Terrorism Watch

A lengthy report prepared for the U.S. government about China's high-tech buildup to prepare for cyberwar includes speculation about how a potential conflict with the U.S. would unfold -- and how it might only take a few freelance Chinese civilian hackers working on behalf of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) to sow deadly disruptions in the U.S. military logistics supply chain. REPORT: Joint ventures by US tech firms with China pose cyberwar risk As told, if there's a conflict between the U.S. and China related to Taiwan, "Chinese offensive network operations targeting the U.S. logistics chain need not focus exclusively on U.S. assets, infrastructure or territory to create circumstances that could impede U.S. combat effectiveness," write the report's authors, Bryan Krekel, Patton Adams and George Bakos, all of whom are information security analysts with Northrop Grumman. The report, "Occupying the Information High Ground: Chinese Capabilit

An eventual full-scale cyberattack on the U.S. by a terrorist organization is "a certitude," a former senior intelligence official told Fox News, and "cyberterrorists" already are making criminal use of the technology to steal money and move it around to finance their operations. Tech-based terror threats are increasingly raising concerns in Washington, and FBI Director Robert Mueller testified this week that such threats are among the most serious facing the U.S. -- including on the battlefield. Officials are reporting a sharp increase in the number of attacks by hackers, and Mueller, while not mentioning Iran, Russia or China by name, described a potential “cyber one-two punch,” in which a nation state or terrorist organization first steals intellectual property, then uses that information to interfere, jam or disrupt operations on the battlefield. “Certainly long term threat is by nation states who are finding new and ingenious ways to exfiltrate informat

Victim: Chris McManus was shot dead in a disastrous rescue attempt  The killing in West Africa of a Briton and his Italian colleague by Islamist extremists takes international terrorism a horrific step forward. Few outside Nigeria noticed the death of Mohammed Yusuf, a radical preacher, at the hands of the country’s famously brutal police almost three years ago. The only achievement of a man who had publicly insisted that the Earth was flat appeared to have been the creation of a quixotic Islamist cult dedicated to banning Western education. Today, Boko Haram – Yusuf’s creation – has become one of the deadliest terrorist movements in North Africa and the chosen vehicle for al-Qaeda to penetrate the largely Muslim states of northern Nigeria. The ideology of global jihad would have inspired those who kidnapped Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara, the British and Italian hostages who died in the failed rescue mission on Thursday. The arrival of this pitiles

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) - Officials say that al-Qaida's North Africa branch has released a Mauritanian officer who was kidnapped by the group in December. An official statement by the general staff of the gendarmerie published Saturday says that the officer has been released. A security official says the man was freed in exchange for the release of a Malian who was sentenced to five years in prison for aiding al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in the kidnapping of an Italian couple in 2009. AQIM, once concentrated in Algeria, where it is based, has rendered huge swaths of Mauritania, Mali and Niger off-limits to foreigners. The southern warlords are best known for kidnapping Westerners for ransom. Members have kidnapped and ransomed more than 50 Europeans and Canadians since 2003 Source:  http://www.nbc29.com/story/17126870/mauritania-officer-freed-by-al-qaida-branch

MOGADISHU: An offensive by Somalia's Al Shabab militants on Ethiopian troops on Saturday left many combatants dead, military sources on both sides and witnesses said. "The fighting around the village of Yurkut was the most intense since Ethiopian forces entered Somalia" in November, said one of the witnesses in the country's southwestern region, Abukar Moalim Yarow. Military sources in both camps gave differing tolls but stressed the fierceness of the fighting, which lasted three hours, according to independent witnesses. "The mujahideen fighters led their most important military incursion against enemy positions in Yurkut," Sheikh Mohamed Abu-Fatma, a top Shebab commander in the sector, said by telephone. "We forced the enemy to temporarily abandon three barracks and we killed more than 40 of their men," he added. Kalif Adan, a pro-government official, told AFP from Baidoa that the Shabab "attacked Yurkut this morning. Many of t

