A daily, open source, around the world tour of international security-related news.
By Professor Joseph B. Varner
Global War on Terror
Canadian military officials are claiming a major victory after blowing up a Taliban command headquarters from which they say insurgents engineered the planting of explosives on the region’s major highway. “The result of this operation, thus far, has been a huge blow to the enemy’s ability to plant major IEDs (improvised explosive devices) along Highway 1 in Kandahar,” Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Corbould, the Shilo-based commander of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, told reporters on Monday.
More importantly, he said, it has hurt the Taliban’s ability to plan for future operations. “It has thrown them off balance and we will continue to maintain the momentum to keep them off balance,” said Corbould. The three-day offensive, which began last Thursday, struck deep in the heart of the Zhari district, west of Kandahar, where Afghan national forces rarely venture. The first strike was by air. A massive plume that followed an aerial bombardment of the Taliban target could be seen many kilometers away. Then the ground forces moved in to finish the job. Coalition troops, members of the Afghan National Army, and the Afghan National Police converged on the command centre which Corbould described as a series of underground bunkers with some surface buildings attached. In the end, about 40 insurgents lay dead. Some military officials say the strike killed two mid-level commanders but Corbould said it will be some time before that can be confirmed. One suspected Taliban member was taken into custody. (Source: Globe and Mail-UK)
The U.N.’s anti-drug office says opium poppy production in Afghanistan was down 19 percent this year compared to 2007 due to successful campaigns in the north and east though fields in the south remain awash in the heroin-producing crop. Efforts to eradicate opium poppy fields in the south failed miserably, and the Taliban stand to earn tens of millions of dollars from the trade. Still, the U.N. and other drug officials say they’re cautiously optimistic. Last year farmers cultivated 476,903 acres; this year, they cultivated 388,000 acres. (Source: AP)
Gunmen opened fire on the top U.S. diplomat in northwestern Pakistan early Tuesday as she left for work in her armored vehicle, police and embassy officials said. No one was killed in the attack. Lynne Tracy, principal officer for the consulate in the bustling city of Peshawar, was 100 yards from her house when two men with AK-47s jumped out of their dark blue Land Cruiser and sprayed her car with dozens of rounds of ammunition. Her driver reversed the vehicle and peeled back to her home, said Arshad Khan, the local police chief and senior investigator in the case. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The brazen attack came hours after the breakup of Pakistan’s ruling coalition government, a fracture that could concentrate more power into the hands of a party that says it is committed to supporting the U.S. war on terror. (Source: AP)
A Whitehall counter-terrorism unit is targeting the BBC and other media organizations as part of a new global propaganda push designed to “taint the Al Qaeda brand”, according to a secret Home Office paper seen by the Guardian. The document also shows that Whitehall counter-terrorism experts intend to exploit new media websites and outlets with a proposal to “channel messages through volunteers in internet forums” as part of their campaign. The strategy is being conducted by the research, information and communication unit, [RICU] which was set up last year by the then home secretary, John Reid, to counter al-Qaida propaganda at home and overseas. It is staffed by officials from several government departments. The report, headed, Challenging violent extremist ideology through communications, says: “We are pushing this material to UK media channels, for example, a BBC radio program exposing tensions between Al Qaeda leadership and supporters. And a restricted working group will communicate niche messages through media and non-media.” (Source: Guardian-UK)
Iraq
A teenage Iraqi girl wearing a vest packed with explosives turned herself in rather than go through with a suicide bombing in a violence-torn city north of Baghdad, police and the U.S. military said on Monday. A U.S. military statement said the girl surrendered to police on Sunday in Baquba, capital of Iraq’s restive Diyala province, where Sunni Arab al Qaeda militants are waging war on U.S. and Iraqi forces. She was still wearing the vest, which police had to remove before detaining her. Iraqi police and U.S. sources differed on the girl’s age, with estimates ranging from 13 to 17. (Source: Washington Post)
