Terrorism Watch

Gunmen have attacked a hospital in the western Pakistani city of Quetta, hours after an explosion on a bus killed 14 female university students. Officials say four gunmen were killed during a siege of part of the hospital where the wounded are being treated. Nurses, hospital security personnel and a senior city official were among the 10 others killed in the stand-off. An extremist Sunni militant group, Laskar-e-Jhangvi, told the BBC it carried out both attacks. A man calling himself spokesman for the group said they were a revenge for an earlier raid by security forces against the group in which a woman and children were killed. The latest violence began when a bomb exploded on a bus carrying female students at a university. "It was an improvised explosive device placed in the women university bus," police chief Zubair Mahmood said. Later explosions rocked the medical centre where the students were being treated. Militants armed with grenades were positioned there and exchan

Published: Friday, June 14, 2013 9:07 AM Why don't we show the real remains of terrorist bombings as a contra to the exhibit in France. The  Jeu de Paume museum  in Paris served as the “Einsatzstab’s”, the storage facility for 22,000 works of art confiscated by the Nazis from 200 Jewish collections in France. For four years, from 1940 to 1944, the Jeu de Paume became a notorious “concentration camp” for confiscated works of art. The Museum was frequently visited by high ranking Nazi officials, including the Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. Now, in the same state-funded museum, there is an exhibition calling the Palestinian Arab suicide bombers “martyrs”. The exhibit “Death”, by photographer Ahlam Shibli, features dozens of portraits of Palestinian suicide bombers with captions that glorify their deaths. Most are from the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Hamas’ Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. One photograph features a Palestinian mother

By Sara Rajabova Over 20 years a large amount of narcotics have been cultivated in the territory of the Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and weapons and ammunition are purchased with funds obtained from the sale of the drugs, Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov told journalists on June 13. According to Hasanov, who chairs the State Commission on the Fight against Drug Addiction and Illicit Drug Trafficking, major terror groups are trained in the occupied territories and those groups are used in numerous countries. "Major terrorist centers have been set up in Nagorno-Karabakh mainly with the funds obtained from these very narcotics; mass trainings are conducted for them, and terror groups and terrorists are sent to all conflict zones of the world from there," Hasanov said. Hasanov stressed that these facts have been proven, and though the Azerbaijani government and President have repeatedly raised this issue wherever appropriate, no reaction or

Copies of a detailed guide instructing al-Qaeda extremists in how to use a surface-to-air missile capable of taking down a commercial aeroplane have been found in Mali. The 26-page document in Arabic, recovered by The Associated Press in a building that had been occupied by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Timbuktu, strongly suggests the group now possesses the SA-7 surface-to-air missile, known to the Pentagon as the Grail, according to terrorism specialists. It confirms that the al-Qaeda cell is actively training its fighters to use these weapons, also called man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, which likely came from the arms depots of late Libya dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Related Articles "The existence of what apparently constitutes a 'Dummies Guide to MANPADS' is strong circumstantial evidence of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb having the missiles," said Atlantic Council analyst Peter Pham, a former adviser to the United States' military command in

The Christian Association of Nigerian Americans (CANAN) has again noted that based on the recent statistics submitted to the U.S. government, by its own appointed agents, the refusal of the State Department to designate Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) continues to be unsettling.  According to that report, the Talibans in Afghanistan are ahead and Boko Haram is now the second widely known perpetrator of terrorism in the world.  Just last week, the U.S. State Department announced a $7 million bounty for information that will lead to the capture of the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau.  An annex to the U.S. government report on terrorism last year revealed that besides the Taliban in Afghanistan, Boko Haram in Nigeria had the highest number of terror attacks last year and killed also the second highest number of people.  The statistical report called ‘START’ conducted by the University of Maryland for the American government on global terrorism in 2012 has revealed that w

Colombia has long been known for its kidnapping records. These particularly surged at the end of the last century when guerrilla groups  FARC  and  ELN gained control over large parts of the country’s territory. Kidnapping dropped drastically since 2000 as the Colombian government, supported with U.S. aid, pushed the guerrillas away from economically important areas. At the beginning of 2012, the FARC banned kidnapping and, according to the official statistics, kidnapping subsequently dropped 23%. However, even before the guerrilla group vowed not to kidnap again, common criminals were already suspected of having taken over the horrid crime. Some 590 reported kidnapping victims are still missing. Kidnappings 1980 – 2011 Source:  Ministry of Defense Kidnapping perpetrators (2003-2012) Source:  Pais Libre Source  http://colombiareports.com/colombia-kidnapping-statistics/

Colombia ’s police on Saturday announced the rescue of two Spanish tourists who had been kidnapped while traveling through the north of the country. The two were found by an anti-kidnapping unit just after midnight in a building outside the city of Maicao, a local police commander told Spanish news agency EFE. The two kidnapping victims, Maria Concepcion Marlaska (43) and Angel Fernandez Sanchez (49), were in good shape when the police found them, “just a little dehydrated and very tired,” colonel Elber Velasco said. “They are very content, very happy, they can’t believe they were rescued.” The Gaula, the anti-kidnapping unit of the National Police, led a  rescue operation in outside of Maicao, a city close to the border. Velsaco said the two were rescued without the use of violence. Following the rescue operation, the Spaniards were taken to a hospital in Santa Marta for a brief check up after which they were taken to the capital  Bogota . The Spanish government reported the two touri

