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WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2006 --Fighting in Ramadi killed a coaltion servicemember and 14 insurgents yesterday, and Iraqi and coalition forces captured other insurgents in three raids around Iraq this week. One coalition servicemember died when insurgents in Ramadi attacked Iraqi soldiers and coalition forces yesterday with a heavy volume of small-arms fire from numerous insurgent positions, including the Haqq Mosque. Troops returned fire with a combination of small-arms fire, machine-gun fire and main tank-gun rounds, military officials said. When the enemy's attack continued, coalition forces used tank guns and precision-guided ordnance to destroy buildings used as insurgent fighting positions....

The Moscow headquarters of IBM and several other computer companies were raided Wednesday by masked law enforcement officials toting automatic rifles. It remained unclear Wednesday evening which branch of law enforcement was conducting the raids on IBM and two other companies, Lanit and R-Style, and what might have been the purpose of the raids. An unidentified law enforcement source told Interfax that a total of 10 locations in the city had been raided. Agents from the Interior Ministry's economic crimes department Wednesday raided the headquarters of the State Pension Fund, Gazeta.ru reported.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin warned Georgia on Wednesday not to provoke or blackmail Russia as Moscow ignored international appeals to drop economic sanctions against its southern neighbor. Discussing a dispute with Georgia over the arrests of four Russian officers, who were later released, Putin told lawmakers: "I would not allow anyone to talk to Russia in the language of provocation and blackmail." But in Georgia, the head of the central bank said his country would block Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) as long as economic sanctions were in force. Russia was hoping to end...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2006 – Iraqi soldiers today captured a person suspected of complicity in recent murders and kidnappings during a raid in northeastern Baghdad, while another Iraqi operation conducted yesterday near Mahmudiyah netted two suspected terrorists, according to Multinational Corps Iraq news releases. The person caught in today’s Iraqi military operation is believed to be involved with illegal militias and improvised explosive bomb attacks against civilians, officials said. The raid was conducted in conjunction with Operation Together Forward, officials said, with the goal of catching criminals inciting sectarian violence, denying them safe havens and providing for a safe and...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 – The Afghan government is implementing a new national security system designed to strengthen the country’s security apparatus, U.S. officials reported. The entire National Security Coordination System is to be fully operational by the end of 2008, officials said. The system will improve coordination among Afghan military and law enforcement agencies and enhance regional stability. The system will consist of a National Coordination Center, five Joint Regional Coordination Centers and 34 Joint Provincial Coordination Centers. The centers will provide Afghan army and police leaders with operational information they can use to better-allocate security forces. Current and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2006 – Iraqi and U.S. troops have used an “isolate, clear and hold” strategy during Operation Together Forward to dampen insurgent activity in some troubled Baghdad neighborhoods, a senior operational officer said in the Iraqi capital today. The operation “is part of a larger effort across Baghdad to significantly reduce the amount of violence that was hindering progress in our area of operations,” said Army Col. Robert E. Scurlock Jr., commander of the 1st Armored Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team. He spoke to Pentagon reporters via a satellite connection from Camp Liberty, Iraq. The 2nd Brigade’s area...

WASHINGTON, August 6, 2006 – Coalition forces conducted raids today and yesterday in two areas of Iraq, seized a large weapons cache and captured four terrorists Aug. 4, and detained three terrorists Aug. 3, U.S. military officials in Iraq reported. Coalition forces killed one man during a raid north of Bayji, Iraq, this morning. Recent intelligence led troops to target terrorists responsible for an attack against an Iraqi army checkpoint near Hawija yesterday, officials said. The terrorists shot and killed five Iraqi soldiers and wounded two others during the attack. Intelligence led coalition forces to a location where the terrorists...

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – Iraqi security forces conducted early-morning raids in two areas today, netting eight insurgent fighters. Iraq forces captured two targeted insurgents, one of whom was a local insurgent cell leader, in a raid in a rural area northeast of Fallujah. Coalition force advisers looked on as Iraqi forces raided a targeted house and captured both insurgents. The cell leader allegedly coordinated and directed makeshift bomb attacks against coalition convoys, mortar attacks against coalition bases, and ran an insurgent training camp near Samarra. His accomplice, a member of his cell, is believed to have conducted bomb and...

