Terrorism Watch

Source; AFP on Google By Sammy Ketz (AFP) –  8 hours ago BAGHDAD — At 10:20 am on October 25, postman Mussa Sallus delivered letters to a bank at the ministry of justice in Baghdad. Five minutes after leaving the building, a shock wave blew him off his feet. "I thank God for saving my life," says Sallus, who was less than 300 metres (yards) from the building when a suicide truck bomber detonated his payload, killing dozens, many of them children at a nursery for ministry workers. A minute later, a second bomber drove an explosives-laden minibus into the entrance of Baghdad's municipal headquarters, located only 800 metres away, triggering a blast that raised the death toll to 153. The attacks were the worst to hit Iraq in more than two years, wounding hundreds of people and causing major damage to dozens of nearby buildings. When Sallus, who has been walking the Iraqi capital's streets for 27 years, reappeared at the post office his colleagues thought he was a ghost

Source: myjoyonline Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:24 GMT   The capacity of Ghana's Navy to monitor Ghana's territorial waters was last Tuesday stretched to its full limit as a group of oil pirates slipped through their fingers leaving behind a vessel load of oil.  The pirates believed to be Nigerians were said to have hijacked an oil vessel from the oil rich country and brought it into Ghanaian waters.  The vessel christened "African Prince," belongs to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), which is currently anchored at the Tema Habour Under heavy security. The vessel is said to be carrying in its belly board about 29,000 to 32, 000 barrels (6,000 tons) of refined petroleum.  Impeccable security sources told The Enquirer that the pirates who had taken the crew of the shipping vessel led by a Pakistani by name Captain Shahid Siddiqui, hostage managed to escape in a speedboat on seeing personnel of the Ghana Navy approaching their stolen marine

Source: Daily times Friday, November 27, 2009 PESHAWAR: A remote-controlled bomb injured three people – including two policemen – and destroyed an electricity pylon in Bashirabad area of the provincial capital on Thursday, said police. Peshawar SSP (Coordination) Muhammad Alam Shinwari told Daily Times that the device had been planted to target Gulbahar SHO Riazul Islam. He said at least two kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack. An official from the Faqirabad Police Station told Daily Times that the attack at around 6:55am injured three people – Riaz, another policeman and a student. SHO Riaz was on his way to work when the device was detonated – severely damaging his vehicle and destroying the power pylon. Separately, a police spokesman said that 78 Afghan nationals living in the city without proper documents had been detained. manzoor ali shah

Source: Dawn By Faizullah Jan  Monday, 23 Nov, 2009 If Predators and Reapers are the high-tech non-suicide form of suicide bombers, the extremist killing machines (read suicide bombers) are the rudimentary form of drones.—File photo It is becoming increasingly difficult to objectively analyse the current situation without sounding sympathetic to one of the two equally shadowy entities: the extremists in the form of the Taliban/Al Qaeda and the purveyors of the war on terror. Both are in the business of selling death. For the United States it is no mean act to kill scores of innocent people in the process of knocking off a ‘high-value’ target; for the Taliban it is ‘religiously’ sanctioned to blow up common people right, left and centre as collateral damage to their own ‘high-value’ target. How can one defend US drone attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan that have killed no less than 700 people to take out a handful of terrorists, just as one cannot defend the mass murder carri

Source: AFP on Google By Nasrullah Khan (AFP) –  5 hours ago KHAR, Pakistan — A key anti-Taliban leader was assassinated in a bomb attack in Pakistan's tribal belt, as troops backed by helicopters killed 15 militants in a new operation on Friday, officials said. Shahpoor Khan, an ally of Pakistan's embattled authorities in the district of Bajaur, was killed as he returned home after saying prayers for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. The roadside bomb in the town of Badan, part of Pakistan's mountainous tribal belt that US officials call the most dangerous region on earth and a headquarters for Al-Qaeda, killed Khan and wounded three others. "The tribal leader was killed on the spot and his colleagues were seriously wounded in the blast," said local administration chief Jamil Khan. Eid officially begins in Pakistan on Saturday but began in Afghanistan on Friday and some people in Bajaur, which lies close to the border, celebrated the start of the Muslim festi

By Yossi Melman The Yemeni authorities arrested two people last week on suspicion of trying to assassinate the rabbi of the local Jewish community, Yahya Yusuf Musa, according to reports in the Yemeni media. This was the latest in a series of reports reflecting the difficult situation of Yemen's Jewish community. In the capital city of Sanaa, the community has been shrinking steadily, and currently numbers about 65 people, most of whom fled there from rural areas in fear of their lives. They live in a heavily guarded compound allocated by the Yemeni government. The other main concentration of Jews is in Saada, which since 2004 has been the scene of fierce fighting between the Sunni government and rebel Shi'ite tribes. "They would come at night and shout slogans like 'death to America,' 'death to Israel' and 'damn the Jews,'" a local rabbi said of the tribesmen. According to The Washington Post, the threat that Islamic extremists

