000-strong foreign force contributed by NATO members and other allies.

President Barack Obama is reviewing whether to continue with a strategy in Afghanistan that focuses on protecting and supporting the population against al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents. Rasmussen, 56, a former prime minister of Denmark, met with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday and is scheduled to meet today with Obama at the White House.

Assessment Delivered

The top commander in the war, U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, recently submitted an assessment of the security situation in the country that recommends even more emphasis on protecting the population to make room for the countryâ€™s development. He concluded he would need more forces to carry out the strategy than the 68,000 the U.S. expects to have in Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Leaders of the nations fighting in Afghanistan must speak out more about the successes achieved in the eight years of the war to win back public support, Rasmussen said.

He cited 7 million Afghan students in school, one-third of them girls, and that millions of citizens were able to vote in the nationâ€™s presidential election last month in the face of threats from the Taliban.

Fraud Allegations

The election results remain in dispute because of fraud allegations. Rasmussen said he agreed that the NATO-led alliance needs a “credible and legitimate government in Afghanistan.”

Some administration officials and members of Congress, who question whether the U.S. should step up its involvement as McChrystal recommends, cite the risk that the fraud allegations could erode the strength of the Afghan government.

“We should let the Afghans decide whether they consider the elections to be credible or not,” Rasmussen said.

The NATO leader also said Afghan women now can walk freely in the streets, hold jobs and serve in parliament, and that al- Qaeda has no haven and no training camps in Afghanistan. â€œThese are huge achievements in just eight years,â€

The mission in Afghanistan is broader than just attacking al-Qaeda, said Rasmussen, who was making his first speech in the U.S. since taking over as the allianceâ€™s top official on Aug. 1.

Regional Stability

Should the Taliban take over the country again, they would harbor terrorists as they did before, neighboring Pakistan would be destabilized and militant attacks would spread throughout the region and beyond, he said.

Afghanistan demonstrates how NATO’s territorial defenses now and in the future begin far beyond the borders of the alliance members, Rasmussen said.

“NATO will stay for as long as it takes to succeed,” he said. “But that cannot mean forever.”

Rasmussen has said he opposes a timetable for withdrawing international forces from Afghanistan for fear the Taliban will use it to persuade Afghans that the U.S. and its allies are planning a “run for the exits.”

He pledged yesterday to push U.S. allies to provide necessary resources for increased training of Afghan forces.

He cautioned the U.S. against criticizing European partners in NATO for not sending more troops or restricting the mission of their forces in a way that limits their ability to fight. All 28 NATO member nations are part of the mission and more than 20 countries have lost soldiers there.

“Talking down the European and Canadian contributions as some here in the United States have done can become a self- fulfilling prophecy,” Rasmussen said.

Five killed in suicide attack on murtadeen in Bannu

2009-09-26T09:57:00.002-04:00

Five killed in suicide attack in Bannu

Saturday, 26 Sep, 2009

BANNU: At least five people were killed and 50 wounded in a suicide attack at a police station in Bannu, police and witnesses said, DawnNews reports.

The bomber detonated an explosives-laden truck in front of the police station on the outskirts of Bannu, destroying the building and several nearby houses.

‘I myself have seen five dead bodies,’ Mohammad Zahid, a witness at the scene, told Reuters.

Mohammad Fareed, a deputy superintendent, said 24 policemen and 17 civilians, including women and children, were wounded.

Bannu is gateway to North Waziristan, a volatile tribal region on the Afghan border and a major sanctuary for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants fighting both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Twelve Afghan militants were killed in a missile strike by a US drone aircraft near the house of an Afghan Taliban commander allied to Al-Qaeda in North Waziristan late on Thursday night.

Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a similar missile strike in neighbouring South Waziristan tribal region last month.

Pakistani forces have also made significant gains against the militants after they launched an offensive in northwestern Swat valley in late April, which helped allay international fears about the stability of the nuclear-armed US ally after militants made advances towards the capital, Islamabad.

Militant attacks have tapered off after Mehsud’s death but security officials say militants loyal to Al-Qaeda still pose a serious threat.

Thirty-three people were killed in a car-bomb suicide attack near the garrison town of Kohat this month.

Source

Shaykh Bin Laden (may Allah protect him) warns of retaliation against Europe

2009-09-26T09:55:00.003-04:00

Saturday, 26 Sep, 2009

CAIRO, Egypt: Osama bin Laden demanded European countries pull their troops out of Afghanistan and warned in a new audiotape of ‘retaliation’ against them for their alliance with the United States in the war.

The al-Qaeda leader denounced NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan that have killed civilians and said in the new message released Friday that European countries would be held accountable alongside the Americans unless they withdraw from the country.

‘A wise person would not waste his sons and money for a gang of criminals in Washington ... In summary, we are not asking too much or an invalid demand, but it would be fair that you lift your oppression and withdraw your troops,’ bin Laden said, addressing the Europeans.

The audiotape, just under five minutes long, was posted Friday on Islamic militant Web sites. It comes after a series of al-Qaeda videos this week that directly addressed Germany, and threatened attacks over Berlin's military mission in Afghanistan. Those videos featured a little-known German-Algerian militant and have raised concerns among German authorities ahead of parliamentary elections.

Bin Laden's tape came as a voice-over on a video that had English and German subtitles translating his speech, along with a still photo of bin Laden in front of a map of Europe.

The al-Qaeda leader predicted that American forces would soon pull out of Afghanistan, abandoning their NATO allies, and warned that al-Qaeda would then retaliate against the Europeans. It was not clear whether his threat was aimed at European troops in Afghanistan or against European countries themselves.

‘It won't be long before the war's dust in Afghanistan clears out, and you will not find a trace of an American (soldier) ... and it will be only us and you left,’ he said, addressing Europeans.

‘How do think you will fare after America pulls out – Allah permitting – allowing us to retaliate from the oppressor on behalf of the oppressed?’ he said.

The authenticity of the tape could not be immediately verified, though the voice resembled that on previous recordings confirmed to be by bin Laden. The video carried the logo of al-Qaeda's media arm, Al-Sahab.

‘It is a shameful thing for a person to be in a coalition whose supreme commander has no regard for human blood and intentionally bombs villagers from the air,’ said bin Laden, referring to a recent German-ordered US airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan that killed dozens and have pushed Berlin's Afghan mission to the forefront of Germany's parliamentary election campaign.

The German Commander of NATO forces in Kunduz has said he ordered the bombing because he thought there were no civilians nearby and feared the hijacked trucks would be used to carry out suicide bombings.

Al-Qaeda has released three messages over the past week addressed to Germany that included threats linked to the country's presence in Afghanistan and parliamentary elections on Sunday.

Bin Laden did not mention Germany by name, but he did refer to the airstrike in Kunduz, and officials in Berlin said they were analyzing the al-Qaeda leader's message.

‘We are taking this video seriously. It is another step in the propaganda of al Qaeda,’ Interior Ministry spokesman Stefan Paris said. ‘We don't let the terrorists and their announcements put us in a state of agitation.’

Bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda leaders are believed to be hiding in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. –AP

Heresy in the non-Islamic Republic of Pakistan

2009-09-24T08:35:00.002-04:00

From lashes to strokes

Posted by Nadeem F. Paracha, 09 24th, 2009

The lingering Islamisation milieu put together by the Ziaul Haq dictatorship got a beating recently. In May this year, in an unprecedented move, the Federal Shariat Court declared that the consumption of alcohol in Islam was a (comparatively) lesser crime. The court duly overturned the punishment of applying 80 lashes to the seller and consumer of alcohol (with a whip) and replaced it with light ’strokes from a stick made from a palm tree leave.’

In her book, Islam, Its Laws & Society, Islamic law expert Jamila Hussain states that though the Quran ‘advises’ Muslims to stay away from wine (khamr), it does not outright forbid it like it does carrion meat, blood, pork, and idolatry. She also states that neither does the Holy Book prescribe any punishment for consuming alcohol.

In ‘Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History’, author Jack S. Blocker informs that the punishment of flogging for drunkenness was derived from the writings of ulema who constructed the four leading schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam - Hanafi, Shafi, Maliki and Hanabali - in the eighth and ninth centuries. The source of this punishment is not the Quran, but an hadith attributed to the first caliph of Islam, Abu Baker.

There are five verses in the Quran dealing with the subject of intoxicants:

Verse 67 of Surah 16 (The Bee) states: ‘And of the fruits of the date-palm, and grapes, from which you derive strong drink and good nourishment. Lo! therein is indeed a portent for people who have sense.’ (Marmaduke Pickthall translation). In this verse, the Quran recognises man’s custom of deriving intoxicating drinks from grapes and dates.

Verse 43 of Surah 4 (Women) states: ‘O ye who believe! Approach not prayers with a mind befogged (intoxicated)…’ (Yousuf Ali translation). In this Surah, the Quran asks Muslims not to arrive at the mosque when intoxicated.

Verse 219 of Surah 2 (The Cow) states: ‘They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.’ (Ahmad Ali translation). God then advises his subjects to avoid drinking and gambling, because even though there are benefits in both, the harms are more in number.

However, it is the fourth and fifth intoxicant-related verses that have created the biggest debates between conservative and liberal Islamic scholars.

Verse 90 of Surah 5 (The Table) states: ‘O believers, this wine and gambling, these idols, and these arrows you use for divination, are all acts of Satan; so keep away from them.’ Verse 91 of the same Surah adds: ‘Satan only wishes to create among you enmity and hatred through wine and gambling, and to divert you from the remembrance of God and prayer. Will you therefore not desist?’ (Ahmad Ali)

These are the verses most conservative scholars use to proclaim drinking as an ‘unpardonable sin’ (gunnah-e-kabeera), and justify the punishment of 40-to-80 lashes for its sale and usage, even though, clearly, there is no such punishment proscribed in these verses.

Most liberal Hanifi and secular Islamic scholars suggest that though the Quran has explicitly ‘advised’ Muslims to avoid drinking alcohol, its consumption is in not a ‘gunnah-e-kabeera’.

They use the following verse to press their point (5:3): ‘Forbidden to you is carrion and blood, and the flesh of the swine, and whatsoever has been killed in the name of some other than God, and whatever has been strangled, or killed by a blow or a fall, or by goring, or that which has been mauled by wild beasts unless slaughtered while still alive; and that which has been slaughtered at altars is forbidden, and also dividing the meat by casting lots with arrows. All this is sinful.’ (Ahmad Ali).

These scholars maintain that this verse visibly states the items that fall into the bracket of what is strictly forbidden (as food and drink) in Islam and that alcohol is not part of this list.

This is why most regions that follow the Hanifi school of jurisprudence (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Bosnia, Albania), have traditionally been somewhat reluctant to prescribe the lashing punishment for drinking.

However, ironically, it was the secular government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (under pressure from fundamentalist opposition), that banned the sale of alcohol in Pakistan in 1977. Its consumption was then turned into a crime by Zia, punishable under his controversial Hudood Ordinances (80 lashes).

Zia’s move in this context gave birth to a thriving bootlegging mafia, also triggering the widespread usage of easily available addictive drugs such as heroin as an alternative. For example, till 1979, Pakistan literally had just a single reported case of heroin addiction, but by 1985, it had the second-largest population of heroin addicts!

Many scholars had accused Zia of corrupting Pakistan’s Hanifi tradition by adulterating it with chunks of ultra-conservative fiqh that was never part of the subcontinental Muslims’ religious landscape.

Though no Pakistani has been flogged for the offence of consuming alcohol since 1981, the Shariat Court’s verdict must have come as a serious blow to the architectural remnants of Zia’s skewed Islamisation process, and its convoluted notions of an Islamic state and pious citizens.

***********************************************************************************

O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.(Al-Maidah,90)

Targetting the agents of the agents of the Kuffar.

2009-09-24T08:31:00.003-04:00

Taliban kill seven tribal elders in Bannu district

Thursday, 24 Sep, 2009

PESHAWAR: Taliban insurgents on Thursday shot dead seven pro-government tribal elders in a northwest Pakistan town troubled by militant violence, police said.

The victims of the Taliban ambush in Janikhel town included tribal chief Malik Sultan, who was active in raising a government-sponsored militia against militants in the area, local police chief Iqbal Marwat said.

'Taliban militants attacked the tribal elders who were on their way to a nearby village to mediate a dispute between local people,' Marwat told AFP.

'All seven, who were on foot, were killed on the spot while the militants fled,' he added. The attack happened in Bannu district.

