Brits target Taliban bash

They were celebrating the death of Bhutto:

BRITISH commandos launched a devastating blitz on the Taliban – as the evil terrorists held a party to celebrate Benazir Bhutto’s murder.

The dawn raid was staged after messages were intercepted about the sick knees-up in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Royal Marines crept into position as the fanatics partied the night away just hours after Ms Bhutto was killed in Pakistan.

[...]

Troop Sergeant Dominic Conway, 32 – who directed mortar rounds – grinned: “It must have had quite a detrimental effect on their morale.”

Sgt Conway, from Whitley Bay, Tyneside, said of the Taliban lair: “It used to be their backyard and now we’ve made it ours.”

(via)

Merry Christmas to our troops!

Thank you for your sacrifice and your desire to service and protect this country.

France to send more troops to Afghanistan

Umm....what's that you say about us going it alone? If any presidential candidate says that we have a "bunker mentality" and have lost the support of the world for our war on terror, it's safe to say that they don't know what's going on in the world and aren't prepared to lead:

Said Nicolas Sarkozy: “There is a war going on here, a war against terrorism, against fanaticism that we cannot and will not lose.”

[...]

By the way, both the Dutch and the Canadians (who finally elected a conservative as prime minister) have re-upped for tours of Afghanistan through 2010.

Oh and one more thing about timelines. Sarkozy said: “What is certain is that we have not wanted to give the signal of departure, that would have been a despicable signal at a time when one sees the ravages inflicted by terrorism in the world.”

Australia is also committed to sending more troops.

NBC rejects ad thanking the troops for their service

Because of the inclusion of Freedom's Watch's website address:

NBC has nixed holiday advertisements meant to thank troops for serving overseas in opposition to the inclusion of a non-profit's Web address

The ads, paid for by the non-profit Freedom's Watch, are a simple thank you, the group says, with people shown paying gratitude to members of the military and the final frame showing the group's Web address, www.freedomswatch.org.

[...]

NBC is refusing to air the ads as long as the address is included, according to an e-mail exchange between NBC and the group, which Freedom's Watch provided to FOX News.

"Per my previous email, the www.freedomswatch.org website will have to be redacted from the commercials for approval. This comes from Alan Wurtzel and Rick Cotton," according to one of the notes.

Wurtzel is president of research at NBC. Rick Cotton is general counsel for NBC Universal.

What a shame they won't make an exception to their policy for these ads because they really are quite lovely. See for yourself:

(via)

Canadian troops push into Afghan's Taliban heartland

A big thank you to Canada for their help in fighting the Taliban.

Canadian and Afghan troops pushed into a Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan, fought off fierce counter-attacks and fortified an outpost on Sunday to stay in the area.

An Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman said at least 12 Taliban fighters were killed and another 15 wounded in the fighting for control of the Sangesar district, where fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar once lived and preached at a local mosque.

Canadian troops have fought the Taliban for control of the area, west of the biggest southern city Kandahar, for more than a year with each side seizing then losing the same ground several times.

But this time, dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles followed the troops into the area to fortify two seized civilian compounds and stay in the Sangesar district.

New video from al-Zawahri

He speaks of al-Qaida's success in Iraq and Afghanistan and how we admit to defeat.

Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said the United States was being defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts in a new video released Thursday, the latest in a series put out by the terror network.

The video came days after Osama bin Laden released two messages to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary—including his first new appearance in a video in nearly three years.

The 80-minute video posted on Islamic militant Web sites Thursday was in a documentary style, touting al-Qaida's activities in various areas, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and North Africa.

"What they claim to be the strongest power in the history of mankind is today being defeated in front of the Muslim vanguards of jihad six years after the two raids on New York and Washington," al-Zawahri said, speaking in what appeared to be an office, with shelves of religious books and an automatic rifle leaning against them.

"The Crusaders themselves have testified to their defeat in Afghanistan at the hands of the lions of the Taliban," he said. "The Crusaders have testified to their own defeat in Iraq at the hands of the mujahideen, who have taken the battle of Islam to the heart of the Islam world."

(via)

Yeah, we do testify to our defeat in our papers and in the floor of the Senate. We give our enemy tools for their propaganda. They did a good job picking their enemy.

