New Cluster Bomb Videos October 13th - 14th

The following are videos of clusters bombs collected over the last two days.  Earlier videos can be found here and here.  I also recommend reading the Human Rights Watch report, Syria: New Evidence Military Dropped Cluster Bombs, which goes explores the issues surrounding the use of cluster bombs in more detail.

First of all two videos showing the the tail section of cluster bomb canisters in the Damascus suburb of Hamouriah, northeast of the city.  It's unclear if these are two separate incident, although looking at the surrounding area it is possible

This video from Al Zafaraneah, Rastan shows another tail section buried in the soil

These next 3 videos from Kafar Takharim, Idlib, appears to show the same cluster bomb canister, which helpfully has the model and what is contains stenciled on the side, confirming this is a RBK 250-275 with AO1-Sch bomblets

Finally here's two videos from locations in Idlib, the second from Isqat, yet again showing partly buried tail sections

[Videos from October 15th]

Related Articles
Collected Evidence Of Cluster Bombs Used In Syria
Evidence Of Cluster Bombs Being Deployed In Syria
New Cluster Bomb Evidence Emerges From Syria
A Beginner's Guide To Identifying UXO In Syria


You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Cluster Bomb Usage Rises Significantly Across Syria

Over the last few days there's been a marked increase in the number of cluster bomb remains being filmed in Syria, and until today most were filmed around Maarrat al-Numan, along the main highway that connects central Syria (Hama, Homs, then Damascus and Daraa) to northern Syria (Idlib, Aleppo), which has recently come under opposition control.  The concentration of reports from that area suggested at first that the use of cluster bombs was related to attempts to regain an important supply route to Aleppo.  The following video shows four examples of cluster bombs used in the area, some of which were covered in my earlier post on the topic

However, in the last 24 hours multiple videos have been posted online showing cluster bomb remains in locations across Syria.  In all of the examples they appear to show RBK-250 cluster bombs with PTAB 2.5m bomblets with removed fuzes.  These first two videos show bomb casing and cluster bomblets in Tell Rifaat, north of Aleppo

From the coastal region of Latakkia we have this video that shows a complete casing along with a number of unexploded bomblets

To the east of Damascus we have this remarkable collection of casing and bomblets from 5 separate cluster bombs from Deir Al-Assafeer, East Ghouta

From nearby Jisreen, East Ghouta the tail end of a cluster bomb

This video from Sloomia, in the countryside south of Homs, shows a pretty much complete cluster bomb

These two videos from Armanaz in Idlib shows what I believe is the remains of one cluster bomb

I'm not 100% sure this final example is a cluster bomb, but I'm fairly certain it's not an OFAB, maybe a FAB, but this is from Ma'arr Shamshah, near Maarrat al-Numan 
Update - Having discussed this with Bjørn H Jespersen of the .processing blog it appears this video is likely to be a FAB

These videos were posted online in the last 24 hours, and demonstrates that cluster bombs now appear to be used across Syria.  In the last 4 days I've seen videos of between 17-20 separate cluster bombs, compared to 3 videos in the prior 18 months, clearly pointing to an escalation in their use.  It should be noted that unlike normal bombs cluster bombs generally always leave behind bomb casings, as they open up to scatter bomblets rather than exploding.

Cluster bomblets leave a deadly legacy for decades after conflicts have ended, as well as being extremely dangerous to handle, something that unfortunately is happening in a great number of these videos.  Earlier videos of cluster bombs dropped in Syria can be found here.

Thanks to @ArarMaher, @GuardianMario, @hlk01, @bigmo1965, and @JMiller_EA for help with this post.

More cluster bomb videos from October 13th - 14th can be found here.

Related Articles
Collected Evidence Of Cluster Bombs Used In Syria
Evidence Of Cluster Bombs Being Deployed In Syria
New Cluster Bomb Evidence Emerges From Syria
A Beginner's Guide To Identifying UXO In Syria
Human Rights Watch - Syria: Evidence of Cluster Munitions Use by Syrian Forces

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Hackgate - Dear Surrey Police

Another article from my regular contributor.

Dear Surrey Police,
There are eight senior, Deputy and Chief Constables in England currently under investigation.  Count them - EIGHT - for a variety of allegations: using undue influence, corruption, misuse of public funds, gross misconduct, even lying to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Well okay,  I grant you, one is appealing being sacked for gross misconduct, the first since 1977.