Janikhel is close to the rugged tribal region of North Waziristan where Washington says Al-Qaeda and Taliban established bases after the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Residents said Sultan helped to raise the lashkar, or tribal army, after Taliban militants abducted scores of students and teachers in June as they were being bussed home from an army-run college for summer vacation.

The students were freed to tribal elders. The abduction was claimed by Pakistan's umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban whose then leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack in August.

Saddled with a traditional standing army that lacks adequate equipment and counter-insurgency specialists, one of Pakistan's answers to counter militants has been to arm and support tribesmen to protect local communities.

Al-Shabab vow allegiance to Shaykh Bin Laden.

2009-09-21T14:02:00.004-04:00

Somali crowds vow allegiance to bin Laden

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer, 09-21-2009

NAIROBI, Kenya – An Islamic insurgent group that controls much of this lawless nation has released a video showing its members vowing allegiance to Osama bin Laden, training in dusty camps and slamming Somalia's U.S.-backed president as a traitor.

The tape was released late Sunday by al-Shabab, an insurgent group that last week hit the African Union peacekeeping base with suicide car bombs, killing 21 people in the deadliest single attack on peacekeepers since they arrived in 2007.

Al-Shabab announced the Thursday attack at Mogadishu's airport was in retaliation for a U.S. commando raid on Sept. 14 that killed al-Qaida operative Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in southern Somalia.

The United States has become increasingly concerned that al-Qaida insurgents are moving into anarchic Somalia, where they can mobilize recruits without interference.

The video showed the Shabab militia in training, leaping over piles of sandbags, crawling on the ground and shooting at targets. White-skinned bearded trainers could be seen moving among the Somalis. The video also showed crowds chanting: "At your service Osama!"

Sheik Hassan Ya'qub, a spokesman for al-Shabab, said the video is "aimed at showing how the youth are well-trained and ready to the defend their holy land." Shabab means "youth" in Arabic.

Bin Laden has declared his support for Somali insurgents before. The new video shows the mutual affection is strong as ever — a growing concern for U.S. and other governments. Al-Qaida bombed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing more than 200 people, and one of the alleged plotters is believed to be hiding out in Somalia. Stronger ties between al-Qaida and al-Shabab could pose greater threats to Western interests in the region.

The video features periodic commentary from a voice purported to be bin Laden's, criticizing the administration of Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed as un-Islamic for its ties to America. Sharif met last month with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who pledged to expand American support for Somalia's government.

The comments from the al-Qaida leader echo comments of support he made in March. It was not immediately clear if they were from the same recording.

Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president in January and hopes to unite the country's feuding factions.

"How can intelligent people believe that yesterday's enemies, on the basis of religion, can become today's friends?" the voice purported to be bin Laden's said in a voice-over as his photo was shown.

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and turned on each other. Piracy has flourished off the Somali coast, making the Gulf of Aden one of the most dangerous waterways in the world.

On Sunday, insurgents attacked a town near the border with Ethiopia, killing at least 10 people, witnesses and officials said.

Source

A Message from Ameer-ul-Mujahideen Mullah Omar.

2009-09-21T13:58:00.002-04:00

Taliban leader tells 'invaders' to study history

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer, Sep 19, 2009

KABUL – The Taliban's reclusive leader said in a Muslim holiday message Saturday that the U.S. and NATO should study Afghanistan's long history of war, in a pointed reminder that foreign forces have had limited military success in the country.

The message from Mullah Omar comes less than a month before the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

This year has been the deadliest of the conflict for U.S. and NATO troops, and political support at home for the war is declining. Taliban attacks have spiked around Afghanistan in the last three years, and the militants now control wide swaths of territory.

On Saturday, bombs targeting military vehicles in the south where the Taliban are increasingly powerful, killed six people.

In his message for the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which ends the fasting month of Ramadan, Omar said the U.S. and NATO should study the history of Alexander the Great, whose forces were defeated by Pashtun tribesmen in the 4th century B.C.

"We would like to point out that we fought against the British invaders for 80 years from 1839 to 1919 and ultimately got independence by defeating" Britain, a statement attributed to Omar said.

"Today we have strong determination, military training and effective weapons. Still more, we have preparedness for a long war and the regional situation is in our favor. Therefore, we will continue to wage jihad until we gain independence and force the invaders to pull out," it said. The statement's authenticity could not be verified but it was posted on a Web site the Taliban frequently uses.

Omar is believed to be in hiding in Pakistan but hasn't been seen in years.

President Barack Obama has increased the U.S. focus on Afghanistan after what critics say were years of neglect under the Bush administration. Obama ordered 21,000 more troops to the country this year, and by year's end the U.S. will have a record 68,000 in the country.

Militant ambushes have become increasingly sophisticated and deadly, and U.S. troops say the Taliban is no longer the ragtag force the military first faced in late 2001. Civilian deaths and a corrupt Afghan government have turned many toward the militants, who have pushed into northern Afghanistan this year for the first time.

In the southern city of Kandahar, a bomb hidden on bicycle exploded as an Afghan army vehicle drove by, killing five people — four civilians and one Afghan soldier and wounding 15 people, said Mohammad Pashtun, a regional police official.

The Danish military said Saturday that one of its soldiers was also killed after militants fired on troops on patrol in the southern province of Helmand. Denmark has lost 25 soldiers in Afghanistan since it joined the U.S.-led coalition in 2002. Separately, Hungarian officials said a suicide attacker drove a vehicle into a Hungarian convoy in the northern city of Pul-e-Khumri. No troops were killed.

The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is expected to ask Washington for thousands more troops in coming weeks, but public support for the war is waning, and political leaders are questioning the need for more forces.

Al-Qaida posted a new video this week threatening that if Germans do not push their political parties to withdraw the country's soldiers from Afghanistan, "there will be a rude awakening after the elections." Germany holds national elections Sept. 27.

Omar's message said the international community has "wrongly depicted" the Taliban as a force against education and women's rights. It did not elaborate. Taliban militants force women to wear the all-encompassing burqa and don't allow females outside the home without a male escort.

We @ Revolution Muslim wish all the Muslims, Eid Mubarak.

2009-09-20T00:32:00.004-04:00

May Allah accept your fasting of Ramadhan & guide you & your loved ones to the best of this duniya & akhira. In your prayers, please remember all our brothers & sisters who are still living under oppression & torture, especially our brothers in Guantanamo.

Al-Shabab of Somalia pursue jihad to African Union's "Peace-keeping" base.

2009-09-18T08:42:00.003-04:00

Death toll rises to 21 in Somalia suicide attack

By MALKHADIR M. MUHUMED, Associated Press Writer Fri Sep 18, 5:20 am ET

NAIROBI, Kenya – The death toll from twin suicide car bombings at the African Union's main peacekeeping base in Somalia rose to 21 Friday, including 17 peacekeepers, an AU spokesman said. It was the deadliest single attack on AU peacekeepers since they arrived in 2007.

Islamic insurgents posing as U.N. personnel detonated suicide car bombs Thursday at the peacekeepers' main base to avenge a U.S. commando raid on Monday that killed a key al-Qaida operative, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan. Al-Shabab, a powerful Islamist group with foreign fighters in its ranks, claimed responsibility.

About 40 others were wounded in attack, said Gaffel Nkolokosa (en-koh-loh-KOH-sah), the spokesman for the African Union Mission for Somalia. He said the toll could rise.

A counterstrike from the AU base killed at least seven people.

France said Friday it has evacuated 17 wounded people to Nairobi, Kenya, where they were hospitalized. It did not indicate the nationalities of the injured or the nature of their injuries.

Thursday's suicide attack underscored links between al-Qaida's terror network and Somalia's homegrown insurgency. Many fear this impoverished and lawless African nation is becoming a haven for al-Qaida — a place for terrorists to train and plan attacks elsewhere.

Suicide attacks were virtually unknown in Somalia before 2007, even though the nation has been wracked by war for almost two decades.

Al-Shabab controls much of Somalia and operates openly in the capital, confining the government and peacekeepers to a few blocks of the city. The U.S. and the U.N. both support Somalia's government and the African peacekeeping force.

The AU force has long lamented that it is undermanned. Out of a planned 8,000 troops, there are about 5,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi.

Until the West understands Shaykh Osama's (may Allah protect him) message, they will continue to bleed.

2009-09-17T14:33:00.002-04:00

Six Nato soldiers killed in Kabul suicide blast.
Thursday, 17 Sep, 2009

KABUL: A massive suicide car bomb ripped into a Nato convoy killing six Italian soldiers and three Afghan civilians on the airport road in the heavily fortified Afghan capital on Thursday, officials said.

The explosion struck just after midday about 1.5 kilometres from the gates of the US embassy on the busy airport road, destroying one vehicle with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Forces (Isaf).

Six Italian soldiers were killed and another three wounded, the Italian defence ministry announced after the Taliban claimed one of the worst single attacks on the more than 100,000 Nato and US-led troops serving in Afghanistan.

‘It was a suicide car bomb attack. Up to now two civilians were killed and nine were wounded, but the number may increase,’ said the chief of criminal investigations for Kabul police, Sayed Abdul Ghapar Sayed Zada.

‘It was against Italian forces. They had casualties,’ he added.

Ahmad Farid Raaid, health ministry spokesman, said three civilians were killed and 38 wounded. Witnesses put the death toll from the blast, which was claimed by the Taliban, at six.

Armoured vehicles showing the Italian flag and clearly marked with the Isaf logo were damaged, with vehicle parts strewn over the blood-stained road and shops destroyed by the power of the blast, witnesses said.

An AFP reporter said he saw the body of one Isaf soldier lying by the roadside and remains of three more bodies pulled from an armoured vehicle, although it was unclear if they were all foreign soldiers.

He confirmed at least two civilian bodies were also removed from the scene, where the blast created a crater in the dusty road.

‘I was walking to my shop when I heard a huge blast and then thick black smoke,’ said Sawad, who lives near the blast site.

‘I thought that day had become night. When I came back, for minutes I couldn't see anything. Then I saw one man lying on the tarmac without a head. I saw around 10 people, civilians killed, 40 to 50 wounded.’

Television footage and photographs clearly showed the Italian flag on the Isaf armoured vehicles, one of which was destroyed in the blast.

Kabul has been hit recently by several suicide blasts claimed by Taliban militants bent on toppling the western-backed government. Once such attack killed three civilians outside the city's military airport on September 8.

In August, a massive suicide car bomb attack on Isaf's Kabul headquarters killed seven Afghan civilians, underscoring the increasingly brazen nature of the Taliban threat as the militia wages a fierce insurgency.

There are about 100,000 US and Nato-led forces in Afghanistan helping the government battle a Taliban insurgency, at its worst since the Islamist hardliners were overthrown in a US-backed invasion in late 2001.

Another reason why Pakistan murders & tortures practicing Muslims for its master, the U.S.

2009-09-17T14:29:00.003-04:00

Pakistan ordered arms worth $4.5bn from US
Thursday, 17 Sep, 2009

WASHINGTON: Pakistan placed its largest ever arms purchase orders worth $4.5 billion with America between 2005 and 2008 and its weapons shopping list included more F-16 fighters and over hundred 155 MM artillery guns, a latest Congressional report has said.

The orders included thirty-six latest block 50/52 F-16C jets and their air-to-air missiles and bombs worth a whopping $640 million. The arms deal also provided for mid-life modification of its earlier F-16 A/B fighters.

Under the arms deal, Islamabad also sought 115 M109A5 155 MM self propelled howitzers worth $52 million, the guns it did not have during the Kargil conflict in 1999.

According to ‘US Arms Sales to Pakistan’ report, the major arms purchase agreement by Pakistan signed in 2006, was in excess of $3.5 billion, ranking Pakistan first among all arms clients of the US during that calendar year.

The report informs the US lawmakers that America can suspend or terminate any arms sales agreement with Pakistan or the delivery of weapons previously ordered, if the president determines that the actions taken by Islamabad are against the national security interests of the United States.

‘The Congress can also pass legislation that would suspend, modify, or terminate any arms sale contract should it choose to do so,’ said the report prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a bipartisan and independent research wing of the US Congress, which prepares reports on various issues for Congressmen.

According to the report dated August 24, the deal has been cleared with stiff conditions which include if the US government chooses; it can stop the transfer of defence articles and services to Pakistan for which valid contracts exist.

This clause can be applied without finding if the arms deal is in violation of an applicable agreement with the US relating to permissible uses of weapons previously sold.

The authority for suspension of deliveries or defence items or cancellation of military sales contracts is found in various sections of the Arms Export Control (AECA).

