Terrorism Watch

Abhishek Mande in Mumbai Abhishek Mande speaks to Delhi-based Nitin Sagar whose twitter/google spreadsheet went viral with offers to help those affected by the blasts in Mumbai Like many of us, New Delhi-based Nitin Sagar was at work when he heard about the blasts in Mumbai on Wednesday. Within the next few minutes, Sagar's Twitter timeline saw a dozen tweets about it fly past. This was minutes after the blasts happened and just about the time when the BREAKING NEWS was being flashed across every news channel worth its salt. As news stories grew louder and more serious, Sagar, a 26-year-old IIT grad, grew worried. His first thoughts went out to the friends he had in Mumbai. Before the phone lines went down he managed to contact a few and was assured of their safety. As the trickle of #mumbaibombblast tweets had grown into a raging torrent, with people praying and offering help to those stranded, a second thought raced through his mind.

Source: Rediff From the hands of the farmer as a common fertiliser, in the hands of a terrorist as a deadly explosive: This is what ammonium nitrate has become. Vicky Nanjappa reports. Before we deal with why terrorists continue to use ammonium nitrate (NH4,NO3), it would be pertinent to note that despite so many acts of terror involving this chemical, regulations regarding this Grade I explosive still continue to be weak in India [ Images ]. The rules require that a seller has to have a licence to transport or sell ammonium nitrate. It also mandates that a stock register be maintained for its sale, and permission to sell it can be granted by an officer not less than the rank of a circle inspector. While the rules sound airtight in principle, there is a loophole, when it comes to the buyer -- there is no regulation when it comes to a buyer -- he can pick it up and transport it without a permit. Seemingly, this rule has been intentionally kept weak, since ammonium nitrate cater

Source: Rediff B Raman Security expert B Raman say that the blasts in Mumbai show the continuing deficiencies in our counter-terrorism capability. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's reported decision to visit Mumbai in the wake of the new series of orchestrated and timed explosions on July 13 reflects his embarrassment and concern over the blasts. The embarrassment arises from the continuing deficiencies in our counter-terrorism capability even after the much-vaunted improvements introduced after the 26/11 strikes. The deficiencies relate to the preventive and surveillance capabilities of our intelligence agencies and the police. The concern should be over the likely negative political impact of the success of the terrorists in circumventing the security measures. The government's credibility in relation to counter-terrorism is likely to suffer further erosion -- particularly in Mumbai, whose population has been the target of five instances of high

Source: NTDTV Target practice for an anti-terrorism squad in Yemen.          A day after eight people, including one soldier, were killed in clashes in the south, this specialized unit trained near the capital Sanaa.          Yemen is in the midst of a six-month uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose support has dwindled as former allies pressure him to step down.            On Sunday, US envoy John Brennan urged Saleh to sign a transition plan to hand over power.            The two met in Saudi Arabia, where Saleh is recovering from injuries he received in an attack on his compound last month.            According to his embattled government, rebels have stepped up operations in southern Abyan province in his absence.            But opposition parties say the government has withdrawn security to support its assertions that Al Qaeda militants will gain power if Saleh steps down.

July 12, 2011 by Fahmida Y Rashid Anonymous has disclosed log-ins for 90,000 military employees as part of ‘military meltdown Monday’ The hacking collective Anonymous released documents it claims were stolen from government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton as part of its anti-government AntiSec campaign . The documents Anonymous released on 11 July on The Pirate Bay contained personal and official email addresses and passwords of an estimated 90,000 United States military employees. Anonymous announced the massive data dump on its Twitter feed as part of “ Military Meltdown Monday “. US military departments The approximately 190MB data torrent included log-in information of personnel from US CENTCOM, SOCOM, the Marine Corps, Air Force facilities, Department of Homeland Security, Department of State and other private-sector contractors. The passwords were unsalted SHA1 hashes stored as a text string, making them vulnerable to being cracked using brute-force me

