Former Afghan President Assassinated

Former Afghan president and head of the High Peace Council, Burhanuddin Rabbani, was assassinated at his home in Kabul on Tuesday evening.A man named Esmatullah, who purported to be a top Taliban official, carried out the attack by detonating explosives concealed in his turban as he met with Mr Rabbani. Esmatullah is thought to be a member of the Quetta Shura based in Pakistan. Meeting at Mr Rabbani's his house in the Wazir Akhbar Khan neighbourhood of Kabul, he put his head on Mr Rabbani's his shoulder as a sign of respect. This was when he set off his bomb. Four others, including Mr. Rabbani's bodyguards and one of his secretaries, were also killed. Masoom Stanikzai, one of the peace council's secretaries, and several others were injured. Mr Rabani had just returned home from an official trip to Iran. No group has as yet claimed responsibility for the attack. But previous similar attacks on high-ranking Afghan officials have been carried by the Taliban. The half brother of President Hamid Karzai, Ahmed Wali Karzai, and the police chief of north zone, General Daud Daud, along with several other top officials have been assassinated by Taliban this year.Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly condemned the assassination of Mr Rabbani. "It's a sad day for Afghanistan but a day of unity," Mr Karzai said. The president cut short his visit to the United States where he was to address the General Assembly of the United Nations. He immediately headed back to Afghanistan. President Barack Obama also condemned Mr Rabbani's assassination and called it a big loss for Afghanistan and the peace process in the country. Dr Abdullah Abdullah, head of the Coalition for Change and Hope, strongly condemned the murder and praised Mr Rabbani's achievements in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan.Amrullah Saleh, the former head of the Afghan National Department of Security, also condemned the attack. Expressing deep anger, he called on the people of Afghanistan to come together to find a solution to rid the country of the Taliban. He also criticized the soft approach of the Afghan government towards the Taliban. Burhanuddin Rabani was the Mujahidin's first president from 1991 to 1996. During this time, Kabul became the battleground for warring Mujahidin fictions. When his government was overthrown by the Taliban, he headed the Northern Alliance resistance movement that fought the Taliban for five years. After the Taliban regime collapsed, Mr Rabbani officially handed over the government to Hamid Karzai at the Bonn International Conference. Mr Rabbani also served as a Member of Parliament for four years. Last year, he was appointed as the head of the Afghan High Peace Council by President Karzai to mediate peace negotiations between Afghan government and Taliban.

Life is Not Good!

We had the Complex Attack on the US Embassy and HQ ISAF yesterday. So we were locked down and restricted to the hard structures (mine is) or bunkers. They didn't lift restrictions so I snuck out at 10:30pm and walked home -- no water on base and bathrooms closed -- so I didn't want to stay on base.

When I got up this morning helicopter gun ships were hovering over head and firing their guns. I got my driver too take me half way to work and walked the rest of the way. So I am back at work after a 17.5 hour day yesterday and 5.5 hours of sleep.

I guess going out to dinner tonight is out of the question -- maybe tomorrow!

Taliban launch complex attack on US embassy in Kabul

A man shows a piece of armament that he says was from the rocket-propelled attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photograph: Omar Sobhani/Reuters

