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British Special Forces have intercepted a convoy of Iranian weapons destined for Taleban insurgents in southern Afghanistan. Commanders fear the rockets - smuggled across the border on three pick-up trucks - represent a stark escalation in Tehran's support for the insurgents, at a time when record levels of United States and Nato forces are struggling to reverse a rising tide of Taleban violence. General David Petraeus, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, briefed Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai on details of the haul yesterday, which included 48 122mm rockets and about 1,000 rounds of Kalashnikov ammunition. One truck...

Libya: SAS mission that began and ended in error A SAS mission to Libya resulted in humiliation after the troops were first captured by rebels, then a diplomat’s plea for their release was broadcast on state television. By James Kirkup, Nick Meo in Benghazi and Caroline Gammell 9:01PM GMT 06 Mar 2011 The mission was error-strewn from the beginning, when a helicopter carrying the team of seven SAS soldiers and MI6 officer landed in Benghazi without warning the rebel commanders - causing the insurgents to think they were coming under attack. The team then aggravated the situation by claiming to...

Libyan rebels have captured a British special forces unit in the east of the country after a secret diplomatic mission to make contact with opposition leaders backfired, Britain's Sunday Times reported. The team, understood to number up to eight SAS soldiers, were intercepted as they escorted a junior diplomat through rebel-held territory, the newspaper said. The Foreign Office said in a brief statement it could neither "confirm or deny" the report. Earlier on Saturday the Geneva-based Human Rights Solidarity group, which employs a number of Libyan exiles, told Reuters by telephone that a team of "eight special forces personnel" had...

SAS unit, diplomat 'held' by Libya rebels LONDON (AFP) – A Special Air Service (SAS) unit and a junior diplomat were being held by rebels in eastern Libya following a bungled mission to put the envoy in touch with them, The Sunday Times said. The broadsheet, citing sources, said the SAS unit, thought to be up to eight men, were captured along with the diplomat they were escorting through the rebel-held east. "We can neither confirm nor deny the report," a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said: "We neither confirm nor deny the story and...

Up to eight British soldiers are being held by rebel forces in Libya after a secret mission to put British diplomats in touch with opponents of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi, according to the London Times.

Fancy your chances against the SAS, Gaddafi? Elite troops and MI6 spies poised to help Libyan rebels By Tim Shipman Last updated at 3:30 AM on 5th March 2011 •600 Black Watch soldiers on 24-hour standby to fly in •50 people killed and 300 wounded in clashes at Zawiyah Britain is to send teams of spies and diplomats into Libya to help oust Colonel Gaddafi, it emerged last night. MI6 operatives backed by the SAS are to land in the east around the key rebel stronghold of Benghazi 'within days'. In addition, 600 soldiers of the Black Watch are on...

SAS troops last night staged a dramatic evacuation of 150 civilian workers from the Libyan desert. The Special Forces soldiers landed in two C130 Hercules military transport aircraft on a landing strip near remote oilfields south of the eastern port of Benghazi. The SAS men – known as ‘blades’ because of their role at the sharp end of the mission – had flown from Malta’s Valletta airport, where, in meticulous detail, they planned the rescue of the stranded workers, many of them British.

Two RAF Hercules aircraft were involved in the operation, which involved the SAS and forces from Special Boat Service. Both planes have landed in Malta, the Ministry of Defence confirmed, while HMS Cumberland is on her way back to Benghazi to evacuate anyone else left in the chaos-stricken country. Britain has also evacuated its diplomatic staff and suspended the operations of the British embassy in Tripoli. Workers departed on the last Government-chartered flight, which took off for Gatwick carrying 53 British nationals on Saturday afternoon. Liam Fox, the defence secretary, said: "I can confirm that two RAF C130 Hercules aircraft...

Estimated 150 Britons still trapped in remote areas as armed forces on standby in Malta plan to extricate them SAS troops, with a unit of paras in support, are poised to help an estimated 150 British oil company workers stranded in isolated parts of the Libyan desert.They were believed to be on standby in Malta ready to extricate the British nationals as the frigate HMS Cumberland prepared to arrive at the Mediterranean island with 200 Britons on board. The frigate HMS York was ordered to head east for the Libyan coast, though the captain had not yet been instructed with...

Friends of the colonel, who cannot be named for security reasons, said he had grown increasingly despondent with service life following the cuts imposed on the military by the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). It is understood that two highly respected Brigadiers, one of whom also served with the Special Forces, are considering their positions. Senior officers have warned that many more high calibre officers are expected to resign in the coming months especially if the Continuity of Education Allowance--which pays for a proportion of boarding school fees for service families--is cut.

