Among countries, Iran remains the biggest supporter of terrorism, with elements of its government backing groups throughout the middle east protably in Iraq, giving material aid and guidance to Shiite insurgent groups that have attacked Sunnis, U.S. and Iraqi forces, it said.
In its annual global survey of terrorism, the department said 14,338 attacks took place in 2006, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan, 3,185 more than in 2005 representing a 28.5 percent increase.
These strikes claimed a total of 20,498 lives, 13,340 of them in Iraq, 5,800 more, or a 40.2 percent increase, than last year, it said.
Despite the grim figures, State Department officials pointed to some successes in the war on terror, including improved counterterrorism cooperation with various nations and the thwarting of numerous plots notably plans to down trans-Atlantic airliners.
"Serious challenges do remain, there's no question about that," said acting counterterrorism coordinatorfrank uranbcic . "This is not the kind of war where you can measure success with conventional numbers. We cannot aspire to a single decisive battle that will break the enemy's back, nor can we hope for a signed peace accord to mark victory."
In Iraq, the use of chemical weapons, seen for the first time in a Nov. 23, 2006, attack in sadr city also "signaled a dangerous strategic shift in tactics," it said.
With the rise in fatalities, the number of injuries from terrorist attacks also rose, by 54 percent, between 2005 and 2006, and the number of wounded doubled in Iraq over the period, according to the department'scountry reports on Terrorism 2006.
The numbers were compiled by the national counterterrorism and refer to deaths and injuries sustained by "noncombatants," with significant increases in attacks targeting children, educators and journalists.
Terrorist attacks worldwide shot up more than 25 percent last year, killing 40 percent more people than in 2005, particularly in Iraq where extremists used chemical weapons and suicide bombers to target crowds, the State Department said Monday.
Among countries, Iran remains the biggest supporter of terrorism, with elements of its government backing groups throughout the Middle East, notably in Iraq, giving material aid and guidance to Shiite insurgent groups that have attacked Sunnis, U.S. and Iraqi forces, it said.
In its annual global survey of terrorism, the department said 14,338 attacks took place in 2006, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan, 3,185 more than in 2005 representing a 28.5 percent increase.
These strikes claimed a total of 20,498 lives, 13,340 of them in Iraq, 5,800 more, or a 40.2 percent increase, than last year, it said.
Despite the grim figures, State Department officials pointed to some successes in the war on terror, including improved counterterrorism cooperation with various nations and the thwarting of numerous plots notably plans to down trans-Atlantic airliners.
"Serious challenges do remain, there's no question about that," said acting counterterrorism coordinator Frank Urbancic. "This is not the kind of war where you can measure success with conventional numbers. We cannot aspire to a single decisive battle that will break the enemy's back, nor can we hope for a signed peace accord to mark victory."
In Iraq, the use of chemical weapons, seen for the first time in a Nov. 23, 2006, attack in Sadr City, also "signaled a dangerous strategic shift in tactics," it said.
With the rise in fatalities, the number of injuries from terrorist attacks also rose, by 54 percent, between 2005 and 2006, and the number of wounded doubled in Iraq over the period, according to the department's Country Reports on Terrorism 2006.
The numbers were compiled by the National Counterterrorism Center and refer to deaths and injuries sustained by "noncombatants," with significant increases in attacks targeting children, educators and journalists.
"By far the largest number of reported terrorist incidents occurred in the Near East and South Asia," said the 335-page report, referring to the regions where Iraq and Afghanistan are located.
"These two regions also were the locations for 90 percent of all the 290 high-casualty attacks that killed 10 or more people," it said.
Monday, April 30, 2007
NATO launches offensive against Taliban
Afghanistan - Hundreds of British troops swept into the lush poppy fields of southern top of Form
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More than 3,000 NATO and Afghan troops are participating in the operation, the latest effort to bring Helmand province under the control of President Hamid Karzai.
A long column of armored vehicles brought several hundred British soldiers to the Sangin Valley, near the town of Gereshk and Afghanistan's strategic ring road that links the cities of Kandahar and Herat.
