Free Republic

SAN ANTONIO – A man’s stated wish to protect others from three unexploded grenades caused tense moments at SAPD’s Northwest Police Substation. Around 7 a.m. Wednesday, a man came into the Prue Road substation saying he had a box of grenades in his vehicle he wished to get rid of. He said he had them for about ten years after getting them from his grandparents. Now he was concerned children could get access to them. Not taking any chances, officers called ordinance disposal experts and cordoned off the area. SAPD Sgt. Michael Oliva says the “bomb squad came out, decided,...

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - A Soldier successfully shoulder-fired a "smart" High Explosive Airburst, or HEAB round for the first time Aug. 11 from the XM-25 weapon system at Aberdeen Test Center, Md. The Army plans on purchasing more than 12,500 XM-25 systems starting in 2012, which will be enough to put one in each Infantry squad and Special Forces team, according to officials at Program Executive Office-Soldier. At first glance, the XM-25 looks like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. It features an array of sights, sensors and lasers housed in a Target Acquisition Fire Control unit on top, an...

Special Navy forces discovered weapons and ammunition on a cargo ship overnight Tuesday, after boarding the Francop some 100 nautical miles west of Israel flying an Antiguan flag. Defense officials said the 140-meter long Francop, captured near Cyprus, was carrying arms sent by Iran and destined for Syria and Hizbullah. More than 60 tons of weaponry were on board, in dozens of containers. The Francop carried hundreds of containers. A significant amount of 122 mm. Katyusha rockets, likely made in Iran, assault rifles, mortar shells and grenades were found on board. Israel Radio reported that advanced anti-aircraft platforms not before...

SAN JUAN — Federal authorities arrested a 38-year-old man on felony weapons charges at a house where investigators said he manufactured scores of grenades and performed occult ceremonies with human bones. Ruben Ambrosio Fonseca Jr. had his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Thursday after undercover agents posing as drug cartel members purchased 183 grenades from him that he allegedly manufactured at a San Juan house, law enforcement officials said. Federal agents and the San Juan police SWAT team raided the property Wednesday morning, finding weapons, firearms and a blood-stained altar alongside human and animal bones in the backyard....

"Somali jihadists forcing civilians to watch executions" SNIPPET: "Movies and television? No way. Executions? Bring the whole family -- or else! "Somalis 'made to view executions'," by Mary Harper for BBC News, October 25:" SNIPPET: "Hundreds of people in Somalia have been forced to watch Islamist militants executing two people accused of spying. People in Merca said al-Shabaab militia patrolled the town with loudspeakers, demanding they attend the executions. The militants also ordered schools to close for the day as they were keen for children to watch the two men being shot dead by a firing squad. Most of those...

REYNOSA — A clash between the Mexican army and about 60 assailants turned some this city’s streets into a battle zone for about an hour early Tuesday morning. The group fired shots at soldiers patrolling the Reynosa-Matamoros highway near Motel Dalí about 1:20 a.m., the Mexican Defense Ministry said in a news release issued Wednesday evening. The attackers rode inside about 20 newer-model trucks as they fired guns and hurled grenades at the military convoy. No injuries were reported by neighbors and passersby, though one soldier suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. It remains unknown whether any of the...

KISMAYO, Somalia (AFP) – No luxury cruise but a ticket to jihad was the prize for the winners of a team quiz organised by Somalia's insurgent Shebab group during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. "The reason the young men were rewarded with weapons is to encourage them to participate in the ongoing holy war against the enemies of Allah in Somalia," Sheikh Abdullahi Alhaq said at a ceremony late Friday. The radio-broadcast quiz organised by the Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab organisation in the southern Somali city of Kismayo lasted throughout Ramadan, which ended last month. Five neighbourhoods of the port city...

REYNOSA — Four men were killed during a confrontation between the Mexican military and a convoy of men armed with grenades and bazookas, according to Mexican media reports. The four killed apparently fought the military with grenades and bazookas, according to the Reforma news agency. Several people, including three federal police officers and a bystander, were reportedly injured. The standoff occurred about 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Aldama and Luis Echeverría, about four blocks south of the Rio Grande and west of Reynosa's downtown square, according to the Reforma report. The standoff occurred near the city's infamous Zona...

REYNOSA, Mexico - New details on a shooting in Reynosa we first told you about. The shooting happened at the Aquiles Serdan colonia in Reynosa. CHANNEL 5 NEWS has learned that shots rang out between a clash of civilians and the military. Main areas of the city were blocked off and bridges heading into the U.S. were blocked with mini buses completely paralyzing traffic. Reports say that 4 suspects were arrested in connection to the shooting, but during the arrests, a second truck arrived, opening fire on civilians and the military. Several grenades were also located in different streets around...

