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MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – A US drone missile attack on a suspected militant hideout in a remote tribal area in northwest Pakistan early Thursday killed at least four people, security officials said. The pre-dawn strike targeted the suspected militant compound in Dandey Darpa Khel in the North Waziristan region near the Afghan border, a security official said. "It was a drone strike and initial reports said at least three people were killed and several wounded," the official said, requesting anonymity. A senior security official later said four people were killed and six wounded. A third security official said two missiles...

The buyer of a pretty property in northern Wisconsin will get a former hideout of Chicago mobster Al Capone along with a bar and restaurant complete with portholes to shoot from

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military fired guided missiles into the heart of Baghdad's teeming Sadr City slum on Saturday, leveling a building 55 yards away from a hospital and wounding nearly two dozen people. Separately, the U.S. military said late Saturday that four Marines were killed on Thursday by a roadside bomb in Anbar province. The military also said that a U.S. soldier died of wounds suffered in a roadside bomb that struck the soldier's vehicle during a combat patrol in eastern Baghdad Friday. At least 4,071 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq...

PATROL BASE YUSIFIYAH — Iraqi Army and Soldiers from Companies C and D, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), air assaulted into the Sa’id Abdullah Corridor Jan. 27. Operation Iron Boston was a daytime air assault. Keeping the enemy guessing is exactly what Pittsburgh native Capt. Michael Starz, commander of Company C, wanted to do. “Every air assault we do is different,” Starz said. “There’s not a single time that we do a big operation that it looks the same to the enemy. We never want to be predictable.” The Iraqi Army...

Saddam VP's hideout found 07/12/2007 16:07 - (SA) Baghdad - Security forces stormed a hideout belonging to Izzet al-Douri, the former Iraqi vice president under Saddam Hussein, in a village near Tikrit, 170km north of Baghdad, an Iraqi official said on Friday. They broke into the hideout based on confirmed intelligence that al-Douri was using it to hold meetings with his aides, said the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The forces did not find al-Douri, but seized documents with information on the al-Qaeda terrorist network and other militias, their activities and the techniques used to conduct their...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese troops raided an Islamic militant hideout in a hillside cave and killed six fighters Thursday as violence spread from a Palestinian refugee camp where the military has been battling an al-Qaida-inspired group. The dawn gunbattle — a 20-minute drive from the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian camp by the northern port city of Tripoli — showed the Fatah Islam militants may have found allies among some of the region's Sunnis, ready to provide or point out hiding places. The fighting at Nahr el-Bared has become the worst internal violence since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, and is believed to...

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Ethiopian-backed government forces captured the last remaining stronghold of the Islamic movement in southern Somalia, the Somali defense minister said Friday, hours after warlords met with the president and promised to enlist their militiamen in the army. The southern town of Ras Kamboni fell after five days of heavy fighting, Defense Minister Col. Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire told The Associated Press. He said government troops backed by Ethiopian forces and MiG fighter jets chased fleeing Islamic fighters into nearby forests and the fighting would continue. He did not give casualty figures. Ras Kamboni is in a rugged...

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces conducted a raid early this morning in Helmand Province in the village of Sangin, resulting in the death of an estimated 30 extremists. These enemies of Afghanistan have actively planned and carried out attacks on Afghan and Coalition forces in both Helmand and Kandahar provinces. Interviews with recently detained enemy combatants led Afghan and Coalition forces to the group’s hiding place. While conducting the raid at the hideout location, Afghan and Coalition forces killed enemy fighters. Coalition forces discovered a large weapons cache at the target location and destroyed it in place. On...

WASHINGTON - Of the two bombs that flattened the safe house in which terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed, the first to strike was a type the Air Force has used for 30 years. The second was a new weapon whose first use in combat was in October 2004 against — coincidentally — a building in Iraq said by the U.S. military to be hosting a "confirmed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terrorist meeting." This time they got it right. An F-16C Fighting Falcon jet dropped both bombs — first a 500-pounder known as a GBU-12, guided to its target by...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Afghan security forces backed by coalition helicopters attacked a suspected Taliban hideout in southern Afghanistan, setting off an intense gunbattle that killed 41 rebels, a provincial governor said Saturday. Six Afghan police officers also died in Friday's fighting in Sangisar, a town 25 miles southwest of Kandahar, said Asadullah Khalid, the provincial governor. "Acting on intelligence reports that Taliban have gathered in Sangisar to plan an attack in Kandahar, we launched this operation Friday and the fighting continued from morning to evening," he said. Taliban forces have threatened to step up attacks against coalition and Afghan soldiers...

