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Κυριακή 30 Ιουνίου 2013
International News
Al Nusrah Front claims joint operations, including a suicide assault, with Syrian rebel groups
Posted: 28 Jun 2013 09:26 PM PDT
The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, claimed it launched two suicide assaults and other attacks with Syrian rebel groups, including an Islamist unit and two Free Syrian Army brigades.
The Al Nusrah Front made the claims in a series of statements released on June 27 by its official media outlet, the Al-Manara Al-Baydha' Foundation. The statements were obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
The attacks were carried out in conjunction with the Nasser Salahuddin Brigade, an Islamist group from the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front, and the Dera' al Assima, Liwa al Habib al Mustafa, and Liwa' al-Tawhid, three Free Syrian Army brigades that operate in Damascus.
The Al Nusrah Front said the two suicide assaults took place "in Eastern Ghouta in the countryside of Damascus" on April 22. Al Nusrah Front suicide bombers targeted two "barriers," or outposts, with explosives-packed cars.
"That was in order to open the way for the storming lions of the Al Nusrah Front and the Nasser Salahuddin Brigade to raid the two barriers and comb them," the statement said, according to SITE. The Al Nusrah Front claimed that "more than 150 soldiers" were killed and two tanks were destroyed in the operation.
In addition to the Ghouta suicide assaults, the Al Nusrah Front claimed to have launched multiple mortar and rocket attacks on April 22, with the help of the Dera' al Assima and Liwa al Habib al Mustafa brigades, against Syrian forces in the Damascus area.
And on April 10, according to a recent statement, the Al Nusrah Front and the Liwa' al-Tawhid Brigade executed a joint conventional military assault on a Syrian military unit.
"The raid started with two groups of immersers from the Al Nusra Front, with the support of a group from Liwa' al-Tawhid with a 23mm cannon and DShK" anti-aircraft machine guns, the statement said. The Al Nusrah Front fighters stormed the Syrian military positions and destroyed several tanks, the terror group claimed.
Free Syrian Army works with the Al Nusrah Front
The Al Nusrah Front is willing to work with Syrian rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army, and in its official statements has admitted to doing so.
In October 2012, the Al Nusrah Front claimed it commanded elements of the Al Fajr [Dawn] Islamic Brigade, a known Free Syrian Army unit, as well as "Chechens," likely from the Muhajireen Brigade, during an assault on a Syrian air defense and Scud missile base in Aleppo.
And in August 2012, the Al Nusrah Front said it launched a joint operation with the Battalion of the Mujahideen of the Companions [Al Sahaba Battalion] against a police station in the countryside of Damascus.
The Al Nusrah Front has also cooperated with Free Syrian Army units to establish sharia, or Islamic law, in Aleppo and in eastern Syria.
One of the founders of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riyad al Assad, has welcomed the Al Nusrah Front on the battlefield and has described the group as "our brothers in Islam." Riyad made the statements in an undated video that was uploaded on YouTube in March.
"We have offered martyrs and other things and, accordingly, nobody should blame us for this matter," he said. "The Al Nusrah Front has proved that it is proficient in fighting and has treated the people very nicely."
Riyad then said the Al Nusrah Front "thus far have not done anything wrong to anybody," disregarding the facts that the group has executed suicide attacks that have killed civilians and enforces a harsh form of sharia, or Islamic law, in areas under its control.
The US government is backing the Free Syrian Army despite the group's known ties to the Al Nusrah Front. The Obama administration announced on June 13 that it would arm Syrian rebels against President Bashir al Assad, who is backed by Iran and Hezbollah, after accusing the Syrian government of using chemical weapons.
The CIA has begun moving light weapons and possibly anti-tank missiles from Jordan to Syria, where they are to be given to 'elaborately' vetted opposition elements. The CIA is considering using special operations teams from the US, Jordan, and the UAE to train rebels. US officials say the effort will aim to produce trained moderate fighters faster than the growth of the Al Nusrah Front, which has added "thousands" of fighters this past year. Meanwhile, Saudi officials have offered to identify 'trusted' rebel fighters to be given shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.
But large numbers of Free Syrian Army fighters and even entire units are said to be defecting to the Al Nusrah Front. From Jan. 1 until the beginning of May, more than 3,000 Free Syrian Army fighters are thought to have taken their weapons and joined al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.