Source: IBN Pune: Three blasts that rocked Mumbai once again made Punekars shudder with memories of February 13 terrorist attack on the German Bakery last year, that killed 17 persons including some foreigners and injuring over 100. Even as the city was put on a very high alert since last night, after the blasts, with thick security blanket covering all sensitive places identified after the German Bakery blast, the numerical connotation of date "13" too has emerged as a mysterious angle to the latest terror strike on the country's commercial capital. ATS sources noted that in addition to the Pune blast, many other earlier terror attacks including the ones in Delhi and Jaipur had taken place on the day when the date was 13 and wondered whether it pointed out to involvement of a particular group that planned them. A source said it appeared that the attacks with suspected Indian Mujaheedin (IM) connections had coincided with date "13". After the

Source: IBN Washington: Russia has strongly condemned the serial blasts in Mumbai, terming the attack as a 'despicable' act that was designed to provoke "fear and division". "We condemn the people who organised this act, and we extend our condolences to India and the Government of India," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in a joint media availability with his US counterpart Hillary Clinton at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. "Counter terrorism has a special place in our cooperation with the US, and we will be building up this cooperation everywhere, including Afghanistan, Middle and Far East, and other regions in the world," Lavrov said. The minister said he fully supported Clinton in "condemning these despicable acts of violence designed to provoke fear and division." "The Indian people have suffered from acts of terrorism before, and we have seen them respond with coura

Source: Phuket wan By Pathomporn Kaenkrachang Thursday, July 14, 2011 A timely terrorism warning from Major General Verasak Lomwong Photo by phuketwan.com PHUKET: A timely warning that terrorism and tourism do not mix has been delivered to Phuket. By coincidence, the warning was followed within hours by a triple attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed and injured more than 150 people. Phuket's warning came yesterday at a meeting of key Phuket authorities with Thai Army security expert Major General Verasak Lomwong, who told them that Thailand was one of 36 countries seen as being subject to terrorist attacks. While the insurgency in Thailand's south continues to claim lives almost every day, Phuket and other tourist destinations in Thailand have so far been spared. But transnational terrorism knows no boundaries. Major General Verasak warned the gathering at Provincial Hall in Phuket City that Indonesia and the Philippines, both prey to terrorists wh

Source: The sun Wage slip ... GCHQ is losing key staff SPY chiefs have warned that cash cuts will hit Britain's war on terror - and revealed that staff are quitting GCHQ to earn more at Google. Budget-hit bosses said they would have to "divert resources" from crucial areas to cover the massive security operation for next year's London Olympics. Electronic spy agency GCHQ also warned it was struggling to retain internet "whizzes" to keep up the nation's cyber defences. Director Iain Lobban told MPs: "They will be working for Microsoft or Google or Amazon or whoever. "Month-on-month, we are losing whizzes who will basically say, 'I'm sorry, I am going to take three times the salary and the car'." Details of the warnings emerged in the annual report of the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee. It said the combined budget of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ will drop 11 per cent to £1.96bill

Source: Frontpagemag “Terrorism and drugs,” former Attorney General John Ashcroft once said, “go together like rats and the bubonic plague” – a plague that is increasingly spreading across our southern border and empowering the networks of both terrorists and drug traffickers. For over twenty years Rachel Ehrenfeld , Director of the American Center for Democracy and the Economic Warfare Institute, and author of the important book Funding Evil , among others, has been hard at work exposing this toxic partnership. Currently writing a book about the Muslim Brotherhood and its financial network, Ehrenfeld is also the inspiration for “ Rachel’s Law ,” a key victory for free speech over the intimidating threat of “libel tourism,” and a fascinating story on in its own right. The law stemmed from an attempt by Khalid bin Mahfouz’s attempt to silence her accusation in Funding Evil that the Saudi billionaire had helped fund al Qaeda . The New York law (versions of which