Taliban launch complex attack on US embassy in Kabul
By Bill RoggioSeptember 13, 2011
The Taliban launched a complex daylight attack on the US embassy and NATO headquarters in a secured area of Kabul this afternoon. The attack included suicide bombers that his an Afghan police station and fighters armed with rifles and RPGs firing at the embassy and NATO headquarters.
The International Security Assistance Force confirmed that a small group of Taliban fighters are "firing from outside the compound using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades." The Taliban fighters occupied an office building near the embassy and ISAF headquarters that is currently under construction to fire at the heavily fortified coumpounds.
The NATO military command stated that "there are no reports of ISAF casualties at this time" and forces were working with Afghan police and soldiers to battle the Taliban fighters.
Afghan police are fighting at officie building and are working to clear the builing, Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry said on his Twitter page.
"Two of the terrorists have been killed by police, two or three are still inside the building, clearance ops is on. One police killed so far," Sediqqi wrote. "MoI helicopters are patrolling over the building" to provide air support for the police in contact.
In another area of the capital, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked a police station while another detonated in front of a high school. A policeman was killed in the blast at the entrance to the police station, and two civilians were wounded in the blast outside the high school.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed credit for the attack in a statement released at Voice of Jihad, the Taliban's propaganda website.
"Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate attacked the NATO's ISAF HQ, US embassy and local and foreign intelligence agencies, storming the facilities with rockets, hand grenades, explosives vests and heavy and small arms triggering a bloody fighting and targeting the strategic points in the heart of Kabul city," he said.
Mujahid also claimed that "the city is in turmoil and the people are running about in terror and shock."
The Taliban have conducted several high-profile attacks in the Afghan capital this year. On Aug. 18, a suicide assault team killed eight people at the office of the British Council. On June 28, a suicide assault team stormed the Intercontinental Hotel and killed 13 people. On June 18, a suicide assault team attacked a police station near the Interior Ministry, killing eight people. On May 21, a suicide bomber killed six people in a hospital. On April 28, a suicide bomber penetrated security at the Ministry of Defense, killing two soldiers and wounding several senior officials. On February 24, a suicide bomber detonated outside of the Safi Landmark hotel, killing two people. And on January 28, a suicide assault team killed eight people at the Finest grocery.
Today's suicide attack, like the others in Kabul, was likely carried out by the Kabul Attack Network, which is made up of fighters from the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, and cooperates with terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and al Qaeda. Top Afghan intelligence officials have linked the Kabul Attack Network to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate as well. The network's tentacles extend outward from Kabul into the surrounding provinces of Logar, Wardak, Nangarhar, Kapisa, Ghazni, and Zabul, a US intelligence official recently told The Long War Journal.
The Kabul Attack Network is led by Dawood (or Daud) and Taj Mir Jawad, military and intelligence officials told The Long War Journal. Dawood is the Taliban's shadow governor for Kabul, while Taj Mir Jawad is a top commander in the Haqqani Network. In the US military files recently released by WikiLeaks, Taj Mir Jawad is identified as a top Haqqani Network leader.Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/09/taliban_launch_compl.php#ixzz1Xq9vRO53

Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Embassy in Kabul

Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Embassy in Kabul
By ALISSA J. RUBIN and JACK HEALY
KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents launched a complex assault against the American Embassy and the nearby NATO headquarters on Tuesday, pelting the heavily guarded compounds with rockets in an attack that raised new questions about the security of Afghanistan’s capital and the Westerners working there.
At least 10 explosions — apparently from rockets launched by militants — and waves of automatic weapons fire were reported amid the drone of sirens and English-language warnings telling Americans inside the embassy to take cover.
Sediq Sediqi, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that two attackers had been killed, as had one policeman. At about 4 p.m. local time, three attackers were believed to be still fighting. Kerri Hannan, a spokeswoman for the American Embassy, said that no embassy personnel had been hurt.
It was unclear precisely how many assailants were behind the assault or whether they were attacking from a single or multiple locations. The attackers were holed up on several floors of a tall, partly built concrete building that offered a bird’s-eye view of the secured diplomatic and military compounds about a half mile away. Flashes from gun barrels could be seen as the militants fired from their perch. Afghan security forces returned fire from the ground, sending puffs of concrete dust into the air as bullets slapped the building.
“We don’t know how many suicide bombers are in the building,” said Col. Abdul Zahir, of the criminal investigative division of the Kabul police. “They’re shooting at the embassy. We’re still in fighting position. We can’t say anything.”
Two explosions were also reported near the Afghan Parliament, but it was unclear whether militants were specifically trying to attack the government building or other targets.
The embassy assault, which began around 1:15 p.m., was the latest in a string of attacks that have chipped away at a tenuous sense of security in the capital. In August, militants killed eight people in an attack on a British cultural center, and in June, nine suicide bombers breached layers of security to attack the hillside Intercontinental Hotel.
By 3:10 p.m., two Blackhawk helicopters circled the building, but did not immediately open fire.
The streets surrounding the site of the attack, normally choked with the traffic of minibuses, bicycles and Toyotas, were deserted on Monday afternoon of all but security forces and people racing for cover.
“We don’t know what’s happening,” one Afghan soldier said. “Everywhere you can hear shooting.”
Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message, saying the Taliban had set out to attack the embassy, a NATO base and Afghan government buildings. His claim could not be immediately confirmed.
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed there were continuing attacks against the embassy and ISAF headquarters, and said in a Twitter message there were “forces responding quickly,” but provided no other details. The attack came less than two months after Afghan forces assumed formal responsibility for security in the capital, one of several corners of the country where security was officially handed over in July.
Sharifullah Sahak and Ray Rivera contributed reporting.

