Terrorism Watch

Source: Rediff.com June 19, 2009 18:35 IST Investigators on Friday told a Delhi [ Images ] court that Mohammad Omar Madni, a suspected terrorist, has disclosed about the links between Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba [ Images ] and Maoists in Jharkhand. "He (Madni) revealed that LeT was acting in coordination with CPI (Maoists) in Jharkhand. He has acted as conduit for LeT and provided training to recruits in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and sent them to India to carry out terror strikes," the public prosecutor told the court which extended the police remand of Madni for seven days. Delhi Police, which is interrogating Madni, contended that his custodial quizzing was necessary to ascertain his emails details and bank account, which revealed transactions to the tune of Rs 25 lakh. Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Yaduvanshi allowed the plea of the police, which has arrested the militant under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. 50-year-old Madn

Source: The Hindu Srinagar (IANS): A shutdown called by separatists in the Kashmir Valley affected life in the summer capital and other major cities Saturday, even as Vice President Hamid Ansari arrived to preside over the convocation of Kashmir University. Authorities imposed strict restrictions Friday to foil a march by separatists to Baramulla town. The march has been called by hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani against the murder and rape of two women in south Kashmir's Shopian town last month. Contingents of police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed in strength to maintain law and order in the state capital. Security has been tightened in view of the vice president's visit. Roads leading to the university have been sealed off and no vehicles except those of the officials and those holding invitations to the function are being allowed. Public transport, markets, educational institutions and banks are closed in the city and

June 19, 2009 Source: Timesonline (Vincent West/Reuters) Chief Inspector Eduardo Puelles García died when a limpet mine attached to his vehicle exploded in a car park close to his home Graham Keeley, in Barcelona The head of a Spanish anti-terrorist unit has been murdered in an Eta a car-bomb attack. Chief Inspector Eduardo Puelles García died instantly when a limpet mine attached to his car exploded at 9.05am. The attack took place in car park near his home in Arrigarriga, near Bilbao. A neighbour who heard the blast said it was so strong that his bed moved. Four other vehicles were damaged but no one else was hurt. Television pictures showed flames shooting out of the vehicle. The murder of Mr Puelles, 49, comes exactly 22 years since Eta’s worst terrorist attack, the bombing of the Hipercor supermarket in Barcelona in which 21 people died and 40 were injured. Related Links Eta targets second-home buyers and tourists Eta kills busin

Source: China news     By Daniel Ooko     NAIROBI, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The international community has condemned the killing of Somalia's National Security Minister, Omar Hashi Aden, in a suicide car bomb in Beletweyne, north of the capital Mogadishu on Thursday.     In a joint statement the UN, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU), the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the League of Arab States (LAS) condemned this week's upsurge in violence in Mogadishu, where another suicide bomb or shelling is reported to have killed at least ten people attending a mosque.     They called on the transitional federal government of Somalia not to be deterred in its pursuit for peace by the actions of a small minority.     "This deplorable attack once again demonstrates that the extremists will st

source: Associated press By LOLITA C. BALDOR – 1 hour ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Terrorist groups that have long used the Internet to spread propaganda are increasingly tapping the Web to teach Islamic extremists how to be hackers, recruit techies for cyberwarfare and raise money through online fraud, U.S. officials say. A senior defense official said intelligence reports indicate extremist groups are seeking computer experts, including those capable of breaching government or other sensitive network systems. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said the extent and success of those recruiting efforts are unclear. But jihadists' interest in hacking is evident in forums across the Internet. Law enforcement officials say terrorists are branching out into Internet fraud to raise money for their operations. One Internet forum, the Mujahedeen Electronic Net, offers hacking instructions in a number of postings. A lengthy posting markets a

Source: the age May 9, 2008 Al Qaeda and other radical groups have dramatically increased their use of the Internet in recent years to lure and train recruits worldwide, a US Senate report warned on Thursday. The report by the Senate Homeland Security Committee found that these groups run production houses and distribution centers that digitally send anti-American messages to thousands of websites around the globe. "Terrorists, whom some dismiss as people living in caves, are as sophisticated in their communication abilities today as most members of 'Generation Y,"' said committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent. "America is now vulnerable not just to attacks plotted by terrorists oceans away, as was the case with 9/11, but also to terrorism conceived within our own borders," Lieberman said. "It used to be that recruits would have to travel to training camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan,