‘All government-to-government agreements or licensed commercial contracts for the transfer of defence articles or services may be halted, modified or terminated by the executive branch should it determine that it is advisable to do so,’ the report said.

The total value of Pakistan’s 2006 arms purchases from the US nearly matches the total value of all Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme purchases by Pakistan from the US for the entire period from 1950 to 2001.

When the Bush administration signed the contract in 2006 for sale of 36 aircrafts and associated equipment, it cited: ‘Given its geo-strategic location and partnership in the Global War on Terrorism, Pakistan is a vital ally of the US... This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of America by helping an ally meet its legitimate defence requirements.’

However, the report said apart from the major 2006 F-16 sales and related equipment, no additional major weapon systems have been sold to Pakistan.—Online

Pakistani Murtad Forces continue bombing their way to Hell.

2009-09-15T08:36:00.003-04:00

Official: Pakistani jets kill 5 insurgents

By HABIB KHAN, Associated Press Writer - Sept. 15th, 2009

KHAR, Pakistan – Fighter jets pounded suspected militant hide-outs Tuesday and killed five insurgents in a tribal region where the Pakistani military declared victory over insurgents six months ago following an offensive, an official said.

The bombings occurred in the Salarzai area of the northwest Bajur tribal region, local government official Zahid Khan said.

Pakistan's army launched an intense offensive that left more than 1,700 alleged militants dead in Bajur just over a year ago. In February, the military said it had defeated al-Qaida and Taliban fighters there, but pockets of resistance remain.

Pakistan is in the midst of multiple army operations against militants in its northwest regions bordering Afghanistan, but security throughout the country has deteriorated.

On Monday, three burqa-clad men tried to attack a major oil terminal in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi but were foiled by security forces, police said.

A guard died in the attack on the terminal, where oil supplies arrive for the country's largest oil refinery.

Three suspects tried to enter the oil terminal in the western Keamari area dressed as women, police said. The security guard on duty tried to intercept them, but was shot by the attackers.

A police vehicle patrolling nearby heard the gunshots and responded. The attackers managed to escape, but left behind 10 hand grenades, three Kalashnikov rifles and bullets stuffed in a lady's purse.

"It was a big attempt at terrorism averted by the police with the help of the brave guard," city police chief Waseem Ahmed said.

Police later found rocket-propelled grenades, explosives, suicide vests, burqas and other items apparently dumped by the suspects near a sewer in the Saeedabad area, also in western Karachi, senior investigator Raja Umar Khattab said.

"The bullet cartridges and the burqas found today suggests they threw their weapons when on the run after their foiled attempt on the oil terminal," Khattab told The Associated Press.

Karachi has a population of more than 16 million and a history of political, religious and ethnic violence. It is also Pakistan's commercial capital, and Taliban fighters are believed to use it as a place to rest and raise money.

Tortured for the right of freedom of Expression.

2009-09-15T08:31:00.003-04:00

Iraqi shoe thrower released; says he was tortured

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer - Sept. 15th, 2009

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush was released Tuesday after nine months in prison, and he said Iraqi security forces tortured him with beatings, whippings and electric shocks after his arrest.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, whose stunning act of protest last December made him a hero around the Arab and Muslim worlds, said he now feared for his life and believed that U.S. intelligence agents would chase after him.

"These fearsome services, the U.S. intelligence services and its affiliated services, will spare no efforts to track me as an insurgent revolutionary ... in a bid to kill me," he told a news conference at the TV station where he works.

"And here I want to warn all my relatives and people close to me that these services will use all means to trap and try to kill and liquidate me either physically, socially or professionally," he said, wearing a scarf in the colors of the Iraqi flag draped around his neck.

The 30-year-old reporter's act of protest deeply embarrassed Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who was standing beside Bush at a Dec. 14 news conference when al-Zeidi suddenly shot up from his chair had hurled his shoes toward the podium.

Bush, who was on his final visit to Iraq as American president, was unhurt but had to duck twice to avoid being hit.

Al-Zeidi was wrestled to the ground by journalists and al-Maliki's security men.

The reporter said Tuesday that he was abused immediately after his arrest and the following day. He said he was beaten with iron bars, whipped with cords and was electrocuted in the backyard of the building in the Green Zone where the news conference was held.

"In the morning, I was left in the cold weather after they splashed me with water," he said.

He promised to reveal the names of senior officials in the Iraqi government and army who he said were involved in mistreating him.

An unrepentant al-Zeidi explained that his actions were motivated by the U.S. occupation and said that while he is now free, his country is still "held captive."

"Simply put, what incited me toward confrontation is the oppression that fell upon my people and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by placing it under its boots," he said.

In January 2008, al-Zeidi was arrested by U.S. soldiers who searched his apartment building and released him the next day with an apology.

The year before that, al-Zeidi, a Shiite, was kidnapped by gunmen while on an assignment in a Sunni district of north Baghdad. He was freed unharmed three days later after Iraqi television stations broadcast appeals for his release.

Those experiences, his family has said, helped mold his resentment of the U.S. military's presence in Iraq.

Outside his home in central Baghdad, celebrations erupted at the news of his release, with women crying out and breaking into traditional Iraqi dances.

"I congratulate the Iraqi people and the Muslim world and all free men across the world on the release of Muntadhar," his brother Uday told a crowd of dozens of journalists and others. "Every time Bush turns a new page in his life he will find Muntadhar's shoes waiting for him."

Al-Zeidi's brother said the reporter will travel to Greece on Thursday for medical checkups and because he had concerns about his safety.

"He fears for his life," Uday said, adding that he would sleep at an undisclosed location Tuesday night.

Al-Zeidi's protest stirred millions across the Arab world who have been captivated and angered by images of destruction and grieving since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"This is your farewell kiss, you dog!" he shouted at Bush in Arabic as he hurled the shoes. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq," he continued.

For days, the scene was played endlessly on regional and international TV channels.

Al-Zeidi was to have been freed Monday, but the release was held up for a day because of delays in processing paperwork.

After his release, al-Zeidi was driven first to the offices of Al-Baghdadiya, the TV station where he works. Later, he is expected to rejoin his family at their apartment in a rundown two-story building in central Baghdad.

His relatives have been preparing for days to welcome him, hanging balloons and posters of the reporter.

Several children from the family gathered outside the home, carrying posters of al-Zeidi that said: "Release the man who restored national unity."

There were also about a dozen sheep and a butcher standing by to slaughter some of them upon al-Zeidi's return in a traditional practice on celebratory occasions.

His protest was widely celebrated and even inspired Internet games and T-shirts and led some to try to offer their daughters to him in marriage. There were also reports that a Saudi man wanted to pay $10 million for one of the shoes.

Shortly after his arrest, a charity run by the daughter of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi bestowed a medal of courage on al-Zeidi.

Al-Zeidi, who turned 30 in prison, was convicted of assault in March. His three-year prison sentence was reduced to one because he had no criminal record before the shoe-throwing incident. He was released three months early for good behavior.

The family says al-Zeidi might use his celebrity status to promote humanitarian causes such as the rights of orphans and women.

His employer, Al-Baghdadiya TV, expects he will return to work as a television reporter for the station, though some have questioned how he would be able to work again as a journalist in Iraq.

Shaykh Bin Laden (may Allah protect him) calls Obama 'powerless' in Afghan war

2009-09-14T08:10:00.003-04:00

VIDEO LINK

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press Writer – Sept. 14th, 2009

CAIRO – Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden described President Barack Obama as "powerless" to stop the war in Afghanistan and threatened to step up guerrilla warfare there in a new audiotape released to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

In the 11-minute tape, addressed to the American people, bin Laden said Obama is only following the warlike policies of his predecessor George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and he urged Americans to "liberate" themselves from the influence of "neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby."

The tape was posted on Islamic militant Web sites two days after the eighth anniversary of the 2001 suicide plane hijackings. The terror leader usually addresses Americans in a message timed around the date of the attacks, which sparked the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan the same year, and then in Iraq two years later.

Bin Laden said Americans had failed to understand that al-Qaida carried out the attacks in retaliation for U.S. support for Israel. If America reconsiders its alliance with the Jewish state, al-Qaida will respond on "sound and just bases."

The Saudi construction magnate's son-turned "holy warrior" and his deputies have frequently sought to wrap al-Qaida in the Palestinian cause, seeking to draw support in the Arab world, where the issue is one of the public's top concerns.

Al-Qaida has also sought to depict Obama as no different from Bush, who was widely despised in the Arab world for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and his close support of Israel. Obama has won greater popularity in the region, giving a landmark speech in Cairo in June, moving to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and taking a somewhat harder stance on Israel in the peace process.

"If you end the war (in Afghanistan), so let it be," bin Laden said. "But if it is otherwise, all we will do is continue the war of attrition against you on all possible axes."

"You are waging a hopeless and losing war for the benefit of others, a war the end of which is not visible on the horizon," he said, according to a translation of the tape Monday by SITE Intelligence Group, a terrorist-monitoring firm, and by The Associated Press.

Bin Laden, who is believed to be in hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border region, said the current White House is merely following the Bush-Cheney strategy to "promote the previous policies of fear to market the interest of big companies."

When Obama retained the Bush administration's Defense Secretary Robert Gates, "reasonable people knew that Obama is a powerless man who will not be able to end the war as he promised," bin Laden said.

Bin Laden devoted much of his address to discussing U.S. connections with Israel and castigated Americans for failing to understand that the issue was behind al-Qaida's animosity. As he often does in his addresses, he cited books by American scholars and others that he said support his claim. Such citations also serve to show he keeps close watch on current events and media despite being a fugitive in a war zone.

"The delay in your knowing those causes has cost you a lot without any result whatsoever," he said. "This position of yours, combined with some other injustices, pushed us to undertake the events of (Sept. 11)."

"Ask yourselves to determine your position: Is your security, your blood, your children, your money, your jobs, your homes, your economy, and your reputation dearer to you than the security of the Israelis, their children and their economy?" he said.

If Americans realized the extent of the suffering "suffering from the injustice of the Jews ... you will realize that both our nations are victims of the policies of the White House," which he described as "a hostage" to interest groups and companies.

The message was issued late Sunday by al-Qaida's media wing, Al-Sahab, in a video in which the audiotape plays over a still picture of bin Laden. IntelCenter, another company that monitors terrorist propaganda, said the message is the 49th release by Al-Sahab in 2009. Al-Sahab is averaging one release every five days so far in 2009, IntelCenter said.

Update on General Murtad....err....Musharraf.

2009-09-10T08:23:00.002-04:00

Musharraf’s new life in west London
Thursday, 10 Sep, 2009

LONDON: Former president Pervez Musharraf is living in a flat near London’s Edgware Road. The former military leader has swapped the presidential palace in Islamabad for a relatively modest flat surrounded by the shisha bars and kebab joints of London's Arabic quarter, The Guardian said in a report on Thursday.

The area is also home to Tony Blair, who owns a large house in the nearby Connaught Square.

The former president has chosen a simple apartment in a red-brick complex to retire in. It is a contrast to the pomp of Musharraf's nine-year rule in Pakistan, during which he was guarded by liveried soldiers and surrounded by political acolytes, the report says.

However, security remains tight at his £1 million London flat. The retired general is guarded by a small team of retired Pakistani commandos, which he pays for himself, and has a protection detail from Scotland Yard, the report adds.

He is said to dine regularly at the Dorchester hotel and hosts regular music evenings at his apartment. He regularly plays golf and often plays bridge with his confidante, Brigadier Niaz Ahmed, a retired arms dealer.

It is claimed that the general, who resigned 13 months ago, is better served by being out of Pakistan. The report also says Musharraf pays £450 to hire an official VIP lounge every time he flies from or to Heathrow airport.

The report also says Musharraf travels in a bulletproof vehicle.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, a critic in the House of Lords, tabled a parliamentary question about the cost of these security arrangements in July.

The government replied that it was the ‘established Home Office policy not to comment on protective security arrangements and their related costs’.

Nazir said ‘our old age pensioners don't get security, so how can we pay for an old general who wants to enjoy himself in London?’

The Pakistan-born peer said he was collecting evidence for a possible war crimes prosecution through Bindmans solicitors, who pursued the retired Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet through the British courts in the late 1990s.

It is claimed that Musharraf is on a visitor's visa and it has been reported that he intends to take up permanent residence in the Middle East or in the United States, where his son Bilal lives, the report said.

Source

Two Pakistani soldiers killed while defending their paychecks.