Taliban Bombing at U.S. Base in Afghanistan Wounds Nearly 80 Americans

In this June 16, 2010 handout photo provided by the U.S. Army, a general view of a rainbow after a good rain shower at Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, Wardak province, Afghanistan.

Talian Bombing U.S. Base in Afghanistan Wounds Nearly 80 Americans
Published September 11, 2011 FoxNews.com

The Taliban set off a truck bomb on an American base in eastern Afghanistan Saturday night, wounding nearly 80 Americans and killing five Afghan civilians in a deadly strike that served as a fresh reminder of the consequences of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The bombing took place on the same weekend that the world is commemorating the 10th anniversary of the deadliest attack on U.S. soil that killed nearly 3,000 Americans and led to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Just hours before the bombing, the Taliban vowed to keep fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan until all American troops leave the country. The insurgent movement also stressed that it had no role in the Sept. 11 attacks.
A Taliban suicide bomber carried out Saturday's attack by detonating a large bomb inside a truck carrying firewood, NATO said Sunday. It was unclear how many foreign and Afghan soldiers were serving on the base.
"Most of the force of the explosion was absorbed by the protective barrier at the outpost entrance," NATO said, adding that the damage was repairable and that operations were continuing.
NATO said none of the 77 injuries sustained by the Americans was life-threatening. Spokesman Maj. Russell Fox said Sunday that all the international troops at the combat outpost are American.
The blast shaved the facades from shops outside Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in Wardak province and broke windows in government offices nearby, said Roshana Wardak, a former parliamentarian who runs a clinic in the nearby town of the same name. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Eight wounded civilians were brought to Wardak's clinic, two of them with wounds serious enough that they were sent to Kabul. She said one 3-year-old girl died of her wounds on the way to the clinic.
The Wardak governor's office confirmed the death toll and said a total of 17 Afghans were wounded -- 14 civilians and three security officers.
The governor's office said the blast was so powerful it damaged more than 100 shops in Sayed Abad's main bazaar, the hospital and the small town's administration building.
On Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul held a memorial service to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. A military band played as American troops raised an American flag in front of about 300 assembled U.S. and Afghan officials.
Marine Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, urged those assembled to honor the memory of those who died.
"On that day we lost mothers and fathers, sons and daughters we lost people of many nations and many religions, today we remember, we honor them all," he said.
The Afghan foreign minister said the attacks bound Afghans and Americans together in a "shared struggle."
In a statement emailed to media, the Taliban accused the United States of using the Sept. 11 attacks as a pretext to invade Afghanistan and said the international community was responsible for killing thousands of Afghans during the invasion and ensuing occupation.
"Each year, 9/11 reminds the Afghans of an event in which they had no role whatsoever," the Taliban said. "American colonialism has shed the blood of tens of thousands of miserable and innocent Afghans."
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, after the Taliban, who then ruled the country, refused to hand over Usama bin Laden.
The late Al Qaeda leader was at the time living in Afghanistan, where the terror network had training camps from which it planned attacks against the U.S. and other countries.
"The Afghans have an endless stamina for a long war," the statement said. "Through a countrywide uprising, the Afghans will send the Americans to the dustbin of history like they sent other empires of the past."
The statement was issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the official title used by the Taliban when they ruled the country.
The insurgent group continues to launch regular attacks and orchestrate assassination campaigns against those allied with the government. In addition to the attack in Wardak on Saturday, 10 Afghan civilians were killed in two separate roadside bombings.
Although the Taliban were swiftly driven from power by the U.S.-led coalition, they managed to use the years of the Iraq war -- when America focused its military strength on the conflict against Saddam Hussein -- to regroup, rearm and reorganize.
They began winning back ground lost to the international military coalition until President Obama sent in 30,000 more troops last year to help.
Although the coalition has made some gains in the Taliban's traditional southern strongholds, violence has not abated around the country.
The U.S. has begun withdrawing some of its 100,000 troops and will send home 33,000 by the end of next year. The international military coalition has already begun transferring security responsibilities to newly trained Afghan forces with the aim of removing all their soldiers by the end of 2014.
Bin Laden was killed in May in a raid on his house in northwestern Pakistan by helicopter-borne U.S. Navy SEALs.