"It is all part of a longer-term plan to restore the whole of Helmand to government control," said Lt. Col. Stuart Carver, a British commander. "You have to do it a piece at a time."
The British soldiers came under attack from mortar rounds and machine-gun fire after they fanned out to patrol on foot.
An Associated Press reporter traveling with the troops heard officers ordering British artillery units to respond. Three Apache helicopters flew overhead but didn't immediately open fire. There were no reports of casualties.
The operation will not touch Helmand's poppy fields, which supply much of the world's opium and its more potent derivative, heroin. That could antagonize the 2 million farmers whose livelihoods depend on growing poppy, something the alliance wishes to avoid.
In western Afghanistan, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces battled with Taliban insurgents over three days, leaving at least 136 suspected militants dead, a coalition statement said Monday.
The clashes in Herat province were the deadliest reported in Afghanistan since January and provoked angry protests by hundreds of villagers Monday, chanting "Death to America!"
Acting on intelligence about Taliban activity in Herat's Zerkoh Valley, coalition and Afghan forces attacked the insurgents and called in an airstrike, destroying seven Taliban positions and killing 87 fighters during a 14-hour engagement on Sunday, the statement said.
Another 49 Taliban were killed two days earlier by a combination of gunfire and an airstrike, it said, adding that a U.S. soldier also was killed in the engagement.
The coalition statement said there were no reports of civilians wounded in the two battles. It was not immediately possible to confirm the casualty figures independently.
On Monday, hundreds gathered in front of the police station and government headquarters in Shindand district where Zerkoh Valley is located, said district police chief Gen. Gul Aqa.
Aqa confirmed that the attack had killed "a large number of people" but did not have figure for the number of dead. Contrary to coalition claims, Aqa said the Afghan police and army were not involved in the clashes.
"The Americans carried out an independent operation in the Zerkoh," he said, adding that protesters were demanding to know why Americans did not inform Afghan forces beforehand.
Recent weeks have seen an surge in violence in Afghanistan after a winter lull, with Taliban-led militants stepping up attacks, and coalition and NATO forces launching a series of offensives against around the country.
The clashes in Herat appear to be the deadliest in the once-stable west of the country since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Most of the fighting has been concentrated in the volatile south and east.
The fighting is also the deadliest reported nationwide since January, when NATO said that about 150 suspected Taliban crossing from Pakistan were killed by an airstrike and ground fire in eastern Paktika province.
Afghanistan' name=c1>SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3>
More than 3,000 NATO and Afghan troops are participating in the operation, the latest effort to bring Helmand province under the control of President Hamid Karzai.
A long column of armored vehicles brought several hundred British soldiers to the Sangin Valley, near the town of Gereshk and Afghanistan's strategic ring road that links the cities of Kandahar and Herat.
"It is all part of a longer-term plan to restore the whole of Helmand to government control," said Lt. Col. Stuart Carver, a British commander. "You have to do it a piece at a time."
The British soldiers came under attack from mortar rounds and machine-gun fire after they fanned out to patrol on foot.
An Associated Press reporter traveling with the troops heard officers ordering British artillery units to respond. Three Apache helicopters flew overhead but didn't immediately open fire. There were no reports of casualties.
The operation will not touch Helmand's poppy fields, which supply much of the world's opium and its more potent derivative, heroin. That could antagonize the 2 million farmers whose livelihoods depend on growing poppy, something the alliance wishes to avoid.
In western Afghanistan, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces battled with Taliban insurgents over three days, leaving at least 136 suspected militants dead, a coalition statement said Monday.
The clashes in Herat province were the deadliest reported in Afghanistan since January and provoked angry protests by hundreds of villagers Monday, chanting "Death to America!"
Acting on intelligence about Taliban activity in Herat's Zerkoh Valley, coalition and Afghan forces attacked the insurgents and called in an airstrike, destroying seven Taliban positions and killing 87 fighters during a 14-hour engagement on Sunday, the statement said.
Another 49 Taliban were killed two days earlier by a combination of gunfire and an airstrike, it said, adding that a U.S. soldier also was killed in the engagement.