2009-09-07T09:23:00.002-04:00

Roadside bomb hits army convoy, two dead
Monday, 07 Sep, 2009

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Intelligence and army officials say a powerful roadside bomb has killed two Pakistani soldiers in a militant stronghold near the Afghan border.

The three officials say two soldiers also were wounded Monday when the bomb went off near the convoy traveling from Shakai to Wana, the main town in South Waziristan tribal region.

The officials, two of whom work for Pakistani intelligence, requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media on the record.

Pakistan has deployed thousands of troops in its northwest to flush out Taliban, al-Qaida and their local supporters. The militants are suspected of using Pakistan as a safe haven to plan attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan. -AP

Source

Attacking the un-religious Minister of Religion.

2009-09-03T08:14:00.003-04:00

Audacious attack on minister in capital; driver killed
By Munawer Azeem , Thursday, 03 Sep, 2009

ISLAMABAD: Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi was injured in a brazen attack here on Wednesday. His driver was killed and a police guard injured.

The assailants attacked the minister’s car when he was leaving his ministry at G-6/3, some yards away from the Aabpara police station, along with his driver Mohammad Younus and guard Mohammad Ashraf.

According to officials, one attacker riding a bike had positioned himself at Street 31 (towards Garden Avenue) while the other on the opposite side.

They opened fire at the car with assault rifles and pistols when it approached the avenue.

The attackers chased the minister’s car for about 50 metres and continued firing after the driver tried to speed away. The driver lost control and rammed the car into a roadside tree after he received a bullet on his head.

About 25 bullets pierced through the car’s bonnet, roof, side doors and window screens. The minister, his driver and the police guard suffered multiple bullet wounds.

Bullet shells, including 30 empties of SMG, were found scattered on the road. The attackers left behind a bag containing two Kalashnikovs, a hand-grenade and a pistol. Police found another Kalashnikov near the ISI headquarters.

According to the sources, the weapons and bullets were sent to a laboratory and help of Nadra had been sought to trace the culprits through their fingerprints on the weapons.

The injured were taken to the Federal Government Services Hospital, which is about a kilometre from the scene.

According to doctors, the minister received two bullets on his leg. ‘His condition is stable, but he is in a state of shock,’ they added.

The driver suffered multiple shots in his head and chest and died on the spot.

The guard received five bullets in the upper part of his body and was stated to be in a critical condition.

Mr Kazmi has been an outspoken critic of the Taliban. His name appeared on the hit list of extremist religious groups after he declared suicide bombings un-Islamic, along with other moderate Barelvi scholars.

After the assassination of prominent Islamic scholar Allama Sarfraz Naeem in Lahore earlier this year, intelligence agencies had upgraded Mr Kazmi’s security.

THREATS
A brother of the minister said that Mr Kazmi had been receiving threats for the past couple of months.

According to sources, Mr Kazmi had requested the government to provide a bullet proof car and police commandos.

A senior police officer told Dawn that ironically five police commandos deputed with the minister were not guarding him at the time of the incident.

According to sources, security agencies had taken the police commandos into custody for interrogation. Police said that 48 suspects had been taken into custody.

Some reports suggested that the police mobile escorting the minister’s car turned towards a filling station when the two vehicles left the religious ministry.

‘I saw two gunmen firing from two sides on the minister’s car. One of them was wearing a pink shirt and trousers. The other was on a bike which they used to escape after the attack,’ a witness said.

Another witness said the firing started the moment the minister’s car left the Ministry of Religious Affairs and it continued for some times.

A senior police officer told Dawn that an FIR had been registered under section PPC 302, 324, 334 and 7ATA on the complaint of a relative of the diseased driver in the Abpara police station.

Senior Superintendent of Police Tahir Alam Khan told reporters that a preliminary investigation had showed that the attackers were locals. He claimed that sufficient security cover had been provided to the minister.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attack might be of a sectarian nature. He said he would be able to say something about the incident after the investigation.

The attackers would be arrested soon because police had found some important clues that he could not made public at this stage, the minister added.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the incident. The prime minister, who is abroad on an official visit, ordered an inquiry into the shooting and said the perpetrators of such a crime would not be spared, according to an official handout.

Hakeemullah (may Allah protect him), the vibrant defender of Islam.

2009-09-01T08:09:00.003-04:00

Hakeemullah a fiercely ambitious militant

By Zahir Shah Sherazi
Thursday, 27 Aug, 2009

PESHAWAR: With Hakeemullah Mehsud having been formally appointed the amir of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), replacing the dreaded Baitullah, the power-struggle is over (at least for the moment) and the first phase of transition in tribal areas’ extremist Islamic militant movement is complete.

Details regarding the process of his selection remain sketchy. But a few people outside the militant movement who have met Hakimullah know that he must have prevailed upon the TTP shura, leaving no doubt about a possible split in case anyone else was chosen to lead the movement.

Hakeemullah Mehsud’s meteoric rise to Fata’s nascent, but ferocious Taliban movement, is not entirely unexpected. It may take experts on the movement weeks, or possibly, months to understand and assess the 29-year-old new amir.

Who is this man? Is he related to Baitullah Mehsud? Will his policies be any different from his predecessor’s? Also, does he have the capability, acumen and desire to expand the TTP movement by bringing other militant groups into its fold?

With the passage of time it may be possible to get answers to some of these questions. But for some of us who were part of a group of Pakistani television journalists that had travelled to Hakeemullah-controlled part of the Orakzai tribal agency in November last year it was not difficult to immediately notice in him the ambition and desire to be in the leadership role.

In fact, the trip arranged by Hakeemullah’s men was largely designed to introduce the ‘young turk’ of the Taliban movement to the media and to air his views on religion and politics and his ambition to take the movement beyond Fata to mainland Pakistan.

It was a journey a few of us will forget. Some of us had travelled all the way from Peshawar. Others had joined half-way. At one point, Hakimullah’s heavily armed loyalists took control of our caravan. We spent a night somewhere in the Taliban territory, before being taken to Arkanjo Mamozai village in Orakzai Agency to meet Hakimullah and his band of ferocious fighters.

If a few of us were nervous it was quite understandable. Although quite photogenic, and unlike most other militant leaders, smartly dressed, his cold looks and wry smile left little doubt that he may not think twice before killing anyone.

Yet he was intelligent enough to grasp the significance and power of the media and tried to make the maximum of the presence of the television teams to express his views on issues ranging from the situation in Afghanistan, to TTP’s links with Mullah Omar and his Taliban movement, to Pakistan’s political scene, particularly his views about the Awami National Party. It was not difficult to see how much he hated the ANP.

At the same time, Hakeemullah also wanted to present himself as a modern man, who not only had the desire to ‘conquer’ rest of the tribal territories, but also someone who knew a lot about guns and machines. So, while at one point he sought the cameramen’s indulgence while showing off by speeding around in an armoured-plated Humvee that his men had captured during a raid on a convoy of American vehicles in the Khyber Agency, an hour later he invited the journalists to participate in a gun-shooting competition.

Comparisons between Hakeemullah and Baitullah would serve as a study of contrasts. While Baitullah was introvert and media-shy, the former is extrovert and media-savvy.

Some of the journalists did make an attempt, but soon gave up, realising the difference between shooting with a camera and a sub-machine gun. There was no stopping for Hakeemullah, who first fired dozens of rounds from a light-machine gun, then picked up a heavier gun and within seconds emptied the magazine.

And as if this were not enough, he fired a grenade using RPG, perhaps to prove that he was comfortable with all kinds of weapons. One of his close associates described it as Hakeemullah’s 'favourite toy'.

By now it was more than evident that this ‘image-building exercise’ was aimed at presenting him as a future leader of the local Taliban.

Hakeemullah Mehsud, after having lived for some time under the shadow of Baitullah Mehsud, had started spreading his wings early last year. Since he always believed in leading from the front, Baitullah had given him charge of three tribal agencies, and when we met him in November, he had gained a foothold in Orakzai, was actively involved in supporting the local Taliban in Kurram, and was making his presence felt in Khyber.

The young and battle-hardened Hakeemullah, whose real name is believed to be Jamshed, first rose to prominence by the name of Zulfiqar Mehsud, as a spokesman for the Baitullah-led militant group in 2007.

He also used the nickname of Hakeemullah and is now known by this name to most media personnel and also to Taliban fighters. Hakeemullah hails from Kotki village of Sarwaki subdivision and belongs to the Eshangai branch of Mehsud tribe. Having received rudimentary madressah education in Hangu, Hakimullah appears to be a fully trained warrior.

As Zulfiqar Mehsud, Hakeemullah had a few telephonic interactions with this correspondent, but it was during our visit to Orakzai Agency in November last year when I met Hakeemullah for the first time.

Ajmal Mehsud, a close associate of Hakeemullah who escorted us from the Giljo base of the Taliban at the Government Girls Degree College to Arkhanjo, was full of praise for his views and fighting skills.

'Hakeemullah is the best shooter and driver in the entire tribal area and no one except Shaheed Naek Muhammad could have matched him.'

More ambitious than his predecessor who mostly remained confined to South Waziristan, Hakeemullah explained to this correspondent his expansionist designs.

'If the Pakistan government continues with its policy of following American dictates, (some day) we can even try to capture Peshawar, Hangu and even Islamabad,' he said.

'And we have the strength to do it.'

He also did not hide his views about Al Qaeda. In an interview with Dawn News TV during the trip, Hakeemullah openly praised the international terrorist movement.

'We are Al Qaeda’s friends as both us the Taliban and the Arab fighters have shown our allegiance to Amir-ul-Momineen Mullah Omar of Afghanistan, but there is no Al Qaeda in South Waziristan. It’s only the US and the Pakistan government’s propaganda. They don’t have any proof.'

Hakeemullah’s nomination as the new TTP chief would be worrisome for Pakistani authorities, but more so for the NWFP government. Hakimullah is not a traditional mullah, as he does not have a proper degree from a religious school.

However, he knows how to exploit Pakhtuns’ religious as well as nationalist sentiments. 'We do not give two hoots to Awami National Party’s tirade against Taliban,' Hakeemullah had said in the interview.

'We can have an agreement with all the political parties but not with ANP,' he said.

While ridiculing the ANP in his typical style, Hakimullah was unable to hide his desire to expand the scope of his activities by claiming that once the ANP used to say that like them the Taliban too were Pakhtuns, but the way the situation was developing the ANP might soon take back its claim to be representatives of the Pakhtuns.

It may well be a far-fetched idea. But then this was in November last year, and Hakeemullah’s first direct interaction with the media. Now he is head of the powerful Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. So, if even half of what he had been claiming were to be believed, his ambitions may mean more trouble for the Pakistani authorities, and certainly for the ANP-led government in the NWFP.

Source

Two American, two British troops killed in Afghanistan

2009-09-01T08:05:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, 01 Sep, 2009

KABUL: Bombs killed four Nato troops — two Americans and two Britons — ending the deadliest month of the war for US forces as the top Nato commander called for a new strategy to confront the Taliban, AP reported.

The US military said the two Americans were killed Monday in separate explosions in southern Afghanistan but gave no further details. Their deaths brought to 47 the number of US troops who have died in the Afghan war in August — three more than in July which had been the deadliest month.

In London, the British Ministry of Defense said the two British soldiers were killed the same day by a bomb on a foot patrol north of Lashkar Gah, a southern Afghan city where Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid a surprise visit last weekend and promised help for his embattled force.

US casualties have been mounting since President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, shifting the focus of the war on extremism from Iraq to this country where the global conflict began nearly eight years ago.

Since the reinforcements began arriving last spring, American deaths have climbed from six in April to 12 in May, 24 in June to more than 40 for the next two months as US troops push into areas of the country long under Taliban rule.

The latest casualties occurred as the top US and Nato commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal sent his much-anticipated strategic review of the Afghan war to the Pentagon and Nato headquarters.

‘The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort,’ McChrystal said in a statement Monday.

McChrystal did not ask for more troops but is expected to do so in a separate request in a couple weeks, two Nato officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

The US already has about 62,000 troops in Afghanistan — a record number — and will have 68,000 by the end of the year. In total there are more than 100,000 US and Nato troops in the country. There were roughly 250,000 international forces in Iraq during the 2003 invasion.

US officials had hoped that the Aug. 20 presidential election would establish an Afghan government with the legitimacy to combat the Taliban, corruption and the flourishing drug trade.

The vote, however, was clouded by allegations of widespread fraud as well as threats and intimidation by the Taliban.

