Terrorism Watch

Source: strategypage April 26, 2010: India and Pakistan remain deadlocked over the use of terrorism against each other. Despite mounting evidence, Pakistan continues to deny that it supports terrorists attacking inside India and against Indians in Afghanistan. The Afghans insist that Pakistan plays a role in Islamic terrorist attacks against Indian diplomatic and aid operations in Afghanistan. That attitude is influenced by the Afghan belief (well documented) that Pakistan created the Taliban, and supported many Islamic radical organizations, in order to exercise control over Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan blames many of their woes on the United States, believing that the upsurge of Taliban activity on their side of the border is the result of American success against the Afghan Taliban, which  has driven them into Pakistan, where the Pakistani forces have to deal with them. This ignores the thousands of dead, and captured, Pakistani Taliban found in Afghanistan each y

Source: front page A conference at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on April 16, 2010, offered “ Critical Perspectives on the Criminalization of Islamic Philanthropy in the War on Terror .” Co-sponsored by the UCLA International Institute, the Critical Race Studies Program, and the UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law —and including speakers from UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies (CNES)—the conference proffered the usual apologist fare. It was also an echo chamber. Of the approximately 30 people in attendance, 20 of them were academics. Several students showed up, in addition to the usual assortment of aging leftist revolutionaries. The thrust of the conference was simple: The war on terror has led to a crackdown on Muslim charities, which has had a chilling effect on Muslims by rendering them unable to engage in Zakat (charity), one of the five pillars of Islam. Unmentioned throughout this eight-hour infomercial was that the majority of

Source: Sperform Homegrown Muslim terrorist, Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee lives in Virginia and has apparently threatened the makers of 'South Park' on his Twitter. An online blogger who has targeted the creators of South Park for satirizing issues surrounding the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, has distributed jihadist materials and promoted violence against non-Muslims through a variety of online platforms for at least a year. Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, the username of the blogger who identified himself as Zachary A. Chesser in January, publicizes terrorist propaganda, endorses suicide attacks and espouses hatred against Jews, Israel and Shi'a Muslims through a variety of Web sites, blogs and social networking sites. "The jihad movement has moved from the mountains and caves to the bedrooms of every major city around the world," Chesser wrote in a March 2010 post to the Web site of Revolution Muslim (RM), a fringe anti-Semitic Muslim organization that justifies terro

Source: all headline news Tejinder Singh - AHN News Correspondent Washington, DC, United States (AHN) - Islamic terrorism in the last quarter of 2009 has slipped out of the ongoing conflict zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report release in Washington on Thursday. In a mid-year update to the annual “Are We Winning?” report, the American Security Project, noted that the decline in frequency of terrorism incidences in Pakistan has shifted the focus out of the region. The report acknowledged that there have been “several high profile attacks in Pakistan,” there is a downward shift of 60% in Islamist terrorism in that country from the first six months of 2009, arguing that this decline is “likely due to increased military pressure by the Pakistani military on radicals within that country.” The report, authored by ASP Senior Fellow Bernard Finel and Researcher Germain Difo measures America’s progress in the fight against terrorism according to metrics that a

Source: 4ni A Basque separatist convicted of 25 murders is believed to have left Northern Ireland. Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos, 54, is wanted in Spain to face a charge of glorifying terrorism. De Juana Chaos, who had been living in west Belfast, was out on bail ahead of an appeal against his extradition. The news comes just two months after a Belfast judge said that he "placed his trust in the judicial procedures of Spain" and turned down an attempt to stall a pending extradition from NI. In March, the Recorder of Belfast, Judge Burgess, ordered that Jose Ignacio De Juana Chaos be extradited to Spain to face a charge of publicly justifying terrorism. This came after the High Court of Spain issued a European Arrest Warrant in 2008 seeking the extradition of Chaos for the offence of "public justification of terrorist acts (his own and that of others), which caused humiliation and intensified the grief of both the victims and their relatives"