Paper on America's love affair with the SWAT team and "dynamic entry" raids. See scary accompanying map of botched no-knocks and other SWAT-style raids.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon on Monday warned of a harsh military response in the Gaza Strip if an abducted Israeli is harmed by his Palestinian captors. Justice Minister Haim Ramon made the threat after the militants holding Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit implied the soldier would be killed if Israel does not begin releasing Palestinian soldiers by Tuesday morning. "If God forbid, they should hurt the soldier, our operations will be far far worse," Ramon told Channel 2 TV. The bureau of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that Israel rejected an ultimatum issued earlier in the day by...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2006 – Three American soldiers were killed by improvised explosive devices while on patrol in Iraq in recent days, officials in Iraq said today. Separate IED explosions in Baghdad and Tikrit June 24 each claimed the life of one U.S. soldier. A roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad on June 23 killed another U.S. soldier. Another U.S. soldier in Baghdad died of a non-combat incident June 23. Names of the deceased are being withheld until their families are notified. Coalition forces in Iraq are continuing operations to thwart enemy IED attacks, officials said. Iraqi forces captured three members...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2006 – Two terrorists were killed and six were detained during two separate coalition operations conducted in Tikrit and Yusifiyan yesterday, military officials announced. Coalition troops killed two terrorists and detained another during a raid north of Yusifiyan June 24. The terrorists were at a foreign-fighter safe house where recent intelligence indicated that they were holding meetings to plan terrorist acts, officials said. One woman was injured in the action. She received medical care and was taken to a nearby military facility for further treatment. The same house had been targeted in early May to disrupt a...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2006 – Coalition forces killed one terrorist and detained 16 others as the result of two separate raids conducted across Iraq today. One terrorist was killed and five were detained in a sweep in southern Baghdad. Intelligence uncovered by the death of al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi led coalition forces to the insurgents' lair, officials said. The coalition troops searched several buildings during the raid. Several women and children were present but none were harmed during the operation. The other raid was conducted east of Ramadi and yielded 11 terrorist captives. Two enemy weapons caches...

Anti-terror raids could spark riots, says police chief By Ben Leapman, Home Affairs Correspondent (Filed: 25/06/2006) Anti-terror raids could spark rioting unless police maintain a strong relationship with the Muslim community, according to a senior officer. James Hart, who retired on Friday as Commissioner for the City of London Police, compared today's situation with the tensions that led to the Brixton and Broadwater Farm riots in the 1980s - both sparked by bungled police operations. James Hart: 'We have seen all this before' This month's botched terror raid in Forest Gate, east London, in which a suspect was shot and...

BAGHDAD, Jun 6 (IPS) - An Iraqi doctor who was in Haditha during a deadly U.S. raid last year says there are many more stories like that in Haditha that are yet untold. The Pentagon admitted last week that U.S. Marines killed 24 civilians -- including a 66-year-old woman and a four-year-old boy -- in the Western Iraqi town last November. Before that, the military had maintained the civilians were killed by a roadside bomb. "There are many, many, many cases like Haditha that are still undercover and need to be highlighted in Iraq," Dr. Salam Ishmael, projects manager with...

NABLUS, West Bank - Israeli troops raided a village in the West Bank on Sunday, killing five Palestinians, including a militant Israel blamed for several suicide bombings that have killed dozens of Israelis, officials said. In a separate raid in a nearby West Bank town, troops killed a Palestinian intelligence officer. The raid in the village of Qabatiyeh was the bloodiest in the West Bank since Israeli forces raided the Balata refugee camp on Feb. 23, killing five. At the start of the raid, Israeli troops killed 24-year-old Said Hanisheh — an Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant wanted by Israeli...

Raids shut down alleged illegal gambling establishments in Appalachia Published 05/09/2006 By CARMEN MUSICK -Kingsport Times-News APPALACHIA - Virginia State Police converged on Main Street in Appalachia Saturday, shutting down four alleged illegal gambling establishments and seizing nearly $20,000 in cash and an untold amount of gambling supplies and paraphernalia. Wise County Special Prosecutor Tim McAfee said close to 40 law enforcement officers were involved in the search and seizure effort, "searching illegal gambling houses and associated residences, persons and vehicles." No arrests were made Saturday. The investigation is ongoing. "Our job today is primarily to close the gambling down,...

Fears of federal authorities rounding up illegal immigrants also spur drops in attendance at churches. Fears of illegal immigration crackdowns in Tulsa have led to the cancellation of a major Cinco de Mayo festival this weekend as well as shrinking attendance at Hispanic churches. "The rumor is very strong about immigration (authorities) picking up people," said Blas Gaytan, coordinator of the Cinco de Mayo event at Expo Square. The rumors are unfounded, officials say, but the fear created by them is still affecting public gatherings. Anticipating weak attendance at the Cinco de Mayo event, Gaytan and Expo Square officials decided...

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2006 – Iraqi and coalition forces conducted a series of coordinated raids near Taji and Yusifiyah, Iraq, yesterday, killing two and capturing seven wanted terrorists and detaining more than 50 other suspects. At approximately 6 p.m. local time yesterday, coalition forces killed two al Qaeda terrorists involved in foreign fighter facilitation. The troops tracked the two to a location near Taji, and killed the terrorists before they could react, U.S. officials said. Abu Usamah, one of the two killed and the troops' primary target, was allegedly involved in suicide and car-bomb attacks, as well as foreign fighter...

False rumors of random federal immigration raids have sent panic through immigrant communities around the country this week, emptying classrooms, work sites and shopping areas and sending thousands of people into hiding. Towns in New Jersey and on Long Island have been among those most affected by the snowballing fear, say immigrant advocates and public officials, who described terrified mothers pulling their children from a Head Start program in Freehold, N.J., and deserted streets in usually bustling areas of West Hempstead, N.Y.