5/7/2013 3:38 PM   BAGHDAD/ Aswat al-Iraq: Ministry of Immigration and Displaced announced today the return of 290208 immigrants and displaced families to their homes. The figure included the immigrated and displaced families inside and outside Iraq, as reported by a ministerial statement. The ministry complained from the lack of financial allocations to assist the returning families. Source  http://en.aswataliraq.info/(S(42uesh552sgakgaf2cgc4jmk))/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=153246&l=1

5/11/2013 6:31 PM   BAGHDAD/ Aswat al-Iraq: Human Rights Ministry announced here today that 15.000 Iraqis were lost due to terrorist actions since 2003 till April, 2013. Spokesman Kamil Amin, in a press statement, that the ministry registered these figures in its data base, as reported by the families of the missing people. The ministry disclosed last March that the missing people of the Iraqi-Iranian war exceeded 50.000. Source  http://en.aswataliraq.info/(S(42uesh552sgakgaf2cgc4jmk))/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&id=153283&l=1

Terrorism in Colombia did go up in 2012, the country’s defense minister confirmed Saturday, adding however that this year the number of acts of terrorism dropped significantly. Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon confirmed the claims made by the US State Department which in its Annual Country Reports on Terrorism, in which the US said more than 700 terrorist attacks were carried out last year. While not challenging the US statistics, the Colombian defense minister stressed that statistics in the first five months of this year are “much more favorable,” reported Caracol Radio. “More than 500 [of 1,100] municipalities have not seen one homicide and kidnapping dropped 20% in 2013 compared to the same period last year,” Pinzon was quoted as saying. The minister stressed that at this point, Colombians are more concerned about organized crime than terrorism. “To have public security, to have security in their daily lives” is what Colombians want improved, said Pinzon. Facing security challenges in C

Washington, DC  Leading US experts on South Asia have sought more counter-terrorism cooperation with India and said Islamabad should be warned to keep Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in check to prevent a Mumbai-style attack on the US. One of Pakistan's oldest and most powerful militant groups, "LeT is clearly capable of posing a threat to the United States," Stephen Tankel, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment in the South Asia Programme told a House panel Wednesday. "The United States must remain attentive to the evolving threat and vigilant in taking steps to degrade the group," he said during a hearing on protecting the homeland against Mumbai-style attacks and the threat from LeT. Tankel suggested that the US should deepen counterterrorism cooperation with India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom to disrupt LeT's overseas financing and recruitment. He also suggested that the US should signal to Pakistan's military and intelligence ser

Armed with disclosures from Mumbai terror attack scout David Coleman Headley, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had apparently informed the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that Ishrat Jahan was a Lashkar-e-Taiba suicide bomber.   Following his arrest in September 2009, Headley had told the FBI that Muzammil, the so-called commander of Pakistan-based LeT terrorist group, had recruited Ishrat.   Headley’s claim before the US agency is in focus at a time when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the IB are locked in a tussle over the veracity of intelligence inputs that led to encounter killing of Ishrat and three others.   The National Investigation Agency (NIA) — which questioned Headley in 2010 — however, makes no mention of his revelations on Ishrat in its 119-page report.     Though the NIA remains tight-lipped on Headley’s Jahan disclosure, sources said the agency did not mention it in the report because it was hearsay.   Official sources said the IB, in a letter to the CB

14 June 2013  Last updated at 23:08 Syria has dismissed as "a caravan of lies" claims that it used chemical weapons, after the US said it would give the rebels "direct military aid". President Barack Obama's decision came after the White House said it had clear evidence of government forces carrying out small-scale chemical attacks. Rebel commander Gen Salim Idris told the BBC it was a "very important step". But Syria's foreign ministry said the US had used "fabricated information" on chemical weapons to justify the move. Washington was resorting to "cheap tactics" to justify Mr Obama's decision to arm the rebels, a statement from the ministry added. On the ground, there were reports of the fiercest fighting in months in Aleppo. Earlier this week, Syrian media said President Bashar al-Assad's government was planning a major military offensive on the northern city. Two years of conflict had killed at least 93,000 people,

Benghazi has become increasingly unstable amid clashes between militias and the regular forces of the new authorities Five soldiers have been killed in clashes between Libyan special forces and armed protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi, officials say. It is not clear who the protesters were and if any had been killed. "The clashes lasted from 02:00 (00:00 GMT) until 06:00 but are over now," Col Mohammed Sharif, of the special forces in Benghazi, told Reuters news agency. Benghazi was the centre of the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011. It has become increasingly unstable amid clashes between militias made up of former rebels and the regular forces of the new authorities. Militias with different tribal and ideological links control parts of the city, which has seen a wave of attacks on government security forces. Radical Islamists were blamed for an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last September that killed four Americans, including ambas