Suicide bomber kills 4 in Christian neighborhood in Damascus
Posted: 28 Jun 2013 08:17 PM PDT
A suicide bomber killed four people in an attack in a Christian area of the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier today, according to the state-run Syrian media. The suicide bombing is the 23rd reported in Syria so far this year.
A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vest "in the vicinity of the Greek Orthodox Virgin Mary Church in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Bab Sharqi in Damascus' Old City," The Associated Press reported.
It is unclear if the bomber was attempting to target the church or Christians, who are increasingly taking the government's side in Syria's civil war as Islamist militias are gaining power, or a nearby militia that is loyal to President Bashir al Assad.
The Syrian Arab News Agency, the official news outlet for the Assad regime, claimed that the suicide bomber "blew himself up amongst a group of citizens who were receiving medical services at the charity, killing four and injuring eight."
While no group has claimed credit for the attack, it was likely executed by the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria. The Al Nusrah Front has claimed credit for most of the attacks that have taken place in Syria since the civil war began two years ago.
Today's suicide bombing is the third in Damascus this month. The last attack took place just five days ago, when three suicide bombers assaulted a police station in the capital, killing five people.
Also, on June 11, two suicide bombers detonated their explosives at a police station in Damascus, killing at least 14 people.
So far this year, 24 suicide attacks and assaults have been reported in Syria; the Al Nusrah Front has claimed credit for 16 of them. The Muhajireen Army, which is led by a Chechen commander and has numerous foreign fighters in its ranks, claimed credit for two suicide assaults at a military airport in Aleppo that took place this month. In one of the assaults, ehe Muhajireen Army detonated an armored personnel vehicle on the base.
The Al Nusrah Front has claimed credit for 60 of the 76 suicide attacks that have been reported in Syria since December 2011, according to a tally by The Long War Journal (note that multiple suicide bombers deployed in a single operation are counted as part of a single attack).
Σάββατο 29 Ιουνίου 2013
Παρασκευή 28 Ιουνίου 2013
Πέμπτη 27 Ιουνίου 2013
Super-Earths: New Planets Found!
Astronomers working at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile have discovered seven planets orbiting the star Gliese 667C.
Two exoplanets have been discovered in the star's habitable zone, which has just the right range of distance where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface.
A super-Earth is an extrasolar planet with a mass higher than Earth's, but substantially below the mass of the Solar System's smaller gas giants Uranus and Neptune, which are both more or less 15 Earth masses.
The term super-Earth refers only to the mass of the planet, and does not imply anything about the surface conditions or habitability.
Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory in Chile found out that 40 per cent of red dwarves are orbited by super-Earths. Red Dwarfs are by far the most common type of star in the Milky Way galaxy, so there might be tens of billions of such planets in our galaxy alone.
World Drug Report Reveals The Staggering Extent Of North America's Meth Problem
World Drug Report Reveals The Staggering Extent Of North America's Meth Problem
From 2010 to 2011 worldwide seizures of methamphetamine by authorities grew by 73% — from 51 tons to 88 tons — and 61% (54 tons) of all seizures were reported by Mexico and the U.S.
From the report (emphasis ours):
The highest methamphetamine seizures were reported by Mexico, where seizures more than doubled, from 13 tons to 31 tons [i.e. the most in the world], and surpassed for the first time those of the United States which seized 23 tons in 2011, up from 15 tons in 2010. ...
Most methamphetamine laboratories continue to be reported by the United States, where their numbers quadrupled from 2,754 in 2010 to 11,116 in 2011.
Basically, Mexico and the U.S. combined are a meth powerhouse.
In 2007 Mexican authorities made the largest drug cash seizure in history when they discovered $205 million in the home of a suspected cartel supplier of meth-precursor chemicals.
And since 2007 Mexican cartels have been pumping exceptionally cheap and high quality meth into the U.S. for a profit of $5 billion a year.
In October the DEA estimated that cartel meth — which is 90% pure — makes up for as much as 80% of the meth sold in the U.S.
In December 2011 officials seized 252 tons of precursor chemicals for manufacturing meth at one of the Pacific ports used by cartels to supply their superlabs (where they make industrial volumes of meth).