There has been suprisingly little reportage of the actual details of would-be shopping mall terrorist, Mr. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef's mindset and intentions. So as a public service, here the FBI agent's affidavit (pdf file) in easy to read format. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef STATE OF ILLINOIS)) COUNTY OF COOK)AFFIDAVIT1. I, Jared Ruddy, Federal Bureau of Investigation, being duly sworn, state as follows: I am a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) and have been so employed for more than two years. I am currently assigned to an FBI Counterterrorism squad as well as the...

March 7, 2007 — A former U.S. Navy sailor has been charged with allegedly passing military secrets about U.S. Navy movements through waters in the Middle East to al Qaeda-related Web sites during the spring of 2001, just months after the USS Cole was attacked in Yemen. Hassan Abujihaad, formerly known as Paul R. Hall, allegedly passed information about U.S. Navy warship movements in the Straits of Hormuz in April 2001 while he was a member of the Navy. The information passed along contained details about vulnerabilites of U.S. vessels — including susceptibility to small boat attacks by terrorists. Abujihaad...

PACHUCA, Mexico — A running battle between police and gunmen has left 12 people dead in this central Mexican city, officials said Friday. The dead included three police officers and nine gunmen, said Hidalgo state Attorney General Jose Alberto Rodriguez. Two state police officers and one city officer remained hospitalized Friday after suffering gunshot wounds in the attacks late Thursday on the outskirts of Pachuca. A state officer, who was also wounded, died Friday at the hospital. Hidalgo state police director Donanciano Millan said officers were acting on a tip that gunmen were in the area when they stopped four...

So it seems Mexican cartel weapons are making their way north to the U.S. From the AP via MSNBC: It was a scenario U.S. law enforcement had long feared: A fragmentation grenade from Mexico's bloody drug war tossed into a public place. The "public place"? A bar in south Texas. Where did the grenade come from? South Korea. How did the Mexicans get them? The United States and South Korea rank as the top two producers of the grenades seized in Mexico, according to the ATF. Here's the thing: The U.S. government adheres to very strict ITAR regulations for munitions...

REYNOSA — Soldiers seized 20 grenades and arrested one man as they patrolled the Mexican side of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge on Monday. The Mexican army encountered a Chevrolet Suburban registered in Tamaulipas on Monday. Inside the vehicle, soldiers foundh 20 hand grenades concealed within a roll of foam sponge, according to a statement from Mexico's secretary of national security. Soldiers arrested 21-year-old Roberto Gaspar Caballero of Reynosa. The military turned over Gaspar, the grenades and vehicle to the local police in Reynosa, according to the statement.

A military official says 15 gunmen and a soldier were killed in a two-hour shootout in the heart of Acapulco’s hotel zone. The army colonel ... says the gunmen opened fire with assault rifles and about 50 grenades on soldiers who arrived at the house. The soldiers found four Guerrero state police officers inside the house who said they were being held captive by the gunmen.

Wellington - New Zealand authorities are baffled by a mystery cache of machine guns, bullets, grenades and mortar bombs found in a shipping container from China in the South Island port of Dunedin, according to news reports on Wednesday.

I was "accidentally" watching CBS's The Early Show this morning. They were having a segment on Obama going to Mexico today and the issues he was going to address with the Mexican government. An unseen male narrator was talking as video images of the Mexican drug wars were being shown. The narrator then proceeded to explain how one of the major problems in the carnage and drug wars was the "influx of machine guns and hand grenades from the United States." As most of us on this forum know, it is extremely hard to get a machine gun and impossible...

MEXICO CITY — Try to bring a refrigerator into Mexico in the back of your pickup, and you are almost certain to get stopped by Mexican customs officials. Stick a couple of AK-47 rifles in your trunk, and chances are you'll whiz right through. Now Mexico is owning up to its leaky border as it launches a new program to monitor vehicles entering the country. The goal is to weigh and photograph southbound cars and trucks, in hopes of snaring more gun smugglers. As the Obama administration promises a crackdown on the illegal U.S. weapons trade that supplies the drug...

