anyone see this?  anyone post some nice large pics of this story please?  I want to see the firearms a bit better...


Original Story at Yahoo

"Pakistan police raid US-contracted security firm
By MUNIR AHMAD and NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writers Munir Ahmad And Nahal Toosi, Associated Press Writers 35 mins ago

ISLAMABAD – Pakistani police raided a local security firm that helps protect the U.S. Embassy on Saturday, seizing dozens of allegedly unlicensed weapons at a time when unusually intense media scrutiny of America's use of private contractors has deepened anti-U.S. sentiment.

Two employees of the Inter-Risk company were arrested during the raids in Islamabad, police official Rana Akram said. Reporters were shown the seized weapons — 61 assault rifles and nine pistols. Akram said police were seeking the firm's owner.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Rick Snelsire said the U.S. contract with Inter-Risk to provide security at the embassy and consulates took effect this year. It is believed to be the first U.S. contract for the firm, said Snelsire, who did not have a figure for its amount.

"Our understanding is they obtained licenses with whatever they brought into the country to meet the contractual needs," he said. "We told the government that we had a contract with Inter-Risk."

Akram said he had no idea about any U.S. links to Inter-Risk. A man who answered the phone number listed for the company and identified himself as Riaz Hussain confirmed the raid but gave contradictory answers when asked about any U.S. ties.

The company popped up Friday in one of a slew of local media reports that have focused on private security firms American diplomats are believed to use in Pakistan.

In particular, Pakistani reporters, anti-U.S. bloggers and others have suggested the U.S. is using the American firm formerly known as Blackwater — a claim that chills many Pakistanis because of the company's alleged involvement in killings of Iraqi civilians.

The U.S. Embassy denies it uses Blackwater — now known as Xe Services — in Pakistan.

Scandals involving U.S. private contractors have occurred elsewhere in the region.

In Washington on Friday, the Commission on Wartime Contracting heard testimony about another contractor — ArmorGroup North America — involving alleged illegal and immoral conduct by its guards at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, the Iraqi government refused to grant Xe Services an operating license amid continued outrage over a 2007 lethal firefight involving some of its employees in Baghdad, although the State Department has temporarily extended a contract with a Xe subsidiary to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq.

Many of the reports in Pakistan have been prompted by U.S. plans to expand its embassy space and staff. Among the other rumors the U.S. denies: that 1,000 U.S. Marines will land in the capital, and that Americans will set up a Guantanamo-style prison.

The U.S. says it needs to add hundreds more staff to allow it to disburse billions of dollars in additional humanitarian and economic aid to Pakistan. The goal is to improve education and other areas, lessening the allure of extremism.

Some analysts say Islamist and other opposition groups may be planting the stories in the Pakistani press and blogs to portray Pakistan's government as an American lackey.

Pakistani political analyst Talat Masood said Inter-Risk's association with America "will increase the apprehensions that existed that the Americans are engaged in clandestine activities," and that the raid shows "the Pakistan government is asserting itself."

The U.S. considers stability in Pakistan critical to helping the faltering war effort in neighboring Afghanistan, and has pressed Pakistan to crack down on extremism on its soil. Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are believed to use Pakistan's northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan as hide-outs from which to plan attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has launched offensives against militants, but has also relied on some local militias to help fend off the Pakistani Taliban. Some of these militias share the same aims as the Taliban in Afghanistan, but disagree with targeting the Pakistani government.

On Saturday, one pro-government militia leader said the army had asked him to stop fighting the Pakistani Taliban. Turkistan Bhitani told The Associated Press that he and 24 aides surrendered their weapons to the army in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan and that he had asked 350 of his men to do so as well.

Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, however, said he knew nothing of such an arrangement.

Also Saturday, a bomb at a security checkpoint in the northwestern region of Dara Adam Khel killed at least two people, local government official Aslam Khan said. He said police are still investigating if it was a suicide attack and determining the identity of the victims.

Taliban fighters in Pakistan's northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan frequently target security checkpoints. The Sunni extremist militants also have fueled violence pitting Muslim sects against each another.

Police said Saturday that the death toll from a suicide car bombing at a hotel in a Shiite Muslim-dominated village in Pakistan's northwest rose to 40. The Friday blast in Usterzai village was followed by a bomb in nearby Cho village that killed a Sunni official.