NARIOBI (Mareeg)- The governments of Somalia and Kenya have both discussed to mount on fight against the Al-Qaeda linked militants of Al-shabab in conflict-ravaged horn of Africa country, officials said on Saturday. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, Somali prime Minster held talks in Nairobi with top Kenya officials, including defence Minster Yusuf Hajji and other senior officials and discussed how to eliminate the militants in the port town of Kismayu, just 500 Km away south of Mogadishu. Abdirahman Omar Osman Yarisow said while he was in Nairobi that Somali PM pledged his government’s commitment in working with Kenyan Defense Forces to flush Al-Shabaab from the entire east African region. “Both Somalia and Kenya have the same opinion in fighting against Al-Shabaab fighters. They pose a threat to the safety and security of both countries therefore it is necessary for us to have a common strategy against a common enemy, following bilateral talks in Nairobi on Friday afternoon” PM Abdiweli

SEYCHELLES (CNN) -- The government in the Seychelles has captured dozens of suspected Somali pirates. But, they are releasing some of them to go after higher ranking individuals. This is a rare access to a prison where Somali pirates are serving time. This story looks at how the growing number of detainees is out of control despite efforts to combat the problem. These are the unlucky ones, a rare glimpse of Somali pirates in prison in the Seychelles. In fact, 90 percent of suspected pirates are released without charge. Proving these men are really engaged in piracy is notoriously tough. The convicted ring-leader here, 51-year-old Mohammed Ali, still insists he's innocent. He says, "I'm not pirate I'm a fisherman." Indeed, authorities say many suspected pirates were once fishermen, driven out of business by commercial operations. They ply these waters for a more lucrative catch. Other impoverished Somalis have also been drawn to the piracy and it's become

Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari says the country’s 18th fleet of warships has been deployed in international waters to conduct anti-piracy patrol. “Currently Iran's 18th fleet of warships and its destroyers have been stationed in international waters to counter pirate attacks,” Sayyari said on Saturday. Sayyari said maintaining the security of Iran's ships and tankers is the priority of the country’s Navy, adding that Iranian destroyers are patrolling the north of the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and Bab-el-Mandeb strait. In addition to safeguarding Iranian vessels, the country’s naval forces provide protection for foreign ships and tankers in international waters as well, Sayyari said. In line with international efforts against piracy, Iran's Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008 to safeguard maritime trade and in particular ships and oil tankers owned or leased by Iran. The Gulf of Ade

'Facebook fighters' and hard-bass music fans replace skinheads As 1990s-era skinheads become less active, a new brand of right-wing extremism is emerging, according to a recent study commissioned by the Interior Ministry - one that is younger, engaged in social networking and drawn by culture more than politics. Nearly 65 percent of those engaged in extreme right politics in the Czech Republic are under the age of 25, according to the study, which was led by Charles University's Miroslav Mareš, with a full quarter of the total falling in the age range of 13-18 years old. While the majority of these young people engage in extremist discourse on the Internet and are unlikely to make their actions more actual - so much so that they carry the nickname "Facebook Fighters" - a corresponding culture of dress and music is also emerging as a powerful recruiting tool by tapping into a sense of youthful rebellion. "These new trends, from my point of view, cou

PRAGUE, Mar 9, 2012 (IPS) - Just days after a hotel was firebombed in a suspected racist attack, experts and activists have warned of neo-Nazi groups turning to ‘terrorist’ campaigns as they become increasingly influenced by far-right movements in other countries. They say that extremist groups in countries such as Russia, Italy and Germany are providing Czech right- wing movements with operational, organisational and ideological inspiration and support for racial violence and ways of gaining public support. Gwendolyn Albert, a prominent anti-racism campaigner in the Czech Republic, told IPS: "It is an established fact that the Czech and German ultra-right parties have entered into cooperation agreements. "The Czechs now seem to be following German tactics of having a relatively mainstream-looking, officially registered political party hold public rallies which those ideologically committed to racist violence then attend in hopes of actually carrying out that violence

Police in western China have shot dead a Tibetan man and wounded two others amid protests against Chinese rule, reports say. The London-based Free Tibet and Radio Free Asia said the men were shot on Tuesday by police who were looking for or had detained another man in connection with a January 25 incident in which protesters tore down a Chinese flag at a police station in a Tibetan area of Qinghai province. Tibet, a remote and mainly Buddhist territory, remains under Chinese rule but its exiled government in India continues to seek autonomy. Radio Free Asia said the three men were shot while trying to protect the leader of the protest, identified only as Thubwang, during a police manhunt. The two wounded men are brothers, identified as Karkho and Jampel Lodroe, Free Tibet said. One was wounded in the arm and the other in the leg, and both were treated at a local hospital, it said. At least two dozen Tibetans have set themselves on fire over the past year to protest what act