A suicide bomber in a car laden with explosives sped toward a group of police recruits in an Iraqi provincial town on Tuesday, exploding and killing 25 people. Elsewhere in the volatile Diyala province, a roadside bomb killed five members of a family, bringing the day’s casualty toll to 30. Diyala, a stronghold of Sunni insurgents and the Al Qaeda in Iraq terror network, has been the site of much of the recent violence, with an ebb in attacks elsewhere in the country. In the Diyala town of Jalula, the assailant drove a car Tuesday toward a building where recruits for a new police emergency response unit had assembled, said Col. Ahmed Mahmoud Khalifa, the local police chief. The U.S. military said five of the dead were police, the remainder civilians. Police guard Falah Hassan, 28, who stood at the gate of the compound, said a thunderous explosion went off about 100 yards (90 meters) away. Elsewhere in Diyala, a roadside bomb struck a van carrying a Sunni family near the town of Mandali along the Iranian border. Five members of the family were killed, including two women and two children. Also Tuesday, a bomb planted in a parked car blew up in the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad. A police official initially said four people were killed. However, another police official later said he only received word of wounded, and security officials at a local hospital said they knew of 12 people injured in the blast. Tikrit is Saddam Hussein’s hometown and has been a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency since the 2003 ouster of the late Iraqi leader. But it has enjoyed relative quiet since violence levels significantly dropped over the past year in much of Iraq. (Source: Washington Post)
United States
Law enforcement authorities are investigating a possible threat against Senator Barack Obama in connection with the arrests on Sunday of three men suspected of firearms and drugs violations in the Denver suburbs. One arrest followed a dawn raid on a hotel that involved a suspect leaping through the window of his sixth-floor room while trying to flee local police. The police chief in Glendale, Colorado, where the hotel is located, said information uncovered in the course of his department’s investigation led to the case being turned over to the Secret Service, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Ross declined to explain what led his department to call in the Secret Service, but he said a drug or weapons arrest would not usually result in involvement by the agency, which has protected Obama since the early days of his presidential campaign in 2007. Concern about his safety, he is the first African American to clinch a major-party presidential nomination, resulted in Secret Service protection far earlier than most candidates have received. Federal authorities declined to comment Monday. They said a news conference was planned Tuesday at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver to explain the nature of the case and its potential connection to Obama, who will accept the Democratic nomination for president at a large outdoor event on Thursday evening. The men were arrested on suspicion of possession of illegal drugs and weapons, and for outstanding warrants for crimes that include a carjacking. (Source: Washington Post)
The Air Force has concluded that an F-15 fighter jet crash that killed a young officer over the Gulf of Mexico in February was the result of pilot error and was not related to the structural flaws that have been found in other aging F-15s, according to an investigation report released yesterday. The midair collision between two F-15C Eagle jets off the coast of Florida on Feb. 20 destroyed both airplanes and scattered their parts across the ocean, killing 1st Lieutenant Ali Jivanjee instantly and leaving another pilot with minor injuries. Investigators found that the aircraft were both functioning properly and had no structural or mechanical failures before the crash. Instead, Air Force officials deemed that the two pilots, both listed as “inexperienced” because they had fewer than 500 flight hours, failed to notice how close they were to each other while performing training exercises, lost sight of each other, and hit while performing a maneuver. (Source: Washington Post)
The White House should postpone a Congressional vote on a landmark U.S.-Russia civilian nuclear pact to prevent it being held hostage to a row over the conflict with Georgia, a Russian nuclear official told Reuters. The pact between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers is aimed at opening up the booming U.S. nuclear market and Russia’s vast uranium fields to firms from both countries by removing Cold War-era restrictions. The deal was signed in May but needs approval from Congress. A Russian official told Reuters it would be better for the deal to be delayed until next year to prevent it being blocked. (Source: Reuters)