True, that has attracted press coverage.  But only because of its rarity value.  We're much more used to senior officers being allowed to quietly retire on full pension to avoid disciplinary action - like this one, or these.

Sometimes though, you get things right. You did interview Jimmy Savile about alleged sexual offences.  And when you decided there was enough evidence, you were prepared to follow that up with a referral to Crown Prosecution Service.  Sadly, the CPS decided insufficient evidence so no charge could be brought. There were others though who didn't voice their suspicions and have attracted criticism for their inaction - such as this tweet:

No, sorry, Janet. Sorry Esther. I don't buy it. If you knew and you did nothing, you're part of the problem you condemn.
— Louis Barfe (@LFBarfe) October 4, 2012

So credit where it's due - you did investigate.

Because who doesn't loathe such hateful crimes against children, doubly victimised by crass abuse of power and smothered by walls of silence?  Who would not feel like weeping for their powerlessness?  Unless it were Milly Dowler and you knew about that phone hacking.

And you knew.  It's not even in dispute.  The News of the World "admitted to Surrey Police in April 2002... (it) had unlawfully accessed Milly Dowler's voicemail messages."  News International has conceded that to victims taking civil action.  It is the main foundation of the criminal prosecutions too, of course - conspiracy unlawfully to intercept communications.  Those charged in relation to Milly Dowler are Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Stuart Kuttner, Greg Miskiw, Glenn Mulcaire and Neville Thurlbeck.  Are you seriously hoping no-one will notice?  Do you really think no-one will wonder who in Surrey Police was told?  Can you honestly believe nobody will ask why nothing was done to prevent phone hacking continuing? The next victims after Milly herself were her family - and maybe you could have prevented it.

Granted, you did invite the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate.

And that's the last we heard of that.  Doubtless the IPCC will kick the can further down the road, and we'll be told it can't report till the News of the World prosecutions conclude - when might that be? 2014? 2015?  But why?  By that time, we will have guessed that no charges will be made.  And we will definitely have clocked if anyone were to be allowed to quietly retire with a full pension and avoid disciplinary action.

No, sorry, Surrey.  Sorry IPCC.   I don't buy it. If you knew and you did nothing, you're part of the problem you condemn.

There are Questions Still Unanswered, and continuing Discrepancies and Delays.

The Leveson Inquiry has acted like a searchlight. Regardless of its outcomes, it's served the public well, giving the opportunity to watch the process.  Whatever its Report recommends, the open scrutiny is necessary if the battered and bruised public confidence in policing is ever to start healing.  Two Prime Ministers spelled out the 'Dowler Test'.  David Cameron said,  "... bear in mind who we're doing this for, why we're here in the first place, and that's the real test. If the families like the Dowlers feel this has really changed the way they would have been treated, we would have done our job properly."

Gordon Brown said

...the question (is) that the Dowlers put to us: how can we defend the privacy of a family who at their moment of greatest grief and at a time when they're at their most vulnerable have their privacy invaded by the press in a way that splits the family apart and makes everybody in that family suspicious of each other, and particularly so since it's been done by unlawful means, which include telephone tapping.... I think Lord Justice Leveson put it: 'who will guard the guardians?' was a question which he wanted to address. I will say: who will defend the defenceless?

Who guards the guardians?  We do.  All of us.  The private citizens, public servants, our MPs, the bloggers, investigative journalists, the armchair Leveson viewers, Hacked Off and the pissed off - asking our questions and putting your integrity under our spotlight.

And we are watching what you do next.

Yours Faithfully,

Mr Reg Contributor

c/o Brown Moses

Related Articles
Hackgate - The John Boyall Files
One Rogue Email And The Indestructible Archive 
John Yates And Neil Wallis - A Mutual Understanding
Alex Marunchak - Presumed Innocent
News Corp - Diplomatic Immunity?
The Cook-Hames Surveillance : A Watched Kettle...
Alastair Morgan On The Latest Hackgate Revelations

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Hackgate - The John Boyall Files

The latest piece from my regular contributor.

You win some, you lose some.

Following a four-day hearing last week, the large group of phone-hacking civil claimants won the right to see 9 key Glenn Mulcaire emails. On the downside, Justice Vos said they have enough disclosure material for the current cases so they lost on one issue -

The phone-hacking claimants were seeking further disclosure in relation to Mulcaire's activities before 2001 in an effort to establish whether voicemail interception had taken place earlier than admitted by News International during the course of the civil litigation proceedings

So, restricting the disclosure window  to post-2001? Narrowing the parameters? Isn't that one of the strategies that drew criticism to Operation Caryatid - the original phone hacking 2006 investigation? Has nothing been learnt?