The coalition statement said there were no reports of civilians wounded in the two battles. It was not immediately possible to confirm the casualty figures independently.
On Monday, hundreds gathered in front of the police station and government headquarters in Shindand district where Zerkoh Valley is located, said district police chief Gen. Gul Aqa.
Aqa confirmed that the attack had killed "a large number of people" but did not have figure for the number of dead. Contrary to coalition claims, Aqa said the Afghan police and army were not involved in the clashes.
"The Americans carried out an independent operation in the Zerkoh," he said, adding that protesters were demanding to know why Americans did not inform Afghan forces beforehand.
Recent weeks have seen an surge in violence in Afghanistan after a winter lull, with Taliban-led militants stepping up attacks, and coalition and NATO forces launching a series of offensives against around the country.
The clashes in Herat appear to be the deadliest in the once-stable west of the country since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Most of the fighting has been concentrated in the volatile south and east.
The fighting is also the deadliest reported nationwide since January, when NATO said that about 150 suspected Taliban crossing from Pakistan were killed by an airstrike and ground fire in eastern Paktika province.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Car bomb kills 9 U.S. troops in Iraq
Car bomb kills 9 U.S. troops in Iraq
By HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago
An al-Qaida-linked group posted a Web statement Tuesday claiming responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed nine U.S. paratroopers and wounded 20 in the worst attack on American ground forces in Iraq in more than a year.
The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group of Sunni militants that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, said it was behind Monday's attack on a U.S. patrol base in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad — an area that has seen a spike in violence since American troops surged into the capital to halt violence there.
The victims were all members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, said a spokesman for the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based unit. It was the highest number of casualties for the division since the war began, Maj. Tom Earnhardt said.
Meanwhile, police in the same area said gunmen disguised as Iraqi soldiers killed six Iraqis and burned five homes Tuesday in an unrelated attack. South of the capital, a family of seven was killed en masse — shot to death in their beds at dawn by masked gunmen, neighbors and police said.
British forces transferred another military base to Iraqi troops in the country's south, ahead of the planned withdrawal this summer of about half of Britain's contribution to the U.S.-led coalition here.
And in Baghdad, two bombs went off outside the Iranian Embassy on Tuesday for the second consecutive day. Six civilians were injured, police said. Tension has risen over allegations by the U.S. and some Sunni politicians in Iraq about alleged Iranian interference in the country.
A suicide car bomber rammed into an American patrol base in Diyala on Monday, killing nine soldiers and wounding 20, the military said. All were members of the 82nd Airborne's 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, the military said. Fifteen of the 20 were treated and later returned to duty, while five others and an Iraqi civilian were evacuated to a medical facility, it said.
In its Web posting Tuesday, the Islamic State of Iraq put the number of Americans killed at 30.
"Almighty God has guided the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq to new methods of explosions," it said without elaborating. The message appeared on a Web site that frequently airs communications from militants, but its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.
It was single deadliest attack on ground forces since Dec. 1, 2005, when a roadside bomb killed 10 Marines and wounded 11 on a foot patrol near Fallujah.
Twelve soldiers died when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Diyala on Jan. 20. The military said it might have been shot down but the investigation is still ongoing.
In other devastating attacks, 14 Marines were killed when a roadside bomb struck an amphibious assault vehicle near the western town of Haditha on Aug. 3, 2005. And a suicide bomber struck a mess tent in a base near Mosul on Dec. 21, 2004, killing 22 people, including 14 U.S. soldiers and three American contractors.
It was the second bold attack against a U.S. base north of Baghdad in just over two months and was notable for its use of a suicide car bomber. Militants have mostly used hit-and-run ambushes, roadside bombs or mortars on U.S. troops and stayed away from direct assaults on fortified military compounds to avoid U.S. firepower.
On Feb. 19, insurgents struck a U.S. combat post in Tarmiyah, about 30 miles north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding 17 in what the military called a "coordinated attack." It began with a suicide car bombing followed by gunfire on soldiers pinned down in a former Iraqi police station where fuel storage tanks were set ablaze by the blast.