Africa
Sudanese troops raided one of Darfur’s biggest and most volatile camps early Monday, setting off a deadly clash that killed an unknown number of people and wounded dozens, according to U.N. and humanitarian officials. More than 20 people were believed to be dead, but that estimate could not be confirmed because access to the camp for 90,000 displaced people remains restricted. At least 48 gunshot victims, two-thirds of whom were women and children, were evacuated Monday evening to nearby hospitals. (Source: Los Angeles Times)
Asia
Less than two months after it blew up the cooling tower of its main nuclear plant in a televised spectacle, North Korea announced that it has suspended the dismantling of its nuclear program. North Korea’s foreign ministry said today it was responding to the United States’ failure to live up to its promises of removing it from a blacklist of “terror-sponsoring” states. It said the suspension had taken place as of Aug. 14 and that it would next consider restoring some of what it had dismantled already at its main nuclear compound in Yongbyon. President Bush indeed asked Congress on June 27 to remove North Korea from the terror list, but the administration has also said that the measure wouldn’t go through until it could verify a 60-page inventory that North Korea had submitted of its nuclear program. (Source: Los Angeles Times)
Pakistan sank into a new political crisis yesterday with the collapse of the ruling coalition after Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N left the government in protest over the future of the nation’s judiciary. The Muslim League-N will now join the opposition, blaming the coalition leader, the Pakistan Peoples Party, for failing to fulfill a pledge to reinstate the 60 judges fired by former president Pervez Musharraf last November. The fate of the short-lived coalition marks the failure of an attempt at national unity after democracy was restored in Pakistan with elections in February. The coalition was always fragile. The ousting of the parties’ common enemy, Musharraf, as president just a week ago, was meant to end the infighting in the coalition; instead, it left them with little to hold them together. (Source: Globe and Mail-CAN)
A series of gunbattles between government forces and the Tamil Tigers killed 15 rebels and seven soldiers in war-torn northern Sri Lanka, the military said Tuesday. Fighting broke out Monday along the front lines separating government-controlled territory and the rebels’ de facto state in the north. The heaviest fighting was reported in Kilinochchi district, where two separate clashes killed six rebels and one soldier, it said. Eleven fighters were wounded. Other battles in Mullaitivu and Welioya regions killed four soldiers and one rebel. (Source: AP)
Europe
British Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), is understood to have told the Prime Minister that Browne should remain in his post while Britain attempts to withdraw from Iraq and expand its force in Afghanistan. Browne, who is also Scottish Secretary, has been the subject of persistent rumors that he will be removed from the Ministry of Defence in a Cabinet reshuffle next month. (Source: Telegraph-UK)
Four masked men pulled up alongside the £20 million sailing vessel in a speedboat, then forced their way aboard brandishing handguns and rifles. They ordered the captain to empty the boat’s safe, then demanded cash and valuables from passengers before fleeing in less than 10 minutes. The 160ft long yacht was anchored several miles off southern Corsica when the raid happened on Sunday night. The nine guests had paid a total of £130,000 to charter the boat for a week. Police said the raiders escaped with cash, gold watches, jewellery and several artworks. The yacht, named ‘Tiara’ was commissioned by Israeli millionaire Jonathan Lietersdorf in 2002 and is said to be the largest sailing boat able to pass through the Panama Canal. (Source: Telegraph-UK)
Russia’s parliament voted unanimously to recognize the independence of Georgia’s two breakaway regions today in a direct challenge to the West. The Federation Council voted 130-0 to ask President Dmitri Medvedev to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Russia’s lower house of parliament, the Duma, followed shortly after with a 447-0 vote in favor of recognition. The votes throw down the gauntlet to the West over its support for the democratic regime of President Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia. The final decision will rest with Medvedev, who has already declared his readiness to “make the decision which unambiguously supports the will of these two Caucasus peoples”. It remains to be seen if he will defy intense international pressure by recognizing the two regions. The United States, European Union and NATO have all backed Georgia’s territorial integrity, including South Ossetia and Abkhazia. (Source: Times-UK)