Quake Prompts Questions on Bin Laden By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 11, 4:04 PM ET Did Osama bin Laden's secret lair crumble in the earthquake that devastated northwest Pakistan? So far, U.S. government officials and terrorism experts caution against too much speculation about whether the al-Qaida chief may have been killed, injured or forced from hiding. "There's a lot of people who know that that's an obvious question" was the most Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita would say Tuesday about U.S. thinking on bin Laden's fate. Federal officials who track terrorism for a living said there's no...

/begin my translationTaiwan: A Gang Boss Who Dodged 3,000 Bullets Finally CaughtHong Kong, correspondent Song Uidal2005.07.14 The head of kidnapping gang, Chang Hsi-ming, was finally captured after he was shot by police on July 13th, ending his 10 years on the run. He made a headline when he escaped July last year, after a dramatic shootout with police, which could come straight out of (action-thriller) movies. He topped the list of the Taiwan's most-wanted, because of his kidnappings, escapes, and gun battles with police. Last July, he broke out of the siege by 1,000 policemen, dodging 3,000 bullets, and successfully escaped, plunging the Taiwan into fear and shock.  He...

Sunday, July 10, 2005 The Belmont Club The Belmont Club, or Wretchard rather, was cited in the Times of London in connection with "Downed US Seals may have got too close to Bin Laden". It's pretty strange since I've neither met Bin Laden nor ever been in Afghanistan, and makes me feel something of a fraud at being cited in connection with something I have no direct knowledge of. (Though the analysis is probably correct). It also reopens the question of whether Wretchard should continue to blog anonymously. Anonymous blogging has proved a good buffer against the petty vanities of...

Downed US Seals may have got too close to Bin Laden Tony Allen-Mills, Washington and Andrew North, Kabul ::nobreak::THE first sign of trouble was a radio message requesting immediate extraction. A four-man team of US Navy Seal commandos had run into heavy enemy fire on a remote, thickly forested trail in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Trouble turned to disaster when a US special forces helicopter carrying 16 men was shot down as it landed at the scene, killing all on board. Almost two weeks later, a mission that led to the worst US combat losses in Afghanistan since the...

KABUL, Afghanistan - American warplanes bombed a suspected Taliban compound in an area where an elite U.S. military team has been missing for five days in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, a U.S. military spokesman said Saturday. It was not clear if there were any casualties from the airstrike. "We conducted an airstrike on a target we deemed we had to hit immediately. The target was an enemy compound in Kunar province," U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said. "The bombing was done using precision guided munitions. The target objective was intelligence driven." He said a "battle damage assessment...

According to sources familiar with the intelligence community discussion on this issue, there is mounting evidence that the Pakistani military - and its intelligence wing Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - is nurturing its deep ties to Islamist extremists including those sheltering the Al Qaeda leadership and leaders of the Afghan Taliban.

WASHINGTON - The US military is close to locating al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, General John Abizaid, the commander of US forces in the region, said. "I think we have a good idea of where to find him," Abizaid told CNN. "We know what we're doing in our efforts how to get him," he said. "But I want to also stress that it's not about one man. It's about his network. His network exists inside Iraq. It's connected to al-Qaeda. It's got facilitation nodes in Syria," Abizaid told the US cable news channel. "It brings foreign fighters in...

...According to sources familiar with the intelligence community discussion on this issue, there is mounting evidence that the Pakistani military -- and its intelligence wing, the ISI -- is nurturing its deep ties to Islamist extremists, including those who are sheltering the Al-Qaida leadership and leaders of the Afghan Taliban. ... The administration shoveled in economic and military aid while soft-pedaling Musharraf's miserable record on democracy and human rights. But it is increasingly difficult to cover up evidence that Musharraf is no longer delivering his side of the bargain.Consider just these few recent events:• On June 5, the FBI arrested a...

/begin my translation N. Korean Refugees' 'Underground Hideout' in China Shown (photos)  [ 2005-05-30 14:25 ] This month (note: May, 2005), during a 15-day trip to Yanji (note: N.E. Chinese city across N. Korea), Park Sang-hyuk(alias) took the pictures of an underground hideout where a N. Korean refugee, Mr. Paik, and his family live. It was located at a mountain in Helong Perfecture, Jilin Province. The pictures were posted on the home page of Free North Korea Broadcast(www.freenk.net) on May 28th(, 2005.) In this place, Mr. Paik, his wife, and their three daughters in late 20's had lived for 7 years(, according to his...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ – Marines in Iraq discovered a series of underground bunkers used by insurgents in western Iraq that show a sophisticated organization with a vast supply of weapons and enough confidence to operate near a major Marine base. The well-equipped, air-conditioned bunkers, found Thursday, were just 16 miles from the city of Fallujah where hundreds of Marines are stationed. Measuring 558 feet by 902 feet, the underground system of rooms featured four fully furnished living spaces, showers and a kitchen with fresh food - suggesting insurgents had been present recently, according to the U.S. military. The weapons and high-tech...