Source: St catherine standard At first, Juliet Dunn was scared Somali pirates might scupper her weekend jazz performance with the Niagara Symphony. Then a volcanic ash cloud grounded flights and left her homecoming plans up in the air. Oh, and don't forget the sudden bout of laryngitis. "Wow, you know it was sort of a hard week," said the laughing jazz singer, who lives in St. Catharines when she's not taking her voice on tour around the globe. "I mean, pirates, a volcano and then you lose your voice? That was really no fun." Dunn and her husband, pianist Peter Shea, are quite literally world travellers -- they've spent the past three months performing on a 200-metre-long luxury cruise ship called The World. The unique gig allowed the couple to sing their way through vacation destinations like Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. But in late April, it also meant cruising through "Pirate Alley," otherwi

Source: WSJ By Arlene Chang India Real Time presents a round-up of commentary and analysis of one of the key news events this week – the arrest of Madhuri Gupta, an Indian female diplomat working in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, who allegedly passed on sensitive information to Pakistani intelligence agencies. Commentators took this opportunity to elaborate on why Madhuri Gupta, was vulnerable to becoming a mole for Pakistan’s intelligence. The Hindustan Times said that being bright should not be the main criteria of getting a posting in Pakistan, being “temperamentally sound” shoul d. Vinod Sharma was of the view that Ms. Gupta was an “obviously vulnerable” candidate. She was “single, middle-aged and a huge temperamental misfit on a tangibly inimical and lonely beat.” Rajinder Puri in The Statesman asks why the government was surprised about the alleged involvement of the second secretary passing on classified information to Pakistan, terming the government’s

Source: Anti war April 29, 2010 Iraq officials are now expecting a ballot recount for Baghdad province to take two or three weeks, increasing the likelihood of election-related attacks. At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 28 were injured in light violence today. Meanwhile, Ba’ath Party supporters met in Syria to discuss reforming the political party that was banned after the 2003 invasion n Baghdad, a car bomb blast near liquor stores in al-Shurta al-Rabia killed eight people and wounded 20 others. Six people were wounded during a blast near a Ghadeer bridge. An al-Qaeda suspect was captured in Zayouna, while 120 innocent detainees were freed from the Rusafa jail. A bomb in Wajihiya left one dead and two injured. An Iraqi soldier was killed in a roadside bomb blast in the Jabla region of Anbar province. A bomb planted on a car parked behind a mosque in Kirkuk exploded, killing the driver. Fifteen suspects were arrested in Basra province. Kurdish secret service agents arre

Source: nation QUETTA - Three people including a woman suffered injuries in four rocket attacks in provincial capital on Thursday night. According to police, the first rocket fired by unidentified people from unknown location landed on the rooftop of a house at Manu Jan Road and wounded two persons identified as Muhammad Anwar and Zubair. The windowpanes of the house were also shattered due to the blast. The second rocket was landed at old children’s ward at Civil Hospital Quetta. The rocket blast damaged a wall and left a crater in the area. It also scattered windowpanes of the nearby wards. Similarly, the third rocket landed in an isolated place near a petrol pump at Joint Road and caused no damage to life and property. The fourth rocket was landed in Hazara town and wounded a woman. The rocket attack spread fear and panic among the people of Quetta. No group has accepted the responsibility for rocket attacks till filing this report. Police and personnel of bomb disp

Source: gmanews A homemade bomb went off along the side of a road on Friday morning while a convoy of Maguindanao gubernatorial candidate Esmael Mangudadatu in Ampatuan town was passing by, radio dzMM reported. The report quoted Maguindanao Provincial Police Director Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses which indicated that an improvised explosive device planted on the roadside in Barangay Kauran went off when Mangudadatu’s campaign convoy passed by the area at 10 a.m. Friday. No one was hurt in the blast, the report said. Mangudadatu’s wife and two sisters were among the 57 people killed in the grisly massacre in Ampatuan town on November 23, 2009, while on their way to file her husband's certificate of candidacy. Police has yet to determine the motive of the blast as of posting time. -

