The Taliban have hired a mercenary sniper

Taliban hire sniper to hit troops at 600yds: British soldier shot dead through 9in gap in glass shield

What do they mean by mercenary?

Is it a Western mercenary we are talking about here, or someone else?

I'm confused?

In the seven days since they arrived in the town he has killed two men and wounded another.
The other man to die was a U.S. marine who was gunned down while throwing away a bag of rubbish less than 100 yards from a fortified patrol base near the town.

I don't know what to make of this, it sounds more like a fictional character, a lone wolf.

The Ministry of Defence last night questioned the American claims, saying they still need to verify whether snipers had been employed by the Taliban.

We still don't know whether he is employed by the Taliban or not, but he is taking the Taliban's side by killing the occupying forces.

Then as usual, in any piece, the West will not hesitate to turn the whole crap in to propaganda:

Intelligence sources have told the Mail that at least three foreign snipers in Afghanistan, trained by either Iran or Al Qaeda in Pakistan, are being paid tens of thousands of pounds to help the insurgents.

Snipers are becoming the weapon of choice, this is gonna really hurt the occupying forces, because the resistance has adapted towards their tactics.

Before when gun battles erupted, the Taliban and other resistance fighters went like Rambo and just spray hoping to hit NATO forces. That didn't work because NATO was prepared to bomb the insurgents and civilians in to smithereens using Jets and other high powered weaponries.

Now they have adapted and turned to snipers, which will be effective until NATO changes their own tactics once more. The question is, does NATO have the hearts and the minds to stay and continue playing this game?

Why is Russia getting involved now? What is going on?

ATS will answer..
The Taliban have hired a mercenary sniper


[edit on 19-8-2010 by oozyism]

I did some extensive research about 7 years back about al Qaeda and mercenaries and came to the conclusion that they WERE mercenaries. Maybe that's who the Taliban hired

P.S. I lost the files or I'd share.

[edit on 8/19/2010 by ~Lucidity]

reply to post by ~Lucidity


It seems more resistance groups are uniting under the name of Taliban for better co-ordination and organization.

The movement, Jama'at al-Daw'a ila al-Sunnah of Afghanistan which has regularly carried out Jihad in the name of Salafi Taliban in Kunar province, has now allied itself with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, according to the report of our website reporter from the region.
The Council, consisting of the Deputy leader of this group, honorable Haji Hayaatullah and other senior members of the council, known as respected Sheikh Shawali, respected Maulawi Rahmatullah Khan, respected Maulawi Kalajan Jan, respected Maulawi Inayatu Rahman and others, have officially proclaimed allegiance to his highness Amir-ul- Momineen [the leader of the faithful, Mullah Mohammed Omar].

They declared cooperation and coordination with Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, vowing that all the Mujahideen of Kunar province will act in compliance with the Code of Conduct of the of the Islamic Emirate and follow its course of actions and that the Mujahideen of Kunar will carry out Jihad as per instructions of the Leadership of the Islamic Emirate in the same way as the other Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.



Read more: www.longwarjournal.org...

www.longwarjournal.org...



The situation is getting worse, fresh minds in the resistance side has brought fresh ideas and fresh tactics, hence the recent sniper attacks.

Very dangerous times for the occupation. Funny how Karzai wants to ban Mercenaries from Afghanistan.

It seems more resistance groups are uniting under the name of Taliban for better co-ordination and organization.

Well that's what the United States does best, attacks everyone indiscriminately and forces them to unite in the face of our onslaught. Any mercs could be from Chechnya, Iran, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan, even a local Afghan. Just another threat for our occupying forces.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


OR let's take the least possibility and give it some merit for our entertainment:

What if a Western Mercenary became friends with that village the source is talking about? That way he is against the Taliban and against the occupying forces, just a lone wolf ready to defend the village from all harms way.

That would be an interesting scenario, I mean Mercenaries have hearts too, don't they>?

Ahh I have been watching too many movies lately, but if I become a producer, that is the story line I would consider converting in to a real time film.