Sopurce: BBC NEWS F ive people, two of them soldiers, have died in southern Yemen in clashes between security forces and protesters demanding secession, officials say. Shooting began as troops had tried to disperse a rally in the town of Ataq, in Shabwa province, witnesses said. The protesters wanted the restoration of the former republic South Yemen, which was independent until 1990. There have been other similar clashes in the south in recent months, fuelling concern about the country's stability. Yemen, an impoverished country of 23 million, also faces an intensifying conflict in the north between government forces and Houthi rebels, which has drawn in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and displaced thousands of people.  'Surrounded' Wednesday's demonstration in Ataq, 500km (310 miles) south-east of the capital Sanaa, happened five days before the 42nd anniversary of the British withdrawal from Aden, which gave independence to South Yemen. People in southern Yemen co

Source: Miami herald BY JAY PRICE MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS FORWARD OPERATING BASE WILSON, Afghanistan --  Two U.S. paratroopers were killed and five others wounded, all from the same company, in a pair of unrelated bomb blasts Sunday. The seven were members of the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 82nd Airborne Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, which arrived in August on a yearlong mission to mentor Afghan army and national police units. Killed were Sgt. James M. Nolen, 25, of Alvin, Texas, and Pfc. Marcus A. Tynes, 19, of Moreno Valley, Calif. The military released their names late Tuesday. The soldiers were assigned to work with Afghan security forces about 20 miles west of Kandahar near an area where insurgents control several small farming villages. There are almost daily attacks on Afghan and NATO security forces and supply convoys passing on Highway 1, the main east-west highway in the region. Nolen, Tynes and three of the wounded soldiers were riding in an armored Humvee on a dirt road

Source: BBC NEWS Two policemen and an 11-year-old girl have been injured in a roadside bomb blast in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, police say. The remote-controlled device targeted a police station chief who was travelling through the Rashidabad area, a police official told the AFP news agency. The police chief survived the attack, though his car was damaged. A spate of bomb attacks in and around the city of Peshawar in recent weeks have killed hundreds of people. Attacks across Pakistan have dramatically increased as the army continues its offensive against the Taliban in the South Waziristan region. A senior police official said that the police station chief was driving to his office in his private car when the bomb went off. An 11-year-old girl, the official and his guard were injured, police said. Eyewitnesses said the car was damaged and its windshield smashed. The city has been frequently targeted by militants in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a suicide ca

Photo: AP Venezuela's U.N. ambassador, Jorge Valero (file photo) Source: VOA NEWS Venezuela says that Colombia's long-running internal conflict with rebels and drug traffickers is a threat to its security and other nations in the region.  In a letter Wednesday, Venezuela's foreign minister asked the United Nations Security Council to review the situation.   In the letter, Venezuela's foreign minister said Colombia's internal conflict constitutes "a serious threat to international peace and security" and should be on the council's agenda.  Armed conflict in Colombia is not new.  Military forces there have been battling anti-government insurgents, particularly the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, for four decades.  Venezuela is also upset about the agreement signed last month between Bogota and Washington that gives U.S. troops access to seven Colombian bases for anti-drug operations.  Venezuela's U.N. ambassador, Jorge Valero, t

  Photo: AFP Photo Shabab militia patrol Bakara Market in Mogadishu (File) Source: VOA NEWS Islamist insurgents tell UN's World Food Program to stop importing food aid. Al-Shabab group says massive importing of food is ruining Somalia's agriculture sector.  Islamist insurgents in Somalia have told the United Nations' World Food Program to stop importing food aid into the country. The group al-Shabab said in a statement Wednesday that the massive importing of food is ruining Somalia's agriculture sector. The rebels said the WFP must start buying food from local farmers for distribution to the needy. Al-Shabab warned Somali businesses to stop working with the U.N. agency by January 1, and said the WFP must empty its warehouses of food aid by that date. The United Nations estimates about half of Somalia's population -- about 3.8 million people -- is dependent on food aid.  The world body blames the food shortage on drought and ongoing fighting between government forc

Source: CNN CNN November 26, 2009 8:26 a.m. EST The Iraqi military displays a car bomb built to be triggered by a cell phone in Baghdad on Wednesday. STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW:  Third vehicle bomb in Baghdad adds to Thursday death toll At least six killed, dozens injured, as bombs explode in Baghdad, smaller towns Two bombs went off in busy marketplace; children among the injured Markets in Iraq are packed as people prepare for Eid al-Adha holiday on Monday Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)  -- A series of bombings in Iraq, just before a major Muslim holiday, killed at least six people and wounded 44 others on Thursday. The two deadliest attacks Thursday were in the towns of Iskandariya and Yousifiya, south of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said. Two bombs detonated in quick succession about 11 a.m. at a busy marketplace in Iskandariya, killing at least two people and wounding 28 others, including children, the official said. Iskandariya, part of Babil province, is about 25 miles (40 ki