Source: Xinhua MOSCOW, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car bomb attacked a police checkpoint in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan on Thursday, killing two policemen and injuring 17 others, the regional interior ministry told the Interfax news agency. "According to new information, 17 people were wounded. Six of them are police officers and 11 are civilians including a child," a spokesman for the Dagestani Interior Ministry said. The police killed and wounded in the blast "prevented a planned terrorist act," the spokesman said earlier. "That car was stopped deliberately. According to preliminary information, finding himself in a hopeless situation, the suspect set off the explosive device. This means that the police officers prevented a planned terrorist act," the spokesman said. According to the press service, the explosion occurred Thursday evening at the Arbakash traffic police station near the border between the republic&#

Source: Nazret By Ture Hirbe For many months and weeks now the debate is going on over non-violent versus armed struggle. Both arguments have weak and strong points, merits and demerits. But my take is different from both. I am of the opinion that in Ethiopia both forms of struggle have not been effectively tested yet. As to my knowledge those opposition groups who opted for non-violent struggle are operating under the boundary that the government allotted to them. There are rules to observe and pre-set criteria to pass in order to become opposition and operate in Ethiopia. The opposition forces are obeying these rules, the rules that keep them under the tight control of the regime. Thus, the opposition forces are not engaged in non-violent struggle, instead they are “Loyal Opposition”. As to those engaged in armed struggle, with the exception of ONLF, have never seriously posed any threat to the regime. It is true that nonviolent resistance is a set of tactics that ca

Source: Zeenews Washington: The Obama administration has said that there are indications that Syria is providing weapons to Hezbollah. "Are we concerned about the nature of missiles that are being provided from Syria to Hezbollah? Absolutely, and that is at the heart of why Syria is a member of the State Sponsor of Terrorism list," Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley said. "We have had direct conversations with Syria about the nature of their assistance to Hezbollah. It is destabilising," he said. Crowley said the US wants to see Syria play a more constructive role in the region. "We think by having daily conversations with Syria that is a more effective way to proceed than having episodic conversations through other visitors to Damascus on an ongoing basis," he said. "As to Scuds, let us say we have concerns and we continue to watch that issue very carefully. But we are concerned about the broader issue of the nature

Source: apa [ 30 Apr 2010 11:09  ] Baku. Hafiz Heydarov – APA. A year has passed since the terrorist attack at the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy. According to APA, an unknown man entered the building, where the faculties “Oil gas field” and “Oil engineering” of Azerbaijan Oil Academy located in Dilara Aliyeva Street, 227, and shot at everybody he met from the first floor up to the six floor. 12 were killed, 13 wounded in the aftermath of the shooting. Responsible employees of special task police unit, district police and prosecutor’s offices immediately arrived at the site. Seeing he will be rendered harmless by the police the criminal committed suicide. He was identified as the Georgian citizen Gadirov Farda Asad, 29. The General Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs established operational investigative group and most of the persons contacted with Gadirov were brought to justice.

Source: thai indian Milan, April 30 (IANS/AKI) An Egypt-born Muslim preacher has been jailed here on terrorism charges by Italy’s top appeals court, officials said. Abu Imad, a former imam at Milan’s Viale Jenner mosque, had allegedly set up a religious cell, which was recruiting suicide bombers and trafficking illegal immigrants, in Milan and in Lombardy region. The country’s top appeals court - Court of Cassation - Wednesday upheld a prison sentence imposed on Imad by a Milan court in December 2007. The court sentenced Imad to three years and eight months in prison for conspiracy to carry out a terrorist act. He will be transferred to the city’s San Vittore prison, officials said Thursday. Imad was the imam at the mosque till early 2009 but was not previously arrested. Under Italian law, suspects can remain at liberty until they have completed their appeal if a judge thinks they are unlikely to flee the country or tamper with any evidence. Ten other people were a