I can guarantee we will make millions from that movies

Maybe they hired the Baghdad sniper! He is a "God" of sorts in the middle east. He has even taken videos of sniping US soldiers and posted them on youtube.

Link

Link

I'm sorry you might have to explain this to me a bit oozy the UK and US armed forces are occupying another country and the people of that country are attacking them?

Have I got that much right?

Ok, then you get your info through mainstream media outlets from the West (The Daily Mail no less!) and believe that (along with the propaganda that led the UK and the US forces to the country in the first place) over your own instinct of apathy with the people there?

And moreso you're figuring it's a lone wolf?

Isn't it possible that this is just more propaganda to allow for further extensions onto how long these troops have to be there?

-m0r

Intelligence sources have told the Mail that at least three foreign snipers in Afghanistan, trained by either Iran or Al Qaeda in Pakistan, are being paid tens of thousands of pounds to help the insurgents.

How is that propaganda, thats exactly what a mercenary is a hired gun

[edit on 19-8-2010 by ManBehindTheMask]

the records for allied snipers are from Afghanistan
British
www.dailymail.co.uk...
Canadian
www.freerepublic.com...

I find it funny that the afghanies couldn't just be doing the shooting themselves.
I am sure they have had proper training now and in the past.
I am sure they are both smart and talented enough to learn.

But like Pat Tillman who was sniped trom ten feet away by friendly fire has taught us...
You never know who is doing the shooting or what their agenda is.

[edit on 19-8-2010 by Danbones]

[edit on 19-8-2010 by Danbones]

reply to post by m0r1arty


Sorry for the confusion, when I say he is a lone wolf, I didn't necessarily mean the resistance is small, and weak.

As I said, "this seems like a fictional character, a lone wolf". That was to add a little entertainment and imagination.

If propaganda is so wide spread, then lay the facts on the ground, after that any possibility in regards should be taken in to account. That doesn't mean either possibilities are correct, it just means that everything and nothing is correct until further evidence.

Snipers have to be lone wolf in order for them not to get busted due to stupid mistakes of others.

That is how snipers are, although they do need a helper beside them to give measurements etc.

Lone Wolf snipers can do much harm, and yet can get away with it. If there was a huge number of insurgents operating in one area with a sniper, you can guarantee the occupying forces would bomb that area, including the civilians (kids and women included).

That is why I stated the resistance is adapting to their tactics, hence not giving the them the impression that there is a lot of insurgents in that area and yet managing to kill the occupying forces through lone wolf snipers.

for a country that has been in a constant state of war since the 70's, I would think that one or two of its residents might have picked up the artform somewhere along the way. Maybe they did hire a merc- but I would bet there are some natives that are a pretty good shot. I read the article earlier, it seems they are picking up on our snipers tactics of shooting from well inside a home or structure and using keyholes

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask


Iran and Pakistan had to come in to it

That's propaganda, because the bigger agenda is to take down Pakistan first, and break it in to pieces, they need excuses, that part of the plan is already on the way and almost complete.

Next Iran will be broken and they need excuses, that plan will be directly connected to the division of Pakistan, which will create Baluchistan that has members in Iran which will cause unrest blablablablba.

It is all going according to plan.

There is a reason why the world is fueling Pakistani frustration in regards to the flood rescue + humanitarian efforts.

They just don't want to try, to cause anger and cause division.

Do you think it will happen??

US involvement in Pakistani FLOODS

Pak hardliners blame India, US for floods

[edit on 19-8-2010 by oozyism]

Originally posted by inbound
for a country that has been in a constant state of war since the 70's, I would think that one or two of its residents might have picked up the artform somewhere along the way. Maybe they did hire a merc- but I would bet there are some natives that are a pretty good shot. I read the article earlier, it seems they are picking up on our snipers tactics of shooting from well inside a home or structure and using keyholes

The incredible thing is that this man shot one round and hit its target through 9in gap from a distance of 600 yards.

I think that man needs gears, where did the gears come from?