LATIFIYAH, Iraq (AP) -- Hundreds of Iraqi and U.S. troops searched fields and farms Saturday for insurgents and their hideouts in an area south of Baghdad known for attacks, and the Marines said they discovered 50 weapons and ammunition caches and a huge underground bunker west of the capital fitted out with air conditioning, a kitchen and showers. The joint U.S.-Iraqi force operating in Latifiyah to the south was backed by American air power and said it had rounded up at least 108 Iraqis, mainly Sunnis, suspected of involvement in the brutal insurgent campaign to topple the Shiite-led government. To...

Marines uncover bunker complex By Antonio Castaneda ASSOCIATED PRESS Published June 5, 2005 LATIFIYAH, Iraq -- U.S. Marines said yesterday they had discovered a massive underground bunker complex with 50 caches of weapons and ammunition and living quarters fitted out with air conditioning, a kitchen and showers.     In the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi forces said they had arrested a key terrorist leader linked to Syrian intelligence, who was responsible for numerous beheadings and car bomb attacks.     The Marines said the bunker complex, discovered over the past four days in Anbar province west of Baghdad, included a recently used "insurgent...

LATIFIYAH, Iraq (AP) - Hundreds of Iraqi and U.S. troops searched fields and farms Saturday for insurgents and their hideouts in an area south of Baghdad known for attacks, and the Marines said they discovered 50 weapons and ammunition caches and a huge underground bunker west of the capital fitted out with air conditioning, a kitchen and showers. The joint U.S.-Iraqi force operating in Latifiyah to the south was backed by American air power and said it had rounded up at least 108 Iraqis, mainly Sunnis, suspected of involvement in the brutal insurgent campaign to topple the Shiite-led government. To...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 4 - American marines have discovered an elaborate series of underground bunkers used recently by insurgents in central Iraq, with heavy weapons, a kitchen and fresh food, furnished living quarters, showers and even a working air-conditioner, the military said Saturday. The bunkers were built into an old rock quarry north of the town of Karma, an insurgent stronghold in Anbar Province that lies near the city of Falluja. The bunker system measures 546 feet by 883 feet, making it the largest underground insurgent hide-out to be discovered in at least the past year, if not during the...

LATIFIYAH, Iraq — Hundreds of Iraqi and U.S. troops searched fields and farms Saturday for insurgents and their hideouts in an area south of Baghdad known for attacks, and the Marines said they discovered 50 weapons and ammunition caches and a huge underground bunker west of the capital fitted out with air conditioning, a kitchen and showers.

BAGHDAD, May 30 (KUNA) -- The US forces Monday killed 12 "foreign" militants in an attack on terrorist hideouts Western Iraq, a Multi-National Forces statement said. The statement said US marines attacked, on tip-off, hideouts of supporters of the fallen Saddam regime in the towns of Rawa and Al-Karabla in Al-Anbar province.

Karachi, 24 May (AKI) - Bands of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters are launching fresh attacks from their latest hideout - the remote mountain gorges and thick forests of Afghanistan's eastern Paktika region, stretching from Birmal to Argon just north of the Pakistani border, an area that offers shelter from US air force strikes. The Taliban, apparently galvanised by their spiritual leader, Mullah Omar, who was sighted in the nearby region of Zabul, have launched a series of attacks on US military targets including an army base in Argon . Over the last few weeks, Taliban fighters, backed by al-Qaeda cadres...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — American fighter jets flattened a suspected insurgent safe house near the Syrian border, the U.S. military said Friday, and hundreds of U.S. troops conducted house-to-house searches in remote desert villages for followers of Iraq's most-wanted militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "... U.S. and Iraqi forces have stepped up raids in recent weeks. Iraq's government announced Thursday the capture of two more wanted insurgents — one a bomb maker with links to al-Zarqawi identified as Seif-Eddine Mustafa al-Naimi, the other a financier for an insurgent group linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq identified as Amar Farid Abdul-Qader Ashur...

