insurgents

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Taliban Targets Attacks for Maximum Panic in Kabul

Incapable of large strikes, insurgents aim to strike fear into populace

(Newser) - Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan lack the firepower to spark a massive attack, but they’re doing their best to wage psychological warfare on Kabul, Newsweek reports. Creating a sense of instability through frequent small-scale attacks, “we can create panic and undermine the last vestiges of support for the regime,...

Bodies of 2 Missing GIs Found
 Bodies of 2 Missing GIs Found 

Bodies of 2 Missing GIs Found

Soldiers were kidnapped by insurgents in 2007 ambush

(Newser) - The families of two US soldiers missing in Iraq for over a year have been informed that their bodies have been found, reports AP. Alex Jimenez, 25, and Byron Fouty, 19, were seized by insurgents in a May 2007 ambush. Four other soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division "Polar...

Iraq Insurgents Gain Deadly New Weapon

Rocket-bomb attacks can kill dozens at a time

(Newser) - Shiite insurgents in Iraq have been attacking US forces with a new weapon the military fears could kill dozens of troops at a time, reports the Washington Post. Rocket-propelled bombs, made of propane tanks packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives, have killed at least 21 people this year, including...

Iraqis Losing Love for al-Qaeda
 Iraqis Losing Love for al-Qaeda 
ANALYSIS

Iraqis Losing Love for al-Qaeda

Insurgents reeling from citizen backlash, troop surge

(Newser) - Outsmarted and overwhelmed by allied forces in Iraq, al-Qaeda is getting desperate, Marie Colvin writes for the London Times. The insurgents, masters of organized resistance, are now resorting to small-scale hit-and-run attacks amidst waning support from Iraqis. “Al-Qaeda in Mosul is pretty much not able to do the attacks...

Pakistan Routs Taliban Forces in Major Offensive

Government abandons diplomatic tack to cut militant violence

(Newser) - Pakistan blasted suspected militant hideouts today, launching its biggest offensive against Taliban forces since electing a government last March. The military cleared three militant outposts and forced the insurgents west, CNN reports. For weeks, tensions have mounted between militants and Islamabad, which abandoned its diplomatic strategy as insurgent strikes increased.

Taliban Said Routed Near Kandahar

NATO forces help kill 56 insurgents in 'successful airstrikes'

(Newser) - Yesterday's swift offensive by Afghan and NATO forces drove Taliban militants from a strategic group of villages outside southern Afghanistan's largest city and killed 56 insurgents, Afghan officials said today. The Afghan National Army has taken control of the villages, a defense ministry spokesman said, but militants had planted hundreds...

Bookish Past Might Not Help Rebel Leader
Bookish Past Might Not Help Rebel Leader
ANALYSIS

Bookish Past Might Not Help Rebel Leader

Colombia's new reality will put dogmatic FARC head Cano to test

(Newser) - Though Alfonso Cano, the new commander of Colombia’s FARC rebels, is a bookish intellectual, don’t expect a new push towards government negotiations, sources tell the Washington Post. Cano, who turned to Marx in college after a middle-class upbringing, would be uniquely suited to push peaceful political action—but...

Hit-and-Run Tactics Keeping Taliban Afloat
Hit-and-Run Tactics Keeping Taliban Afloat
ANALYSIS

Hit-and-Run Tactics Keeping Taliban Afloat

'Asymmetrical' warfare has casualties down, hopes of prevailing up

(Newser) - The Taliban might hope Sunday's brazen attack on Afghan president Hamid Karzai signaled a new age of potency for the rebels. But although deaths from Taliban violence are on the rise, the Economist argues, the organization has not grown substantially—it has shifted its strategy away from conventional firefights to...

Libyan Town Exports Grim Crop: Suicide Bombers

Reporter travels to Darnah to uncover insurgents' motives

(Newser) - American intelligence has long known that the bulk of foreign combatants waging jihad in Iraq are Saudi nationals, but Libya is a close second, with much higher per capita representation. Documents found in Sinjar, Iraq, showed 112 fighters in a group of 606 were Libyan, and 52 came from Darnah,...