In Chicago, where Guzmán is Public Enemy No.1, Sinaloa is employing more than 100,000 gang members to sling meth (along with cocaine, marijuana and heroin) on the streets while cartel members blend in with the metro area's two million Hispanic residents.
It should be noted that there are allegations that Guzmán, who was on the Forbes' list of billionaires from 2009 to 2012, works with the U.S. government.
In court documents, a high-ranking member of Sinaloa currently in U.S. custody asserted that Guzmán is a U.S. informant, Sinaloa was "given carte blanche to continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs into Chicago," and Operation Fast and Furious was part of an agreement to finance and arm the cartel in exchange for information used to take down its rivals.
The claims were corroborated by a Mexican foreign service officer who doubled as a confidential source for the U.S. security firm Stratfor when he alleged that the U.S. government works with Mexican cartels to traffic drugs into the U.S., and that in 2010 the U.S. sided with Sinaloa in an attempt to limit the violence in Mexico.
The rest of the world
Meth seizures have increased in the rest of the world as well as seizures rose from 21 tons to 32 tons in Asia and 1200 lbs to 2 tons in Europe.
The authors notes that in 2011 East and South-East Asia also continued to make up a significant share of the global meth market, with the highest seizures reported from China (14 tons), Indonesia (1 ton), Malaysia (1 ton) and Thailand (10 tons).
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/north-america-has-a-massive-meth-problem-2013-6#ixzz2XPY4vZ6x
Τετάρτη 26 Ιουνίου 2013
ΤΟ ΝΕΟ ΝΑΡΚΩΤΙΚΟ ΠΟΥ ΣΚΟΤΩΝΗ
'ΚΡΟΚΟΝΤΙΛ''!!![ΑΝΑΤΡΙΧΙΑΣΤΙΚΟ ΒΙΝΤΕΟ]ΦΡΙΚΤΕΣ ΣΟΚΑΡΙΣΤΙΚΕΣ ΦΩΤΟΓΡΑΦΙΕΣ!!!!ΤΟ ΝΕΟ ΝΑΡΚΩΤΙΚΟ ΠΟΥ ΚΑΤΑΤΡΩΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΣΑΡΚΑ!!!!ΤΡΕΙΣ ΦΟΡΕΣ ΙΣΧΥΡΟΤΕΡΟ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΗΡΩΙΝΗ!!!!
Είναι το νέο ναρκωτικό των φτωχών που ξεσκίζει τις σάρκες των ναρκομανών. Το ναρκωτικό διαδόθηκε στην Ρωσία το 2010 και εξαπλώνεται με γοργούς ρυθμούς σε ολόκληρη την Ευρώπη!
Ονομάζεται Κροκοντίλ και είναι τρεις φορές ισχυρότερο από την ηρωίνη, είναι εύκολο στην παρασκευή του και πολύ πιο φτηνό.
Για να επιτευχθεί το θανατηφόρο μιξ χρειάζονται συστατικά που μπορούν εύκολα να βρεθούν στην αγορά αφού υπάρχουν σε όλα τα φαρμακεία και στα σπίτια μας: αποτελείται από ...μια τοξική μίξη κωδεΐνης (περιέχεται σε πολλά φάρμακα καταπολέμισης της ημικρανίας και πωλείται χωρίς συνταγή στα φαρμακεία), βενζίνη, λάδι, βιομηχανικό απορρυπαντικό και ιώδιο!
Μετά την χρήση το ισχυρό νέο ναρκωτικό προκαλεί σοβαρές επιπτώσεις στην υγεία του ναρκομανή στα εσωτερικά του όργανα αλλά και εξωτερικά του σώματός του όπως βλέπετε στις σοκαριστικές φωτογραφίες.
Σε πολλές περιπτώσεις οι γιατροί είναι αναγκασμένοι να προβούν σε ακρωτηριασμούς δαχτύλων αλλά και ολόκληρων μελών για να σώσουν τη ζωή στους χρήστες του Κροκοντίλ! Το καινούριο αυτό ναρκωτικό σκοτώνει τους ναρκομανείς μετά από χρήση που κυμαίνεται από 1 έως 3 χρόνια σε αντίθεση με την ηρωίνη που καταγράφει θνησιμότητα 5 με 7 χρόνια.