BYU football falls to Texas 17-16

BYU football falls to Texas 17-16
Published: Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011 8:18 p.m. MDT
Austin — It was largely the tale of two halves in Texas securing a 17-16 victory. The Cougars controlled the play on both sides of the ball during the first half, while Texas came out and took it to the BYU front seven during the second.
The Texas power and athleticism kicked in, as Texas dominated the course of play toward a victory.
The Cougars came out efficient on offense and stifling on defense, outscoring the Longhorns 13-3. They also outgained Texas in yards (168 to 88) and in first downs (13 to three).
The Cougars converted consecutive three-and-outs into two early field goals with Justin Sorensen connecting from 30 and 33 yards out.
The Cougars looked to really take control of the game following a 97-yard drive with 11:41 left in the half. Heaps was 5-of-7 during the drive for 75 yards, which included a 6-yard scoring pass to Ross Apo.
Late in the second quarter, BYU turned the ball over deep in its own territory to keep the Longhorns in it. Texas was able to take advantage of the turnover, converting on a 23-yard field goal attempt by Justin Tucker.
The Longhorn offense was hapless in the first half, gaining just 88 yards and three first downs. It tried to spread the field with a balanced attack.
The Cougar ground game didn't do much of anything, accounting for just 15 yards on 14 carries. Heaps finished the half going 14-of-24 for 153 yards.
During the second half, Texas chose to abandon the run and just take it to the Cougar front seven. True freshman David Ash was the catalyst for a lot of the production along with sophomore Case McCoy.
Following the initial three-and-out by BYU, Texas mounted a 7-play, 62-yard touchdown drive that featured just one pass attempt. Cody Johnson ran it in for the score with 10:38 remaining in the third quarter.
BYU responded with a 12-play, 56-yard drive of their own which culminated into a 32-yard field goal by Sorensen.
Texas then took it right to the Cougar defense again driving it clear down to the Cougar 13 yardline. On a fourth and one attempt, BYU held firm, stuffing an attempted run just inches from the first-down marker.
The Longhorns kept coming, putting the ball into the endzone again on a 52-yard, 8-play drive with 8:46 left in the game to take the lead, 17-16. True freshman Malcolm Brown ran it in for the score from six yards out.
The Cougars had their chances to respond, but were unable to provide consistent drives in securing a victory. Multiple delay of game penalties and other miscues kept them from mounting any real scoring threat during the fourth quarter of Texas' 17-16 victory.
Email: bgurney@desnews.com Twitter: @BrandonCGurney
© 2011 Deseret News Publishing Company All rights reserved