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Pakistani troops raided a hideout of suspected al-Qaida militants Saturday in a remote tribal area near Afghanistan (news - web sites), triggering a shootout that left two foreigners dead, an army spokesman said. Eleven people were arrested. AP Photo   The troops also seized a large number of weapons in the raid near Miran Shah, the main town in northwest Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan. Pakistani security officials have said hundreds of foreign militants — Arabs, Afghans and Central Asians — with suspected al-Qaida links are believed to be hiding in...

Iraq's most wanted terrorist, the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is hiding out in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk after fleeing from Mosul, according to police sources. The claim comes barely days after the Iraq's interim government said that it was close to catching the jihadist, whose group has been behind the beheadings of foreign hostages, including Briton Kenneth Bigley, and suicide bombings. 'He came to Kirkuk from Mosul,' a source in the Kirkuk police department told Reuters yesterday, speaking anonymously. 'There's a possibility that he might be captured at any moment.'

"If I had to guess, I would guess that Osama bin Laden is in a remote region on the Afghan-Pakistan border," Bush told a White House news conference when asked if the hunt for bin Laden had gone cold.

ISLAMABAD: Interpol is searching for Mustafa Ahmed Muhammad Uthman Abu Al-Yazid, Al Qaeda’s chief financial officer and senior adviser to Osama Bin Laden and has alleged that he is hiding in areas adjoining the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, sources told Daily Times on Friday.

By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led troops mounted overnight raids on suspected al-Qaida compounds in eastern Afghanistan (news - web sites), killing four people and detaining several others, officials said Sunday. The U.S. military said "several Arab fighters" were among the suspects killed or detained in the operation in Nangarhar province, although a local official said only Afghans survived. The compounds "had clear connections to al-Qaida," a military statement said. It said the operation, which was launched partly on the basis of a tip-off from local residents, also netted a haul of weapons, explosives and cash....

MONACO - Osama bin Laden is unable to order operations from his hideout near the rugged Pakistani-Afghan border and spends all his time trying to evade capture, one of Europe’s top anti-terrorism officials said Friday.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Aug. 23, 2004 — Pakistani troops acting on a tip raided a terrorist hideout Monday in a remote tribal region, sparking a shootout that left four foreigners dead and several wounded, an army spokesman said. The operation was launched after intelligence reports said some foreign fighters were hiding on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan a tribal region in Pakistan's northwest near the border with Afghanistan, said Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan. He described the assault as successful, and said the bodies of the four slain men were recovered. "The raid also netted (alive)...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. military officials disputed suggestions that an American helicopter struck a wedding party in western Iraq on Wednesday and said coalition forces staged an attack against suspected foreign fighters. Arab television and The Associated Press aired video showing the bodies of small children in a truck full of bodies and people digging graves as they quoted witnesses and Iraqi officials who discussed the attack.

FALLUJAH, Iraq, April 11 -- When the American troops entered the abandoned factory shed Sunday, they found a hastily abandoned campsite full of jumbled clothing and bedrolls, scattered sneakers and gym bags, broken eggs and dirty cooking pots. But there were other, less innocent objects half-hidden in the gloom. Sacks full of chemical-coated rocks. Leather belts stuffed with explosive putty, and one smeared with dried blood. Boxes of batteries with wires taped to them. A recipe for making bombs.

THE Iraqi holy city of Najaf, where radical Shi'ite Muslim leader Moqtada al-Sadr has reportedly taken refuge, is not under the control of US-led coalition forces, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today. Rumsfeld, speaking at a press conference at the Pentagon, said coalition forces had decided to stay away from Najaf because of an upcoming Muslim pilgrimage to the city and because of Sadr's militia forces, who have been fighting US troops since the weekend. Asked whether there were any areas of the country that were not under the control of coalition forces, Rumsfeld replied: "Najaf". "I've heard all...

Uzbek Police Storm Militant Hideout; Up to 23 Dead By Shamil Baigin TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (Reuters) - Uzbek special forces stormed a suspected Islamic militants' hideout in a Tashkent suburb on Tuesday, leaving up to 23 people dead after a day-long siege, the Interior Ministry said.One woman evading capture blew herself up, witnesses said. Her severed head went flying over a wall. The battle erupted in Yalangach, two miles from one of President Islam Karimov's residences, a day after explosions killed 19 people in the Central Asian state. Authorities said Islamic militants triggered those blasts. When Tuesday's firefight had ended, five...

French troops 'find bin Laden site' FRENCH troops had recently helped track down an area in Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden might have hidden out, France's defence minister said in an interview published today. Michele Alliot-Marie did give specifics on where the location was or whether the fugitive al-Qaeda chief was believed to have remained there. It was also unclear how large of an area she was talking about. "Our men are well-established and know the terrain well," Alliot-Marie was quoted as telling L'Express news magazine. "Thanks to certain information, they in fact recently helped contribute to locating him." Asked...