US Builds Giant Wall in Sadr City

Partition aims to keep insurgents from neighborhood

(Newser) - American forces have begun construction of an enormous concrete wall that will partition Sadr City, one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhood. The structure is intended to make the southern section of Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold that borders the Green Zone, into a protected enclave, reports the New York Times....

Iran Is Now a Bigger Threat in Iraq Than al-Qaeda: US Officials

(Newser) - Recent battles in Basra prove that Iran is crippling Iraqi stability while al-Qaeda's influence there wanes, US officials say. David Petraeus pointed to Iran's influence in testimony this week, and now Shiite militias are said to have benefited from Iranian weapons, training, and guidance in Basra fighting—prompting a Washington...

US-Backed Militias Curb Iraqi Women's Rights

'Sahwa' stabilize areas but rule with medieval customs

(Newser) - Women's rights in Iraq are devolving under the rule of US-backed militias, Newsweek reports. These Sahwa or "Awakening" groups have stabilized regions, but rule with medieval laws and customs: In some areas, women are commonly kept at home, forced to wear headscarves, or are married into polygamous relationships, Newsweek...

US Parts End Up in Insurgents' Bombs in Iraq

US technology exports to UAE getting diverted to Iraq via Iran

(Newser) - A year ago American technology started turning up in roadside bombs used to attack US troops in Iraq, the New York Times reports, and the rogue computer circuits were tracked to the United Arab Emirates. There investigators found the UAE's controls so lax that sensitive technology imported from the US...

Army Finds Remains of Soldier Captured in 2004

Ominous video showed Matt Maupin surrounded by masked men

(Newser) - The remains of an Ohio soldier who was captured in Iraq four years ago have been found, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. DNA tests identified the remains as Matt Maupin, 20, an Army general told the young soldier's parents. Maupin had been listed as missing in Iraq since his fuel convoy...

10 Killed as Somalia Forces Battle Insurgents

Government fires on market as Somalia teeters on collapse

(Newser) - At least 10 people were killed and 35 seriously injured in Somalia’s capital yesterday as insurgents fired mortars at the presidential palace, where Somalia’s president and Ethiopia’s foreign minister were meeting. The government responded by firing artillery shells and mortar in the direction of the attack, a...

A Colonel's Toughest Duty: the Condolence Letter

US commanders continue 18th-century custom

(Newser) - American warfare has changed over hundreds of years, but one tradition that remains is a commander’s condolence letter to the family of a fallen soldier. The Wall Street Journal spends time with a lieutenant colonel in Iraq who writes his letters by hand whenever one of his men dies....

Reb Leader Calls for Kurd Uprising in Turkey

Insurgency urged as Iraq battle continues

(Newser) - As Turkish troops continue their unprecedented ground offensive in northern Iraq, a leader of the targeted Kurdish separatist group has called for Kurds living in Turkey to rebel. A news agency loyal to the Kurdistan Workers' Party carried the call of the rebel Kurd commander to make Turkish cities "...

Gates Backs Pause in Iraq Troop Pullout

Defense secretary sees need to stabilize gains after 'al-Qaeda routed'

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates today backed a "pause" in pulling out US forces from Iraq once the 30,000  troops added for the surge are sent home in July. “The notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense,” Gates told reporters during...

Iraqi Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 33

Blast occurs as US defense secretary surveys troop surge

(Newser) - A suicide bomber killed at least 33 people and injured 45 in Iraq today just hours before US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a surprise visit to Baghdad, the BBC reports. The car blast, sparked by six barrels of explosives, toppled buildings, and officials say more bodies may be dug...

Diary of a Bitter al-Qaeda Leader
Diary of a Bitter al-Qaeda Leader

Diary of a Bitter al-Qaeda Leader

Insurgent slams Sunnis who've deserted group to join American forces

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda’s once indomitable force in Iraq is suffering from diminished ranks and low resources: That’s the word not from US generals but from one of the insurgent group’s leaders. In a bitter 16-page diary, Abu Tariq blasts former members who deserted al-Qaeda to join American forces. “...

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