GUATEMALA CITY — A hitman training camp for Mexico's infamous Gulf cartel was found in northern Guatemala, along with 500 grenades, police said Friday. In a news conference, police director Marlene Blanco said officials also seized six rifles, three motorcycles and several boxes of ammunition during Thursday's operation. People at the site fled before authorities arrived because they "heard the noise of the helicopters" used in the raid, said Nery Morales, a spokesman for Guatemala's Interior Ministry. "We searched the area, but didn't find anything," he said. Mexican drug cartels often use grenades in attacks, and many of the weapons...

A maintenance firm contracted to work on an abandoned and foreclosed home in Illinois owned by Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. made a startling discovery while draining the flooded basement: pipe bombs and tear gas grenades were uncovered when the water had been removed, leading the surprised workers to notify both Countrywide and local authorities. Police were reported to have responded to the scene at 3245 203rd St. in Lynwood (Chicago Heights), IL.......

In the wake of a major gun seizure in Matamoros by Mexican army troops, American law enforcement officials are optimistic about the safety of those living on the U.S. side of the border. The seizure took place Wednesday afternoon at the corner of 18th and Madrid streets when patrolling troops with the 10th Motorized Cavalry Regiment, came across an abandoned 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe, according to a press release by the 8th Military Zone stationed in Reynosa. The vehicle had Tamaulipas license plates and had been reported stolen, the release said. According to the Mexican army, inside the SUV, soldiers found...

Grenades used in three recent attacks in Monterrey, Mexico, and Pharr, Texas, all originated from the same lot delivered from South Korea... That the grenade used in the third attack reportedly came from Mexico indicates that in addition to the well-known path of weapons flowing from the United States into Mexico, arms also are flowing from Mexico into the United States. The first of the three attacks targeted the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, Mexico. In the second incident, again in Monterrey, gunmen attacked a local TV station on Jan. 12 in an attempt to intimidate the news agency into cutting...

Still in Control Pervez Musharraf was calm, confident and—despite a flurry of rumors—not about to announce his resignation. Instead, the Pakistani president's "concession" to his troubled nation was an announcement that he would allow Britain's Scotland Yard to help local law enforcement agencies with their investigation into last week's assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Speaking in a nationally televised address two hours after Pakistan's election commission announced the postponement of the ballot to Feb. 18, six weeks later than had been scheduled, Musharraf was notably deferential in his remarks about Bhutto, often invoking her "martyrdom" and extolling...

New Haven (AP) _ A federal judge says prosecutors may not introduce at trial a claim that a former Navy sailor plotted to attack military personnel. Hassan Abu-Jihaad is charged with disclosing the location of Navy ships to terrorism supporters. The 31-year-old Abu-Jihaad of Phoenix pleaded not guilty in April to charges he provided material support to terrorists with intent to kill U.S. citizens and disclosed classified information relating to national defense. He is accused of disclosing the location of Navy ships and the best ways to attack them. During a hearing in November, prosecutors played secretly recorded phone calls...

Two live hand grenades were found in a yard in Josephine on Sunday and the neighborhood around the home was evacuated. The bomb squad from the Plano Police Department safely detonated the two grenades and no one was hurt.

/begin my translation N. Korea: Troops In Border Area Given Ammo & Grenades 'Good Friends', "N.K. Stepping Up Semi-Wartime Footing " [2006-09-06 18:10] N. Korea notched up its semi-wartime footing in recent days, issuing grenades and ammunition to troops stationed in the border area (with China), while N. Korean General Staff is drawing up a border shutdown plan, according to Sept. 6 issue of the news letter by Good Friends, a N. Korea relief aid agency . The N. Korean General Staffs issued an order on July 30, titled, "To the entire military regarding keeping up their vigilance, and redoubling their...

Terrorist plot in Tennessee foiled Federal authorities arrested an Iraqi-born Nashville resident on illegal weapons charges. It was after a sting operation that was set up when Ahmed Al-Uqaily (AH'-mad HAH'-sahn al YOO'-quay-lee) told an acquaintance he wanted to "go Jihad" over the war in Iraq. FBI terrorism agents arrested the 33-year-old Al-Uquaily after he took possession of two disassembled machine guns, four disassembled hand grenades and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Court documents show Al-Uqaily also was interested in getting missiles used to disable tanks. Authorities said he expressed animosity toward the Jewish community, but did not give specific...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 7, 2005) -- Iraqi police in Adhamiyah responded to a call-in tip at about 7:30 a.m., Nov. 6, that an improvised explosive device had been placed near a school. The report later received by U.S. military police stated that a grenade was discovered taped to a pole with a detonating wire strung across the sidewalk. Staff Sgt. Robert Stearns, an MP liaison with the Rusafa Police Station, said it appeared that the device was set to detonate as the children left school. An Iraqi police explosive ordnance disposal team arrived to safely dispose of the...