New vote tallies released Monday showed President Hamid Karzai leading with 45.8 per cent of the votes counted, with top challenger Abdullah Abdullah trailing with 33.2 per cent. Ballots have been counted from almost half of the country’s voting stations. Karzai needs 50 per cent of the votes to avoid a runoff.

On Monday, an Afghan man told reporters that Taliban militants cut off his nose and both ears as he headed for a polling station in central Afghanistan.

‘I regret that I went to vote,’ Lal Mohammad said from a hospital bed in Kabul, crying and trying to hide his disfigured face. ‘What is the benefit of voting to me?’

Source

Pakistan: Border blast sets NATO fuel trucks afire

2009-08-30T13:36:00.001-04:00

Pakistan: Border blast sets NATO fuel trucks afire.

By AP - August 30th., 2009

CHAMAN, Pakistan – An explosion ripped through a line of trucks ferrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, setting several oil tankers ablaze Sunday at a backed-up Pakistani border crossing, police said.

The blast appeared to be the second terrorist attack Sunday in Pakistan and the second in a week to target a border crossing. Also Sunday, a suicide bomber targeted a police station in the northwestern Swat Valley, killing 15 cadets.

Local police chief Hasan Sardar said flames and smoke were billowing into the sky as authorities struggled to control the blaze Sunday night near the Chaman border crossing in Baluchistan province in Pakistan's southwest.

"It was a big explosion under one of the oil tankers that caused other vehicles to catch fire. The fire is spreading," Sardar told The Associated Press by phone.

"We are at the moment trying our best to control the blaze. We are not sure whether there is any human loss," he said. "It is just panic everywhere there."

The explosion Sunday night set at least three oil tankers, two container trucks and two dump trucks on fire, police officer Abdul Rauf said.

Chaman is one of two main crossing points for supplies for American and NATO troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The foreign troops get about 75 percent of their supplies through Pakistan.

The crossing has been closed for two days amid a dispute between Afghan and Pakistani customs officers that Rauf said had left more than 1,000 trucks backed up along the road to the border.

Another suicide bombing killed at least 19 guards further north at the Torkham checkpoint, the other main crossing and gateway to the famed Khyber Pass.

The Pakistani Taliban have vowed revenge after the loss of key territory and the death of their top leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in a CIA missile strike Aug. 5 further west near the Afghan border.

Source

Terrorizing the Tyrants.

2009-08-30T13:34:00.002-04:00

Al-Qaida claims attack that injured Saudi prince.

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press Writer Maamoun Youssef, Associated Press Writer – August 30th,

CAIRO – Al-Qaida claimed responsibility Sunday for a suicide attack that injured a Saudi prince and said the bomber — a wanted militant who had fled to Yemen — arrived on a royal jet after convincing the ruling family he wanted to surrender.

Despite the attack on Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, his father, Interior Minister Prince Nayef, said the kingdom would not change its offer for militants to repent. Saudi Arabia has been praised for having one of the world's best terrorist rehabilitation programs in the world.

Saudi officials have said the prince was lightly wounded in the bombing at his home in Jiddah Thursday night while he was receiving well-wishers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. If al-Qaida's claim proves to be true, it would be an embarrassment for the prince and his father, two of the kingdom's top anti-terrorism officials. Prince Nayef is a half brother of Saudi King Abdullah and one of the most powerful members of the royal family.

"You tyrants ... your bastions and fortifications will not prevent us from reaching you. We will come to you soon," al-Qaida warned in an Internet statement. The authenticity of the message could not be independently verified, but it was posted on militant Web sites often used by al-Qaida.

In one version of the events, Al-Arabiya, a Saudi-owned television network, said the attacker concealed the explosives in his anus, allowing him to evade detection. The network also quoted an expert as saying that the method of concealment aimed the blast away from the target, while blowing the bomber to bits.

Saudi officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the al-Qaida claim. They have refused to say exactly how the bomber arrived at Prince Mohammed's home, disclosing only that he was a wanted militant who convinced authorities he wanted to turn himself in.

Prince Nayef said Saturday the attack on his son "will not change the policy of keeping the door open for those who repent," the official Saudi Press Agency reported. At the same time, he warned that future attacks could be more sophisticated, and therefore more dangerous.

Prince Mohammed has already admitted he ordered guards not to search the attacker when he arrived at his home to surrender, even though the man was wanted by authorities. Saudi officials have said the prince wanted to treat the militant with respect and trust to encourage other wanted militants to come forward.

Al-Qaida identified the bomber as Abdullah Hassan Tali Assiri, a Saudi citizen. Yemen's foreign minister and al-Qaida both said he crossed the border from Yemen into Saudi Arabia.

Al-Qaida and a Saudi newspaper have said the attacker, who also goes by the alias Abu al-Kheir, was on Saudi's list of 85 wanted militants, most of them Saudi. Al-Arabiya said Assiri is 23 and has a 27-year-old brother Ibrahim who is also on the wanted list.

Yemen's foreign minister, Abu-Bakr al-Qirbi, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the attacker came from an area neighboring Saudi Arabia known to be an al-Qaida sanctuary.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed the bomber managed to pass through security checkpoints at both the Saudi airports in Najran, a city on the border with Yemen, and Jiddah before he arrived at Prince Mohammed's home.

The group, which formed in January when al-Qaida operations in Yemen and Saudi Arabia merged, described the attack as "the first-ever intelligence and security penetration of its kind in the Arabian Peninsula." It was the first known attack by the newly merged group inside Saudi Arabia.

A crackdown on al-Qaida's Saudi branch forced it to move most of its operations to Yemen, where poverty, instability and widespread lawlessness have enabled it to take root. Saudi officials have expressed concern that al-Qaida could use Yemen as a sanctuary to launch cross-border attacks.

The attack was the first attempt against a member of the royal family in decades and was also the first significant attack by militants in the kingdom since 2006. Saudi Arabia has waged a fierce crackdown on al-Qaida militants in the country. It has killed or captured most of their leaders after a string of attacks that started in 2003.

Before Thursday's bombing, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula made several unsuccessful attempts to strike inside the kingdom.

Murtadeen slaughtered in martyrdom op.

2009-08-30T09:13:00.002-04:00

'Suicide attack in Pak kills 14 trainee policemen'.

by AFP - August 30th, 2009.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – A suicide attack in the main town in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley Sunday killed 14 police cadets, officials said, after the army claimed the area had been cleared of Taliban.

"The policemen were being given training in Mingora town when a suicide bomber entered the ground and blew himself up near the recruits, killing 14 of them," Swat police chief Qazi Ghulam Farooq told AFP.

Farooq blamed Taliban militants, saying that the bomber was a young boy. "None other than the Taliban are involved in the attack," he added.

Another local senior police official, Mohammad Idrees, said that a curfew had been imposed in Mingora, adding troops and police were patrolling the town and people quickly shut their businesses in fear of more bombings.

It was the first major attack in Mingora since the military claimed last month to have cleared the valley of Taliban militants, paving the way for residents who had fled the area to avoid the fighting to begin returning home.

Pakistan in April launched a punishing military offensive against the Taliban in the northwest, targeting the rebels in the districts of Swat, Buner and Lower Dir after the militants advanced closer to the capital Islamabad.

The military push forced 1.9 million civilians from their homes, most seeking refuge with relatives and the rest packing into refugee camps, creating a humanitarian crisis for impoverished Pakistan.

Last month, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced that the military had "eliminated" extremists in the northwest and according to government and UN statistics, 1.6 million displaced people have returned home.

Gilani's government has announced steps to reconstruct property destroyed during the military operation and action to alleviate poverty in the area under a comprehensive package.

Swat slipped out of government control after radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah mounted a violent campaign in which his followers beheaded opponents, burnt schools and fought against government troops to enforce sharia law.

Pakistan says more than 1,930 militants and over 170 security personnel have been killed in the government offensive, but the death tolls are impossible to verify independently.

The military has now turned its attention to the lawless nearby tribal belt, the heartland of Pakistan's umbrella organisation Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda.

But skirmishes continue in Swat and Buner, raising fears that the Taliban are regrouping in the mountains, a tactic militants have adopted after government action in the past.

Pakistani authorities have also advocated the establishment of local militia in the northwest to try and keep the Taliban at bay, amid reports that the Islamist fighters have simply melted into the mountains.

Fazlullah meanwhile remains at large.

Separately, the military said on Sunday in a statement that it continued search and clearance operations in Swat and Malakand and had arrested 40 suspected militants.

Source

May Allah give victory to the vanguard of Islam, the mujahideen.

2009-08-30T08:56:00.002-04:00

Taliban's growth in Afghanistan's north threatens to expand war.
By Jonathan S. Landay - August 28th, 2009.

BAGHLAN-I-JADID, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents have taken over parts of two northern provinces from which they were driven in 2001, threatening to disrupt NATO's new supply route from Central Asia and expand a war that's largely been confined to Afghanistan's southern half, U.S. and Afghan officials said.

Insurgents operating out of Baghlan district along the highway from Tajikistan launched coordinated attacks during the Aug. 20 presidential elections, killing the district police chief and a civilian, while losing a dozen of their own men, local officials said. It was the worst bloodshed reported in the country that day.

The violence has been on the rise in recent months, however, as the Taliban and al Qaida-linked foreign fighters have staged hit-and-run attacks, bombings and rocket strikes on German, Belgian and Hungarian forces in Baghlan and neighboring Kunduz provinces.

The insurgents now control three Pashtun-dominated districts in Kunduz and Baghlan-i-Jadid, a foothold in a region that was long considered safe. With a force estimated at 300 to 600 hard-core fighters, they operate checkpoints at night on the highway to the north, now a major supply route, local officials said, and are extorting money, food and lodging from villagers.

"The Taliban want to show the world that not only can they make chaos in southern Afghanistan, but in every part of Afghanistan," Baghlan Governor Mohammad Akbar Barekzai said. "This is a big problem. We don't have sufficient forces here."

For U.S. commanders, whose stretched forces have been unable to pacify the south and are taking record casualties, it's another looming problem.

"What can we do to mitigate the risk? It's a question of means," said a senior U.S. defense official, who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly. "Clearly, the main effort is in the south. But we can't allow other areas of the country to be destabilized."

The official said he's begun discouraging Western aid workers from visiting projects in those areas.

The growing Taliban presence also threatens to aggravate long-standing tensions into violence between the region's Pashtuns — the ethnic group that dominates the Taliban — and Tajiks.

Many Pashtuns, descendents of settlers from southern Afghanistan awarded lands in the north in the early 20th century, supported the Taliban's rule of the 1990s, while many Tajiks fought against the religious militia.

Another potential danger is that al Qaida-linked foreign extremists could use Taliban sanctuaries in the north to stir up trouble in the adjacent former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, whose authoritarian rulers have brutalized their Muslim populations.

"Al Qaida wants to have a base there," said retired Afghan Gen. Hillaluddin Hillal, a parliamentarian from Baghlan. "Al Qaida's support is behind them (the Taliban). Al Qaida has an interest in Central Asia."

A senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed that Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks and Pakistanis affiliated with al Qaida have been making their way into Baghlan and Kunduz from Pakistan's tribal areas.

The new NATO supply link, established after Pakistani insurgents began attacking the main logistics route from the Pakistani port of Karachi, consists of two roads, one from Uzbekistan and one from Tajikistan. After merging in Baghan Province outside the city of Pul-i-Khumri, the highway runs south through the towering Hindu Kush mountains to the main U.S. base at Bagram and to Kabul.

"The concern is if we don't stunt the (Taliban) growth, it could cause problems with our northern distribution network," said the senior intelligence official, who asked not to be further identified because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly. "A couple of years ago, (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar said 'We need to open up new fronts in the north and cause a dissipation of (U.S.) resources.' To a degree, it's working."

Northern Afghanistan's nine provinces, dominated by ethnic minorities who opposed the Taliban, have mostly been peaceful since local forces aided by U.S. support ousted the militia in late 2001. About 5,700 German-led international troops have been overseeing major aid and reconstruction efforts from their headquarters in Kunduz.

The Taliban infiltration into Kunduz and Baghlan began 18 months ago with the return from Pakistan of insurgent leaders who ran the provinces during the Taliban rule of Afghanistan, U.S. and Afghan officials said. The establishment of the new NATO supply route may be a factor that drew Taliban from the south.

