Open Source Daily INTSUM: Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005

**Airbornelawyer** · 11-15-2005, 10:13

From Various Sources:

Middle East

Security incidents in Iraq, Nov 15 (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

Steel Curtain Continues in Ubaydi "Iraqi Army soldiers and Marines, Soldiers and Sailors with Regimental Combat Team–2 continue Operation Al Hajip Elfulathi (Steel Curtain) in the town of Ubaydi Nov. 15. It is suspected that many of the terrorists who are now fighting in Ubaydi fled from Husaybah and Karabilah, the first two cities that were secured by Iraqi and Coalition Forces at the beginning of the operation. While the fighting has been sporadic, it has been characterized by commanders on the ground as some of the heaviest since Operation Steel Curtain began Nov. 5. Intelligence reports indicate that the strong resistance to the Iraqi and Coalition push into the city is due in large part to the fact that terrorists believe they are trapped and have nowhere else to go. …" (Source: U.S. Central Command)

Coalition Forces Capture High Level Ba'ath Party Leader "Coalition Forces captured Hamid Sharki Shadid, the leader of the New Ba’ath Party in Diyala Province, during a patrol November 9th. … Shadid is a former member of the Ba’ath Party in Diyala Province and is suspected of being responsible for all anti-Iraqi forces Ba’ath Party activities in that area. …" (Source: U.S. Central Command)

Ongoing operations – Miscellaneous releases from Multi-National Force Iraq.

Two killed in clashes as tensions rise in SE Turkey "Two people were killed and at least 10 injured on Tuesday when police clashed with pro-Kurdish rebel demonstrators in Turkey's troubled southeast, security officials and eyewitnesses said. Tensions have escalated in the province of Hakkari, which borders Iraq and Iran, since a Nov. 9 bombing widely blamed on members of Turkey's security forces. Two people were killed in the blast and the protests it then sparked. …" (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

South & Central Asia

UK tries to form coalition to fight in Afghanistan "Britain is attempting to build a coalition to pursue counter-insurgency combat operations against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan after the withdrawal by the Bush administration of 4,000 US troops early next year. Talks with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and several other countries are being held before a Nato meeting in Brussels on December 7. They follow the refusal of European allies, such as France and Germany, to allow their troops to become involved in counter-insurgency. …" NOTE: there is a statement in this article to the effect that "[d]espite US pressure, France, Germany, Spain and Italy have refused to expand the mandate for their peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan to include 'war on terror' combat operations." This is misleading but sort of accurate (which for The Guardian is the best one might expect. These countries have "refused to expand the mandate" of their ISAF peacekeeping forces, but certain ones there currently have special operations forces involved in "'war on terror' combat operations."

Afghan Police: al-Qaida Responsible for Suicide Attacks in Kabul "Afghan police are blaming al-Qaida for Monday's twin suicide car bombing attacks against the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul. Area police commander Mohammed Akbar told reporters Tuesday that the bodies of the two suicide attackers appeared to be those of Arabs. He said al-Qaida terrorists apparently were working with Taleban insurgents. …" (Source: Voice of America)

Car bomb kills 3 outside KFC in Karachi - police "A car bomb exploded outside a KFC fast-food restaurant in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Tuesday, killing three people and wounding 15 in an attack thought to have been carried out by Islamist militants, police and doctors said. …" (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

Militant attack on Kashmir rally kills 2, wounds 60 "Suspected Muslim militants threw a grenade and opened fire at a political rally in Indian Kashmir on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding at least 60, including a former state minister, police said. The attack took place near Tangmarg, 45 km (30 miles) west of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir where Muslim militants are fighting New Delhi's rule since 1989. …" (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

Sri Lanka: Security Situation Report. (Source: Sri Lanka Army)

South Asia Terrorism Update (Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal)

The Americas

USSOUTHCOM Headline News (Microsoft Word format)

Africa

SUDAN: First APCs to arrive in Darfur on Friday "The first armoured personnel carriers (APCs) intended to enhance the peacekeeping capabilities of the African Union (AU) forces are expected to arrive in the western Sudanese region of Darfur on Friday, according to an AU official. Noureddine Mezni, spokesman of the AU in Khartoum, said on Tuesday that the Sudanese authorities had authorised the deployment of 105 APCs donated by the government of Canada. …" (Source: Reuters Alertnet)

**Airbornelawyer** · 11-15-2005, 10:14

From the RFE/RL Newsline:

Russia

PUTIN SHAKES UP ADMINISTRATION.
Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced on 14 November two new deputy-prime-ministerial positions, Russian news agencies reported. To these posts, he named presidential-administration head Dmitrii Medvedev and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Ivanov will retain his current post as defense minister as he takes on his new position as deputy prime minister, while Medvedev will be a first deputy prime minister. Replacing Medvedev as head of the presidential administration will be Tyumen Oblast Governor Sergei Sobyanin, who was appointed to a second five-year term last February. According to Yevgenii Minchenko of the International Institute for Political Expertise, Sobyanin is one of Putin's favorite governors and was on the short list to be appointed prosecutor-general for the Russian Federation, Novyi Region reported. Another advantage to naming Sobyanin, according to Aleksei Makarkin of the Center for Political Technology, is that he is new and therefore will not alter the current alignment of forces within the Kremlin, gazeta.ru reported on 14 November.

RUSSIA AND UZBEKISTAN SIGN TREATY.
Putin and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov signed a bilateral-cooperation treaty on 14 November, Russian news agencies reported the same day. Speaking at a press conference after talks in the Kremlin with Karimov, Putin said the treaty takes Russia and Uzbekistan "to the closest possible degree of interaction." Citing an unidentified Kremlin source, RIA-Novosti reported that the agreement paves the way for long-term cooperation in trade and security, including defense coordination and intelligence sharing, mutual use of military facilities, and cooperation in battling terrorism and drug trafficking. "We think there is a need to do everything possible to neutralize the narcotic and terrorist threat coming from Afghanistan, and we will, of course, continue to provide our neighbors with help in developing their economic and social infrastructure," Putin said. The agreement also aims to boost trade and cooperation in the energy, food, and agricultural sectors.

Southwestern Asia And The Middle East

AFGHANISTAN ESTABLISHES MILITARY COURTS
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zaher Azimi told a news conference in Kabul on 13 November that military courts have been established within the framework of the Afghan National Army, the official Radio Afghanistan reported. The courts were established following the approval of a law on military courts by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The new courts, which would be limited to trials for military offenses, should have five primary courts within the central and regional corps and an appellate court within the chief of staff command. The so-called Third Court, or high court, for military offenses would be set up within the Afghan Supreme Court.

U.S. RAID UNCOVERS UNDOCUMENTED PRISONERS IN IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTRY FACILITY
U.S. troops raided an Interior Ministry detention facility in Baghdad on 13 November and discovered "a large number" of undocumented prisoners, some exhibiting signs of abuse, latimes.com reported on 15 November. U.S. Brigadier General Karl Horst told reporters on 14 November. Horst said that when U.S. soldiers entered the detention facility, located in Baghdad's Al-Jadiriyah district, they were told that it held just 40 prisoners, but that as "we kept opening doors," more than 200 detainees were discovered. Horst said the detainees who suffered abuse will be moved to facilities where they will receive medical treatment, the website reported. Horst said that U.S. and Iraqi troops intend to check every Interior Ministry detention center in Baghdad.