Ήδη στην Γερμανία υπάρχουν γιατροί που επιβεβαιώνουν την «εισαγωγή» του ναρκωτικού αλλά και αρκετών θυμάτων από την αρχή του έτους
Το βίντεο είναι γυρισμένο το 2011 και δείχνει τις τρομαχτικές επιπτώσεις στο σώμα των τοξικομανών.
Τρίτη 25 Ιουνίου 2013
Jaguar C-X75 Hybrid Supercar back in the spotligh
Jaguar C-X75 Hybrid Supercar back in the spotlight
Despite being cancelled as a production car, the Jaguar C-X75 Hybrid Supercar is back in the news with new photos from Jaguar and Autocar given seat time.
A few days ago we heard that the hybrid underpinnings of the canned Jaguar C-X75 were going to find their way in to the F-Type to produce a 700bhp monster.
We had our doubts about that, but it does seem clear that Jaguar are not going to let the C-X75 just disappear in to oblivion.
Not only that, but they invited Autocar (others, like Car, got to play too) to have a brief blat in the 890bhp C-X75 at Gaydon (video below), where its 1.6 litre twin charged Williams engine put out its 500bhp with a wail that sounded like an Isle of Man TT run on steroids.
So it seems clear that there is more to come from the C-X75, either as a powertrain for a road Jaguar or perhaps, dare we say, as a production car after all?
Perhaps Jaguar decided that the timing was just wrong to deliver an 890bhp hypercar, not because, as they cited at the time, that the world recession mitigated against its production, but because the new LaFerrari and McLaren P1 would be direct competition and make it tough to shift a few hundred Jaguar Supercars?
Perhaps the plan is to keep the C-X75 in the public eye for another year or so, wait for most of the LaFerrari and McLaren P1 buyers to start hankering for a new toy and then declare the economy is robust enough to justify a production run of the C-X75 after all.
Or is that just wishful thinking?
Read more: http://www.carsuk.net/jaguar-c-x75-hybrid-supercar-back-in-the-spotlight/#ixzz2XEADuFu0
Δευτέρα 24 Ιουνίου 2013
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Afghan Taliban balk at removing flag, official name from 'political office' in Qatar
Posted: 23 Jun 2013 08:31 AM PDT
The spokesman for the Taliban's "political office" in Qatar said the Gulf country had agreed to allow the al Qaeda-linked group to raise the Taliban flag and use the name "Political office of The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" for its, well, political office in Qatar. Dr. Muhammad Naeem, the "spokesman of political office of Islamic Emirate in Qatar" released a statement at Voice of Jihad, the Taliban's official website, claiming as much. The statement is reproduced in full below:
Yesterday on the 21/06/2013, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper published a report regarding the use of the name and flag of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on its political office in Qatar. The said report quotes the U.S Secretary of State John Kerry as saying that they had signed an agreement with the leaders of Islamic Emirate regarding the use of flag and name 'Political office of The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan' on their political office while in reality, no such agreement has been signed nor does such an agreement exist although documents have been exchanged between the Islamic Emirate and the Qatari government regarding conditions of the office.
The raising of the flag and the use of the name of Islamic Emirate were done with the agreement of the Qatari government. The statement which states that by using the name and raising the flag, the Islamic Emirate somehow violated an agreement, then this allegation is completely false while the discord which arose due to panic by the Kabul administration is not related to the Islamic Emirate.
The spokesman of political office of Islamic Emirate in Qatar
Dr. Muhammad Naeem
The Taliban has seized on the desire of the US and NATO for a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan and manipulated the negotiations process from the very beginning to achieve the goal of acquiring international legitimacy. While the US and Afghanistan have insisted that the Qatar office be used only as part of negotiations, the Taliban has used the office to serve as its de facto embassy to the world. The raising of the Taliban flag and the designation of the facility as the "Political office of The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," the same name the Taliban used during its rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, show that the Taliban has every intention of presenting itself as the legitimate party in Afghanistan.
The Obama administration is apparently so desperate to achieve a negotiated settlement that it is willing to sideline the Afghan government and hold direct talks, and even release five senior al Qaeda-linked Taliban commanders in exchange for a captive US soldier. All the while, the Taliban has made it very clear it will neither denounce al Qaeda and sever ties with the group nor join an Afghan government. Instead, the Taliban continues to insist on an end to the presence of foreign troops and a return of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, ruled by the Taliban.