The Taliban are blamed for the killings of local officials and for one recent unsuccessful attack on former President Burhanuddin Rabbani in Kunduz, and another on a minor presidential candidate, Abdul Salam, a former Taliban commander known as "Mullah Rocketi," in Baghlan-i-Jadid.

The Taliban "have become stronger in the last five to six months," said Gul Agha, who heads Baghlan-i-Jadid's criminal investigation department. "Before, they moved in very small groups. Now they are moving in groups of 30 to 40 and they have a leader of each group. They have a (shadow) governor, district leaders and recruiters."

The senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed that the Taliban have set up "shadow governments," a tactic they've used to exercise control elsewhere in Afghanistan by punishing crimes and settling feuds that usually linger in corrupt, incompetent government institutions and courts.

Agha said that the insurgents "have influence" in all of Baghlan-i-Jadid's 268 villages, nestled amidst lush groves and rice paddies fed by the Southern Salang River, and that the local administration's authority doesn't extend beyond the district center of the same name.

The district shares its northern border with Chahar Dara, which Afghan officials identified as one of the three Kunduz Province districts controlled by the insurgents.

"There is only one mountain between us," said Amir Gul Baghlani, the Baghlan-i-Jadid district chief. "When they are under pressure over there, they come to this side. When they are under pressure here, they cross to the other side. We don't have enough security."

The district has only 90 police officers and has been recruiting and arming tribal militias in an effort to fill the gap, local officials said.

However, several residents charged that the militias, known as arbakai, have become part of the problem.

"These arbakai take food from villagers by force and taxes by force. My relatives went several times to complain to the authorities. When the arbakai found out, they beat my relatives. So they joined the Taliban to keep their prestige and honor," said Mohammad Ghulam, deputy director of the district's agricultural high school. "Now they are fighting the government."

Several U.S. military officials said Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the recently installed U.S. commander in Afghanistan, hopes to stem the problem by deploying additional Afghan troops accompanied by U.S. military trainers, an idea that appealed to local officials who fear an influx of American soldiers would fuel violence and bloodshed.

Barekzai, the Baghlan governor, said that he only has about 1,400 police officers and 500 Afghan troops to call on. About 200 Hungarian forces deployed to secure aid projects in are barred from conducting offensive operations.

It isn't too late, however, to neutralize the Taliban presence, but time is running out, he continued.

"Give me resources and more police. The Taliban are like microbes. We need to use a strong antibiotic," he said. "If we don't do it now, then later on, say in six months, it will require more forces, more resources and more weapons and we will probably have more casualties."

The U.S. Torture Team.

2009-08-28T08:05:00.003-04:00

LINK

ISNA, the house slave, eager to please its master.

2009-08-26T20:42:00.002-04:00

ISNA Mourns the Death of Senator Edward Kennedy.

(Plainfield, IN – August 26, 2009)The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) conveys its deepest condolences to the family of Senator Edward Kennedy who passed away on the evening of August 25, 2009. “To God we belong and to Him we return (Qur’an 2:156).”

Senator Kennedy’s life is a testament to the possibility that dedicated public service can make a profound and positive impact on the people’s lives. Senator Kennedy worked long hours to support, and often lead, the development of legislation to support the rights of workers, immigrants, the disabled, and other marginalized and historically oppressed people. Senator Kennedy was a relentless advocate for health care reform, first leading the successful development of S-CHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and continuing until the end of his life to advocate for health care for all Americans.

At the beginning of his Senate career Senator Kennedy denounced the war in Vietnam and forty years later, in 2002, voted against authorizing the war in Iraq. A strong advocate for peace and reconciliation in Ireland, a critic of South African apartheid and Chilean dictatorship, Senator Kennedy often set a high moral standard for US foreign policy.

According to the New York Times, after the tragic assassination of his brother Robert, Senator Kennedy said, “My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.” We believe these words to apply to our brother in humanity, Edward Kennedy.

Contact:
Louay Safi
Director of Communications and Leadership Development
louay@isna.net
(317) 838-8130

*****************************************************************

“Oh ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily God guideth not a people unjust"(Al-Ma'idah, 54)

Taliban deny role in southern Afghan attack

2009-08-26T08:05:00.000-04:00

Taliban deny role in southern Afghan attack.

By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer Noor Khan, Associated Press Writer – Wed Aug 26, 2009.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A Taliban spokesman denied any responsibility Wednesday for a major bombing that killed dozens of people in southern Afghanistan's largest city, saying the militant group condemns the attack.

The explosion ripped through a central area of Kandahar city just after nightfall, killing at least 43 people and wounding 65, according to the Interior Ministry. It flattened buildings and sent flames shooting into the sky on the same day that the first preliminary results were released from last week's landmark presidential vote.

Rescue workers were still pulling out injured people on Wednesday.

"There are some people still trapped in the buildings and we are trying to get them out," Mohammad Darwish, one of the rescue workers.

The thundering blast occurred in a district that includes U.N. facilities and an Afghan intelligence office.

Kandahar is the spiritual home of the Taliban and the city was hit by rockets on the morning of election day as Taliban militants made good on threats to try to disrupt last Thursday's polling with violence.

However, the group said it had no involvement in the most recent attack.

"We are denying responsibility, and condemn this attack in which innocent civilians were killed," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi wrote in a text message sent to an Associated Press reporter.

Source

The rejuvenation of jihad in Iraq...

2009-08-25T08:36:00.003-04:00

Iraq's al-Qaida claims Baghdad government bombings
By MAAMOUN YOUSEF, August 25, 2009

CAIRO – Al-Qaida's umbrella group in Iraq on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the bombings of government ministries in Baghdad last week that killed more than 100 people and left hundreds wounded.

The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a statement posted on the Internet that "with God's grace," their "sons launched a new blessed attack at the heart of wounded Baghdad."

The attack, it said, meant to "wreck the bastions of infidelity" of what it describes as the pro-Iranian government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The statement listed targets al-Qaida claimed to have hit, including the finance, foreign and defense ministries in central Baghdad. The statement, posted on a Web site commonly used by terror groups, could not be independently verified.

The wave of explosions that ripped through Baghdad last Wednesday — with nearly simultaneous truck bombs hitting Iraq's Foreign and Finance ministries — killed at least 101 people and left more than 400 wounded. It was the deadliest day of coordinated bombings since Feb. 1, 2008, when two suicide bombers killed 109 people at pet markets in Baghdad.

The U.S. military said the attacks bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, which is known for its high-profile vehicle bombs and simultaneous suicide attacks.

The al-Qaida front's statement said it sought to kill Iraqi government officials.

It said the explosions "shook the earth under their feet and tore apart their hearts of fear and horror proving to everyone the weakness of their government."

But it also expressed regret "for those innocent people who were killed" because they were accidentally at the targeted sites and wished the wounded speedy recovery. It warned of more attacks, and urged people to "keep away from these places" of the "heretic" Iraqi establishment.

Al-Maliki blamed Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaida in Iraq, a group that is part of the Islamic State in Iraq, for the attacks and said security measures must be reassessed.

The prime ministers and other Shiite politicians also linked Saddam Hussein loyalists to the explosions. Such allegations are not new, and hard-line Shiite politicians have been increasingly mentioning the Baathists as partners with al-Qaida.

However, a branch of Saddam's former Baath party, now based in Syria, issued a statement denouncing the attacks.

Al-Qaida signature attacks until now have mostly seemed designed to fuel sectarian tensions and push the country back to the Sunni-Shiite violence of 2006 and 2007 that nearly led to civil war.

Wednesday's bombings differed because they hit symbols of state authority and appeared aimed at having a far-reaching political impact, further undermining the government and casting fresh doubt on the ability of Iraqi security forces following the departure of U.S. forces from major cities on June 30.

Source

Another warrior of Islam rises to protect the oppressed & innocent.

2009-08-24T20:05:00.004-04:00

Hakeemullah Mehsud new chief: Faqir
Saturday, 22 Aug, 2009

KHAR: Militant commander Faqir Mohammad, who had proclaimed himself as successor to slain Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud only a couple of days ago, announced on Saturday that the much younger Hakeemullah Mehsud was the new leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

Faqir’s statement to the media, however, compounded the confusion over Baitullah Mehsud’s successor amid reports of infighting within militant groups over leadership and TTP’s vast assets, including cash and weaponry.

‘I am stepping down as leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban in the larger interest of the movement,’ Faqir Mohammad, the TTP leader from Bajaur and Baitullah’s deputy, told reporters on phone from an undisclosed location.

‘There were a few problems on certain issues last week, but they have been resolved now,’ he acknowledged.’I am the most senior leader of the TTP after Baitullah and the sacrifices I rendered for it are no less. However, due to some unavoidable reasons, I am stepping down. There is no factionalism within the TTP now.’

Faqir Mohammad claimed that a 42-member shura of the Taliban met in Orakzai tribal region and it unanimously endorsed Hakeemullah as new leader of the Taliban in Pakistan.

The shura appointed Azam Tariq the new spokesman for the TTP to replace Maulvi Omar, who was arrested by security forces in Mohmand a few days ago.

Hakeemullah, who once served as a driver of the slain TTP leader, was considered very close to Baitullah Mehsud.
But intelligence services continue to believe that Hakeemullah was killed in a shootout following a brawl with another contender for the top slot at a meeting soon after Baitullah’s death.

‘He is dead and there is no question about it,’ a senior security official said.

However, the government has not been able to produce convincing evidence of the death of either Baitullah Mehsud or his heir-apparent Hakeemullah Mehsud.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters that the government was close to obtaining evidence to prove Baitullah was dead.

Faqir Mohammad, however, insisted the TTP leader was alive but had gone into seclusion due to health reasons.

Security officials believe that Faqir’s announcement about the new TTP chief indicated that the infighting over succession was not over. ‘The announcement is just a ruse to gain time to allow the TTP to regain control of the leadership,’ an official said.

Source

Ramadhan kareem to the Muslims.

2009-08-22T08:38:00.003-04:00

May Allah accept our sincere fasts, forgive our past sins & guide us to the best of this life & the next.

Judging by what is apparent...

2009-08-19T20:45:00.003-04:00

Muhammad Bin Ishaq reported that Abdullah bin Abbas said that before the battle of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said,

“I have come to know that some people form Bani Hasim and others were forced to
accompany the pagans, although they had no desire to fight us. Therefore, whoever
meets any of them, do not kill him. Whoever meets Al-Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib,
let him not kill him, for he was forced to come (with the pagan army)”

Abu Hudhayfah bin Utbah said, “Shall we kill our father, children, brothers and tribesmen (from
Quraysh), and leave Al-Abbas? By Allah, If I meet him, I will kill him with the sword”.

When this reached the Messenger of Allah (SAWS), he said to Umar bin Al-Khattab,
“O Abu Hafs” and Umar said, “By Allah that was the first time that the Messenger of Allah(SAWS) had called me Abu Hafs”.

“Will the face of the Messenger of Allah's uncle be struck with the sword?”

Umar said, “O Allah's Messenger! Give me the permission to cut off the neck (meaning Abu Hudhayfah) for he has fallen into hypocrisy, by Allah”.

Ever since that Abu Hudhayfah used to say, “By Allah! I do not feel safe from the statement coming back to haunt me, and I will continue to fear its repercussions, unless Allah, the Exalted, forgives me for it through martrydom.” Abu Hudhayfah was martyred during the battle of Al-Yamamah, may Allah be pleased with him.*

Ibn Abbas said, “On the eve after Badr, the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) spent the first part of the night awake, while the prisoners were bound. His companions said to him, 'O Allah's Messenger, why do you not sleep?' Al-Abbas had been captured by a man from Al-Ansar, and the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) said to them,

“I heard cries of pain from my uncle Al-Abbas, because of his shackles, so untie him”

When his uncle stopped crying from the pain, Allah's Messenger (SAWS) went to sleep”.**

In his Sahih, Al-Bukhari recorded a hadith from Musa bin Uqnah who said that Ibn Shihab said that Anas Bin Malik said that some men from Al-Ansar said to the Messenger of Allah (SAWS), “O Allah's Messenger! Give us permission and we will set free our maternal cousin Al-Abbas without taking ransom from him.” He replied,

“No, by Allah! Do not leave any Dirham of it.”***

And from Yunus bikkir, from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Yazid bin Ruwman, from Urwah, from Az-Zubri that several people said to him, “The Quraysh send to the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) concerning ransoming their prisoners. And each tribe paid what was required for their prisoners. Al-Abbas said, 'O Messenger of Allah! I became a Muslim before.' The Messenger of Allah said,

“Allah knows if you are Muslim, If what you are claiming is true, then Allah will
compensate you. As for your outward appearance, it was against us. Therefore, ransom yourself, as well as, your nephews Nawfal bin Al-Harith bin Abdul Muttalib and Aqil bin Abu Talib bin Abdul Muttalib, and also your ally Utbah bin Amr, from Bani Al-harith bin Fihr.”