The army said in a statement that 51 militants had surrendered in the last 24 hours in the northwest Swat Valley, and that another seven were arrested during ongoing operations there. It also said militants fatally shot five civilians in a minibus there. "

OMG AN ASSUALT CELL PHONE

Pretty sure that's a local national company contracted by the AMEMB like a lot of embassies do.

ETA:  

http://www.dawn.com.pk/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/12-firm+guarding+us+diplomats+gets+80+arms+licences––bi-09

Often US security companies form JVs with local outfits to get the benefit of the local company's existing licenses when a big deal like the US embassy contract comes up. Obviously, if you've got the embassy contract, you want to make sure all your people, firearms, vehicles, etc. are current on their licenses and that all "fees" are paid.

Correct, not direct contract with US personnel.

Pakistani police officers stand around confiscated weapons display for media at a police station in Islamabad, Pakistan on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. Pakistani police raided a local security firm that has a contract with the U.S. Embassy, seizing dozens of allegedly unlicensed weapons at a time when American use of private contractors is under unusual scrutiny here, officials said.
(AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

When did pump shotguns become assault rifles?

Munir Ahmad And Nahal Toosi, Associated Press Writers

Maybe their english is not so good ...

Looks like a lot of old junk...I have trouble believing a US security contractor is going to be using equipment like that.  Even the shotgun shells look old and stored poorly.  Something smells fishy here.

Agreed

+1 It's just a hit piece. Why, I'm not sure tho.



 

Weird, I guess Dawn has something to prevent linking to their website, b/c I can't get that link I tried to post above to work.  Go to www.dawn.com and you can find the article on the front page.


Here's the text of the article:

Firm guarding US diplomats gets 80 arms licences
By Azaz Syed
Friday, 18 Sep, 2009

ISLAMABAD: A private Pakistani security agency being operated by a retired army captain, and providing security and protection to American embassy officials in the country, has imported over 80 sophisticated automatic prohibited bore weapons, following special permission granted by the prime minister.

The retired captain, who was picked up by a Pakistani intelligence agency a day earlier but soon released on the production of valid documents, acquired these licences for prohibited bore guns for Inter Risk, a company which has the contract to provide trained security guards for the Americans, highly informed sources told Dawn.

Sources privy to the development said 84 licences were issued with the special approval of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on a personal request from a senior US official who had apprised the prime minister of the need for having a specialised private security team to protect American diplomats in the country.

Soon after grant of approval the weapons were imported from the US. Among the weapons for which special licences were issued include guns of 5.56mm and 7.62mm calibre rifles.

The sources said the arrangement was made with a Pakistani security company because local laws do not permit any foreign private security firm to operate within the country or import sophisticated weapons from abroad.  

When contacted, a US embassy spokesman confirmed that the embassy was working with the private company, Inter Risk.

However, he said that it was Inter Risk which might have imported the weapons, and certainly not the US embassy.  

Interestingly, when Dawn contacted Capt Syed Ali Ja Zaidi (retd), he confirmed that he had applied for the licences on behalf of Inter Risk.

However, he claimed that since the weapons were quite expensive and he was not in a position to buy them on his own, he was provided help by the contracting party in paying for them.

Inter Risk has been working for many years in Pakistan and mostly deals with providing security, protection and security consultancy.  

When asked about the controversy surrounding another foreign security firm, Blackwater or the XE, Capt Zaidi denied any linkage with, or knowledge of, any such company.

He said he had a five-year agreement with the Office of the Regional Security in US embassy and he was following the agreement by trying to provide standard security to the staff of the embassy in Islamabad.

So either someone made off with a lot of nice firearms, leaving this pile of shit in their place...

or someone skimmed most of the money, and bought this pile of shit and called it good.



Either way... these are not the guns anyone was looking for!
 

Riiiiiight, so that pile of junky crap firearms is used by a security company.

I have better crap stored in the back of my safe, heck, that looks like a gunshow table of surp castoffs.

Oh, and crooked foreign nationals who are hired and turn out to be "gasp!"  thieves who scam and steal from the company.

Not just any security company...











Something stinks to high heaven.