Libya's interior minister on 6 March ruled out a visit by British police to investigate the 1988 Lockerbie bombing or the killing of British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher almost two decades ago. "There is no treaty between Britain and Libya to allow such a thing," Fawzi Abdelali told AFP in a joint interview with a British newspaper, adding that London had some explaining to do on its own dealings with dead brutal dictator Gaddafi and his regime. With regard to the desecration of World War II graves in the eastern city of Benghazi, the Libyan Interior Minister said "we condemn all acts against any grave or sacred place, so we were saddened and upset by this." Abdelali implied the timing of British demand is a sort of pressuring the country at a sensitive time faced by the newly liberated Libya which is trying to rebuild everything from scratch. "Why did they shut up about this all these years and bring it up now, when we are in a period

An Indonesian court on Monday sentenced the Islamist mastermind behind a foiled Easter church attack and several attempted parcel bombings to 18 years in jail. Pepi Fernando "knowingly used force or threat of violence to invoke an atmosphere of widespread terror or cause mass casualties", presiding judge Moestafa told the West Jakarta district court. He "wasn't remorseful about his actions", added the judge, who goes by only one name. But the 32-year-old's sentence, which came after he was found guilty of committing terrorism, was lighter than the life term sought by prosecutors because he had been "cooperative", judges said. Fernando had plotted to set off a massive bomb beneath a gas pipeline near a church in Serpong outside Jakarta last Easter but police foiled the attack after finding the device. He also instructed "book bombs" to be sent to Muslim moderates and a counter-terrorism official, Moestafa said. All but one of

YALA, March 10 - Yala Governor Decharat Simsiri on Saturday ordered defensive reinforcements at Raman district's defense volunteer base after presumed insurgents attacked the base Friday night, killing two defense volunteers and robbing seven guns from the camp. The governor and Raman district chief officer Somkiat Srisanet visited the site after the violent attack. Mr Decharat expressed his condolences and gave moral support to volunteers. Forces should be more focused during weekly Muslim prayer sessions on Fridays when there are usually less people at the base, he noted, while adding security agencies had been asked for cooperating, informing local patrol units in advance and clearly displaying badges of their departments for safety reasons. According to footage from a close-circuited camera, gunmen dressed in police uniforms with bulletproof vests came to the base for the attack and robbery in three pickup trucks with wording on the side of the vehicles indicating they

(Reuters) - Syrian forces killed at least 54 people on Friday as they sought to quell demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad before a peace mission by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, opposition activists said. Tank rounds and mortar bombs crashed into opposition districts in the rebellious central city of Homs, killing 17 people, activists said, while 24 were killed in the northern province of Idlib and more deaths were reported elsewhere. "Thirty tanks entered my neighbourhood at seven this morning and they are using their cannons to fire on houses," said Karam Abu Rabea, a resident in Homs's Karm al-Zeitoun neighbourhood. One focus of demonstrations was the anniversary of Kurdish unrest in Syria in 2004 when about 30 people were killed. Many thousands of Kurds demonstrated in northeastern cities, YouTube footage showed, some carrying banners that read "Save the Syrian people". Other clips showed hundreds of protesters in the Assali distr

BEIJING: A Chinese oil pipeline being built through Myanmar has not been affected by fighting between Myanmar forces and rebels, a Chinese security official said on Saturday, adding that China had been trying to help find a solution to the conflict. A 17-year-old ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of the Myanmar's most powerful rebel groups, broke down last June sending Kachins fleeing across the long border with China into tent settlements. Northern Myanmar's KachinState is of strategic importance to China and sustained conflict could have an impact on its plans to use the region as a conduit for energy to its southwest provinces. Construction of twin oil and gas pipeline from the Bay of Bengal, through KachinState, to China's Yunnan province is underway and the region is home to several hydropower projects exporting electricity to China. "Lots of Chinese companies have invested a great deal in Myanmar, especially in the oil pipeline whic

BOGOTA – Three members of Colombia’s National Police were killed and another was wounded while riding on a road that suspected leftist guerrillas had strewn with landmines, that institution said in a statement. The attack occurred Thursday on a stretch of road near the town of Balboa, in the southwestern province of Cauca, as the officers passed by in a police vehicle. National Police sources said in Popayan, the provincial capital, that they suspect that Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, rebels were behind the attack. National Police units were dispatched to the site of the attack, where they launched an operation to track down the “terrorist cell that planted and detonated the explosives,” the sources said. The FARC, Colombia’s oldest and largest leftist guerrilla group, was founded in 1964, has an estimated 8,000 fighters and operates across a large swath of this Andean nation. EFE Source:  http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=476766&CategoryId=12

