Sunday, January 20, 2013

14 Taliban killed in air, ground operations

KABUL (PAN): Fourteen Taliban insurgents and a minor girl were killed in clashes and an airstrike in southern Helmand and eastern Kunar provinces, officials said on Sunday.

Five fighters were killed as a result of a US drone strike in the Ailgal area of Ghaziabad district in Kunar on Saturday night, a spokesman for the 201st Selab Military Corps said.

Maj. Haroon Yousufzai told Pajhwok Afghan News that two of the guerrillas were Pakistani citizens. The Taliban also confirmed the loss of four fighters in the air raid.

In Marja and Nadali districts of Helmand, nine militants were killed during an operation by the Afghan National Army (ANA) and police, the governor’s spokesman said.

Ahmad Zirak added three Kalashnikovs, a machine gun and two walkie-talkies were recovered from the militants.

Separately, a 10 years old girl was killed in rebel fire at a checkpoint of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the province. The attacker was arrested by Afghan soldiers.

from Pajhwok
By Pajhwok Report Jan 20, 2013 - 13:27

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Algeria: Death Toll from Hostage Crisis May Rise

Algeria says the death toll from the hostage crisis at a natural gas complex could rise. The government said Sunday several countries have indicated some of their citizens remain missing after an end to the bloody conflict at the complex in eastern Algeria.

On Saturday, Algeria's Interior Ministry said the nation's hostage crisis had ended with 23 hostages and 32 militants killed.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday that three British nationals are confirmed dead, and another three are believed to have been killed. U.S. officials previously said at least one American is known to have died.

Algeria's Interior Ministry said security forces managed to free 107 foreign hostages and 685 Algerians.

Algeria's official APS news agency said the country's special forces stormed the complex Saturday in their "final assault" on Islamists who had been holding scores of hostages in the desert facility.  However, few details have emerged from the remote location where the rescue mission took place.

An Algerian soldier stands at a checkpoint near a road sign indicating 10 km (6 miles) to a gas installation in Tigantourine, the site where Islamist militants have been holding foreigners hostage according to the Algerian interior ministry, in Amena Janu
France endorsed Algeria's handling of the situation Saturday, saying it was the "most appropriate" response since it was not possible to negotiate with the "coldly determined terrorists."

In Washington, President Barack Obama condemned the actions of the kidnappers, saying they were entirely to blame.

British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond also said the terrorists bear the "sole responsibility" for the deaths.

Several Americans were among those being held.  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in London after meeting with Hammond that he had only "sketchy information" about the American hostages and would not comment until he had better details.  He also renounced terrorist attacks on Americans across the globe.

"Just as we cannot accept terrorism attacks against our cities, we cannot accept attacks against our citizens and our interests abroad. Neither can we accept an al-Qaida safe haven anywhere in the world," he said.

Foreign hostages at the gas complex are believed to have included nationals from the U.S., Britain, Japan, Norway, Romania, the Philippines, France, Malaysia and Austria. The complex is jointly run by Algerian, British and Norwegian firms.  Japanese officials say several of their nationals are missing.

The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning Americans in Algeria, saying there are credible threats of the kidnapping of Western nationals.

The militants say they attacked the facility Wednesday in retaliation for French military operations in Mali.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
from VOA News
January 20, 2013

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Blast, drone kill 13 al Qaeda-linked militants in Yemen

(Reuters) - More than 10 suspected al Qaeda operatives were killed by an explosion in a house in south Yemen where they were making bombs and at least three others died in a drone strike, tribal and official sources said on Sunday.

A bomb ripped through a house in the province of al-Bayda on Saturday night, the state news agency Saba and a local official said. Three other suspected militants were killed in a drone strike in the central province of Maarib, also on Saturday, tribal sources and the Ministry of Defence said.
...
The house destroyed in al Bayda had been used for making bombs, an official from the area told Reuters on Sunday.

"We heard a massive explosion that terrified people and when we went to the house it was destroyed and everyone there was dead," the official said.

In Maarib, a pilotless plane carried out two strikes against a car, a witness said.