American troops are facing increasing danger as they step up their presence in outposts and police stations in Baghdad and areas surrounding the city, as part of the security crackdown to which President Bush has committed an extra 30,000 troops.
Sunni militants are believed to have withdrawn to surrounding areas such as Diyala where they have safe haven. The U.S. command also deployed an extra 700 soldiers to the province last month.
Another U.S. soldier was also killed Monday in a roadside bombing in Diyala, the military said — bringing the daily American death toll to 10. A British soldier was also shot to death while on patrol in the southern city of Basra, officials said.
The deaths raised to 85 the number of U.S. service members who died have in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month for American troops since December, when 112 died.
On Tuesday, gunmen stormed a house south of Baghdad at dawn, going room to room and killing seven relatives while they were still in their beds, police and neighbors said.
Neighbors said they could not recognize the assailants, who wore masks and drove into town in three pickup trucks. The whole incident lasted just a few minutes, police said, with the gunmen methodically moving room to room and pumping bullets into the residents while they slept.
All seven victims were from the same family: a mother and father, their son and four teenage grandchildren, police said. The attack occurred in the mostly Shiite village of Jaara, less than 25 miles south of Baghdad.
Hours later, gunmen disguised as Iraqi soldiers raided a remote village near the city of Baqouba, killing six people, wounding 15, and burning five homes, police said.
The attack by about 70 gunmen riding in Iraqi army Humvees took place in the same province where the nine U.S. troops died a day earlier.
A brief transfer ceremony was held in Basra on Tuesday at the Shaibah logistics base, once the main center of British military operations in Iraq. Iraq's national army planned to use the facility for training.
Two other British bases — al-Saie and Shatt al-Arab — were turned over to Iraqi forces in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, in the past month.
The bulk of Britain's about 7,500 soldiers in the city will now operate from a base at Basra's main airport.
Two car bombs exploded within minutes of each other Tuesday in a public parking lot about 150 yards from the front of the Iranian Embassy, wounding six civilians but causing no damage to the building, a police officer said on condition of anonymity out of concern for his own security.
On Monday, two parked car bombs exploded outside the embassy. One bomb exploded near the same public parking lot, killing one civilian and wounding another; the other parked car bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the embassy, killing one civilian and wounding two officers, police said.
On its Web site, the prominent Iraqi Sunni insurgent group Islamic Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for Monday's bombing near the parking lot.
Also Tuesday:
• Four bullet-riddled bodies were delivered to the morgue in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, said morgue official Mamoun Ajeel al-Rubaie. Three had been decapitated, he said.
• A bomb hidden in a bag exploded on a minibus in eastern Baghdad, killing four passengers and wounding eight, police said.
By HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago
An al-Qaida-linked group posted a Web statement Tuesday claiming responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed nine U.S. paratroopers and wounded 20 in the worst attack on American ground forces in Iraq in more than a year.
The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group of Sunni militants that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, said it was behind Monday's attack on a U.S. patrol base in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad — an area that has seen a spike in violence since American troops surged into the capital to halt violence there.
The victims were all members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, said a spokesman for the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based unit. It was the highest number of casualties for the division since the war began, Maj. Tom Earnhardt said.
Meanwhile, police in the same area said gunmen disguised as Iraqi soldiers killed six Iraqis and burned five homes Tuesday in an unrelated attack. South of the capital, a family of seven was killed en masse — shot to death in their beds at dawn by masked gunmen, neighbors and police said.
British forces transferred another military base to Iraqi troops in the country's south, ahead of the planned withdrawal this summer of about half of Britain's contribution to the U.S.-led coalition here.
And in Baghdad, two bombs went off outside the Iranian Embassy on Tuesday for the second consecutive day. Six civilians were injured, police said. Tension has risen over allegations by the U.S. and some Sunni politicians in Iraq about alleged Iranian interference in the country.
A suicide car bomber rammed into an American patrol base in Diyala on Monday, killing nine soldiers and wounding 20, the military said. All were members of the 82nd Airborne's 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, the military said. Fifteen of the 20 were treated and later returned to duty, while five others and an Iraqi civilian were evacuated to a medical facility, it said.