It is to be hoped that an arbitrary 2001 date in the civil cases is not taken as a precedent for ongoing and future police investigations or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) charging decisions into journalist/private investigator 'dark arts'.  Clearly, the phone hacking victims are not the only ones needing to know the genesis and extent of the 'dark arts' - it is in the wider public interest.

Irrespective of Mulcaire having or not having a direct contract with News International pre-2001, it is in the public domain that he was undertaking investigative work for them.

All through the late 1990s, the paper had been hiring an investigator called John Boyall, who, among other services, specialised in acquiring information from confidential databases. He had a wiry young man working as his assistant, named Glenn Mulcaire. In the autumn of 2001, John Boyall fell out with the News of the World's assistant editor, Greg Miskiw, who had been responsible for handling him. Miskiw replaced him by poaching Glenn Mulcaire and giving him a full-time contract.

John Boyall - at the time that he was employing Mulcaire - came to police attention.  Devon and Cornwall Constabulary scoped intelligence that a nationwide network of private investigators was illegally obtaining information from the Police National Computer (PNC).  That scoping led to an investigation called Operation Reproof.  In turn, Operation Reproof led to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) investigation Operation Motorman into data offences, and a Metropolitan Police (MET) investigation - Operation Glade.  For more information, see 'Revisiting Operation Reproof and Other Police Operations'

Devon and Cornwall police organised a raid of business premises outside London associated with Boyall.  ICO investigators were invited to accompany, to deal with suspected Data Protection breaches. Material was seized which indicated corrupt DVLA sources, plus a wealth of other incriminating documentation including commissions from Steve Whittamore (see Alex Owens' evidence to Leveson).

What is less clear is what happened to the wealth of evidentiary material.seized in the Boyall raid.  This of course begs questions - what time period do the 'Boyall Files' cover? Do they include material that may shed light on Boyall and Mulcaire's pre-2001 'dark arts' activities for journalists? Were their specialist corruption and blagging skills commissioned and deployed for other private investigators? Is there material relevant to other contemporaneous police investigations, for example, Operation Nigeria?

Given the MET's past record of effective searches of 'unused material' and their vague, hazy explanation of how long they keep it safe after convictions (five, six, seven years..?) one could be pessimistic. If it weren't for Nick Davies' reports in the Guardian, the Mulcaire material in bin bags may well have found their way into a MET incinerator.  But the best place to start may be via Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the Information Commissioner's Office itself.  As the entity responsible for ensuring FOI compliance, doubtless they would welcome the opportunity to answer a few questions - in the public interest:

Where are the Boyall Files and unused material?

Were the Boyall Files passed on or copied to the MET for use in Operation Glade?

Did Devon and Cornwall Constabulary retain the Boyall Files and unused material for use in the abortive Operation Reproof prosecutions?

Were the Boyall Files incorporated into the spreadsheets of the more-famous Motorman Files?

Where is the unused material from Operation Motorman, given that the earliest data relate to 1996?

Were copies of the Boyall Files and unused material provided to the MET for use in Operation Caryatid?

Have the ICO been asked, or given, permission for the destruction of any or all of the Boyall Files and/or related material?

At least two allegations of pre-2001 phone hacking were given in evidence to Lord Justice Leveson:

• James Hipwell's evidence asserted phone hacking at The Mirror 1998-2000
• Dominic Mohan described how newspapers, in 1998, hacked into the mobile phones of members of the Irish Government to expose lax security.

Therefore there seems to be an argument for locating and preserving pre-2001 material - especially relating to Mulcaire - before it is lost, destroyed or compromised.  The clock is ticking to get it preserved fast.

Related Articles
One Rogue Email And The Indestructible Archive 

John Yates And Neil Wallis - A Mutual Understanding
Alex Marunchak - Presumed Innocent
News Corp - Diplomatic Immunity?
The Cook-Hames Surveillance : A Watched Kettle...
Alastair Morgan On The Latest Hackgate Revelations

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Videos Show A Jet Shot Down In Mohassen, Deir ez-Zor

It seems that the helicopter filmed being shot down near Damascus yesterday wasn't the only aircraft shot down.  Videos have been posted from Mohassen, Deir Ez Zor, showing evidence of a jet that appears to have been shot down.  The first video shows what activists claim to be the smoke coming from the crashed jet

The next video shows the parachute and helmet of the pilot

Next a video of what activist claim is a helicopter searching for the pilot

There's then four videos showing the remains of the aircraft, the first showing an engine

The next two show various pieces of debris

With a fourth showing the undercarriage

How it was shot down is unclear, and this isn't the first time a jet has been shot down in Mohassen, with the opposition downing a jet in August, and capturing it's pilot. 