Source: UTV news Mustafa Qadri: The idea that Pakistan is inherently dangerous is a lazy mantra used by those who ignore history and avoid the complicated reality Thursday, 18 June 2009 According to Kapil Komireddi in these very pages, the demise of Pakistan is "inevitable" because it has since foundation been a source of division and extremism. This is not a new argument. Virtually every western analyst, now happily joined by a chorus of Indian observers mysteriously bereft of regional contexts and history, believes that the Pakistan state, as opposed to merely extremists within its borders, is the single greatest threat to international peace and security. On paper, there is much to support this line of thinking. Pakistan is, after all, a highly mismanaged, corrupt developing state that has fostered religious extremism for decades while continuing to build a formidable nuclear arsenal. The prospect of the Taliban getting its hands on Pakistan's nukes is the stuff o

Thursday, June 18, 2009 By Kamila Hyat             Source: The nation     The writer is a former newspaper editor and joint director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan At forums everywhere, most notably since President Barack Obama made his speech early this month to Muslims around the world from Cairo, appealing for a new era of cooperation, there has been intensified discussion on how to tackle extremism. In Washington, in Paris, in London – and perhaps most usefully in Cairo – there have been discussions on what tactics are required; on why extremism has waned since the Bali bombing of 2002 in Indonesia but grown in another non-Arab state, Pakistan and how issues of development play a part in this. The decision taken to launch an Islamic TV channel presenting a 'moderate' view of Islam by the Al-Azhar University seems to have stemmed from this new world focus on rooting out extremism and the terrible violence that has come with it. The channel, to be called

Confrontation: Douglas Murray and Anjem Choudary face each other in the street after the South Place Ethical Society banned the preacher’s group from the hall Rashid Razaq 18.06.09 <a target="_blank" href="http://ad.uk.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/3850/3/0/%2a/e%3B214091178%3B3-0%3B0%3B37777431%3B933-120/600%3B31129006/31146882/1%3B%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://www.findaproperty.com"><img src="" border="0" alt="" ></a> A public debate organised by a banned Islamist group sparked scuffles and angry confrontations over segregated seating for women. Police were called after members of Al Muhajiroun physically prevented men and women from sitting next to each other leading to claims of assault and intimidation. The event titled Sharia law versus British law was meant to s

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 By Nora Zimmett A poor, agrarian, landlocked country in South America with a nearly 100 percent Christian population is hardly the place one would expect to become a hotbed of Islamic extremism in the Western Hemisphere. But a recent report by the Open Source Center (OSC) of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence says it's so. There are only 1,000 Muslims in Bolivia, a country of 9.7 million people, but the connection between some of the community’s religious leaders and Iran — as well as with fundamentalist factions in the Palestinian territories — has U.S. officials and terror experts keeping a watchful eye on them. The report revealed a number of Muslim organizations in Bolivia whose leaders have publicly denounced U.S. foreign policy and have direct associations with extremists in the Middle East. “There’s a theory that they may believe — Latin America, particularly with its Leftist leanings in recen

The Imphal Free Press Imphal, June 16: The outlawed KCP(MC) in a press release today claimed responsibility for the bomb blast outside the 2MR canteen today, saying this was a warning against illegal liquor running. It said the state is today in the grip of fake encounter killing and state terrorism. There is not a single day where there are no cases of fake encounters at the hands of state as well as central forces. On the other hand, livelihood means are shrinking by the day, impoverishing 90 percent of the population, driving many to desperation. While this is happening, even though Manipur is a dry state, and there are no foreign liquor brewing factories in the state, foreign liquor continues to flow in torrents. The big game plan is to intoxicate and render the youth of the place useless so as to condemn the state into never ending backwardness and subjugation. It said the 6 Manipur Rifles which runs the canteen are an agent of this game plan and hence the 5th Special

LAHORE: Taliban commander Qari Zainudin Mehsud has said he is not in favour of attacks against the Pakistan government and blames Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud for all terrorist acts in the country. Talking to a private TV channel on Wednesday, Zainudin said Islam did not permit attacks inside Pakistan, adding it was the issue of attacks inside Pakistan, which was the basis of his differences with Baitullah Mehsud. He said they had allied with Baitullah against non-Muslims and not for attacks inside Pakistan. In response, TTP commander Hafiz Saeed, while also talking to a private TV channel, said Zainudin was not part of the TTP and as such was not authorised to speak for them. “He does not belong to the TTP and is working at the behest of the government,” he said. daily times monitor