Al-Abbas said, 'I do not have that (money) O Allah's Messenger!', The Messenger (SAWS) said,

“What about the wealth that you and Umm Al-Fadl buried, and you said to her,
'If I am killed in this battle, then this money that I buried is for my children Al-Fadl,
Abdullah and Quthm'?”

Al-Abbas said, “By Allah, O Allah's Messenger! I know that you are Allah's Messenger, for this is a thing that none except Umm Al-Fadl and I knew. However, O Allah's Messenger! Could you count towards my ransom the twenty Uwqiyah (pertaining to weight) that you took from me (in the battle) ?”

The Messenger of Allah said, “No, for that was the money that Allah made as war spoils for us
from you”.

So Al-Abbas ransomed himself, his two nephews and and ally.

*At-Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'ad 4:10. This Hadith is not authentic.
**At-Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'ad 4:13. There are two chains for this Hadith, one is unauthentic, the other is authentic, but there is no mentions of a companion in it, so it is Mursal.
***Fath Al-Bari 7:373.

Maulvi Faqeer acting Tehrik-i-Taliban chief: report

2009-08-19T20:43:00.003-04:00

Wednesday, 19 Aug, 2009

PESHAWAR: Taliban commander Maulvi Faqeer Mohammad from Bajaur has claimed taking up the position of Baitullah Mehsud temporarily, the BBC reported. He has also announced the appointment of Muslim Khan as the Tehrik-i-Taliban’s chief spokesperson.

Maulvi Faqeer spoke to the BBC over the telephone from an undisclosed location. He strongly denied reports regarding the death of Baitullah Mehsud.

He said Baitullah Mehsud has not died, adding that Baitullah is ill and for that reason he is underground. However, Maulvi Faqeer said ‘even if Baitullah Mehsud is martyred, it will not affect the Taliban movement’.

Regarding continuous questions over Baitullah’s death, he said there is no conclusive evidence that can prove his death. He said it was because of Baitullah’s illness that he had been made the acting chief of the group and after Maulvi Omar’s arrest, Muslim Khan is now the group’s chief spokesperson.

He said there has been no congregation regarding the election of a new chief and reports to that effect have no truth in them.

Responding to a question, he said ‘Maulvi Waliur Rehman or Hakimullah Mehsud have no authority to appoint a new chief without consulting the Taliban in various areas and neither can the Waziristan Taliban make such decisions.’

‘The congregation of Taliban leaders has 32 members and no important decision can be taken without their consultation,’ Maulvi Faqeer was quoted by the BBC as saying.

He said although the Waziristan Taliban ‘have given a lot to the movement and Waliur Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud are capable of carrying out leadership responsibilities, however, a decision like this will only be taken through consultation and consensus.’

He said Maulvi Omar has resigned from his position of chief spokesperson before his arrest. He had resigned because due to the deteriorating telecommunication facilities it was difficult to get in touch with the media.

Maulvi Faqeer said he would also talk to the Taliban leaders for changing the group’s name fromTehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan to Tehrik-i-Ittehad Taliban as according to him the whole world had its eyes on the movement.

Separately, the Tehrik-i-Taliban has alleged that the authorities have forced Maulvi Omar to say that Baitullah Mehsud died during a US drone strike.

The Taliban commander in Mohmand agency, Omar Khalid, told BBC that Maulvi Omar was forced into saying that Baitullah had died. Therefore, Maulvi Omar’s so-called admission has no meaning, he said.

Omar Khalid reiterated Maulvi Faqeer’s stance that Baitullah Mehsud is alive.

Four troops killed in martyrdom op.

2009-08-19T20:40:00.002-04:00

By Pazir Gul Wednesday, 19 Aug, 2009

MIRAMSHAH: A militant on suicide mission rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into a checkpost on the Bannu-Miramshah road in North Waziristan on Tuesday evening, killing four security personnel and wounding eight others.

The bomber struck the Esha checkpost located not far from Miramshah. It was manned by army and paramilitary personnel. An official said an army soldier and three paramilitary personnel were killed.

Regular troops were deployed at checkposts in the area after militants intensified attacks on security forces. No group claimed responsibility for the attack till late in the evening.

Source

The befitting end to those who sell their religion for miserable worldly benefits.

2009-08-19T20:28:00.006-04:00

Taliban killed four tribesmen for ‘spying’
By Abdul Sami Paracha, Wednesday, 19 Aug, 2009 |

KOHAT: Four tribesmen were killed by militants of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Upper Orakzai on Tuesday for ‘spying’ for security agencies.

Sources told Dawn that the bodies of the tribesmen were found in the agency’s Anjani area with a note warning that any person cooperating with the government against the TTP would meet the same fate.

In another incident, the Haidri Taliban claimed to have killed a man whose body was found in Lakhti Banda in Hangu district. The man was accused of running a brothel.

According to police, a note found with the body of Arbab Ali of Ganjiano Kalay threatened members of his family that if they did not stop the un-Islamic business they would also be killed.

Meanwhile, two tribesmen were killed and four others injured in a clash in Storikhel between associates of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the Taliban commander for Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber agencies, and tribesmen.

Sources said the tribesmen had started confronting the Taliban after hearing about the death of Baitullah Mehsud.

Tribal elders have complained that the government is not helping them with arms and ammunition to fight the militants who are heavily armed and have huge resources.

It may be mentioned that tribesmen had formed militias to take on TTP men but suspended their activities after a suicide attack on a jirga last year in which 136 elders were killed and 50 injured.

In another development, tribesmen blew up the under-construction headquarters of Hakeemullah Mehsud after a clash with militants in Anjani area of Orakzai.

Official sources said that two militants, one from South Waziristan and the other from Swat, were killed. The tribesmen captured a militant who had been injured.

Source

Russia reaps what it has sown in oppression in Chechnya

2009-08-17T08:41:00.003-04:00

Suicide truck bomb kills at least 20 in Russia

By SHAMSUDIN BOKOV, August 17, 2009

NAZRAN, Russia – A suicide bomber attacked a police station in Russia's North Caucasus with an explosives-laden truck Monday, killing at least 20 people and wounding at least 60 others, officials said.

The bombing was the deadliest in years in the restive southern region, denting Kremlin claims that the area was stabilizing after two wars in Chechnya and mounting violence in surrounding provinces since 1994. While most fighting in Chechnya has ended, Islamic militants continue to mount regular hit-and-run attacks and skirmishes in neighboring provinces.

The attacker on Monday rammed the truck through the gates of the Nazran city police headquarters, in Ingushetia province, and detonated about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosives as police officers were lining up for a morning check, said Svetlana Gorbakova of the regional branch of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General's office.

Police had fired shots at the truck, but failed to stop it. The blast triggered a raging fire that destroyed a weapons room where ammunition detonated.

It took rescue teams several hours to search for victims in the ruins. A nearby apartment building and several office buildings were also damaged, and burned-out cars littered the street. The attacker and the truck were pulverized by the blast, Gorbakova said.

At least 20 people were killed and 60 wounded, she said, though official figures on the number of wounded varied. Ruslan Koloyev, the acting head of the Emergency Ministry's branch in Ingushetia, said on Rossiya television that 92 people were injured.

Russia's Emergency Ministry sent a special plane to bring some of the wounded to Moscow for treatment.

An Associated Press reporter saw 11 badly burned bodies at a morgue in Nazran, the largest city in Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya to the west.

Local authorities announced a three-day mourning.

Ingushetia's Kremlin-appointed president, badly wounded in another suicide bombing in June, said Monday's attack had been organized by militants trying to avenge recent security sweeps in the forests along the mountainous border with Chechnya.

"It was an attempt to destabilize the situation and sow panic," Yunus-Bek Yevkurov said in a statement issued through his spokesman.

He blamed Chechen separatist warlord Doku Umarov for the June attack on his convoy, saying the perpetrators had been be tracked down, according to an interview with Russian News Service radio. He vowed to hunt down Umarov and other rebel warlords.

He also accused the United States, Britain and Israel of fomenting instability in the North Caucasus, saying "the West will try to prevent Russia from restoring its Soviet-era might." He did not elaborating.

Rights groups said arbitrary arrests, torture and killings by security forces had helped swell the ranks of rebels in Ingushetia under Yevkurov's predecessor, Murat Zyazikov.

Yevkurov, a former officer of the Russian GRU military intelligence service, has promised to end abuses and sought to negotiate pardons for some rebels who would agree to put down their weapons.

Source

Baitullah Mehsud has been martyred, Jihad continues vigorously...

2009-08-17T08:09:00.003-04:00

Military convoy attacked in N Waziristan; soldier dies

By Pazir Gul Sunday, 16 Aug, 2009

MIRAMSHAH: One soldier was killed and two others were injured when militants attacked a military convoy in Derga Mandi area in the restive North Waziristan tribal region on Saturday.

According to sources, the convoy was on its way to Miramshah from the border town of Ghulam Khan. They said the assailants used machine guns and rockets in the attack.

Soon afterwards the security forces launched a counter-attack and targeted nearby houses.

Residents said four people, including two children, received bullet injuries.

Muhammad Irfan Mughal adds from Tank
Supporters of Baitullah Mehsud and those of Turkistan Bhittani clashed in the Gomal Bazaar area on Saturday, leaving four people dead.

According to local people, Baitullah’s supporters attacked the office of pro-government militant commander Turkistan Bhittani, killing one man and wounding two others.

The Bhittani group killed three attackers. The group also claimed seizing four wounded assailants. However, the claim could not be confirmed.

Baitullah’s supporters had attacked their rival’s offices in the area a few days ago and kidnapped several people.

Meanwhile, four unidentified bodies were found in the Kariwam area of Frontier Region of Jandola on Saturday, local officials said.

Source

Suicide bomber in Pakistan's Swat kills 3 troops

2009-08-15T08:51:00.002-04:00

By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer Munir Ahmad, Associated Press Writer – Sat Aug 15, 4:55 am ET

ISLAMABAD – A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security checkpoint in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley on Saturday, killing at least three soldiers, police said.

It was the first suicide attack in Swat since July, when the government said a military offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in the valley and surrounding areas had largely been successful.

Several soldiers manning the checkpoint were wounded in the attack in the town of Khawaza Khela, said senior police official Idrees Khan. He gave no further details and said officers were investigating.

The military has been winding down its three-month offensive in Swat, although the army said it still faces pockets of Taliban resistance in the surrounding area. Hundreds of thousands of the roughly 2 million people who fled the area during the fighting have been returning home amid tight security.

Pakistan has said troops will remain in Swat until the fighters of notorious Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah — whose thousands of followers are blamed for the violence — are eliminated. Although the military says it has killed or captured a number of Fazlullah's commanders, he himself has evaded capture.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani army officer and two intelligence officials said Saturday that a clash between Pakistani and Afghan border guards killed a Pakistani soldier and wounded 12 others.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said the clash took place near the border town of Angore Adda in the South Waziristan tribal region after mortars fired from Afghanistan struck a Pakistani post Friday. They said Pakistani forces returned fire, and the shootout continued for two hours.

But Afghanistan's border police command said there was no clash, although there had been an operation carried out 12 miles (20 kilometers) inside Afghanistan in Khost province that borders Waziristan.

Skirmishes between Pakistani and Afghan forces along the border have occurred in the past, although none have been reported in recent months.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror and it has deployed more than 100,000 troops near Afghanistan in an effort to flush out Taliban and al-Qaida operatives who are believed to be hiding there.

Separately, two other security officials said Pakistani fighter jets targeted a suspected militant hide-out in South Waziristan on Saturday, killing at least five insurgents. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Also Saturday, gunmen attacked a truck terminal in the southwestern town of Yaro, burning three trucks carrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, said local police chief Zia Mandokhel.

___

Source

Hamas, doing the bidding of its kafir masters...

2009-08-15T08:42:00.002-04:00

Hamas: Leader of al-Qaida-inspired group killed

By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer, August 15th, 2009.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip – The leader of an al-Qaida-inspired group in the Gaza Strip blew himself up during a shootout Saturday with security forces that killed 24 people. The jihadis have posed one of the biggest challenges to Hamas since the militant group seized power in Gaza two years ago.