Six people were stabbed early Sunday during a melee at a 1-year-old's birthday party, police said. It apparently started when a downstairs neighbor went upstairs to complain about the noise. They arrived at a two-family home on Crosby Street to find dozens of people running around in a thunderstorm. Some were screaming and bleeding. Most spoke only Spanish, adding to the chaos. A Spanish-speaking officer from Manchester was eventually brought into translate. Four carloads of men showed up to join the fight and police said some may have been affiliated with a gang. Police detained so many people that they...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An Iraqi-born man was sentenced Monday to nearly five years in prison after trying to buy machine guns and hand grenades in a federal sting operation. Ahmed Hassan Al-Uqaily (search), 34, was arrested last October during the investigation prompted by his alleged threat about "going jihad" against the United States, investigators said.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2005 – Coalition forces in Iraq arrested 10 suspected terrorist during a raid in western Ramadi today after Iraqi citizens pointed out a safehouse where the suspects were hiding and storing weapons. The military said a local Iraqi citizen confirmed the building was being used as a terrorist safehouse. When coalition forces approached the building, several suspects fled, officials said. Six of them were immediately detained, and four others were captured hiding inside a nearby Mosque after Iraqi citizens alerted coalition forces to their whereabouts. Meanwhile, a male who lived at the house told coalition forces the...

Anthony Pellicano, the high-profile private investigator whose clients included some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, was charged today with conspiracy and making threats against a Los Angeles Times reporter. Anita Busch was researching a story in 2002 about the relationship between actor Steven Seagal and a reputed Mafia figure when someone fired a bullet through the windshield of her unoccupied car. Left on top of the vehicle was a dead fish with a rose in its mouth and a sign reading: "Stop." The charges today were filed by Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley after a lengthy investigation...

Two small makeshift grenades exploded outside the British Consulate in New York early Thursday, causing slight damage to the building but injuring no one, officials said. The blasts occurred at 3:50 a.m. as voters were going to the polls in Britain. In London, Britain's Foreign Office said there were no provisions for Britons to vote at overseas consulates. Police spokesman Noel Waters said the grenades had been placed inside a cement flower box outside the front door of the midtown Manhattan building that houses the consulate. After piecing together the shrapnel, police determined the devices were toy grenades that had...

Search of Nogales home yields anti-tank explosive, grenades NOGALES, Sonora - U.S. and Mexican officials are investigating a heavy weapons cache discovered in this border town that police believe was headed south to arm drug cartels. In a late Wednesday search of a Nogales home, police found an anti-tank warhead, six hand grenades and more than 1,200 rounds of ammunition, Nogales Police Chief Ramses Arce Fierro said Friday. Officers also found an empty missile tube for a larger sized shoulder-fired weapon, he said. A task force of FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents were working with...

How not to test a hand grenade... A drunken German who bought three hand grenades at a flea market in Bosnia has been arrested after throwing one out of the window to see whether it worked. The 36-year-old took the three hand grenades home to Frankfurt as souvenirs where he kept them in a drawer for ten years. But after drinking heavily with friends he showed one of them the explosive devices and decided to pull the pin on one after his pals claimed they did not believe they were real. The grenade exploded between two blocks of flats and...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Our European cousins think we're a nation of thugs because we won't indulge cutthroats and assassins in the name of sophisticated cowardice and nuanced poltroonery. Some of us, like the pituitary freaks who run up and down a basketball court in gaudy underwear and leap into the stands to beat up women and children, really are thugs. Others are merely direct-action guys. George W. Bush saw his bodyguard in trouble with Chilean cops and, like any red-blooded president before him, jumped into the security scrum to pull him out of harm's way. JWR contributor Wesley Pruden is editor in chief...

A grenade exploded at a wedding in eastern Ethiopia, killing the bride and three other people, state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) has reported.

The city has agreed to pay $1.6 million to the family of a woman who was scared to death after cops mistakenly burst into her Harlem apartment and exploded a flash grenade in a bungled raid, it was announced yesterday. The deal settles a $500 million lawsuit filed in May by 57-year-old Alberta Spruill's two sisters and a niece. "While compensation cannot bring Ms. Spruill back, it nevertheless reflects the city's sorrow over her unintended and tragic death," said Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo. Neither family members nor their attorney, former O.J. Simpson Dream Team lawyer Johnnie Cochran, could be reached...