Source: VIV A News Not all of them were involved in violent acts such as terrorism. VIVAnews - Former Jemaah Islamiyah Mantiqi 3 member Nasir Abbas said hundreds of Afghanistan military school alumni were currently living in Indonesia. However, not all of them were involved in violent acts such as terrorism. According to him, despite the high number, most of the Afghanistan and South Philippine military graduates should not be suspected of having the intention to commit terrorism-related crimes. “I’m sorry I can’t reveal the exact number but there are hundreds of them. Only a few were involved in the bombings, though. If the rest of them have the same mindset, more chaos will definitely ensue, “Abbas said at Al Muayad Islamic Boarding School, Solo on Thursday, April 29. He also said the existing terrorism groups seemed vulnerable as more members were arrested by the police. “They managed to seize large number of terrorists in Aceh a while ago. That means the terro

Source: kunselonline 30 April, 2010 - There is desire to move forward and a special chemistry that is now going to enable better cooperation among SAARC member countries, according to the SAARC chairman, Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley. At a press conference yesterday evening after the Summit he told journalists that member states agreeing on the unimplemented plans of action was in itself a demonstration of the desire. “In practice there were difficulties. But the kind of spirit that has been generated at this summit and the resultant declaration demonstrates that we have found ways to remove the hindrances,” said the prime minister. “I am very optimistic,” He said that one of the reasons why many of the programmes could not be implemented was because of lack of resources coupled with lack of will. “But now with the establishment of SAARC development fund (SDF) we’ll be able to mobilise the kind of resources that we need and with the commitments that you have heard from c

Source: TOI GUWAHATI: Decades of violent insurgency in Assam have forced many women, including homemakers, to take to prostitution after their husbands or close family members were killed or maimed in terror attacks. The busting of a sex racket here bears testimony to this. During her questioning by city police, Pinky, 25, a divorcee, told police she was forced into prostitution to make both ends meet. "She did it under compulsion and her story is indeed tragic...a victim of terror attack and forced into prostitution," a senior police official said. Pinky's former husband Aten Timung, 31, a daily wage earner and father of a three-year-old child, was critically injured in the serial bombings that rocked Assam Oct 30, 2008. Timung was at the Ganeshguri market in the heart of Assam's main city of Guwahati when one of the nine near- simultaneous explosions spread across the state went off, killing more than 100 people and injuring over 800. The explosion n

Source: TOI KOLKATA: Anti-terror police units are on a desperate hunt to track down Indian Mujahideen hideouts and neutralise sleeper cells said to be preparing for a major attack in the city. Intelligence inputs on the ‘imminent threat’ and a group of IM operatives sneaking into Bengal have sent the administration into battle mode. There have been several high-level meetings over the last two days to thwart the attack. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was personally briefed on Thursday on the state’s preparedness. According to sources, the first tip-off about the terror plan came from a foreign intelligence agency a couple of days ago. With its help, the police intercepted telephone conversations that led them to believe an IM team has entered Bengal, possibly from Bangladesh. But the IM module is yet to get the logistics to carry out the attack and is trying to meet counterparts in Kolkata who will give them arms and ammunition, officials said. IM Nepal team d

Source: Reuters By Izaz Mohmand Reuters Wednesday, April 28, 2010; 5:10 AM PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Taliban bomber rammed his car into a police checkpost in Pakistan's northwest Wednesday, killing five policemen, in an attack a militant spokesman said was revenge for military offensives. The blast on the outskirts of the main northwestern city of Peshawar is the latest in a string of attacks mounted by the militants. "The policemen were on their routine duty when the bomber driving the car from the tribal area detonated explosives near the checkpost," police official Najmul Hasan told Reuters. "Five people have been killed and eight wounded. All of them are policemen." Peshawar police chief Liaquat Ali said the attacker was apparently trying to make his way into the city but decided to set off his explosives when he was stopped. Peshawar is close to the Mohmand and Khyber regions, part of the semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun tribal lands alon