Authorities in Peru say they have arrested the presumed successor to Shining Path leader "Comrade Artemio," who was captured in February. Walter Diaz Vega (alias "Freddy" or "Percy") was allegedly in charge of reconstituting the armed column in the region of Upper Huallaga. National police chief Raul Salazar said that the authorities had moved in quickly on Saturday to arrest Diaz, in order to prevent him from executing informants within the group who helped bring about Artemio's capture. InSight Crime Analysis If Diaz was in fact the successor to Artemio, this would indicate that the group is severely weakened, and may have been thoroughly penetrated by the security forces. As InSight Crime noted, Artemio's capture left no clear successor, making it likely that the Upper Huallaga-based faction would disintegrate in his absence. The arrest of his alleged successor makes this seem still more probable. However, it does not seem certain t

A pamphlet allegedly distributed by Peruvian rebels Shining Path suggests that the group's two rival factions may unify and consolidate their operations in the heartland of the coca trade. Peruvian newspaper Diario Correo reports that the Shining Path faction from the lawless Apurimac and Ene River Valley (VRAE) in Peru's south began handing out pamphlets which say they have established a cell in the northern Huallaga Valley. The Huallaga Valley is home to another splinter group of Shining Path, led by "Comrade Artemio," which is hostile to the VRAE group due to their involvement in drug trafficking. Before his arrest in February, Artemio had said that the VRAE faction are "anti-revolutionaries" and "mercenaries." The Huallaga faction has also been accused of involvement in the drug trade, although Artemio has said this only involves taxing coca growers. While the pamphlet distributed by the VRAE faction reportedly called for the two gro

President of the Balochistan chapter of Jamhoori Watan Party Shahzain Bugti, who is currently in Islamabad, is holding meetings with leaders of political parties to discuss the Balochistan issue. On Thursday, he met a US embassy official in a hotel. — Photo by APP ISLAMABAD: The recent government offer for talks with Baloch nationalist leaders appears to be heading nowhere as most of them have rejected it, saying they have no trust in the rulers. “This is a trap and our leaders, including Brahamdagh Bugti, will not return; the government did the same in the 1960s when they invited the Baloch leaders for talks and later persecuted them. The rulers also tricked Nawab (Akbar Khan) Sahib,” Shahzain Bugti, a leader of the Jamhoori Watan Party, told Dawn. “Nobody trusts the government anymore, whether it is Interior Minister Rehman Malik or anybody else. Dictatorial policies of the past continue to dominate the current scenario in Balochistan.” The interior ministry h

KABUL: An Afghan police official says insurgents attacked a checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan and that two border policemen and three attackers were killed in the ensuing fire fight. Regional border police spokesman Edris Mohmand says insurgents assaulted the checkpoint in Lalpur district of Nangarhar province Friday. The assault resulted in a three-hour gun battle between the police and the assailants. Source:  http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/10/two-afghan-police-three-insurgents-killed-in-attack.html

GILGIT: Interior Minister Rehman Malik Saturday said that foreign hands were involved in the Kohistan bus firing incident. Talking to newsmen here after attending a meeting on law and order situation, Malik claimed that those involved in the incident have been identified, adding that the culprits will be brought to justice at all costs. “The list of identified persons will be handed over to local Jirgas who will hand over the culprits to the security forces,” he said. Malik said nobody will be allowed to play with the law and order situation of Gilgit-Baltistan. He said the number of check posts will be increased in the area to maintain peace. The minister rejected attribution of the Kohistan incident to sectarianism. He also announced compensation of two million rupees each for the bereaved families of those killed in firing incident. Source:  http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/10/foreign-hands-involved-in-kohistan-incident-says-malik.html

KHADEZAI – Pakistani fighter jets bombed four militant hideouts in the Khadezai and Mamozai areas of the northwestern Orakzai tribal region, near the Afghanistan border, killing 21 militants and wounding 23 military officials said.   There was no way to independently confirm the death toll. Militants often dispute official death figures. Orakzai is one of seven ethnic Pashtun tribal areas where the Pakistani military has carried out offensives to root out insurgent groups. Source:  http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/10/twenty-one-militants-killed-in-orakzai.html