SKOPJE, Aug. 29 — Macedonian police patrolled roads into the capital and searched cars on Friday after attackers fired grenades at three government buildings overnight. Nobody was injured in the attacks on the main government building, the courthouse and the central army barracks at around 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday. Witnesses said the grenades were fired from a moving car.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A bag containing two grenades was left near the United Nations Development Program office in Baghdad Tuesday but the incident was not considered a serious threat, a U.N. spokesman said. The spokesman said security officers found that the grenades were not primed and could not have exploded. They were left near a car close to the UNDP office, he said. ``It was a minor incident,'' the spokesman said. Last month, an Iraqi driver for the U.N.-affiliated International Organization for Migration was killed and an international staff member was wounded when their convoy was fired on south of...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A man has thrown two grenades into the grounds of the United States consulate in Turkey's southern city of Adana, damaging a wall but causing no injuries, officials sy. Turkish police arrested the man, in his 30s, after he entered the garden of the consulate on Wednesday around 12.35 p.m. British time and threw the hand grenades towards the main building, shattering windows. "A Turkish male threw two grenades into the compound and one exploded. There was minimal damage, no injuries and the suspect was captured," a U.S. consulate official told Reuters. The United States has warned...

WASHINGTON, DC -- An allied military plan to confiscate weapons in Iraq may destabilize the nation further by giving the green light to street thugs and Baath Party loyalists who are terrorizing innocent civilians, says the Libertarian Party. "Imposing this gun grab is like declaring war on Iraq for a second time," said Geoffrey Neale, Libertarian Party chairman. "How many innocent men, women and children will be kidnapped, robbed or murdered because their U.S. 'protectors' turned self-defense into a crime?" Iraqi citizens will be forced to surrender their heavy weapons under a proclamation expected this week from U.S. and British...

Terror rakes Valley while Delhi, Islamabad talk peace Seven security personnel, including an Army major, and a block President of the ruling People's Democratic Party, were among 15 people killed and 40 injured on Friday as militants stepped up their attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said. The escalated violence saw the first suicide attack of the year in the state which made a vain attempt to target a sector headquarters of BSF, ambush on an Army patrol and a blast inside a court in Baramulla district of north Kashmir which witnessed the maximum number of militancy-related incidents on...

'How did the enemy get into our camp?" That's what Bart Womack, a command sergeant-major of the elite 101st Airborne Division, asked himself as a grenade rolled past him after 1 a.m. on Sunday at an American camp in Kuwait. The attacker worked methodically, destroying an electricity generator, throwing grenades into Womack's tent and the two other command tents, then shooting soldiers as they fled their tents. One soldier died and 15 sustained injuries. The enemy in this case appears to be not what one might expect -- an Iraqi soldier or a Kuwaiti Islamist. The only suspect in custody...

 In light of a public awakening and newfound interest in the fastest growing religion around the globe — Islam — UC Davis’ Introduction to Islam class hit a record-high class size, with over 80 students enrolled this quarter in the typically small class. Curiously, over half of these students are Muslim.         According to lecturer Kathleen O’Connor, who has taught this and other Islamic study courses for the past four years, Muslim students take the class “to get a broader understanding of their culture.         “Non-practicing Muslims want to know where they come from. Practicing Muslims want to get information on their...

cnn has first footage of the suspect. the light and satellite phone footage obscures his race, you can see the gunshot wound in his leg.

<p>PICATINNY ARSENAL, New Jersey -- It is among the most horrific weapons in any army's collection: the thermobaric bomb, a fearsome explosive that sets fire to the air above its target, then sucks the oxygen out of anyone unfortunate enough to have lived through the initial blast.</p>

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan believes three men who blew themselves up with grenades after fleeing a checkpoint in Pakistani Kashmir were responsible for the deadly attack on a Christian school that killed six people, a senior official said Wednesday. ``The way they were running to escape ... we suspect that they were the killers of six innocent people,'' Information Minister Nisar Memon said. Memon said, however, that the Interior Ministry, which supervises law enforcement in Pakistan, has not yet formally concluded the men were responsible for the Monday attack on the Murree Christian School. None of the school's 150...

IDF forces this afternoon thwarted an attempted terrorist attack at the Erez Crossing. An armed Palestinian was spotted approaching the Erez industrial area. He fled towards Palestinian- controlled territory, and security forces opened fire, apparently wounding him. Several grenades were discovered at the scene.