Bring Out Your Dead

Cross posted by Findalis of Monkey in the Middle

It is said that whatever you do will eventually catch up to you. Some call this Karma, others fate. What ever you call it, for good or evil, it will bite you on the butt. Just as it has done to members of AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb).

At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages. The killer bug, also known as the plague, swept through insurgents training at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa.

It came to light when security forces found a body by a roadside. The victim was a terrorist in AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb), the largest and most powerful al-Qaeda group outside the Middle East. It trains Muslim fighters to kill British and US troops. Now al-Qaeda chiefs fear the plague has been passed to other terror cells — or Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

One security source said: “This is the deadliest weapon yet in the war against terror. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical supplies needed to treat the disease. “It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really worrying al-Qaeda.”

Black Death comes in various forms. Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. Symptoms include boils in the groin, neck and armpits. In Pneumonic Plague, airborn bacteria spread like flu. It can be in the body for more than a week — highly contagious but not revealing tell-tale symptoms. The al-Qaeda epidemic began in the cave hideouts of AQLIM in Tizi Ouzou province, 150km east of the capital Algiers.

The group, led by wanted terror boss Abdelmalek Droudkal, was forced to turn its shelters in the Yakouren forest into mass graves and flee. The extremists supporting madman Osama bin Laden went to Bejaia and Jijel provinces — hoping the plague did not go with them. A source said: “The emirs (leaders) fear surviving terrorists will surrender to escape a horrible death.

Read the full story here.

The bubonic plague is an infection of the lymphatic system, usually resulting from the bite of an infected flea. The fleas are often found on rodents, such as rats, and seek out other prey when their rodent hosts die. Once established, bacteria rapidly spread to the lymph nodes and multiply. Yersinia pestis can resist phagocytosis and even reproduce inside phagocytes and kill them. As the disease progresses, the lymph nodes can hemorrhage and become necrotic. Bubonic plague can progress to lethal septicemic plague in some cases. The most famous symptom of bubonic plague is swollen lymph nodes, called buboes. These are commonly found in the armpits, groin or neck.

The bubonic plague was the first step of the ongoing plague. Two other forms of the plague, pneumonic and septicemic, resulted after a patient with the bubonic plague developed pneumonia or blood poisoning. Other symptoms include spots on the skin that are red at first and then turn black, heavy breathing, continuous blood vomiting, aching limbs and terrible pain. The pain is usually caused by the actual decaying, or decomposing of the skin while the infected person is still alive, when death begins the person will get spasms. According to the World Health Organization, there are 1,000 to 3,000 cases of bubonic plague worldwide each year.

There are no known cases in Australia or Europe. Areas where cases occur are in Russia, the Middle East, China, Southwest and Southeast Asia, Madagascar, southern and eastern Africa, the Andes mountains and Brazil. Treatment is usually given as soon as symptoms appear. Streptomycin or tetracycline are the standard antibiotics given. A vaccination is available to prevent this disease. The Taliban and al Queda both shun vaccinations as being from Satan and therefore anti-Islamic. I expect that the Taliban and/or al Queda will be issuing statements condemning the US and claiming that the Americans are using biological weapons.

But what can you expect when you live in a cave and never bathe?

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Sorry I just couldn't resist. And the set does look like an average Taliban town.