Source: oneindia Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 6:29 Bijapur (Chhattisgarh), Apr 28 (ANI): Suspected Maoists triggered a pressure bomb blast in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur District, which caused serious injuries to two engineers of the Central Government owned telecommunications company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). It is reported that the Maoists first cut the cable link from the spot so as to hamper any possible communication with others and planted the pressure explosives. Consequently, a team of engineers and technicians were summoned to rectify the line and the pressure bomb blasted injuring two of the engineers severely. The injured have been admitted in a district hospital for further treatment. "The workers came from Dantewada to fix the cable, through which the phone lines work, after which this incident took place and one person was injured," said Shekhar Dhruv, an engineer, BSNL. Dr. Budhram Pujari, Medical Officer at the Bijapur District Hospita

Source: DNA Bangalore: Four persons suffered minor injuries as detonators stored in a government-owned godown in Hebbal went off on Tuesday. The godown in Sanjayanagar police station limits belonged to the Central Agricultural Engineering Workshop of Agro Industries Corporation Limited. Identifying the injured as Nanjunda (55), Abdul Munaf (23), Noorulla Islam (22) and Murugan (38), police said the blast took place when one of the injured threw detonators into a fire around 12.30 pm. The injured were undergoing treatment at the Baptist Hospital. The government had taken over the site after the Agro Industries closed down in 2003. The land was meant for constructing government quarters. The building construction had started and labourers were asked to clean up the godowns. While cleaning, they came across the box containing the detonators. Nanjunda, a driver, took the box outside the godown, and tossed four detonators into a fire lit to incinerate waste materials. The detonators

April 26, 2010 — The British ambassador to Yemen has survived a suicide attack on his convoy. The bomber targeted Tim Torlott as he was travelling to his office in the capital Sanaa. Security officials said the bomber was a 22-year-old man disguised in a school uniform, while Yemen's interior ministry said blamed al-Qaeda. Monday's bombing is the first suicide attack in Yemen since March 2009 when a South Korean delegation was targeted - no-one was killed in that blast. Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports.

Source: csmonitor As Yemen confronts the Arab world's poorest economy and an increasingly active Al Qaeda branch, security concerns such as today's suicide bomb stymie international aid workers seeking to help the country. Police troopers stand guard at the site of a suicide bomb blast in Sanaa, Yemen Monday. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters April 26, 2010 Sanaa, Yemen A suicide bomb that targeted the UK Ambassador to Yemen today underscored the threat posed to foreigners here and which development workers say is increasingly hindering their ability to bring international aid to the Arab world’s poorest country. Monday’s suicide bombing, which took place a few hundred yards from the Movenpick Hotel – a hot spot for foreign visitors – “bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda,” according to a statement issued by Yemen’s Interior Ministry. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the terrorist franchise’s regional branch, has yet to confirm

Source: AFP (AFP) – 2 days ago ADDIS ABABA — Five people were killed and 20 injured when a bomb blast ripped through a cafe in an Ethiopian town near the border with Eritrea, a local official told state television on Sunday. The attack occurred in Adi Haro, a northern settlement near the volatile frontier where both countries have maintained a heavy military presence due to an unresolved border row. "The suspects targeted the cafe on Saturday afternoon, market-day, and five people have been killed and 20 others injured," local administrator Mikelle Abraha told state television, adding that some of the injured were in serious condition. "It was carried out by Eritrean agents who crossed the border to sabotage the upcoming elections," he added. Ethiopia holds elections on May 23, the first national polls since the 2005 general election was marred by violence. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has accused some of the opposition candidates of having links with Eritrea