EXCLUSIVE Stig was SAS Hero  RACING driver Ben Collins, unmasked yesterday as Top Gear mystery man The Stig, is a former member of the SAS. Ben trained SAS heroes in daring "escape and evade" driving skills while serving with the regiment, The Sun can reveal.     No more mystery nice guy ... Ben Collins aka The Stig   Millions of viewers have seen the race ace coaching celebrities on how to achieve the fastest time around a TV circuit in Top Gear's reasonably-priced car. But sources close to the special forces unit - motto Who Dares Wins - last night...

Quarter of senior Taliban killed by SAS in 'kill or capture' targeting The Taliban in Helmand are being killed by the SAS on an "industrial scale" with a quarter of senior commanders killed since spring, leading to a dramatic drop in British casualties. By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent, and Ben Farmer in Kabul Published: 6:00AM BST 01 Sep 2010 More than 65 senior insurgent commanders or bomb-makers have been "removed from the battlefield" by SAS troopers, leading to significant disruption of the insurgency. While senior British officers are cautious at overplaying the success The latest casualty figures for August show...

With the troops all ready to hit the ground running word suddenly came down the line from the UK government in London – no rescue must be attempted as it would give the lie to Whitehall’s claims that Basra was under control. The men had to be sacrificed to save the face of the politicians. The reaction was swift and stark – the SAS ignored London and rescued their colleagues with clinical precision.

Britain has dispatched a special counter-terrorist unit to Yemen as the mountainous Arab state emerges as the new frontline in the war against al-Qaeda. The force is training Yemeni military and will assist in planning operations against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group which claimed responsibility for the Christmas Day attack on a US airliner. The disclosure comes as Western security analysts warn that the failed underwear bomb plot will serve as a test run for future overseas attacks by an increasingly sophisticated outfit still honing its terror techniques. "The bomber was inexperienced, dispensable and an unknown quantity," said...

I can't find an online news story on this or I would post it. Back in January, Australia awarded its first Victoria Cross - Australia and the Commonwealth of Nation's as a whole, highest award for valour in the face of the enemy - to Trooper Mark Donaldson of the Special Air Service. He was decorated by Her Excellency Quentin Bryce AC, Governor General of Australia, appointed by the Queen on the advice of Australia's Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and the first woman to hold the role as Australia's de facto Head of State as the Queen's representative. She...

Alaska Chapter Coordinator Second Amendment Sisters, Inc 900 R.R. 620 A., Suite C-101, Box 228 Lakeway, Texas 787347 November 2009 Commander U.S. Army Garrison Alaska 724 Postal Service Loop # 6000 Fort Richardson Alaska 99505-6000 Dear Colonel Timothy Prior, My name is Angela Briggs and I am the Alaska State Coordinator for the Second Amendment Sisters, a women’s advocacy group dedicated to preserving the basic human right to self defense as recognized by the Second Amendment. I am writing to you to inform you of a recent incident and matter of post policy that is of a most serious nature....

LONDON – Some of Britain's most elite soldiers have been training Libyan forces in counterterrorism and surveillance for the past six months, a newspaper said Saturday. The Daily Telegraph said a contingent of between four and 14 men from the Special Air Service, or SAS, were working with Col. Moammar Gadhafi's soldiers in Libya, a country once notorious for its support of terrorism. The paper cited an unidentified SAS source as saying that the training was seen as part of the deal to release Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, whose return to Libya last month outraged Americans and raised questions...

For the past six months Britain’s elite troops have been schooling soldiers working for Col Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, which for years provided Republican terrorists with the Semtex explosive, machine-guns and anti-aircraft missiles used against British troops during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Sources within the SAS have expressed distaste at the agreement, which they believe could be connected to the release of the Lockerbie bomber. Britain’s relationship with Libya has been under the spotlight since Abdelbaset al Megrahi was freed from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds last month after being diagnosed as suffering from terminal prostate cancer and given...

KEVIN Rudd has been forced to directly intervene in a damaging defence force pay issue involving SAS soldiers who have been made to repay tens of thousands of dollars in special allowances the Defence Department deemed they were not qualified for. Up to 49 soldiers in the elite Special Air Service regiment (SAS) are being forced to repay as much as $50,000 in some cases, after being told they did not have the formal trade qualifications to continue being paid higher allowances. One highly qualified SAS signaller has had his pay slashed from $112,800 a year to $66,000 and has...

Two SAS squadrons are to switch from Iraq to Afghanistan next year to mount one of the biggest covert operations for decades against the Taleban leadership and opium smugglers, who help to fund insurgents. They plan to mount a combined operation with the Special Boat Service (SBS), the Royal Marines’ equivalent of the Army’s elite regiment, which is leading covert missions in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The SAS served with distinction in Afghanistan during the early years of the campaign from 2001. It became involved in highly unusual formation assaults on the Taleban and al-Qaeda terrorists, and also in...