The sooner the West recognizes it is being played by the Taliban and wasting precious time and energy on negotiations that serve only to legitimize the Taliban, the better.
Taliban's shadow governor for Nuristan again reported killed in airstrike
Posted: 23 Jun 2013 07:48 AM PDT
Dost Mohammed, the Taliban's shadow governor for Nuristan province, being interviewed by Al Jazeera in November 2009.
Afghan officials are again reporting that Sheikh Dost Mohammed, the Taliban's shadow governor for Nuristan province, has been killed in a US drone strike in Kunar province. The report of Dost Mohammed's death is the second so far this year.
Dost Mohammed and two "guards" were supposedly killed on June 21 in a US airstrike in Kunar's Ghaziabad district, Nuristan governor Tamim Nuristani told Pajhwok Afghan News. Syed Fazlullah Wahidi, the governor of Kunar province, also claimed that Dost Mohammed was killed in an airstrike on June 21.
The International Security Assistance Force did not confirm a strike took place in Kunar, but it is possible that unmanned Predators or Repeaters operated by the CIA carried out a strike.
The Taliban have not commented on the reports of Dost Mohammed's death. An email sent to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's spokesman, has gone unanswered.
Dost Mohammed has previously been reported killed numerous times since 2009, and the latest report about his death should be viewed with caution. Most recently, in March, Afghan officials claimed that he was killed in a US drone strike, also in Ghaziabad.
Since abandoning several outposts in the more remote border districts of Nuristan province in October 2009, Afghan and Coalition forces have continued operations against an entrenched Taliban network spanning Kunar and Nuristan provinces. Last May, a Coalition operation killed Sheikh Jamil ur Rahman, the Taliban's deputy shadow governor for Nuristan province, as he and associate Abdul Hakim were traveling through Nuristan's Waygal district.
Background on Dost Mohammed and Nuristan
Dost Mohammed is one of the most wanted Taliban commanders in Afghanistan, and has organized massed assaults on US bases in the province. In one such attack, on Camp Keating in October 2009, Dost's fighters, backed by al Qaeda and other foreign fighters, overran a portion of the base and killed nine US soldiers.
After US forces withdrew from combat outposts in Nuristan, Al Jazeera released a video of the Talibanoccupying one of the abandoned combat outposts in Kamdish district in Nuristan. The Taliban displayed weapons, mines, and ammunition left behind by departing US and Afghan forces. In another video, released by the Taliban, Dost Mohammed, the shadow governor for Nuristan, was seen riding on an exercise bike that was left behind by US forces.
Much of Nuristan is thought to be either under Taliban control or contested. In September 2011, Governor Nuristani said that six of the eight districts in his province were effectively under Taliban control [see LWJreport, Governor: Most of Nuristan under Taliban control].
The province serves as a safe haven for al Qaeda, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and other regional terror groups. ISAF has launched three raids against al Qaeda's network in Nuristan so far this year. In one raid, on May 1, ISAF killed Saleh Abd Al-Aziz Hamad al-Luhayb, a Saudi national whose name appeared on Saudi Arabia's list of 47 most wanted terrorists in 2011. He was a known mortar and explosives expert, participated in attacks against security forces, served as a key liaison and trainer to local insurgent commanders, and led efforts to establish a permanent foreign fighter presence in the area, particularly "Arabs," ISAF said.
The Afghan government and the Coalition have stopped waging counterinsurgency operations in Nuristan and neighboring Kunar. The US military has withdrawn from several combat outposts in the rugged, remote provinces. Instead, conventional and special operations forces are launching periodic sweeps to cull the Taliban forces, or "mowing the grass," as a senior US general described it in April 2011.
Κυριακή 23 Ιουνίου 2013
Σάββατο 22 Ιουνίου 2013
Παρασκευή 21 Ιουνίου 2013
The Long War Journal (Site-Wide)
Salafi jihadist supporters hold 3rd public protest against Hamas in months
Posted: 20 Jun 2013 12:26 PM PDT
Supporters of Salafi jihadists in the Gaza Strip held a demonstration in Gaza City today to protest Hamas' "continued violations" against Salafi jihadists in Gaza. The latest violation, according to a statement announcing the protest, is the arrest and alleged torture of Sheikh Hussein al Jo'ayteni.