The Russian soldiers peered nervously from a freshly dug trench at hundreds of Georgian protesters who were waving placards and yelling that they should leave. Positioned by a bridge at the entrance to the strategic port city of Poti in western Georgia, these troops represent the new face of Russian occupation. Five armored vehicles stood behind them as a Russian flag flew overhead next to one declaring the area a peacekeeping post. The Kremlin insists that the Russian Army has left Georgian soil and only such “peacekeepers” remain. But Russia’s checkpoints occupy key positions along the main highway from Poti to Tbilisi, the capital, giving Moscow a potential stranglehold on Georgia’s economy and an excuse for future military intervention. Two soldiers with blue “peacekeeper” arm-bands stood before the demonstrators, one filming with a small video camera as the crowd chanted “Georgia, Georgia” and “Russians go home”. They refused to allow The Times to approach to ask what their orders were. The Times had travelled to Poti in a Defence Ministry helicopter organized by Georgian officials keen to show journalists the continued Russian presence in the Black Sea port, far from the conflict zone in South Ossetia where the crisis began. The flight also exposed Georgian nervousness over the possibility of an incident sparking renewed hostilities. Instead of taking the most direct route from Tbilisi, which would have followed the highway where Russian peacekeepers were dug in, the helicopter made for Batumi 50 miles to the south, then dog-legged up over the sea to Poti. It flew low on the 90-minute journey, hugging the mountainous landscape and skimming over forests as if anxious to avoid radar detection. (Source: Times)
Russia’s flagship cruiser re-entered the Black Sea on Monday for weapons tests hours after the Russian military complained about the presence of U.S. and other NATO naval ships near the Georgian coast. The “Moskva” had led a battle group of Russian naval vessels stationed off the coastline of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia during Russia’s recent conflict with Georgia and sank smaller Georgian craft. The assistant to the Russian Navy’s commander-in-chief told Russian news agencies the cruiser had put to sea again two days after returning to its base at the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. (Source: Washington Post)
Ukraine’s President declared yesterday that membership of NATO was vital to the security of his country. Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Georgia, President Yushchenko marked the anniversary of Ukrainian independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union by calling for a steep increase in defence spending and a speedy entry into NATO. His speech to thousands of people in Kiev’s Independence Square scene of the 2004 Orange revolution that swept the pro-Western president to power took place during Ukraine’s first military parade since 2001. (Source: Times-UK)
Middle East
Israel has ordered the Gaza Strip’s border crossings closed after militants violated a cease-fire by launching two rockets. The Israeli military says Gaza gunmen launched two rockets Monday evening, causing no damage or casualties. The military says Monday’s fire brought to 46 the number of rockets launched by militants since the truce began. (Source: AP/Washington Post)
Islamic Jihad is using the Gaza ceasefire to concentrate on training to kidnap IDF soldiers, in a similar manner to Hizbullah’s 2006 attack. “Thousands of Palestinian fighters recently trained in how to kidnap Zionist soldiers,” reported the London-based Arabic-language al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper on Monday, quoting the conservative Iranian Kayhan newspaper and Quds news agency. (Source: Ynet News)
French soldiers take off their body armor but keep their FAMAS rifles slung over their backs before moving off on a leisurely foot patrol through this pro-Hezbollah Shi’ite Muslim village in south Lebanon. The troops, wearing the blue berets of U.N. peacekeepers, chat with shopkeepers in Shaqra, trying to win local friends without abandoning military muscle to deter would-be assailants. “What I hope to do here is instill confidence,” Lieutenant Colonel Marc Ollier, commander of the French contingent in the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Without firing a shot in anger, U.N. troops have imparted a degree of stability that has enabled rebuilding and revival in a region wrecked by Israel’s war with Hezbollah two years ago. (Source: Reuters)
Joe Varner is Assistant Professor and Program Manager for Homeland Security at American Military University.
Comments are closed.