TAMPA: The battle on Pakistani soil between the military and the Taliban is a fight against extremism, which poses a threat against the country’s very existence, said top US commander David Petraeus on Wednesday. “It is their fight against extremism that they assess poses a threat against their very existence … it’s not them fighting our global war on terror,” said Petraeus at a meeting with French journalists at the US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Petraeus said he approved of Pakistan’s offensive against the Taliban on its side of the border with Afghanistan, but assured that the US was not providing direct combat assistance to Islamabad. afp

Islamabad: Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said the terrorists are paying huge amounts of money to buy children to use them as suicide bombers. "The terrorists are using children for their barbarous terrorist activities and a suicide bomber is paid Rs 5 to 25 lakh from terrorist outfits," Mr Malik said while speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad on Monday. He said the government is determined to continue the war against terrorism until the Taliban are flushed out of the country. Terrorists are targeting innocent people and they have no link with Islam as they have tarnished the image of Islam and Pakistan, he added. "Anti-state elements are buying children and making them suicide bombers," he said. He added, terrorists were using civilians as human shield. "We had two options. (We could) either to surrender before the terrorists or fight with them. Now terrorists are on the run in Swat, Dir and Buner," the Pakistan Interior Minister added. He

Britain must prepare itself for attack from a new generation of home-grown Islamic extremists, Professor Michael Clarke, a Government terrorism adviser has warned.   By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent Published: 7:00AM BST 13 Jun 2009 Double-decker bus in Tavistock Square destroyed by a terrorist bomb on Thursday July 7, 2005 Photo: PA Professor Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute, said the period since the July 7 bombings may be considered a "golden age of counter terrorism" in which police and MI5 have been "both successful and lucky". But he warned that future generations of terrorists they will learn from failed attacks and that the conviction of more that 90 terrorists in the past four years will make prisons a hotbed of radicalisation.   Related Articles Anti-terror strategy highlights threat of small 'terrorist groups' West Yorkshire Police accused of

Source: Daily Star Law Minister Shafique Ahmed yesterday said as many as 122 organisations are involved in terror activities in the country. Addressing a workshop on 'Anti-Terrorism Act 2009' he said Qawmi madrasas are turning into breeding grounds of religion-based terrorism. "They are not following the Quran, the Shariah and even laws of the land," he said adding that religious militancy goes against the spirit of religion and Islam. "The education ministry is conducting a survey on madrasas and it is rational to bring all madrasas under government's control," he said. The workshop was organised by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) at its conference centre at Gulshan in the city. Shafique said Qawmi madrasas will get government facilities if they come under the government's control. The law minister said the religion-based terrorism began in the country after 1975 when changes were brought to the constitution through martial law p

Source: Daily Star April 21, 2009 A case was filed yesterday against Moulana Abul Kalam, alleged commander of Al Badr Bahini in Faridpur during the Liberation War, and his brother-in-law on charge of committing war crimes. Bhakta Ranjan Biswas, son of Madhab Chandra Biswas of Purura Namopara village, filed the case with a Judicial Magistrate's Court against Kalam alias Bachchu Mia, 65, of Saltha upazila and his brother-in-law Mohammad Kazi, 60. Kalam, the chairman of non-governmental organisation Bangladesh Masjid Council, hosts an Islamic programme 'Apnar Jigyasa' on private TV channel ntv. Magistrate Motaharat Akhter Bhuiyan received the case and directed the officer-in-charge of Saltha Police Station to investigate it. According to the case statement, both Kalam and Mohammad Kazi, who joined hands with Pakistani occupation forces, were engaged in killings, looting, rape and arson during the liberation war in 1971. They also formed peace committees in various

Jun 17, 2009 From Gopal Ethiraj Madurai,  17 June (Asiantribune.com): One person was injured when a low intensity bomb packed in a tiffin box went off, near a road bridge on the outskirts of the city. Eleven similar explosive devices found nearby were defused.  Police defused the ‘tiffin-bombs’ seized from a bag found under a bridge at Viraganur near here on Monday night. Police said a local, Mahesh, 24, found a tiffin-box lying near the bridge when he went there to to answer a nature’s call. After his attempts to open the box failed, he flung it on the ground, following which it exploded, injuring him in the process. The explosives were of low intensity and improvised variety of the country bombs, IG (South Zone) Sanjeev Kumar told media persons after visiting the spot. One of the bombs was found to be quite powerful, a police official said. The ‘tiffin-bombs’ could have been dropped near the bridge owing to intensified patrolling and vehicle checks by

