Taliban threaten to attack telecom towers

[Praxius]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/02/25/taliban-phones.html

Taliban militants threatened Monday to blow up telecom towers across Afghanistan if mobile phone companies do not switch off their signals for 10 hours starting at dusk.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed said the U.S. and other foreign troops in the country are using mobile phone signals to track down the insurgents and launch attacks against them.

Well duh.

The Taliban have "decided to give a three-day deadline to all mobile phone companies to stop their signals from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. in order to stop the enemies from getting intelligence through mobile phones and to stop Taliban and civilian casualties," Mujaheed told the Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Or, perhaps they should use another means of communications.... derrrr.... They're Afghanistan's towers and companies, not the Talibans. But then again, I guess that doesn't matter and they still think they can make demands like they're still in power *shrugs*

"If those companies do not stop their signal within three days, the Taliban will target their towers and their offices," he said.

Then wouldn't that in turn screw them up as well because then they wouldn't be able to use them? Go ahead then.... be dumb. They'd be hurting themselves more then anybody else.

There are four mobile phone operators in Afghanistan, but employees at the companies would not immediately comment.

Mobile phones were introduced to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. They have become the principal means of communication and one of the fastest-growing and most profitable sectors in the country's economy.

Militants have threatened mobile phone companies in the past, accusing them of collusion with the U.S. and other foreign military forces.

Once again..... Duh.

Communications experts say the U.S. military has the ability, using satellites and other means, to pick up cellphone signals without the phone company's help. Cellphones periodically send signals to the network even when they are not making calls.

Mujaheed said the Taliban have contacted all the companies, but none has agreed to the militants' demands. His claim could not be independently verified.

Good luck with that one.

 

[karrie]

The militants are too stupid to realize they need to turn off their phones, so the solution is to bomb the towers? Wow. What a waste of explosives when a simple push of a button solves the problem. People never cease to amaze me.

 

[gerryh]

The militants are too stupid to realize they need to turn off their phones, so the solution is to bomb the towers? Wow. What a waste of explosives when a simple push of a button solves the problem. People never cease to amaze me.

That's not the reason for the threat Karrie. I'm sure the Taliban comanders know that all they need to do is shut their phones off. It's more a matter of IF the telecoms obey the Talibans orders it proves to the Taliban and the world that they still have power in Afghanistan.

 

[Praxius]

That's not the reason for the threat Karrie. I'm sure the Taliban comanders know that all they need to do is shut their phones off. It's more a matter of IF the telecoms obey the Talibans orders it proves to the Taliban and the world that they still have power in Afghanistan.

Which they don't since the companies never responded.

I mean, now all they have to do is send a few troops or choppers near the towers after three days, wait until a group nears the tower and blow the snot out of them.

Thanks for the warning Talis.

I think they're loosing orginization and critical thinking skills with most of their leaders dieing or being catpured. Now all that's left are the small timers who have been brainwashed to be suicide bombers..... now they gotta do the thinking and this is what they come up with?

 

[karrie]

that makes sense gerry, thanks.

 

[EagleSmack]

This is a good post because it also makes you wonder why the Taliban wants a blackout of comm for those few hours. I could not even begin to speculate but to me this sounds like a primative way of jamming. Since they have no real EMI or jamming capability just tell the towers to shut down under threat of bombing. Let's just say the people that run the towers get scared and do as they are told...then the Taliban does what they have to do during the blackout period. Again I have no clue what they are up to but it does sound like an odd request.

 

[lone wolf]

Tet?

Woof

 

[EagleSmack]

Tet?

Woof

Could be a Tet like operation. One can only speculate. But threats like this sort of tip their hand as to "something" being up whereas the VC and NVA fooled everyone w/o having to announce themselves.

 

[Unforgiven]

Sick of those nagging telemarketer calls from India in the middle of the night? Now there's Taliwhacker by bin Laden Co ltd. "It's da Bomb!" says one happy customer. Reduces those cell phone calls by 100% the first day or your goat back.

Less shipping, handling, and restock charges. Results not typical.

 

[Praxius]

Sick of those nagging telemarketer calls from India in the middle of the night? Now there's Taliwhacker by bin Laden Co ltd. "It's da Bomb!" says one happy customer. Reduces those cell phone calls by 100% the first day or your goat back.

Less shipping, handling, and restock charges. Results not typical.

Good, that might help reduce those fools in their SUV's eating their big Mac and talking on their cells to those call centres during rush hour.

 

[Praxius]

Oh and I guess they did:

Taliban blow up phone tower in Afghanistan
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/02/29/afghan-telephone.html

Taliban militants blew up a telecommunications tower Friday in southern Afghanistan following a warning to phone companies to shut down the towers at night or face attack.

The militants fear U.S. and other foreign troops are using mobile phone signals to track insurgents and launch attacks against them. A Taliban spokesman on Monday said militants would blow up towers across Afghanistan if the companies did not switch off their signals overnight.

Insurgents made good on that threat Friday, destroying a tower along the main highway in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, said Niaz Mohammad Serhadi, the top district official.

Roughly 2,500 Canadian soldiers are in Kandahar province as part of a NATO-led mission to the country.

The tower was owned by Areeba, one of four cellular companies in Afghanistan. Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Phone companies moved into remote areas of Afghanistan after talks with tribal elders, who asked for the towers to be built, said Abdul Hadi Hadi, spokesman for the Telecommunications Ministry.
// '); // ]]>

"When they destroy any tower, it shows direct enmity to the people of that area. I don't think the destruction of the towers has any direct effect on the government. It is the people who suffer," he said.

Thousands of customers will be affected by the tower attack, Serhadi said. Police have increased security around other phone towers, he said.

Militants have threatened mobile phone companies in the past, accusing them of collusion with the U.S. and other foreign military forces.

Communications experts say the U.S. military has the ability, using satellites and other means, to pick up cellphone signals without a phone company's help. Cellphones periodically send signals to the network even when they are not making calls.

The U.S. has said it has killed more than 50 mid- and top-level Taliban leaders over the last year.

Mobile phones were introduced to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

They have become the principal means of communication and one of the fastest-growing and most profitable sectors in the country's economy.

Jeez... then switch back to transistor radios or CB or something.... idiots... "Hey you guys are using your technology you brought and built to find us, in which we are using ourselves.... DDDEEERRRRRRR....."

What the hell did they expect?

Mine the towers.... see how they like them apples.

 

[MikeyDB]

Mine the poppy fields.

If you want to hurt the Taliban you have to cut their supply lines and the facility to influence drug dealers...."warlords"....

 

[Praxius]

Mine the poppy fields.

If you want to hurt the Taliban you have to cut their supply lines and the facility to influence drug dealers...."warlords"....

Unfortunatly some of those poppy fields I imagine are also run by civilians who are just trying to get food on their tables for their families, and the whole substitute of corn over opium didn't work out well and the farmers wern't making ends meet, so they went back to opium.

If the west had any brains we'd be investing into those fields and make a negative into a positive. Give these farmers money for their product and use their product for our medicines, such as morphine and the sort.