Al Jo'ayteni was arrested on June 11 by Hamas forces, according to the Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center (ITMC), a jihadist media unit tied to the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem. In recent days, Salafi jihadist Facebook pages and media units, such as the ITMC, have alleged that al Jo'ayteni has been tortured in Hamas' prisons. According to the ITMC, Hamas is torturing al Jo'ayteni "day and night" in order to obtain information from him regarding Salafist groups in the Gaza Strip.
Those who attended today's protest called on Hamas to immediately release imprisoned Salafists. The protesters also called on Hamas to stop its campaign against Salafi jihadists. According to press reports, Hamas security forces prevented journalists from covering the event and in some cases confiscated cameras.
Thursday's protest is the third of its kind in recent months and comes two days after the ITMC released a video of jihadists in Syria demanding that Hamas end its campaign against Salafi jihadists in Gaza. Today's protest was promoted by a Facebook pagerecently opened for relatives and friends of Salafi jihadists currently imprisoned by Hamas.
On April 28, a protest against Hamas promoted by the same Facebook group was held in Gaza City. While most in attendance held handmade signs condemning Hamas and calling for the release of their family members, others were seen holding al Qaeda's black flag, which was first used by al Qaeda in Iraq but has been adopted by other al Qaeda affiliates.
On April 6, the group had organized another protest in Rafah against Hamas. According to press reports, approximately 30 people partook in the demonstration before Hamas security forces dispersed it.
Tensions between Hamas and the Salafi jihadists in Gaza have increased in recent weeks after a lull in late May. According to Abu al Ayna al Ansari, a Salafi jihadist leader in the Gaza Strip, well-known Islamic personalities from the Gulf, including Qatar and Kuwait, are mediating discussions between Hamas and Salafi jihadists.
Afghan and US Special Forces in Ghazni province
Posted: 20 Jun 2013 11:30 AM PDT
USA Today correspondent Carmen Gentile reports on Afghan and US Special Forces operations in Gardez Khala, Ghazni province Afghanistan.
Taliban want release of 5 al Qaeda-linked commanders in exchange for captured US soldier
Posted: 20 Jun 2013 12:30 PM PDT
The Taliban have again offered to exchange a US soldier who was captured in 2009 for five Taliban commanders currently held at Guantanamo Bay who are closely tied to al Qaeda. The offer comes just two days after the Taliban officially opened a political office in Qatar which is being used to legitimize the group in the international community.
In a telephone conversation today from their Qatar office with the Associated Press, the Taliban said they would exchange Bowe Bergdahl, who went missing in eastern Afghanistan in the summer of 2009, for five notorious and dangerous Taliban leaders who are currently in custody at Guantanamo. Those five leaders have previously been identified by The Long War Journal as Abdul Haq Wasiq (former Taliban deputy minister of intelligence); Mullah Norullah Noori (a former Taliban governor and military commander); Mullah Mohammed Fazl (the Taliban army's chief of staff); Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa (the former Taliban governor of Herat province); and Mohammad Nabi (a commander with ties to numerous terror groups).
Relying on declassified and leaked Joint Task Force-Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) documents authored by US intelligence officials, The Long War Journal has previously profiled these five senior Taliban leaders. [See LWJ reports, Taliban seek freedom for dangerous Guantanamo detainees, Afghan peace council reportedly seeks talks with Taliban commanders held at Gitmo, and Afghan Taliban announces new 'political office' in Qatar.]
All five Taliban leaders have extensive ties to al Qaeda, according to intelligence reports cited by JTF-GTMO.
The US is willing to release the five prisoners without the condition that the Taliban denounce al Qaeda. The Taliban have refused to denounce al Qaeda or even sever ties with the group since the US invasion of Afghanistan in the fall of 2001.
The US has discussed making the same exchange in the past, but the Taliban suspended negotiations in March 2012 after claiming the US misrepresented the purpose of the political office established in Qatar. The Taliban had also claimed that the office was to be used for "preliminary talks with the occupying enemy over the exchange of prisoners" as well as to communicate the Taliban's intent to fight NATO forces until they withdraw from Afghanistan.
