Friday Night News Fest
There are two major stories that I've been following today.
Continuing with my trend of posting anything and everything I see about Mauritania (and there's been a lot of Mauritanian news lately), there's been a failed hijacking on an Air Mauritania jetliner. (Fox, CNN, BBC) A hijacker with two handguns attempted to force the pilot to divert the aircraft to France. The BBC is reporting that the pilot, upon realizing that the hijacker spoke no French, informed passengers and crew members in French on the intercom that he was going to make an intentionally rough landing; the hijacker was knocked off his feet, and flight attendants threw boiling water at him while male passengers and crew members overpowered and subdued him.
Is it just me, or has there been a lot of news from Mauritania lately?
And following up on previous news from this week, there's been a second explosion in Zahedan in eastern Iran. (AP, CNN, BBC) This explosion, reportedly a percussion bomb that produced a large noise but little damage and no casualties, came right after the funeral for the Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen killed in the VBIED attack on one of their buses two days ago. The Sunni militant organization Jundallah ("Allah's Brigade") has taken credit for both bombings, and the latest attack has triggered gunfights between police and armed militants.
The question of Jundallah's affiliations is an interesting one. (Wiki, Daily Telegraph) The Iranian government claims that the explosives from Wednesday's car bombing were of American manufacture, and that Jundallah are receiving support and motivation from the U.S. government; however, Jundallah claims to have no ties to the United States, and is reportedly an al Qaeda affiliate. The question is further compounded by the semi-substantiated claim by some that Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zwahiri are receiving support and possibly shelter from Iran. If Jundallah is affiliated with al Qaeda, with al Qaeda exclusively supporting Sunni terrorists in Iraq, and with Iran supporting Shia militias against Sunnis in Iraq, the trio seem to be a questionable alliance. Also, while the United States has covertly supported rebel forces in the past (the native Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War, for example), it seems highly doubtful that the current administration would provide any support to any group with possible links to al Qaeda.
I'll post further developments when and if they become available.
UPDATE: There's a slightly updated article on CNN this morning regarding the latest Iran bombing and its aftermath.
Continuing with my trend of posting anything and everything I see about Mauritania (and there's been a lot of Mauritanian news lately), there's been a failed hijacking on an Air Mauritania jetliner. (Fox, CNN, BBC) A hijacker with two handguns attempted to force the pilot to divert the aircraft to France. The BBC is reporting that the pilot, upon realizing that the hijacker spoke no French, informed passengers and crew members in French on the intercom that he was going to make an intentionally rough landing; the hijacker was knocked off his feet, and flight attendants threw boiling water at him while male passengers and crew members overpowered and subdued him.
Is it just me, or has there been a lot of news from Mauritania lately?
And following up on previous news from this week, there's been a second explosion in Zahedan in eastern Iran. (AP, CNN, BBC) This explosion, reportedly a percussion bomb that produced a large noise but little damage and no casualties, came right after the funeral for the Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen killed in the VBIED attack on one of their buses two days ago. The Sunni militant organization Jundallah ("Allah's Brigade") has taken credit for both bombings, and the latest attack has triggered gunfights between police and armed militants.
The question of Jundallah's affiliations is an interesting one. (Wiki, Daily Telegraph) The Iranian government claims that the explosives from Wednesday's car bombing were of American manufacture, and that Jundallah are receiving support and motivation from the U.S. government; however, Jundallah claims to have no ties to the United States, and is reportedly an al Qaeda affiliate. The question is further compounded by the semi-substantiated claim by some that Usama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zwahiri are receiving support and possibly shelter from Iran. If Jundallah is affiliated with al Qaeda, with al Qaeda exclusively supporting Sunni terrorists in Iraq, and with Iran supporting Shia militias against Sunnis in Iraq, the trio seem to be a questionable alliance. Also, while the United States has covertly supported rebel forces in the past (the native Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War, for example), it seems highly doubtful that the current administration would provide any support to any group with possible links to al Qaeda.
I'll post further developments when and if they become available.
UPDATE: There's a slightly updated article on CNN this morning regarding the latest Iran bombing and its aftermath.
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