In its Web posting Tuesday, the Islamic State of Iraq put the number of Americans killed at 30.
"Almighty God has guided the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq to new methods of explosions," it said without elaborating. The message appeared on a Web site that frequently airs communications from militants, but its authenticity could not be independently confirmed.
It was single deadliest attack on ground forces since Dec. 1, 2005, when a roadside bomb killed 10 Marines and wounded 11 on a foot patrol near Fallujah.
Twelve soldiers died when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Diyala on Jan. 20. The military said it might have been shot down but the investigation is still ongoing.
In other devastating attacks, 14 Marines were killed when a roadside bomb struck an amphibious assault vehicle near the western town of Haditha on Aug. 3, 2005. And a suicide bomber struck a mess tent in a base near Mosul on Dec. 21, 2004, killing 22 people, including 14 U.S. soldiers and three American contractors.
It was the second bold attack against a U.S. base north of Baghdad in just over two months and was notable for its use of a suicide car bomber. Militants have mostly used hit-and-run ambushes, roadside bombs or mortars on U.S. troops and stayed away from direct assaults on fortified military compounds to avoid U.S. firepower.
On Feb. 19, insurgents struck a U.S. combat post in Tarmiyah, about 30 miles north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding 17 in what the military called a "coordinated attack." It began with a suicide car bombing followed by gunfire on soldiers pinned down in a former Iraqi police station where fuel storage tanks were set ablaze by the blast.
American troops are facing increasing danger as they step up their presence in outposts and police stations in Baghdad and areas surrounding the city, as part of the security crackdown to which President Bush has committed an extra 30,000 troops.
Sunni militants are believed to have withdrawn to surrounding areas such as Diyala where they have safe haven. The U.S. command also deployed an extra 700 soldiers to the province last month.
Another U.S. soldier was also killed Monday in a roadside bombing in Diyala, the military said — bringing the daily American death toll to 10. A British soldier was also shot to death while on patrol in the southern city of Basra, officials said.
The deaths raised to 85 the number of U.S. service members who died have in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month for American troops since December, when 112 died.
On Tuesday, gunmen stormed a house south of Baghdad at dawn, going room to room and killing seven relatives while they were still in their beds, police and neighbors said.
Neighbors said they could not recognize the assailants, who wore masks and drove into town in three pickup trucks. The whole incident lasted just a few minutes, police said, with the gunmen methodically moving room to room and pumping bullets into the residents while they slept.
All seven victims were from the same family: a mother and father, their son and four teenage grandchildren, police said. The attack occurred in the mostly Shiite village of Jaara, less than 25 miles south of Baghdad.
Hours later, gunmen disguised as Iraqi soldiers raided a remote village near the city of Baqouba, killing six people, wounding 15, and burning five homes, police said.
The attack by about 70 gunmen riding in Iraqi army Humvees took place in the same province where the nine U.S. troops died a day earlier.
A brief transfer ceremony was held in Basra on Tuesday at the Shaibah logistics base, once the main center of British military operations in Iraq. Iraq's national army planned to use the facility for training.
Two other British bases — al-Saie and Shatt al-Arab — were turned over to Iraqi forces in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, in the past month.
The bulk of Britain's about 7,500 soldiers in the city will now operate from a base at Basra's main airport.
Two car bombs exploded within minutes of each other Tuesday in a public parking lot about 150 yards from the front of the Iranian Embassy, wounding six civilians but causing no damage to the building, a police officer said on condition of anonymity out of concern for his own security.
On Monday, two parked car bombs exploded outside the embassy. One bomb exploded near the same public parking lot, killing one civilian and wounding another; the other parked car bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the embassy, killing one civilian and wounding two officers, police said.
On its Web site, the prominent Iraqi Sunni insurgent group Islamic Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for Monday's bombing near the parking lot.
Also Tuesday:
• Four bullet-riddled bodies were delivered to the morgue in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, said morgue official Mamoun Ajeel al-Rubaie. Three had been decapitated, he said.
• A bomb hidden in a bag exploded on a minibus in eastern Baghdad, killing four passengers and wounding eight, police said.
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