In recent years, Islamic militants have made a dark impression on the people throughout Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.  Schools, especially those who dare to educate girls, are particularly vulnerable to the militant attacks. Over the past few years militants have blown up hundreds of schools deemed un-Islamic. Schools are usually operated by local charities one of which is the Baacha Khan Trust Education Foundation. It is one of the 14 schools run with the goal of helping to correct the issue of extremism in the region. Supporters of anti-extremist education believe change begins in the classroom. The educational approach to beating extremism is an effort to promote community and commitment to pluralism. Parents however, are at times persuaded to pull their children out of school by conservatives who believe that school is un-Islamic. Many schools in Pakistan however, do incorporate teachings of Islamic subjects. The goal of the Education Foundation is to build a schoo

ISLAMABAD: According to a document dated February 15, the Government of Pakistan has banned the Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ), the religious organisation known previously to be operating as the Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), the BBC reported early on Saturday. The document, which the BBC describes as a notification issued by the Interior Ministry that was not publicly announced, claims that the ASWJ was suspected to be involved in acts of terrorism in the country, therefore it was being added to the first schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The notification by the federal ministry was sent to all provincial governments and concerned departments, claims the report. The report further claims that Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s office had been contacted for a comment on the ban, but to no avail. The ASWJ is led by its president Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, and is a key part of the Difa-i-Pakistan, or Defence of Pakistan, Council (DPC), a coalition of around 40 religious and

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - A bomb hidden in a parked motorcycle exploded at a market in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing four people, officials said. All those killed in the midday blast in Spin Boldak, on the Pakistani border, were civilians, said Zalmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial government. Eight people were wounded in the explosion, including one border police officer, he said. Civilians have born the brunt of the violence in Afghanistan, despite insurgent claims that they are targeting government and military installations. Last year was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs, according to U.N. figures. Taliban-affiliated militants were responsible for more than three-quarters of the civilian deaths in 2011. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in Spin Boldak, which is often the case when civilia

  The house at the centre of an explosion in Invernook Drive, Sydenham, Belfast which occurred on Friday evening. Read more:  http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/pictured-explosion-at-belfast-house-second-device-found-16129202.html#ixzz1oiOM4y8R   The house at the centre of an explosion in Invernook Drive, Sydenham, Belfast which occurred on Friday evening. Read more:  http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/pictured-explosion-at-belfast-house-second-device-found-16129202.html#ixzz1oiOM4y8R A number of families have been evacuated from their homes in east Belfast after an explosion at a house. Police said there were no reports of injuries after the blast at Invernook Drive in the Sydenham area at 8.40pm yesterday. Army bomb experts are at the scene and are examining the area surrounding the blast. Residents were asked to leave their homes until the location is declared safe. They were taken to a nea

March 9, 2012: In Russia the Islamic terrorism problem in the North Caucasus (Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachaevo-Cherkessia) continues to fester. Widespread government corruption and unemployment provides a growing supply of new recruits. It all began in Chechnya back in the 1990s, and has spread to neighboring areas as it became obvious that the corruption did not disappear when the old Soviet government did in 1991. The Soviets had allowed locals to run things, pretty much any way they wanted, as long as they kept things quiet and did not do anything that embarrassed the central government. With Soviets gone, people, especially the young, expected change. It didn't come. The Chechens tried, throughout the 1990s, to maintain their self-declared independence from Russia. But the Chechens could not govern themselves and the place became a hideout for numerous criminal gangs. These guys started a kidnapping, robbery, and extortion crime wave all ov

Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, during a meeting with a delegation of 160 officials and lawmakers from northern Uganda in 2006.  ( Associated Press  ) 'Kony 2012' is a YouTube success, but Invisible Children finds that digital media attention can be a double-edged sword as its detractors rise. In the voice-over introducing his video "Kony 2012," Jason Russell tells a worldwide audience, "The game has new rules." The human rights activist's words seem fulfilled by the phenomenal response to his video about the murderous African warlord Joseph Kony: More than 58 million views had been recorded just four days after its YouTube release Monday. But the response to the video also confirmed that every digital media sensation also invites a large, if not equal, reaction, with the Kony production provoking hundreds of video retorts, uncounted Tumblr posts, countless journalism critiques and millions of comments on