Kansas: Guard units activated
Nearly 400 Kansas Army National Guard soldiers are being called to active overseas duty as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Guard said Monday.
The soldiers are from the 2nd Battalion, 137th Infantry, which is headquartered in Kansas City, Kan., with companies also in Wichita and Lawrence. They are being mobilized as part of Task Force Santa Fe, made up of units from the Guard's Fort Leavenworth-based 35th Infantry Division.
An advance party left Monday for Fort Stewart, Ga.
This is the first time since World War II that a battalion headquarters and subordinate units from the Kansas Guard have been activated for duty overseas. The battalion was mobilized for Vietnam but was sent to Fort Carson, Colo., with some soldiers from the unit then sent overseas.
Beijing: Russia, China seek regional control of Afghanistan
Asserting its right to a leading role in Central Asia, a six-nation group led by China and Russia said Monday it wants Afghanistan free of foreign influence.
A statement by a meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a group set up in part to fight Islamic militancy, welcomed the end of the Taliban government. But it said outside attempts to influence Afghan affairs would lead to a new crisis for the region.
China has supported the U.S.-led anti-terror campaign, but is uneasy about the American military presence in the region.
Singapore: Terrorists reportedly planned attack on American embassy
Suspected al-Qaida members armed with bombmaking instructions were planning to attack the U.S. Embassy and American businesses in Singapore, the island's government said Monday.
The 15 suspects some of them members of Singapore's military were detained last month after authorities found bomb information along with photographs and video footage of targeted buildings in their homes and offices.
Investigators also found materials linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, along with falsified passports and forged immigration stamps. Some of the suspects may have trained at al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan, the government said.
Washington, D.C.: Deportation efforts resume
Authorities will soon begin searching for thousands of Middle Eastern men in the United States who have disappeared after being ordered to leave the country, according to officials familiar with the operation.
The Justice Department has identified about 6,000 young men from the Middle East who have ignored deportation orders, and has decided to make the arrest and removal of them the highest priority among efforts to locate hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who have defied such rulings, authorities said.
The men hail from nations that U.S. authorities consider havens for members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network, and some have criminal backgrounds, authorities said. U.S. officials declined to identify the countries of origin.
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