Bin Laden was at Tora Bora but escaped

According to a doctor who treated the wounded at Tora Bora:

A doctor who treated wounded al-Qaida fighters at Tora Bora in Afghanistan has confirmed Osama bin Laden was at the mountain stronghold as U.S. and Afghan forces attacked — and said the al-Qaida chieftain seemed concerned about only his own welfare.

Ayman Saeed Abdullah Batarfi, a doctor from Yemen, told a military panel at Guantanamo Bay that he carried out amputations with a knife and scissors in the caves of Tora Bora during the siege in late 2001 and had to abandon his patients several times when B-52 bombers flew overhead.

[...]

"Most of all the total guns in the Tora Bora area was 16 Kalashnikovs and there are 200 people," Batarfi told the Guantanamo military panel, which was weighing whether to release the detainee, in broken English. "He did not prepare himself for Tora Bora and to be frank he didn't care about anyone but himself.

"He came for a day to visit the area and we talked to him and we wanted to leave this area. He said he didn't know where to go himself and the second day he escaped and was gone."

(via)

More than half of the suicide bombers in Afghanistan are 'foreigners'

Most of them are coming from Pakistan.

More than half of suicide bombers used by the Taleban for attacks in Afghanistan are not Afghans, the UN has quoted a Taleban commander as saying.

In a report on Afghan suicide attacks, it quotes the same man as saying more than 80% of the bombers are recruited, trained or sheltered in Pakistan.

[...]

Nonetheless, the UN quotes a senior Taleban commander as saying that more than half the attackers here are foreign, coming mainly from Pakistan and also Arab and Central Asian states. It says the commander's views "have been verified".

[...]

They tend to be poor and little educated, very often groomed in madrassas in Pakistan's tribal areas.

The authors believe many attackers are opium addicts, and many others orphans.

The report says the authorities here are now preventing many such attacks and that even the ones that succeed tend not to kill many people. However, 80% of those they do kill are civilians, even though all the attacks appear to be aimed at Afghan or foreign security forces, or Afghan government targets.

I guess the Taliban aren't committed enough to jihad to invest their life in it. Maybe the Pakistan government should broadcast that fact to the people of Pakistan to let them know that they are being used by the Taliban. That might cut down on the number of bombers.

Taliban beat the South Korean hostages

Because they refused to convert to Islam:

Some of the South Korean Christian aid workers held hostage by Afghanistan's Taliban said they were beaten for refusing to convert to Islam and protecting female captives, a hospital chief said Monday.

"We found through medical checks that some male hostages were beaten," Cha Seung-Gyun told reporters after the 19 freed aid workers -- 14 women and five men -- underwent examinations at a hospital outside Seoul.

They had returned home Sunday after six weeks in captivity.

"They said they were beaten at first for refusing to take part in Islamic prayers or for rejecting a demand to convert," Cha said.

(via)

Taliban using Chinese weapons

It appears that the Chinese are providing the Taliban with sophisticated weapons possibly through Iran:

Britain has privately complained to Beijing that Chinese-made weapons are being used by the Taleban to attack British troops in Afghanistan.

The BBC has been told that on several occasions Chinese arms have been recovered after attacks on British and American troops by Afghan insurgents.

The authorities in Beijing have promised to carry out an investigation.

This appears to be the first time Britain has asked China how its arms are ending up with the Taleban.

[...]

Afghan officials have also privately confirmed to the BBC that sophisticated Chinese weapons are now in the hands of the Taleban.

They said these included Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns, landmines, rocket-propelled grenades and components for roadside bombs.

[...]

The Afghan government considers China to be a friend, and a much less meddlesome ally than the other big player in its neighbourhood, India.

But, the counter-terrorism official added, "China is worried about the presence of the US in the region".

[...]

So instead of Pakistan being the transit point for these weapons, the finger is being pointed by many commentators towards Iran.

The Afghan government has long acknowledged privately that Iranian intelligence agencies have been active in southern Afghanistan post-9/11.

Iran has been pursuing a policy of building up proxy networks to be able to attack American forces in response to any US attacks against Teheran's nuclear infrastructure.

[...]

Unnamed US officials have recently been quoted as saying that China has been selling arms to Iran which Iran is then passing on to insurgent groups in Afghanistan and Iraq.

12 of the South Korean Hostages have been released!

Thank you, Lord!