Related Articles
Multiple Videos Showing A Helicopter Shot Down Near Damascus
The Free Syrian Army Captures SA-6 Surface To Air Missiles
The Free Syrian Army Storms A Surface To Air Missile Facility
Helicopter Downed In Damascus - Collected Videos And Images
More Evidence Of Complete SA-7 Anti-aircraft Missile Systems in Syria

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Multiple Videos Showing A Helicopter Shot Down Near Damascus

A number of videos have been posted on a number of opposition Youtube channels showing a helicopter being hit, then crashing, at East Ghouta, near Damascus.  The first two videos show the helicopter being hit, likely by 23mm AA fire

Update October 5th A very clear shot of the helicopter getting hit

These next videos show the helicopter spinning out of control and crashing into the ground

Update October 5th Another video of the helicopter falling

This final video shows the debris field

Update October 5th Another video was posted showing the debris field

Update October 5th @troublejee sent me this extremely graphic video of the remains of the pilot, or possibly pilots.

Currently it's unclear if this is related to the capture of an air defense base in the same area.

Update October 8th @troublejee has also sent me this photograph, that appears to show pairs of tracer bullets, strongly suggesting a ZU-23-2 was used to down the helicopter

Related Articles
The Free Syrian Army Captures SA-6 Surface To Air Missiles
The Free Syrian Army Storms A Surface To Air Missile Facility
Helicopter Downed In Damascus - Collected Videos And Images
More Evidence Of Complete SA-7 Anti-aircraft Missile Systems in Syria

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

One Rogue Email And The Indestructible Archive

Another new article by my regular contributor bringing some more order to the chaos of Hackgate.

Often a key Hackgate event has come to light months (even years) later.  It can be confusing - trying to see a wider view and adjusting your fuzzy chronology when fresh information appears. But each new fragment contributes to a better grasp of a bigger picture.  Tracing one aspect through the now-massive volume of material can be useful - in this instance, focusing on News International's quirky dealings with the everyday email.

26 January 2007
Goodman and Mulcaire convicted. Goodman's unfair dismissal claim against News of the World mean that batches of relevant emails are provided to News Int lawyers, Harbottle and Lewis, to inspect for evidence of illegality.  Given their narrowly-drawn remit, unsurprisingly they found none.

24 July 2008
Max Mosley won his legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), UK parent company of News International (News Int). One part of the defence case (ironically) was that Max Mosley had deleted emails which the News of the World alleged would have incriminated Mosley and exonerated the newspaper.  NGN were clearly suspicious that deleting emails looked guilty. 

Justice Eady demurred, saying in his Judgement (p17-18  paras 73-78) that Mosley's deletion of the emails

...seem to have been prompted, albeit with no great urgency, by the warnings he had received that he might be under surveillance by unidentified persons with the motive of trying to undermine his character or reputation in the motoring world. These came from Bernie Ecclestone in January and from Lord (John) Stevens at the end of February.

At the time (ironically), post-prison, "Glenn Mulcaire was contracted to give security advice to a private security company, Quest, whose chairman was Sir John Stevens, the former Met Police Commissioner."  (p66, Dial M for Murdoch)

8 July 2009
The Guardian reported that News International settled Gordon Taylor's civil claim: 'Murdoch papers paid £1m to gag phone-hacking victims'

9 July 2009
Assistant Commissioner John Yates (Counter Terrorism Command, Specialist Operations) undertook a day-long consideration of issues raised by the Guardian article the day before.  His conclusion was that a new investigation was not warranted.


14 July 2009At the ensuing Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee hearing, the Guardian's Nick Davies publicly provided Members with the infamous 'for Neville' 2005 email - one rogue email that challenged NGN's 'one rogue reporter' defence.


Nov 2009
News Int established an 'email deletion policy' to "eliminate in a consistent manner" emails "that could be unhelpful in the context of future litigation".



29 July 2010
Following repeated requests, a News Int Senior Executive again pressed for priority action on email deletion - "How come we still haven't done the email deletion policy discussed and approved six months ago?"