Seven-week campaign in Swat Valley region Sajjad Tarakzai, Agence France-Presse  Published: Monday, June 15, 2009 Akhtar Soomro, Reuters Millions of Pakistanis have been forced from their homes since the fight with the Taliban heated up seven weeks ago. Pakistani security forces have launched a "full-fledged" assault on the Taliban's top chief in the country and his rebels in the lawless tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, an official said yesterday. The announcement of operations in the semi-autonomous northwest zone comes shortly after a bomb killed eight people near the area, the latest in a series of blasts the government has blamed on most-wanted militant Baitullah Mehsud. Security forces are already locked in a seven-week campaign against the insurgents in three other northwest districts, and a recent wave of deadly attacks are widely seen as Taliban retribution for the fierce offensive. "The government has launched a full-fled

The News talked to DIG Saleem Akhtar Siddiqi to obtain his take on the present law-and-order situation and the working of the police force. This is part 1 of a two-part series... Wednesday, June 17, 2009 By Salis bin Perwaiz Karachi The senior Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Saleem Akhtar Siddiqi, an officer of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) batch of 1979, is adept at handling the law-and-order situation. Siddiqi has won laurels for his unwavering commitment to work in 1995-96, but surprisingly, was harassed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for four years. However, he remains the only police officer to whom the NAB has apologised in writing. The News: Do you think the current police force is capable enough to handle the current law-and-order situation? Saleem Akhtar Siddiqui: In my opinion, the police force is not prepared to cope with terrorism — bomb blasts, suicide attacks, or the increase in street crimes.

Communist party offices have been set on fire by villagers in Lalgarh Three more workers of the ruling party have been killed by suspected Maoist rebels in a troubled part of India's West Bengal state, police say. This takes the number of Communist party workers killed in clashes with rebels in the Lalgarh area to six. Six other party workers are missing. Separately, villagers backed by the rebels have blocked roads to prevent security forces from entering the area. Maoist-linked violence has killed 6,000 people in India over the past 20 years. The tribespeople-dominated Lalgarh area in West Bengal's West Midnapore district has been under the virtual control of the Maoist rebels since last November. Over the past few days, villagers backed by the rebels have taken over more villages in the area and burnt down and demolished offices belonging to the ruling Communi

Special Correspondent Rush paramilitary forces as requested by government: CPI(M) — Photos: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury, Special Arrangement Unabated violence: Tribals take out a rally at Lalgarh in West Bengal on Tuesday in support of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities. KOLKATA: Even as violence continued to rage at Lalgarh in Paschim Medinipur district, the West Bengal government on Tuesday expressed concern at attempts by the Police Santrosh Birodhi Janashadharaner Committee (PSBJC) [People’s Committee against Police Atrocities], the Maoist-backed local resistance group, to extend its influence to new areas in the region. One company of Central paramilitar

17 Jun 2009, 0542 hrs IST, Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN KOLKATA: Operation Lalgarh, as the Maoists want it to be known, was staring the government in the face, but it chose to wait and watch. Maoists went on a bloody rampage, bodies piled up, CPM leaders were massacred in their homes, and even Kolkata was held hostage for a day by armed Maoist-backed tribals. The government did nothing — not even ban the insurgent outfit in Bengal. Bouyed by the success, the Maoists plan to replicate Operation Lalgarh in neighbouring Jharkhand, say intelligence findings communicated to the state home department. Now, with violence spiralling out of control, central forces are being rushed in. Five companies of CRPF, ie about 600 troops, will be on the ground in Lalgarh Wednesday morning to help contain the bloodshed. Even as home secretary Ardhendu Sen insisted the administration ''took action as and when the situation demanded'', former police officers familiar with the area wondered

A suspected US missile strike killed at least five people on Sunday in a tribal region where Pakistan’s top Taliban commander is based, intelligence officials said, breaking a lull in such attacks and posing a test for growing anti-Taliban sentiment. The strike came as violence raged elsewhere in the volatile northwest region bordering Afghanistan: a bombing at a market killed eight people. In a related development, officials said clashes between the Taliban and security forces killed at least 20 militants in a tribal region supposedly cleared of insurgents months ago. Local media reported that the Taliban claimed responsibility for several recent attacks in Pakistan, including one that killed a moderate cleric, calling them revenge for the army’s offensive in the northwestern Swat Valley. The attacks seem to have bolstered growing anti-Taliban sentiment in Pakistan, something the US hopes will translate into support for sustained military action against extremists who use Pakistan