"One of the strikes missed the target and the other hit the car and left the bodies of the three people in it completely charred," the witness told Reuters by telephone from the area.

He said unidentified people evacuated the bodies while tribesmen blocked the main road linking the capital of Maarib province with Sanaa on Saturday after the strikes.

The Yemeni Defence Ministry said in an SMS text message that a number of militants were killed in two air strikes but gave no further details.
...
from REUTERS
SANAA | Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:52pm GMT
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Mahmoud Habboush; Editing by Sami Aboudi, Alison Williams and Jason Webb)


---

from DAWN:


SANAA: Three US drone strikes killed eight people, including at least four suspected members of Al Qaeda, in the Yemen province of Marib, a tribal chief and witnesses said on Sunday.

One raid late on Saturday targeted a vehicle transporting four suspected members of the extremist network in Wadi Abida, east of the city of Marib, 170 kilometres east of Sanaa, the tribal source said.

“The bodies of the four dead were charred,” he said, requesting anonymity, adding that only the body of Ismail bin Jamil, a local Al Qaeda chief, was identified.

A witness said that car was engulfed in flames.

Another raid struck a vehicle in the same area killing four passengers from Al-Haytak clan, part of the Abida tribe, the source said without specifying their relation to Al Qaeda.

A raid earlier in the evening targeted another vehicle transporting four people, but a rocket missed the car allowing the passengers enough time to flee, a witness said.
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Jan. 20., 2013. - ISAF Joint Command Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader in Zurmat district, Paktiya province, Jan. 20.

The leader acted as a Taliban liaison with senior Haqqani leaders in the province and oversaw the purchase and storage of rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons and ammunition. He also facilitated the movement of suicide bombers in Kabul and was planning an attack at the time of his arrest.

The security force also detained several suspected insurgents and seized multiple grenades, weapons, and a quantity of ammunition.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

South

An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a local Taliban leader in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Jan. 20. The leader planned and directed suicide attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and coordinated the movement of materials used to build suicide vests. He also provided direct financial support to the Taliban.

East

In Sayyid Karam district, Paktiya province, Jan. 20, an Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Haqqani senior leader. The leader oversaw the construction, storage, transportation, and emplacement of improvised explosive devices. He also oversaw the acquisition of weapons and ammunition. During the operation, the security force detained two suspected insurgents and seized multiple firearms.

During an operation in Pul-e ‘Alam district, Logar province, Jan. 20, an Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader who worked closely with senior Taliban leaders to coordinate insurgent attacks across several provinces. He also organized the transfer and delivery of weapons and ammunition to insurgents in the district. Prior to his arrest, he was coordinating the movement of suicide bombers for a future attack.

Afghan and coalition security forces killed two insurgents during an operation in search of a Taliban leader in Ghaziabad district, Kunar province, Jan. 19. The Taliban leader organizes attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and enabled the movement of insurgents in the province.

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Jan. 20., 2013. - RC-East operational update

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Afghan and coalition forces killed six insurgents, detained one and located two weapons caches during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours, Jan. 19.

Nangarhar province

Afghan Border Police killed six insurgents during an engagement in Achin district.

Khowst province

Afghan Uniform Police and coalition forces discovered a cache in Spera district. The cache contained mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades.

Paktya province

Afghan and coalition forces detained one insurgent in Zormat district. The suspected insurgent was transferred to a base for questioning.

Afghan National Army soldiers and coalition forces discovered a cache in Dzadran district. The cache contained a mortar round and a rifle.

Operations in RC-East are ongoing.

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Motorcycle Bombers Die In Thwarted Afghan Attack

Afghan officials in the western province of Herat say a suicide bomber and his accomplice were killed when their explosives detonated in a botched attack.

Nesar Ahmad Popal, governor of Herat's Guzara district, told RFE/RL that the bomber and his accomplice were riding on a motorcycle toward the district government headquarters on January 19 when security guards fired at them and their bomb exploded.

No other injuries or deaths were reported as a result of the attack.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

The incident comes days after Taliban militants stormed the headquarters of Afghanistan's intelligence headquarters in Kabul, killing one and wounded 17 others -- mostly civilians.