That is the question, it could be from the occupied forces, something they could be trying cover up.

You don't want to tell Americans that their own weapons are killing them

If I was a bad guy. and needed money.
I would do it.
there is no way they can know any thing about the sniper.
the could have trained the best of there own soldiers.
the us troops keep using snipers so the Taliban copy them.
its not hard to be a sniper. its hard to hit some one.
we dont heir about the misst shots.

Its OK, he isn't a mercenary.

He is just a Private Security Contractor.

reply to post by oozyism





Honestly, Its not that far of a shot, yes it was a moving target, and through a 9 inch gap, but given the distance and bullet flight time, a scope with a simple mil-dot system could achieve the shot. The target was walking- he simply used his mils and held off for best estimate of targets forward speed(he led him). had the shot been at a 1000 yards or more- well, that would be seriously demoralizing and intimidating. Im sure they have gotten their hands on our weapons and use them against us, but the local flavor is probably a russian draganov- which is more than capable at that distance with the right person behind it. I think all the hullabullu is that these guys they are fighting have been notoriously bad shots and tend to use AK's which are not effective at even half that distance and now they've got a shooter who knows his business. I wouldnt sweat it, they have some technology that Im sure is in route, or already there, that when he fires a shot will pinpoint him and he will have about 10 seconds to live after that.

reply to post by inbound


It is very different to talk about it from Movie point of view, than real life.

I have had a sniper and tried shooting at far distance moving objects, not as easy as it sounds, especially small objects, in this scenario a small gap.

The Afghan fighters do not get extensive training like the US, that is another bogus people try to push, yes they have guns, we had guns in our village too, but I never saw people training, they just knew how to use them, hence shoot and aim.

Snipers needs extensive training for perfect accuracy, hence this scenario is an example of perfect accuracy.

Most insurgents merely train physically, to get ready for the Afghan terrain which is very viscous on its own, and even then they have to be ready against NATO strikes, therefore very little training, and a lot of movement.

Edit to Add:

They don't have camps like they do in America where you can practice your sniping:
www.youtube.com...



[edit on 19-8-2010 by oozyism]

Hell, maybe it's Osama himself. That sure would explain a few things. He's got the cash for a really fancy, pimped out rifle. Obviously he possesses an invisibility suit that he has been using to evade capture. And his days with the Taliban and US military training would explain his skill. He'd be like a modern day Vasily Zaitsev for the local folk.

Joking aside...

I'd be surprised if there aren't a number of quality sniper rifles around in that country. Who knows what kind of arms are smuggled in from sympathetic countries. That might explain how someone native to the country or Middle East could have gotten their hands on one. As far as training goes, I wonder if the Taliban retained some of their experts from their days working with the United States in order to do combat with Russia.

Snipers usually work in pairs don't they? Is that a necessity? Or could one man do it without much more difficulty than if he had a partner? Just wondering if there could be someone else involved.

reply to post by John_Q_Llama

most snipers these days do work in pairs, spotter and shooter, most of the legends in the business always worked alone though.

All we hear about is the "Taliban" selling bazzillions of dollars worth of dope for arming themselves.
They already have cave loads of cheap AKs ...
what are they spending the dough on? homemade fiddy cent IEDs?
They don't have training camps...?
I thought the US went there because they had "training camps"?

In the old days the Russians had a problem with the troops selling their weapons for dope...

This sounds like propaganda for the purposs of justifying US imprialism in the other countries mentioned.

Like when they said "the Iranians are arming the Iraqi resistance see"...and it turned out to be Israeli, American and British arms.

I don't believe for a minute that there aren't Afganies who can shoot.
and that there isn't someone who will sell the nesessary gear for a couple keys or the equivilant....
The Northern Alliance warlords are US allies after all...and they have lots of OK opium to trade for what ever they want.
And with Israel's and the US arms dealers history of selling to the US's enimies...and anyone with dope or gold or diamonds...or childeren...

[edit on 20-8-2010 by Danbones]