Taliban militants on Wednesday released 12 of 19 South Korean captives they promised to free under a deal struck with the South Korean government to resolve a hostage crisis that began almost six weeks ago.

The hostages were released into the care of officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross at three separate locations in central Afghanistan close to the city of Ghazni, an Associated Press reporter who witnessed the hand-overs said.

The first group of three women were released in the village of Qala-e-Kazi. Several hours later, four women and one man were released in a desert close to Shah Baz. As dusk approached, four more hostages were freed on a main road around 31 miles from Ghazni, the reporter said.

Praise God,from whom all blessings flow!

Tags: Taliban

Taliban to release Korean Hostages

The South Koreans agreed to remove troops and missionaries by the end of the year. Though, it looks like South Korea really didn't give them anything they weren't already planning to do:

The Taliban agreed Tuesday to free 19 South Korean church volunteers held hostage since July after the government in Seoul pledged to end all missionary work and keep a promise to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

[...]

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said South Korean and Taliban delegates at face-to-face talks Tuesday in the central town of Ghazni had "reached an agreement" to free the captives.

South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-sun said the deal had been reached "on the condition that South Korea withdraws troops by the end of year and South Korea suspends missionary work in Afghanistan," he said.

In reaching the deal, South Korea did not appear to commit to anything it did not already plan to do. Seoul has already said it would withdraw its 200 non-combat troops by the end of the year and has also sought to prevent missionaries from causing trouble in countries where they were not wanted.

Tags: Taliban, hostages

Scott Ott notes the connection between poppies and the Koran

He notes that the Taliban produce 93% of the world's opium supply:

An unnamed U.N. source said, “It’s hard to tell whether people are inspired to plant poppies after reading the Koran, or whether contact with all that opium draws them naturally to the wisdom of the Koran. Either way, the money goes to fund Islamic jihad.”

However, a Taliban source said that according to the Muslim holy book, “it is permissible to sell illicit drugs to buy illegal weapons to slaughter infidel civilians.”

Afghans insulted by soccer balls

I think it would be a good idea if we could actually understand the culture that we are dealing with in this war on terror. Why needlessly anger the people that we have to get on our side:

A demonstration has been held in south- east Afghanistan accusing US troops of insulting Islam after they distributed footballs bearing the name of Allah.

The balls showed the Saudi Arabian flag which features the Koranic declaration of faith.

The US military said the idea had been to give something for Afghan children to enjoy and they did not realise it would cause offence.

The footballs [soccer balls]were dropped from a helicopter in Khost province.

Some displayed flags from countries all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, which features the shahada, one of the five pillars of Islam - the declaration of faith.

[...]

Saudi Arabia has complained to the World Cup's ruling body in the past about the use of its flag on footballs.

[...]

Afghan MP Mirwais Yasini said: "To have a verse of the Koran on something you kick with your foot would be an insult in any Muslim country around the world."

Germany Fears Military Being Targeted in Afghanistan

Their military may be a target in the north so what do they do? Debate pulling their troops. Unbelievable. Is anyone prepared to fight the enemy without growing squishy?

Germany fears its peacekeepers and aid workers in Afghanistan have become targets of the Taliban and other insurgents who want to force Berlin to pull its soldiers and citizens out of the country.

A senior Taliban leader told the German weekly Der Spiegel in March that German peacekeepers deployed in the relatively quiet north of Afghanistan would no longer be spared the deadly attacks which were then commonplace in the southern regions.

German police, soldiers and aid workers have been killed and civilians kidnapped, intensifying debate in Germany on whether it is time for Germany to call it quits in Afghanistan where a resurgent Taliban is making strong gains.

German government officials have expressed concern that the Taliban may have targeted Germany to influence debate on the renewal of Berlin's peacekeeping mandate this fall.

"Those behind the attacks and kidnappings want to sabotage our long-term engagement," German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told weekly newspaper Die Zeit. "That's why we can't give in to them."

100 Taliban killed

They were killed while they were executing people (talk about poetic justice):

About 100 Taliban terrorists including five senior commanders were killed during an air strike in southern Afghanistan, defence ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi told reporters on Saturday.

Coalition troops carried out an air strike in remote Baghran district of Helmand province on Thursday when many Taliban militants gathered to watch the execution of people accused of cooperating with the government, Azimi said.