SEARCH FOR OSAMAFrance says recent bin Laden location foundInternational troops discovered refuge on Afghan-Pakistani border Posted: March 22, 20045:00 p.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com French troops and other international forces on Afghanistan's border with Pakistan believe they have found a location where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden recently had taken refuge. French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in an interview to be published tomorrow in Express, the French magazine, she could not provide more details because of security reasons. A ministry spokesman said, according to Reuters, Alliot-Marie was referring to a location where bin Laden was believed to have been "at a...

PARIS (Reuters) - International forces recently found a location where fugitive al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is thought to have taken refuge, according to French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie. She said in an interview to be published Tuesday that French troops operating near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan had helped trace bin Laden but did not say where, how wide an area she was referring to or whether he was still there. A ministry spokesman said Alliot-Marie was referring to the discovery of a location where bin Laden was believed to have been "at a certain time" and it was...

ISLAMABAD, March 19 (Reuters) - Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan have long been a haven for outlaws because the region is largely autonomous and the ethnic Pashtun tribes who inhabit it resent outsiders. Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and his number two, Ayman al-Zawahri, are believed to be hiding in the region and Pakistani troops were engaged in a pitched battle with tribesmen and foreign militants in Waziristan on Friday. Following are some key facts about the tribal areas: - Known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), they cover about 27,220 square km (10,200 sq...

US and British special forces hunting Osama bin Laden have narrowed down the location of his hiding place along the Afghan-Pakistan border by identifying unique vegetation seen in his last propaganda video, according to intelligence sources. The mountain shrubs in the background of the tape grow only along a swathe of high-altitude territory stretching from Khost in eastern Afghanistan southwards to Angoorada in Waziristan. It would be the first time the world's most wanted man has been careless enough to offer his pursuers a clue to his whereabouts since he slipped away from encircling forces after a three-day battle at...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistani authorities gave tribal leaders a two-day ultimatum on Saturday to hand over three tribesmen believed to have sheltered al-Qaida terrorists near the Afghan border. Troops meanwhile were hunting suspected al-Qaida militants or tribesmen who fired rockets Thursday at an army camp in the border area, which is a possible hideout for Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and other fugitives. The attack killed four soldiers and wounded five. The Pakistani military came up empty-handed after launching a raid backed by helicopters Thursday to capture 15-20 suspected al-Qaida fighters who were believed to be hiding at...

The Pakistani army operation struck several tribal homes Four Pakistani soldiers have been killed in a rocket attack on a military camp in the country's western tribal region of South Waziristan. The attack occurred overnight shortly after the end of a major army operation against suspected foreign militants in the area along the Afghan border. The army detained 28 Wazir tribesmen but no foreigners. The semi-autonomous region has long been suspected of providing sanctuary to al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters. The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says that security has been stepped up in the region since the rocket attack. The...

The Pakistani army operation struck several tribal homes Four Pakistani soldiers have been killed in a rocket attack on a military camp in the country's western tribal region of South Waziristan. The attack occurred overnight shortly after the end of a major army operation against suspected foreign militants in the area along the Afghan border. The army detained 28 Wazir tribesmen but no foreigners. The semi-autonomous region has long been suspected of providing sanctuary to al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters. The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says that security has been stepped up in the region since the rocket attack. The...

AMERICAN HEROES IN ACTION Here's a number of photos of the pastoral beauty and utter simplicity of Saddam Hussein's Country Palace. Many of these interesting photographs will be new to you. More great photos from Operation Red Dawn HERE

<p>Britain's Financial Times reported Dec. 26 that Osama bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, were seen in October in the Iranian town of Najmabad, about 90 miles west of Tehran.</p> <p>The source, who the Financial Times said was "a man with links to Iran's intelligence services," said the al-Qaida leaders were driven to a guest house by members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.</p>

CJTF-7 Public AffairsBAGHDAD, IraqRelease #031227f   Task force “All-American” conducts airstrike to destroy enemy safe house  AR RAMADI, Iraq – Task Force “All-American’s” Operation Stocking Stuffer is complete.This morning, Air Force F-16 fighters from the 510th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron dropped two joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) bombs to destroy an abandoned two-story house known to be a launching pad for attacks against Coalition Forces.  The house had been utilized on six different occasions to attack Coalition Forces and is located three kilometers northwest of Khalidiyah.Soldiers from Task Force 1-34 cordoned off the area to provide safety and security for the...