Source: Hindu Three Iraqi policemen were seriously injured in a bomb blast in the western city of Falluja on Monday, police said, as some 26,000 Iraqi soldiers and police began a sweep of the area. The blast, which police said ripped through a patrol vehicle and left three policemen in serious condition, came amid a major police and military offensive against al—Qaeda and related armed groups in western Iraq. The operation seeks to foil “any terrorist plot that could affect the security situation,” General Bahai Hussein al—Karkhi, chief of police for the predominantly Sunni Muslim al—Anbar province, was quoted as saying by the Baghdad—based al—Sabah newspaper on Monday. He said the raids would focus on the area around the cities of Ramadi, Falluja, Hit, Haditha and Qaim, formerly the site of some of the worst fighting between insurgents and US and Iraqi forces. The Iraqi government has been under particularly intense pressure to crack down on political violence following a string of

Source: Sify 2010-04-26 19:40:00 Relatives and friends of the three Kashmiri convicts in 1996 Lajpat Nagar market bomb blast staged a protest demonstration against the court verdict here on Monday. Nearly 14 years after the blasts rocked the busy marketplace at Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi, the court awarded death sentence to Mohammad Ali Bhatt and Mirza Nissar Hussain, both residents of Kashmir and Mohammad Naushad, a Delhi resident. The court also awarded life sentence to Javed Ahmad Khan, a resident of Kashmir while another accused Farooq Khan has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment under Arms Act and five years under Explosive Substances Act. The kin of the convicted Kashmiris, mostly women, all clad in Burqa staged the demonstration with a noose around their necks to express their anguish over the court's verdict. The bomb blast claimed 13 lives in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar market. Shameema Jan, Javed Ahmad Khan's sister, said the court should punish them to

Source: Sify 2010-04-27 18:20:00   A sum of Rs.22.50 crore has been released in the last three years for establishing 15 Counter-Insurgency and Anti-Terrorism (CIAT) schools in the country, the Lok Sabha was informed Tuesday. 'During the 11th plan period, a scheme was approved for setting up of 20 CAIT schools, four each in the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. So far, the government of India has released Rs.4.5 crore to each of these states for establishment of three CIAT Schools in each of the states,' Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken told the Lok Sabha in a written reply. 'In total, Rs.22.50 crore has been released for establishment of 15 CIAT schools,' he said. In 2007-08, no amount was given while in 2008-09 and 2009-10, Rs.12 crore and Rs.10.50 crore, respectively, were released, he added. 'So far, 226 police personnel have been trained and 224 personnel are undergoing training in one

Source: Hindu Maoist guerrillas blew up a foot of rail track in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district, disrupting train services on day two of their shutdown in three states. The incident occurred early in the day between Midnapore and Bhadutala stations when a pilot engine that precedes the Chakradharpur Passenger was crossing the spot. The engine driver felt the shock but there was no damage, Additional Director General (Railways) Dilip Mitra told IANS. “There was a crack of one foot. The police, paramilitary forces and bomb squad personnel were rushed and the track was repaired,” he said. A South Eastern Railway spokesman said services were disrupted in the Kharagpur division till 9.15 a.m. with several long distance and express trains stopped at various stations. The Maoists called a two-day shutdown starting Monday in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa to demand that their arrested comrades be brought to the courts speedily

Source: Hindu Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said that a database containing voice samples of criminals and terrorists needs to be created to combat the world—wide menace of cross—border terrorism. “The most burning problem the world is facing today is terrorism. Many countries are suffering from the menace of cross-border terrorism,” Mr. Modi said while inaugurating a meet ’To promote use of DNA, DVI (disaster victim identification) and Fingerprints’ organised by the Interpol for the SAARC countries at the Gujarat Forensic Science University. “As criminals become more sophisticated, it has become important for the law enforcement agencies to go for advanced technology for investigating complex crime. The old methods of investigation are useful in conventional crimes, but no longer applicable in sophisticated crimes,” Mr. Modi said. “There are various technologies available for interception, recording and identification. It will be appropriate to create a datab