Five senior Taliban commanders including Mullah Rahim, the top Taliban commander in Helmand, were among the killed.

Azimi said Mansor Dadullah, a top Taliban military commander, was at the site before the bombing. There was no confirmation that he was killed.

(via)

Tags: Taliban

Taliban claimed to have killed another male hostage

But it hasn't been confirmed:

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the hardline militia killed a second South Korean hostage Monday because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents. Afghan officials said they hadn't recovered a body and couldn't confirm the claim.

The Al-Jazeera television network, meanwhile, showed footage that it said was seven female hostages in Afghanistan.

Militant spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said senior Taliban leaders decided to kill the male captive because the government had not met Taliban demands to trade prisoners for the Christian volunteers.

"The Kabul and Korean governments are lying and cheating. They did not meet their promise of releasing Taliban prisoners," Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, said by phone from an undisclosed location. "The Taliban warns the government if the Afghan government won't release Taliban prisoners then at any time the Taliban could kill another Korean hostage."

Ghazni Gov. Marajudin Pathan said officials were aware of the Taliban's claim but hadn't recovered a body. He said police were looking but he couldn't say when they might find anything.

Tags: Taliban

The Taliban set a new deadline for the hostages' lives

And Karzai tried to shame them into releasing the women hostages:

Afghanistan's top political and religious leaders invoked Afghan and Islamic traditions of chivalry and hospitality Sunday in attempts to shame the Taliban into releasing 18 female South Korean captives.

A purported Taliban spokesman shrugged off the demands and instead set a new deadline for the hostages' lives, saying the hardline militants could kill one or all of the 22 captives if the government didn't release 23 militant prisoners by 3:30 a.m. EDT Monday. Several other deadlines have passed without killings.

Afghan officials, meanwhile, reported no progress in talks with tribal elders to secure hostages' freedom.

In his first comments since 23 Koreans were abducted on July 19, Karzai criticized the Taliban's kidnapping of "foreign guests," especially women, as contrary to the tenets of Islam and national traditions.

"The perpetration of this heinous act on our soil is in total contempt of our Islamic and Afghan values," Karzai told a South Korean envoy during a meeting at the presidential palace, according to a statement from his office.

Echoing Karzai's words, Afghanistan's national council of clerics said the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, taught that no one has the right to kill women.

"Even in the history of Afghanistan, in all its combat and fighting, Afghans respected women, children and elders," the council said. "The killing of women is against Islam, against the Afghan culture, and they shouldn't do it."

And a former Taliban commander and current lawmaker who has joined the negotiations, Abdul Salaam Rocketi, said the government policy was that the "women should be released first."

But the Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, instead invoked the religious tenet of "an eye for an eye," alleging that Western militaries are holding Afghan females at bases in Bagram and Kandahar, and saying that the Taliban can do the same. He said the Taliban could detain and kill "women, men or children."

I just pray that the military is able to get them out of there before any of them are killed.

Tags: Taliban

The South Korean hostages are still alive

Update: CNN is linking to an older post. This is the post that they should be linking to.

And the Taliban are not setting anymore deadlines, they are in negotiations with the government over a hostage swap:

The remaining 22 South Koreans held hostage in Afghanistan are alive, a Taliban spokesman said on Friday, and the group will not set further deadlines as it negotiates with the government on freeing them.

A government official also said the Christian volunteers, whose leader was killed two days ago by their Taliban captors, were alive, adding an Afghan delegation was in talks with the militants.

"They are alive and fine," Munir Mangal, a deputy interior minister who also heads an Afghan team trying to secure the freedom of the hostages, told reporters in Ghazni. Medicines had been sent for some of the captives who are ill, he added.

Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said the government had assured the group it would release eight members of the Taliban as part of an exchange deal for the freedom of a similar number of the hostages.

"They are alive. The talks are going on and we are not giving further deadlines for the government has assured us that it wants to resolve the issue through talks," he told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location.

Thank God that they are still alive. Join me in continuing to prayer that the Lord will protect them and open the eyes of the Taliban to the truth about God's goodness and mercy:

Matthew 9:13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

Tags: Taliban

The South Korean MSM sounds as clueless about Christianity as American MSM

Read this report and you will see what I'm talking about.

(via)

Tags: South Korea