Cougars rally late, defeat Ole Miss 14-13

BYU football: Cougars rally late, defeat Ole Miss 14-13
Published: Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011 10:20 p.m. MDT
OXFORD, Miss. — Playing in its inaugural game as an independent, many were expecting BYU to celebrate its newfound freedom with offensive fireworks.
But that didn't happen.
Instead, the real fireworks came from the Cougar defense.
Trailing 13-0 midway through the fourth quarter, BYU rallied for two touchdowns, including the game-winning TD by linebacker Kyle Van Noy with 5:09 remaining, to earn a dramatic 14-13 season-opening victory over Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
"I just got lucky. That's all it was," Van Noy said of his touchdown. "I tried to make something happen."
Van Noy, who played wide receiver in high school, is always looking for a chance to score points. While the Cougar offense had hung nothing but a doughnut on the scoreboard for most of the game, Van Noy found the end zone with relative ease.
"I'm an offensive player on defense," Van Noy said. "I went straight for the ball because I wanted the ball back."
Van Noy's heroics helped compensate for a sputtering Cougar offense that saw several drives stall due to penalties, mistakes and a crucial turnover.
The Rebels faced third-and-27 from its own 21-yard line when Van Noy lined up wide, sped past the Ole Miss right tackle, and swatted the ball away from quarterback Zack Stoudt. Van Noy scooped up the ball at the 3-yard line and scored.
BYU offensive tackle Matt Reynolds, who was watching that play unfold from the sideline, knew what was going to happen even before the ball was snapped.
"It's funny. I saw Kyle Van Noy line up … I thought, 'That tackle has no idea what's coming,'" said Reynolds, who has spent the past month lining up against Van Noy in practice. "I've seen that stance in camp. I know what's coming. Sure enough, he came flying off that edge. It was so exciting. It was so fun."
"At a critical time, he made a critical play to help us win the football game," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "That's how you have consistency in terms of wins and success. That's how, hopefully, we can groom our players to be. (Legendary UCLA basketball coach) John Wooden has talked a lot about being at your best when you best was needed. That's kind of what that moment was."
While the Cougar offense struggled, the defense did its part, holding the Rebels to 208 yards of total offense, and forcing two turnovers. BYU did not surrender an offensive touchdown, just a pair of field goals.
"We gave up six points, which is phenomenal," Van Noy said. "(Ole Miss is) a good team. They're fast and big. They played really well offensively. When we needed stops, we got them. Our defense found a way."
And the BYU offense was thrilled about that.
"It did me good to see Kyle Van Noy make that play, to see them get the ball in the end zone," Reynolds said. "Our defense, time after time after time held up, stopped them and did a really great job."
Sophomore quarterback Jake Heaps, who completed 24-of-38 passes for 225 yards, had an up-and-down performance.
Midway through the third quarter, Heaps drove the Cougars to the Ole Miss 25-yard line before throwing an interception into the hands of Rebel safety Charles Sawyer, who ran 96 yards for a touchdown to lift Ole Miss to a 10-0 advantage.
"We made some mistakes. You look at my turnover, my pick-six," Heaps said. "It's frustrating for me because it wasn't necessarily the wrong decision, it was just late. You can't have those kinds of turnovers when we're driving down like that."
But midway through the fourth quarter, Heaps led the Cougars to their first touchdown of the season when he threw a 19-yard touchdown strike to redshirt freshman Ross Apo. At that point, it was 13-7 for Ole Miss.
Then, on the Rebels' ensuing series, Van Noy forced the fumble, and scored the touchdown that put the Cougars on top for the first time all day and sealed the win.
BYU's offense gained 318 yards and had the ball for nine minutes longer than the Rebels. But it managed to generate only seven points. But the Cougars know it's still early in the season.
"The way we were able to move the football, we could have finished a lot of those drives," Heaps said. "That's the beauty of the first game. It's not going to be the most perfect game. It's not going to go as well as you would hope. But at the end of the day, we came together when it mattered at the end of the fourth quarter. We put it together, and I'm proud of our team."
Heaps said the way his team beat Ole Miss revealed its character.
"For us to come down here in their house and pull off a win like we did — we didn't give up on each other," Heaps said. "We showed a lot of grit, a lot of toughness and a lot of love for each other. I think that's ultimately what got us through that (tough) part."
It marked BYU's second all-time victory against an opponent from the Southeastern Conference.
Mendenhall called Saturday's win "one of the most satisfying victories simply because of how difficult it seemed to execute and get some momentum in a hostile environment. We found a way to win, which says a lot. … That's what happened today."
BYU visits Texas next Saturday.
email: jeffc@desnews.com
© 2011 Deseret News Publishing Company All rights reserved