Subhashish Mohanty / Source: DNA Thursday, November 26, 2009 0:20 IST Email Bhubaneswar: It's not AK-47 and .303 rifles but land mines that are turning into a lethal weapon in the hands of Maoists, particularly those active in bordering areas of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. "Yes, they are using it extensively, either killing policemen or blowing up trains," said I-G (operations) Sanjeeb Marik Police officials in anti-Maoist operations point out that the Maoists prefer these mines to inflict maximum casualty. Mostly, they use the impoverished land mines "though they also have Chinese weapons." To make these bombs, they collect gelatine sticks and dynamites from mining areas or attack vehicles carrying explosives for mining purpose. Most of the gelatine sticks are produced in Gomia, Jharkhand. They even procure explosives from the Indian Explosives and Detonator Limited factory in Sundergarh district. It's no big deal, the fa

By  Thomas Frank , USA TODAY WASHINGTON — The Transportation Security Administration is failing to ensure the security of boxed cargo in passenger planes, leaving the airplanes at risk for a terrorist attack, according to a government report obtained by USA TODAY. "Air cargo is vulnerable," says a report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general. The report, out today, cites repeated problems with the TSA's program to stop terrorists from sneaking a bomb into any of the tens of thousands of cargo packages carried each day in the bellies of passenger planes. Investigators were able to slip into supposedly secure warehouses where cargo is stored before being loaded onto airplanes and walk around unchallenged, the report says. Inspector General Richard Skinner also found some workers who handle the cargo had not received required background checks or training. The TSA "has not been effective" in making airlines and freight-handling companies com

To immortalise the 18 policemen, who were killed by terrorists on 26/11, the Maharashtra government has built a Shaheed Smarak (martyrs' memorial) at the Mumbai Police Gymkhana facing the Arabian Sea on the city's landmark Marine Drive.

Source: Reuters Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:18am EST By William Maclean , Security Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's Yemen wing is probably the most dangerous of its regional offshoots since it is closest to the leadership and seeks to attack oil giant Saudi Arabia, a U.N. counter-terrorism official said. Richard Barrett, Coordinator of the U.N. Taliban -al Qaeda Sanctions Monitoring Committee, added the menace of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was compounded by its ability to hide in unstable Yemen and the boldness of its ambition, shown by an attack on Saudi Arabia's security chief in August. "The most dangerous group is AQAP," he told Reuters on Monday, saying it was seeking to attract Saudis in militant circles, "a lot" of whom were intent on attacking the kingdom. "I don't know for sure but if you look at the relationship between al Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and any group outside,

Source: BBC NEWS By Andrew Harding BBC News, Timbuktu Timbuktu has long held an exotic appeal for tourists The UK government is urging tourists not to visit Timbuktu in northern Mali because of the threat of terrorism. The remote town is included on an updated travel advisory issued by the Foreign Office. A British tourist, Edwin Dyer, was killed in Mali in June by a group which claims links to al-Qaeda. But local officials insist the threat is being exaggerated. They say such warnings are already having a crippling effect on the tourism industry. The vast area of the Sahara Desert is now being used as a hi

Source: www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-23 19:28:33 Print BAGHDAD, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- A total of 11 people were wounded in five roadside bomb explosions across the Iraqi capital on Monday, an Interior Ministry police source said. Four people were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion near a fuel station in the al-Nidhal Street in Baghdad's central district of Karrada, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Two more civilians were wounded in Karrada when another roadside bomb detonated near a convoy of an Iraqi politician, the source said. The blast also damaged one of the convoy's vehicles, the source said. A third roadside bomb went off near a police patrol at an intersection in the same neighborhood, wounding two civilians, he said. Two others were also wounded when a bomb explosion struck a U.S. patrol while passing in the al-Husseiniyah neighborhood in the northeastern Baghdad, he added. The source could not tell whether the U.S. soldiers sustained any casualty as

Source: Ibtimes Four men have been charged with terrorism-related offences following a series of raids in Greater Manchester. Haris Farooqi, 26, of Levenshulme has been charged with assisting others to commit acts of terrorism. His father, Munir Farooqi was charged with three counts of soliciting or encouraging to murder on 6 July, 15 October and 16 October this year. Israr Malik, 21, of Fallowfield has been charged with intending to commit acts of terrorism while Matthew Newton, 27, of Stalybridge has also been accused of assisting others to commit acts of terrorism. A fifth man, aged 62 and believed to be a Muslim cleric from Bolton, has been released without charge. The men were arrested a week ago after a 15 month investigation. The arrests were greeted with a protest by 120 people who opposed the “low-key” police raids which brought the men into police custody.

Source: TOI Caesar Mandal, TNN 24 November 2009, 01:14am IST KOLKATA: In a major boost to counter-insurgency operations against North-East militant outfits and terrorism, a top Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leader has reportedly has been neutralized' by Indian intelligence officers with the help of their Bangladesh counterparts. Moulana Saidur Rahaman, chief (aamir) of the JMB, has sneaked into India after being hounded out his hideouts in Bangladesh, say intelligence sources. The outfit is believed to be the mentor of NE insurgents and Islamic terror masterminds, who have been in Bangladesh for years. Due to the crackdown, top JMB leaders are either on the run or in custody. Intelligence officers believe Rahaman played a crucial role behind jehadi activities in Bangladesh and his organisation worked in tandem with the Bangladesh chapters of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and HuJI who are responsible for several terror attacks in India. Directed by their Pakistani handlers, Raham