The fighting erupted Friday when Hamas security men surrounded a mosque in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on the Egypt border where about 100 members of Jund Ansar Allah, or the Soldiers of the Companions of God, were holed up.

Flares lit up the sky overnight as Hamas machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades slammed into the mosque. The militants inside the structure returned fire with automatic weapons and grenades of their own.

The head of the radical Islamic group, Abdel-Latif Moussa, was killed when fighting resumed after dawn Saturday, Ihab Ghussein, a Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman, told The Associated Press.

He said Moussa detonated an explosives vest he was wearing during the fighting.

"The so-called Moussa has committed suicide ... killing a mediator who had been sent to him to persuade him and his followers to hand themselves over to the government," Ghussein said.

He said the fighting ended later in the morning.

Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said a total of 24 people, including six Hamas police officers and an 11-year-old girl, were killed in the violence that also wounded 150.

The group's Web site vowed vengeance, meanwhile, saying "we swear to God to avenge the martyrs' blood and we will turn their women to widows."

Hamas also confirmed the death in the fighting of one of its high level commanders, Abu Jibril Shimali, whom Israel said orchestrated the capture three years ago of Sgt. Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier who is still being held by Hamas.

The fighting appeared to confirm Hamas' iron rule in Gaza despite a punishing Israeli and Egyptian-led blockade that keeps all but basic humanitarian supplies from entering the impoverished seaside territory.

It also underscored the group's determination not to allow opponents with differing ideologies to gain a foothold in Gaza. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are together supposed to make up a future Palestinian state, but Hamas' bloody seizure of Gaza in 2007 created rival governments in the two territories — located on opposite sides of Israel — that are complicating Palestinian efforts to gain independence.

Jund Ansar Allah claims inspiration from al-Qaida's ultraconservative brand of Islam but no direct links have been confirmed.

The confrontation was triggered when the leader of the group defied Gaza's Hamas rulers by declaring in a Friday prayer sermon that the territory was an Islamic emirate.

Jund Ansar Allah and a number of other small, shadowy radical groups seek to enforce an even stricter version of Islamic law in Gaza than that advocated by Hamas.

These groups are also upset that the Hamas regime has honored a cease-fire with Israel for the past seven months.

Hamas says it does not impose its religious views on others, but only seeks to set a pious example for people to follow.

Radical splinter groups such as Jund Ansar Allah call for a global jihad against the entire Western world while Hamas maintains its struggle is only against the Israeli occupation.

"They are inspired by unbalanced ideologies and in the past they carried out a number of explosions targeting Internet cafes and wedding parties," said Ghussein, adding that the groups do not have any external ties.

The hard-line groups are perhaps the most serious opposition Hamas has faced since it seized control of Gaza and ousted its rivals in the Fatah movement in a five-day, bloody civil war in June 2007.

Hamas security blocked all roads to Rafah and declared the town a closed military zone. They said they have arrested about 40 members of the group so far.

Hamas is also investigating the launching of 11 homemade rockets from Gaza into Egypt on Friday. Only five of the rockets detonated, injuring a young girl, said Egyptian security forces.

Saeb Erekat, a senior peace negotiator with Israel and a member of the rival Fatah group in the West Bank, described the situation in Gaza as "alarming."

"Gaza is going down the drain in chaos and lawlessness," he told the AP.

Jund Ansar Allah first came to public attention in June after it claimed responsibility for a failed attempt to attack Israel from Gaza on horseback.

In July, three Muslim extremists from the group holed themselves up in a building in southern Gaza, surrendering to Hamas police only after a lengthy standoff.

It is unclear how many adherents Jund Ansar Allah or other similar extremist groups have in Gaza.

Source

The next generation to lead Islam has been trained & is ready.

2009-08-12T22:27:00.002-04:00

Would-be suicide bombers speak of militant training
Thursday, 06 Aug, 2009

KHWAZAKHELA: The scars may take years to heal for Hamad Ahmad, one of many Pakistani boys purportedly brainwashed by the Taliban and determined to enact maximum carnage as a suicide bomber.

His mind trained on violence and his heart full of God, Ahmad says he wants to carry a pistol and strap explosives to his body in the name of Islamic law – not hold books and wear school uniform.

‘I am ready to carry out a suicide attack against any target with approval of my ameer (chief),’ said 15-year-old Hamad, who claimed he received 40 days of training from the Taliban after being snatched last year.

Hamad, who talked to AFP by telephone from Qambar village in Swat, is now among a group of teenagers being treated by military psychiatrists in the wake of the latest air and ground assault against the Taliban in the valley.

Hamad’s father, Furqan Ahmad, found his son receiving militant training in the northern Swat town of Charbagh last February, two months after he mysteriously disappeared and before the latest military offensive began.

‘My son disappeared in December after I thrashed him for carrying a pistol,’ said Furqan, a bank employee. ‘I was able to get him back with the help of a Taliban commander, who was known to me.’

‘The Taliban completely brainwashed my son, who was studying in ninth grade. He is now even more violent and doesn’t let his mother and sisters watch TV, calling it un-Islamic,’ Furqan said.

Radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah led thousands of ideologues and disenfranchised young men in a brutal uprising across Swat to enforce sharia law, beheading opponents, burning schools and fighting government forces.

Commanders say more than 1,800 militants and 166 soldiers were killed in the latest blistering military assault designed to dislodge the Taliban from Swat, but Hamad refuses to stare defeat in the face, saying God is on their side.

‘Any one who stops or becomes an impediment to implementing sharia needs to be dealt with sternly by any means, including suicide attacks,’ he said.

‘They are fully protected by Allah the almighty,’ he said. Following in their foot prints is a ‘ticket to heaven’, he added.

Seemingly never-ending tales of terror abound in Swat, where the military has fought against Taliban foot soldiers since Fazlullah rose up two years ago and where parents speak of being forced to surrender young boys.

Heavy death tolls released by the military from the summer offensive are impossible to confirm. None of the most-wanted Taliban leadership in Swat have been killed or captured. The military have slammed the training of children.

‘We have contacts with about 100 children who are living with their parents. They visit us routinely and a psychiatrist sees them regularly,’ said military spokesman Major Nasir Ali Khan in Khwazakhela, a town in northern Swat.

But the precise numbers are unclear. Top military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas confirmed recently 11 boys trained as suicide bombers were taken into custody. Other officials charged that hundreds of boys were recruited.

No Taliban spokesmen or commanders were reachable for comment.

Boys told military officials that a foreigner, probably an Uzbek, used to impart training to them for suicide attacks.

Khan said the Taliban training came in three parts. For two weeks boys were taught to provide tip offs about security force manoeuvres. Then came a 40-day militant training and lastly, training in the art of becoming a suicide bomber.

In Khwazakhela, the military took reporters into a dimly lit room, once used as science laboratory, to speak to boys – masked to protect their identity.

‘The Taliban took me to Charbagh at gunpoint and later to Matta where they set up a training camp inside a government school,’ said one 16-year-old.

‘There were at least 30 men who used to train us in Matta,’ said the youth, a small beard already growing on his face.

‘They used to say there is a great reward in heaven for anyone slaughtering a soldier and same reward if you slaughter someone telling you it is wrong,’ added the boy, who said he escaped back to his parents.

Source

And Jihad continues against the occupiers....

2009-08-11T09:45:00.003-04:00

US, NATO deaths from Afghan bombings spike 6-fold

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer Jason Straziuso, Associated Press Writer – Tue Aug 11th, 2009.

KABUL – U.S. and NATO deaths from roadside and suicide bomb blasts in Afghanistan soared six-fold in July compared with the same month last year, as militants detonated the highest number of bombs of the eight-year war, figures released Tuesday showed.

Three U.S. Marines and a Polish soldier died in the latest attacks, setting August on course to surpass the record 75 deaths U.S. and NATO troops suffered from all causes in July.

U.S. commanders have long predicted that 2009 would be the deadliest of the war, after President Barack Obama ordered an additional 21,000 troops here to try to quell the rising Taliban insurgency. A record 62,000 U.S. troops are now in Afghanistan.

U.S., NATO and Afghan troops are working to protect voting sites around the country so Afghans can take part in the country's second-ever direct presidential election Aug. 20. Taliban militants have vowed to disrupt the elections, and attacks are on the rise around Afghanistan, where roadside bombs are now the cause of the majority of U.S. and NATO deaths.

Last month 49 coalition troops died in bomb attacks, a more than six-fold increase from the eight killed in roadside and suicide bomb attacks in July 2008, according to figures from the U.S.-based Joint IED Defeat Organization.

The number of incidents from IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, soared to 828, the highest level of the war and more than twice as many as in July 2008. Of those 828 incidents, 410 bombs were found and neutralized and 310 were ineffective. But 108 bombs were effective, triple the 36 effective attacks a year ago, an increase that suggests militants are getting better at placing and detonating bombs.

"The major challenge today for us is roadside bombs and suicide attacks," said Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for Afghanistan's Defense Ministry. Azimi said that Taliban militants have figured out that roadside bombs are an efficient and effective method of attack. "They stay safe while the other side suffers."

Though roadside bombs target U.S., NATO and Afghan troops, the blasts have killed a record number of civilians this year as well. Nine Afghans riding in a vehicle died in a bomb blast Tuesday in Kandahar province, said Daud Farhad, a doctor at Kandahar's Mirwais hospital.

"The enemy has moved to increase the use of indiscriminate IEDs against our forces as well as the Afghan people," said U.S. Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. He said IED attacks are up in part because of increased operations by NATO troops.

Afghan soldier deaths from IEDs are also up sharply, Azimi said, but had no figures. A roadside bomb in Zabul killed two Afghan soldiers Tuesday, said Lt. Gen. Sher Mohammad Zazai.

At least 14 NATO troops, including at least seven Americans, have died in bomb blasts this month.

Some 4,000 U.S. Marines who stormed into southern Helmand province last month were confronted with dozens of bombs buried in Afghanistan's dirt roads. Militants have become more sophisticated at hiding the bombs, and insurgents have begun planting several in small areas, troops say.

British troops operating in Helmand have also suffered greatly from roadside bombs. A record number of British troops — 22 — died in Afghanistan last month, including 12 from explosions, raising an outcry in Britain about a lack of helicopters and other equipment.

More than 230 coalition troops were wounded in bomb attacks last month, more than triple the 67 wounded last July, U.S. figures show. Joint Task Force Paladin, the counter-IED unit at the main U.S. base at Bagram, predicted earlier this year that IED attacks would rise 50 percent in Afghanistan in 2009.

A recent U.N. report said at least 1,013 civilians were killed in the first six months of this year from insurgents bombs, compared with 818 for the same period in 2008 — an increase of 24 percent.

Even as bomb blasts spike in Afghanistan, such attacks have dropped precipitously in Iraq.

No coalition troops died in Iraq last month from bomb attacks, only the second month that's happened since the military began keeping statistics in June 2003. March 2009 was the other month. The number of IED incidents in Iraq fell from 557 in July 2008 to 166 last month. Only nine of those incidents were classified as effective attacks.

The NATO command in Afghanistan said Tuesday that three U.S. troops died in southern Afghanistan in separate "hostile fire incidents." It did not disclose the exact location of the attacks. The first died of wounds suffered in an incident that occurred Saturday, another died Sunday and the third died Monday, a NATO statement said.

At least 27 foreign troops, including 18 Americans, have died in August, a record pace, according to an Associated Press count. July, when 75 troops died, was the deadliest month in Afghanistan for U.S. and NATO forces since the 2001 U.S. invasion. Forty-four Americans died last month.

A Polish soldier and 22 Taliban insurgents also died in the latest violence.

Polish Capt. Daniel Ambrozinski, 32, disappeared Monday after his foot patrol of about 50 Afghan and Polish troops came under fire, Poland's Defense Ministry said. His body was found early Tuesday in Ajristan, in eastern Ghazni province.

Afghan officials said clashes and airstrikes in the south of the country killed nearly two dozen Taliban fighters. Twelve insurgents died in airstrikes and clashes with Afghan and Western forces on the border of Ghazni and Zabul provinces, said Wazir Khan, a local official. The militants were killed late Monday inside a compound, Khan said.

Ten Taliban were killed in Uruzgan Monday night in a fight with Afghan and foreign troops, Zazai said.

Elsewhere in the south, British troops seized a quarter ton of opium and killed seven militants in a major air assault involving 300 troops and 18 U.S., U.K. and Australian helicopters, officials said. The troops found 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of wet opium.