US Forces Battle al-Qaeda, Iran Revolutionary Guards in Baghdad, Mosul

BAGHDAD, Sept 1 (KUNA) -- Coalition forces have conducted two separate raids to capture or kill suspected Special Groups operatives in Baghdad before dawn on Saturday, the Multi-National Force (MNF) said in a statement.

The statement said coalition forces detained eight suspected Special Groups terrorists during the raids. Coalition forces conducted two deliberate ground assaults to raid what were believed to be the residences of two high-level Special Groups leaders. The targeted individuals are believed to be leaders of Special Groups responsible for logistical facilitation of Iranian weapons and lethal aid flowing into Iraq, the statement added.

Both targeted individuals are implicated in anti-Coalition forces attacks and the recruitment of extremists to conduct criminal activity.

MNF spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said they are continuing a series of synchronized operations against the Special Groups that utilize Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps - Quds Force support to import weapons, explosives and training, Coalition forces conducted a set of sequential raids last night in Baghdad targeting Special Groups operatives.

Coalition forces continue to target Special Groups terrorists and weapons facilitators who are responsible for directing attacks against innocent Iraqi people, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition troops, the statement said.

In Irbil, five Iraqi military personnel were killed and two were injured, including five Iraqi civilians in two separate improvised bomb attacks in Mosul city north of Iraq.

An Iraqi military source said in a press release an improvised bomb targeted a military patrol in Al-Rushaidyia area north of Mosul resulted in the killing of five and destroying the patrol vehicle. Meanwhile, an Iraqi police source from Mosul said a suicide bomb attack targeted a police patrol west of the city injured seven people, including two police officers.

Police patrols also discovered a dead body which belonged to judicial council member of Mosul named Khair Al-Din Al-Hamdani, west of the city. The dead body appeared to have sustained shots in the head and chest.

Time for some ‘shock n awe’ ...........

...IRAN’S most powerful military commander, who masterminded the capture and subsequent release of 15 British servicemen earlier this year, was ousted yesterday as head of the Revolutionary Guards in an upheaval engineered by hardliners.

Major-General Yahya Rahim Safavi, 49, was removed from his post by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader. Mohammad Ali Jaafari, who was in charge of antiAmerican activity in Iraq, was named as his replacement.

“Regarding your valuable experience and shining background at different times, and varied responsibilities in the guards, I appoint you as the com-mander-in-chief of this revolutionary service organisation,” Khamenei told Jaafari. Safavi, who commanded the guards for 10 years, will become Khamenei’s senior adviser on armed forces affairs.

Iranian experts regarded Jaafari’s promotion as a victory for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as Safavi was not seen to be tough enough in the face of mounting western pressure and argued the guards were not strong enough to repel a foreign attack.

His successor is known to be more bullish about the guards’ fighting ability, and has taken an active role in Iran’s clandestine activities in neighbouring Iraq. Earlier this year US forces almost captured Jaafari in Iraq. He escaped but the Americans seized five of his colleagues, all belonging to the Quds force of the guards.

The decision to dismiss Safavi came after a month of unrest among high-ranking guards officers. “They’ve wanted to get rid of him for long time,” an Iranian source said last night, “but the spiritual leader hesitated to do so.”

The 125,000-strong Revolutionary Guards are an ideologically driven force set up shortly after the 1979 revolution to act as guardians of the Islamic republic. The force has a separate command structure from the regular military and answers directly to Khamenei. The guards include sea, land and air forces.

They also have a stranglehold on Iran’s political domain, controls vast swathes of the national economy and run the nuclear weapons programme.

It was revealed last month that America intends to designate the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organisation, although debate is continuing within the Bush administration over timing and intent. Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, argued privately it was “too early” to go public with the information and that it could disrupt diplomatic relations. Such a move, however, would enable Washington to target the guards’ sprawling finances.

Iranian sources said last night that the US moves against the Revolutionary Guards triggered the decision to remove Safavi.

As well as being a fighting force, the guards have growing business interests, including an engineering subsidiary, Khatam al-Anbia, which has taken on several oil and gas projects in Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer.

“The country’s economy and politics is now under the command of veteran guards commanders and senior officials of the security and intelligence apparatus,” the exiled National Council of Resistance of Iran claims. ...

There have been a number of reports of foreigners training in Iran. There is no doubt that they are. I haven’t heard that Syria stopped doing it or ceased their involvement.

Every year the first week in Feb - to coincide with the anniversary of the return to Iran from exile of Ayatollah Khomeini,- Iran hosts “Ten Days of Dawn”. It is an event for militants and terrorists from around the world to gather, make contacts, hold meetings and try out the latest guns and terror equipment and practice their techniques. A trade show for terrorists. All terrorists are welcome - asian, arab, African, south American, european, whomever.
So, these training camps have been around for years in Iran. Nothing new.

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