4 August 2010
The same Senior Executive asked again about email deletion, adding "everyone needs to know that everything before January 2010 will not be kept."

1 September 2010
The New York Times published a comprehensive story of the phone hacking crisis. Their article included fresh information from former News Int whistleblowers, challenging the fiction of one rogue reporter acting illegally without executives' knowledge - 'Tabloid Hack Attack on Royals, and Beyond'






2 September 2010
Metropolitan Police commence Operation Varec to investigate the New York Times article of the previous day.  Varec was undertaken by Counter-Terrorism Command in Specialist Operations.

6 September 2010
News Int were served with a letter from Sienna Miller's legal team requiring that all relevant documents and emails be preserved. In addition, her legal team demanded the preservation of all computers used by named News of the World journalists. (p 17 Admitted General Particulars of Claim)

9 Sept 2010
A News Int IT employee wrote about deleting emails the next day, "There is a senior NI management requirement to delete this data as quickly as possible..."

11 September 2010
It is alleged that "on 11 September 2010, April Casburn, being a public officer, and acting as such, without reasonable excuse or justification, wilfully misconducted herself to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in that office. This charge relates to an allegation that DCI Casburn contacted the News of the World newspaper and offered to provide information." (Crown Prosecution Service charge press statement)

It was reported by the Telegraph that this "related to information allegedly offered to the News of the World about Operation Varec", though it is not yet known if NotW accepted any offer of any inside-track Varec info. Detective Chief Inspector Casburn is a serving senior Metropolitan Police officer in Counter Terrorism Command in Specialist Operations.

Same day - 11 September 2010
All emails from News Int's email archive were deleted, up to September 30th 2004 (p17, Admitted General Particulars of Claim, as above)

October 2010
There now appeared a sense of urgency, brute force is applied - all computers used by News of the World journalists were 'taken out and smashed up' - physically destroyed and the hard drives put through a grinder. (Daily Mail)

10 November 2010
It was revealed by the Guardian that News of the World "accepted liability over allegations from Sienna Miller which included that her private emails had been opened".

17 November 2010
Bob Bird, Editor of News of the World Scotland, gives evidence at the Tommy Sheridan perjury trial -

Mr Bird told the court that the newspaper had lost 'six months' worth of emails due to a decision to archive them in Mumbai India

9 - 10 December 2010
Andy Coulson, Director of Communications at 10 Downing Street, gave his evidence at the Sheridan perjury trial.

21 January 2011
Andy Coulson resigns from No 10 post.

26 January 2011
Operation Weeting was announced. (MET Press Statement at start of Operation Weeting)

The MPS has today (26 January) received significant new information from News International relating to allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World in 2005/06. As a result, the MPS is launching a new investigation to consider this material... The original phone hacking investigation was undertaken by the Counter Terrorism Command in Specialist Operations. However, in view of their current workload and the continuing 'Severe' threat level, it has been agreed that it is no longer appropriate to divert them or Acting Deputy Commissioner John Yates from their main duties and responsibilities. Accordingly, this new investigation will be led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers from the Specialist Crime Directorate.

Late January 2011

...a News International executive may have deleted millions of emails from an internal archive in an apparent attempt to obstruct Scotland Yard's inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal.

 (Guardian)

31 January 2011
A data company may have pressured News Int to admit the backed-up pre-2007 email archive still existed - "no emails had been lost en route to Mumbai or anywhere else in India" - they had been located, near Bristol.

May 2011
Former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lord MacDonald, was hired by global parent company News Corporation to re-inspect some of the Harbottle and Lewis email files - ignored since 2007.  It took him just minutes to conclude that the emails must be handed to the police.
(Qs 1056-1060 Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee)

18 July 2011
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates (Counter Terrorism Command, Specialist Operations) resigned.

The News Corp Board followed Lord MacDonald's advice and the emails were provided to the MET Police.  These emails were the kick-start for the MET to intiate Operation Elevedon, their investigation into corruption of police officers and other public officials.

Who could have predicted?  You start with one rogue email and end up with a BIG can of worms...

Related Articles
John Yates And Neil Wallis - A Mutual Understanding
Alex Marunchak - Presumed Innocent
News Corp - Diplomatic Immunity?
The Cook-Hames Surveillance : A Watched Kettle...
Alastair Morgan On The Latest Hackgate Revelations

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com