But the Taliban have now somewhat altered their rhetoric on the nature of the office, intimating that it would be used to conduct negotiations with the US and "Afghans," but not the Afghan government. The opening of the Taliban's office in Qatar was announced in a statement on the group's Voice of Jihad website on June 18.
First and foremost, the Taliban assert that the purpose of the office is to legitimize the group and communicate its messages to the international community. Although the Taliban have long maintained that the Qatar office was to be used primarily for advancing the group's political interests, not for conducting negotiations [see LWJ report, Taliban suspend 'dialogue' with US], the point is now made explicit.
In the Taliban's June 18 statement, the first reason given for the creation of the office is "to talk and improve relations with the international community through mutual understanding," while the fifth reason is to "give political statements to the media on the ongoing political situation." The fourth reason offered is to "establish contact with the United Nations, international and regional organizations and non-governmental institutions."
Reasons two and three are vague references to negotiations. The second reason put forth for the creation of the office is to "back such a political and peaceful solution which ends the occupation of Afghanistan, establishes an independent Islamic government and brings true security." The third is to "have meetings with Afghans in due appropriate time." The Taliban do not say they are willing to negotiate with the Afghan government.
In the June 18 announcement, the group also claims that it "does not wish to harm other countries from its soil and neither will it allow others use Afghan soil to pose a threat to the security of other nations!" This statement is strongly contradicted by the reality on the ground in Afghanistan.
The Afghan Taliban continue to conduct operations with and host international terror groups, such as al Qaeda, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Turkistan Islamic Party. Additionally, the Haqqani Network, a Taliban subgroup that operates in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and whose top leaders sit on the Taliban's executive councils, has facilitated international attacks. And classified documents found at Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, purportedly show that bin Laden and Zawahiri were in direct communication with Taliban emir Mullah Omar and that the three leaders plotted strategy and tactics.
The Taliban's announcement of the creation of the political office has incensed many senior Afghan politicians, including President Hamid Karzai. Yesterday, Karzai suspended talks with the US on an agreement to base US forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
Karzai accused the US of sidelining the Afghan government by conducting direct negotiations with the Taliban, and said that the office in Qatar is being used mainly for political purposes.
The Taliban's press conference announcing the creation of the office was certainly intended as a propaganda stunt to bolster the group's political profile. The Taliban displayed its white flag, and used the name "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," which the group used when it controlled Afghanistan from 1996 to the end of 2001. Additionally, Qatari officials appeared in the background while the Taliban spokesman thanked Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani for sponsoring the office.
The news of the office's opening also overshadowed the nationwide transfer of security responsibility from the International Security Assistance Force to the Afghan National Security Forces. Reports of the official security transfer on June 18 were dwarfed by the Taliban's announcement.
The US's willingness to negotiate with the Taliban to exchange Bergdahl for the five Taliban leaders also highlights the group's ongoing links to al Qaeda and its support for foreign fighters in Afghanistan.
Bergdahl is currently thought to be held by Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a Haqqani Network commander who serves as a senior lieutenant to Sirajuddin Haqqani and as the Taliban's shadow governor for Paktika province in Afghanistan. Mullah Sangeen was added to the list of designated terrorists on Aug. 16, 2011.
US military officials have told The Long War Journal that Sangeen is considered to be one of the most dangerous operational commanders in eastern Afghanistan. Sangeen has organized numerous assaults on US and Afghan combat outposts in the region. Sangeen has professed his support for al Qaeda and recently called on Turkish and Kurdish jihadists to join the fight in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Operation 38 Eagle in Sangin
Posted: 20 Jun 2013 06:17 AM PDT
[click on photo for larger image]
Via ISAF:
An Afghan National Army soldier fires a SPG-9, a Russian-made recoilless rifle, at known Taliban positions from a rooftop on a patrol base in the green zone in Sangin District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, May 29. Afghan National Army Brigadier General Wasea, the 2nd Brigade, 215th Corps commanding general, and his Afghan National Security Forces counterparts planned and launched Operation Aoqad Se Hasht [38 Eagle] to push Taliban fighters out of Sangin. Photo by Sgt. Bryan A. Peterson
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