 

Funny how so many third world security people like pistol gripped 12ga pump shotguns.  Nothing like seeing a 5' nothing LBG riding shotgun (literally) on a Coke or Pepsi delivery truck toting one; they're all over Guatemala and Mexico for example.  Usually they also had some sort of .38 revolver on their hip with a row of green bullets to match.    Not saying I'd want to stand in front of them, but I'd like to watch them crank off a few rounds.

Actually, it sounds about normal and it's why we didn't use these SOBs in the past any more then we HAD to.

It's a local firm, contracted to provide security for US interests...



Kind of like the folks EODT hired in Iraq, or the G4S/Falc guards at the gates in Korea...



 

Where do you get that anything is missing?

According to the Dawn article, the guy who runs Inter Risk was picked up, maybe in conjunction with a raid on his offices, by Paki security services because he just imported 80 odd restricted military caliber weapons into the country for use on his companies contract at the AMEMB.  But, when he produced the required licensing paperwork, which he had acquired through channels, he was released, and most likely his weapons were as well if they were even there as they're likely housed at the AMEMB. It's also possible that the siezed weapons are all just stuff procured locally (as the pictures indicate) that the compnay wasn't supposed to have either.  ETA: or the Paki security service siezed what he did have even though it was legally to save face after they realized they fucked up, the machine guns were licensed properly and the porprty of the US govt.

The associated press article is nothing but a hit piece, as another poster pointed out, using the typical US media outline that "security contractors are evil."  Note that that article says "seizing dozens of allegedly unlicensed weapons," and only the first few paragraphs have anything to do with that incident while the rest bring up BW/Xe and other old news.   It doesn't help that the OP titled his post "US security contractor raided in Pakistan" which plays on the idea that it's another case of BW, Armor Group, whoever, run amok.

The question should be why are we hiring these guys if this is the weaponry they have?

!!!!!!where the hell do they have the armory located? in the outhouse underneath the septic tank full of shit?

if this story isnt a joke or a huge third world country media mistake (which i suspect) we need to start auditing the shit out of whoever secures our people and assets abroad  

some shitbox pump shotguns rusted shut dont exactly scream security when terrorists are trading chickens, corncobs, and surprise buttsecks for crates of ak47s

And now, we're getting exactly the reactions the liberal media twats who wrote the AP article were hoping for...

Ill bet a dime to a dollar that those firearms were seized/liberated/stolen/discovered by the security contractors, and they kept them.



They were probably taking Paki citizens gear (JBT style), probably disarmed a Paki that was or knew someone important, they called up their buddy the police chief, and the police raided their asses. All of the guns were in their possession, but were not registered or licensed to them.



BAM. Game over.

good point

its a third world country. lots of fucked the shit up stuff happens.

Dumb Comment/Question Number 87: I thought the "Security" responsibilities were handled solely by the United States Marine Corps, why would the US Embassy hire a foreign entity

wtf?? when did us security contractors start using tokarevs and nagant revolvers??

MSG Dets are small and only really handle internal security.  External guard forces are either provided by the host nation, are contracted by the AMEMB, or a combination of the two.

Wow.  Blackwater has so much controversy surrounding it, it's so disliked in the middle east that these guys have never even heard of them!

I think they hire indigenous troops for outer perimeter security and Marines for inner perimeter. That way, if they get hit with a truck bomb it's locals, not more high profile and high value target Marines.

You know, there is a lot of hate for these type of operators from the leftist in this country and there are self avowed Communist/Marxists appointees surrounding the W.H., just sayin'.

Makes sense

If the best they can do are Toks, nagant revos and pistol grip junk 12 guages, They got bigger problems than this.
OR

I have the same weapons they have, can I get a contract too? I need a job/

I spy a jungle carbine in there.

These aren't the guys that do anything to protect the chancery and its contents directly.  These folks are the local nationals that patrol the outer perimeter and provide first contact to visitors.  In the case of Islamabad, the embassy is in a closed diplomatic enclave with the embassies of numerous other countries.  These are the guys either pulling guard duty at the gates of the enclave itself or at the outer perimiter of the US embassy.  Typically, you have to pass through multiple levels of security before you meet the squared away Marines with top notch weaponry.