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
January 19, 2013

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Seven hostages, 11 militants killed in final onslaught by Algerian army

The final onslaught of Algerian special forces on a gas installation where foreigners were being held by Islamist militants killed 11 kidnapers and seven hostages, the state news agency reported.

Algerian Press Service says the troops stormed the facility on Saturday after a four-day standoff in which militants occupied the Ain Amenas natural gas facility in southern Algeria.

Al Arabiya reporter from Algiers said two Americans, one Japanese and one Norwegian were among those killed on Saturday.

The heavily armed gunmen from a group known as "Signatories in Blood" had been holed up in the In Amenas gas complex since they took up to 41 foreign worker hostage in a dawn assault on Wednesday.

"The (army) assault took place mid-morning. Eleven terrorists lost their lives along with the foreign hostages," the security source told AFP.

"We think they were killed in retaliation" for the army attack, the source said.

"Signatories in Blood," led by Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a former senior Al-Qaeda commander in north Africa, were demanding an end to French intervention against Islamists in neighboring Mali, ANI reported earlier.

Belmokhtar also wanted to exchanging American hostages for the blind Egyptian sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman and Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, jailed in the United States on charges of terrorist links.

The plant is jointly run by BP, Norway's Statoil and Algeria's state-owned oil company.

An international outcry mounted over the Algerians' handling of the crisis. Experts noted that this is how they have always dealt with terrorists, refusing to negotiate.

The standoff has put the spotlight on militancy plaguing the region and al-Qaida-linked groups roaming remote areas from Mali to Libya, threatening vital infrastructure and energy interests.

The militants attacked the plant Wednesday morning, creeping across the border from Libya, 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the natural gas plant, and fell on a pair of buses taking foreign workers to the airport. The buses' military escort drove off the attackers in a blaze of gunfire that sent bullets zinging over the heads of the crouching workers. A Briton and an Algerian, probably a security guard, were killed.

Frustrated, the militants turned to the vast gas complex, divided between the workers' living quarters and the refinery itself, and seized hostages, the Algerian government said. The gas flowing to the site was cut off, though the circumstances of the cutoff remain unclear.

from AL ARABIYA
Saturday, 19 January 2013

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Jan. 19., 2013. - ISAF Joint Command Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan - During a security operation in Sherzad district, Nangarhar province, Jan. 18, an Afghan and coalition force killed a local Taliban leader, Qari Sayed Wali, and arrested a second Taliban leader.

Qari Sayed Wali distributed and emplaced IEDs throughout Sherzad district and conducted the April 2012 attack on the Sherzad District Center.

The arrested leader conducted IED attacks against Afghan government officials as well as Afghan and coalition forces. He also permitted bomb makers to use his home to construct IEDs and store ammunition and explosives.

The security force also detained two suspected insurgents and seized multiple weapons and ammunition as a result of the operation.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

South

An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a local Taliban leader in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand province, Jan. 17. The leader planned improvised explosive device attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and oversaw the emplacement of IEDs in the district. During the operation, the security force also detained one suspected insurgent.

An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a local Taliban leader in Arghandab district, Kandahar province, yesterday. The leader coordinated and executed improvised explosive device attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and oversaw the distribution of IEDs, weapons and ammunition to insurgents operating in district. During the operation, the security force also detained one suspected insurgent.

East

An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Haqqani leader in Terayzai district, Khost province, Jan. 18. The leader directed attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in Khost province. He also oversaw the construction and delivery of IEDs to insurgents operating in Terayzai district, and helped acquire improvised explosive device components, ammunition and detonation materials. During the operation, the security force also detained one suspected insurgent.

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Jan. 19., 2013. - RC-East operational update

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Afghan National Security Forces killed one insurgent and cleared two improvised explosive devices during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours, Jan. 18.

Ghazni province
Afghan National Security Forces killed one insurgent during an engagement in Gelan district.

Kunar province
Afghan Local Police found and safely cleared two IEDs near a school in Tsowkey district.

Operations in RC-East are ongoing.

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