Source: TOI MUMBAI: A high-level team of top police and bureaucrats, including DGP Ajit Parasnis, home secretary Pravin Dixit and anti-terrorism squad chief Rakesh Maria, was deliberating on measures to be taken to tackle terrorism when the commercial capital was rocked by serial blasts on Wednesday. "Parasnis had convened a special meeting to discuss the recommendations of the Ram Pradhan committee on measures to be taken to tackle terrorism. We were in the process of drafting an action plan. Suddenly, a message was sent to the DGP informing him about the serial blasts. Immediately, the crucial meeting was abandoned," a senior IPS official told TOI on Wednesday. The IPS officer said that in view of the ensuing monsoon session, commencing from July 25, home minister R R Patil had set up a high-level committee headed by Parasnis to draft an action to tackle terror. In fact, in view of this nomination, Parasnis, who had to retire on June 30, was granted a six

Source: The hindu AP Injured victims of the explosion in Zaveri bazar are taken to medical care in a truck, in Mumbai. Photo: AP    In spite of multi-million investments, investigations into 5 urban terrorist attacks since 26/11 continue to flail about in dark In spite of massive investments in investigation and counter-terrorism intelligence capabilities since 26/11, police forces across the country have made little progress in identifying the perpetrators of the five major urban attacks which have taken place since then. The attacks include the February 2010 bombing of the German Bakery in Pune; the April 2010 serial bombings at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, the drive-by shooting at Delhi's iconic Jama Masjid in September 2010, and the December 2010 bombing at the Shitla Ghat in Varanasi. In May this year, a car bomb planted outside the Delhi High Court, mercifully caused no loss of life, apparently because the electronic circuits in t

Source: Jpost The IDF spokesperson confirmed Thursday that Israel attacked targets in Gaza in response to Kassam rockets fired into the Negev earlier Wednesday. According to the statement, the IDF stuck two smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza and one tunnel used for terrorism in the northern part of the coastal strip. Palestinian sources claimed that the IAF had struck tunnels near the Egypt-Gaza border town of Rafah.

Source: Eweek europe New technologies are being used to plan terrorist attacks, according to the government’s new security strategy The role of new technologies such as cloud computing and social networks in fuelling ‘cyber-jihad’ is a key focus of the government’s new counter-terrorism strategy , called CONTEST, unveiled on Tuesday. The government warned that such technologies are allowing terrorists to interact more secretly and to lure in people who might not normally actively search for terrorism-related content. Twitter terror “Twitter will be used to re-post media or forum articles enabling extremist content to be shared more quickly, widely and amongst people who would not normally search for extremist content,” the strategy document states. The strategy specifically warns of the danger from al-Qaeda, which has called for the use of technology in terrorism. “Since the death of Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda has explicitly called not only for acts of lone o

Source: Momentng THE strategy of combating Boko Haram begins with the hearts and minds of those at the grassroots and those susceptible to being influenced as a consequence of their lack of means.  By Omoba Oladele Osinuga THE strategy of combating Boko Haram begins with the hearts and minds of those at the grassroots and those susceptible to being influenced as a consequence of their lack of means. Indoctrination to extreme and fanatic views is implanted in the minds of such individuals.    This is what independence and nationalist hero, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, (then Nigeria’s Federal Com- missioner of Finance and Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council) described at the Christ Church Cathedral, Lagos, on Sunday, February 8, 1970, in a speech titled: Economic Well- Being of the Individual as “like those of war, the seeds of peace must be sown and nurtured in the minds of men...    There is an urgent and massive need for moral and spiritu

 Source: HT   Intelligence intercepts in February had warned of a possible terror strike by the Indian Mujahideen (IM) this July, according to sources in the Indian security establishment. However, the intercept of conversation between an IM operative and his handler shed no light on the exact date, time and place of the strike, said the sources, who requested anonymity saying they did not have clearance to speak to the media. This threat perception had been communicated to the states. The intercept had also revealed that the IM had put together two new batches of trained operatives who had no recorded links to earlier modules. In fact, the handler had warned the IM operative against using anyone known to have been associated with the terrorist group. The three explosions in the bustling market areas of Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House in South Mumbai, and at Kabutharkhana in Dadar on Wednesday came a day after the Maharas