US Predator bombs Pakistan second time in 4 days.....

Overnight a US operated Predator fired a Hellfire missile at a compound in the town of Jani Khe in the Bannu district in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province.This is the 2nd Predator strike in 4 days and extends the area of operation of the drones outside the tirbal areas.

Two al Qaeda operatives and two Taliban fighters have been reported killed

Bannu, a Frontier Region, is outside of Pakistan's tribal areas it borders the Taliban-controlled North and South Waziristan tribal areas to the east. According to the CIA, Bannu is effectively under Taliban control.

Today's airstrike is the second outside of Pakistan’s Taliban-controlled tribal areas. The first US strike outside of the tribal areas also took place in Bannu, in the same town of Jani Khel. The Dec. 22, 2008, Predator strike killed at least five people, including Abdullah Azzam al Saudi, a senior (?) Al Qaeda leader / Taliban liason operating in Pakistan's tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. Newsweek November 2008 say Abdullah Azzam al-Saudi, was regarded by intelligence agencies as a cog, rather than a big wheel.

UPDATE Monday 16th - strange story from Air Link BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- An Airman was killed by an improvised explosive device March 15th in Eastern Afghanistan. The Airman was assigned to the 755th Air Expeditionary Group's Nangarhar Provincial Reconstruction Team in Jalalabad.

Georgian attacks on South Ossetia intensify as civilians flee under bombardment and shelling

Handy map to help understand geography from Lord Patel's Cartographic sectionS ee also a handy bit o history 24/11/03 Georgia, Velvet Underground in Overdrive ."This was followed by another high powered US delegation -- including John Shalikashvili (in Georgianჯონ მალხაზ შალიკაშვილი ), the former chairman of the US military’s joint chiefs of staff, along with Strobe Talbott (Rhodes cholar at Oxford with Mr Clintonan), a former deputy secretary of state during the Clinton administration and head of the Brookings Policy Research Institute to monitor developments after Baker’s plan and attempt to defuse the confrontational mood then enveloping domestic politics. Even Republican Arizonan Senator John McCain turned up to put the heat on the most famous Georgian after Stalin – but with no success."


US educated US puppet, Saakashvilli addressses the nation



It appears the Georgians have called up reservists.

For United Nations response see AFP report midnight BST UN Security Council resume bid for South Ossetia ceasefire

Part time pianist and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to halt aircraft and missile attacks and withdraw combat forces from Georgian territory. Rice said in a statement the United States wants Russia to respect Georgian sovereignty and agree to international mediation.

The leader of South Ossetia's rebel government, Eduard Kokoity, said about 1,400 people were killed in the onslaught, the Interfax news agency reported. The toll could not be independently confirmed. From AP report - Georgia to let civilians flee South Ossetia - International Herald Tribune