23 minutes ago At least 11 students and have been killed 22 wounded in a blast on a bus at a university for women in the north-western Pakistani city of Quetta. "It was an improvised explosive device placed in the women university bus," police chief Zubair Mahmood said. Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, which has seen a surge in militant violence in recent months. Some attacks are carried out by separatists and others by Islamists who oppose women's education. In the latest, the students were about to go home when a bomb, apparently planted on their university bus, exploded. Hospital sources say some of the wounded are in critical condition. Last month the Taliban killed at least 11 people in an attack on security forces in Quetta. Source  http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22919001

By Canadian Press TORONTO — Al-Qaida remains Canada's biggest terrorist threat even though the group has weakened in recent years, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said yesterday. In releasing the 2013 report on the terrorist threat to Canada, Toews also warned that some Canadians have travelled to Syria to join the anti-government forces and could return home radicalized. "Global violent extremist groups, such as al-Qaida, have been the leading terrorist threat to Canada for many years; this has not changed," Toews said. "Canada is still a priority target." Statistics cited in the report show more than 7,000 terrorist incidents occurred last year — a decline of about 40 per cent — in 75 countries, costing more than 11,000 lives. Most of the attacks occurred in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In total, 36 Canadians have died in terrorist attacks since 2001, all in other countries, according to the report While there were no terrorist attacks in Canada last year,

Istanbul: Turkish protesters hunkered down in an Istanbul park on Saturday, rejecting an olive branch the government had hoped would end two weeks of nationwide civil unrest.  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's offer to halt the redevelopment of Gezi park that first ignited the protests was presented as a major concession but after conferring all night the protesters said their movement was about something bigger than a conservation struggle.  "We will continue our resistance in the face of any injustice and unfairness taking place in our country," the Taksim Solidarity group, seen as most representative of the protesters, said in a statement. "This is only the beginning."  The decision looked set to inflame tensions a day after Erdogan offered to halt the Gezi Park redevelopment until a court ruled on its legality, his first major conciliatory gesture yet in a bid to end the biggest challenge of his Islamist-rooted government's decade-long rule.  Young p

London: Syria has strongly denied US claims that it used 'chemical weapons' in order to justify its move of providing ' military aid'.  Syria's foreign ministry said that US was resorting to 'cheap tactics' by using 'fabricated information' to justify its move of arming the rebels, BBC reports.  Deputy National Security Adviser, Ben Rhodes, said that president Obama has made the decision to increase assistance, which includes 'military support' to the rebels' Supreme Military Council (SMC) constituting the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.  According  to the report, US' limited support to the rebels till now included providing ration and giving medical supplies.  The CIA is expected to co-ordinate delivery of the military equipment and train the rebel soldiers in how to use it.  Rhodes said that the US intelligence community believed Syrian government forces had used chem

Ranchi: As many as 17 top Naxal leaders have been arrested so far this year following continued strengthening of the vigilance network and operations.  The arrested hardcore Naxalites were in the rank of self-styled area commanders or above of different outfits, including CPI(Maoist) and People’s Liberation Front of India, according to figures released by the police headquarters here on Friday.  the  security forces also arrested 277 Naxalites of different groups till May 31 this year, it said.  As part of the strategy, a policy decision has been taken to route all newly-appointed trainees through Special Task Force (STF) to make all new entrants to the police service operationally effective 'right from the beginning', the release said here.  At least 40 Deputy Superintendents of police have finished training at the Police Training College (PTC), Hazaribagh, and undergone a stint with the STF and each of them posted in operationally critical sub-divisions, the release said.  Me

Ranchi: Jharkhand is facing a major problem in execution of developmental projects as many officials posted at the block level "abdicate" offices for fear of left wing extremism (LWE).  "During interaction with Block Development Officers (BDOs)I was informed that officials abdicate offices either out of fear of them or in the name of Maoists," Chief Secretary R S Sharma said on Thursday.  "Abdicating offices will not help, and at no cost one should abdicate office because the bad elements will dominate," Sharma told a press conference here.  The  district deputy commissioners and superintendents of police were directed to ensure security if any official has specific problem, the chief secretary said.  The state headquarters was monitoring the impediments, he said.  Recognising that the LWE has been a big problem in the developmental process and that the state was not in a 'denial mode', he said contractors were not turning up for road construction

14 June 2013  Last updated at 17:45 The changing cultural make up of Boston has seen a rise in eastern European shops springing up around the town Extremism will be encouraged if more is not done to address concerns over immigration levels in Lincolnshire, the county council leader has said. Conservative Martin Hill said people in some parts of the county believed there were too many migrants. "That's not my personal view but in certain places people say they feel threatened," he said. John Hough, Labour leader, said the council should be more positive. UKIP said there were too many migrants. UKIP took 16 seats off the Conservatives in May's local elections and is now the second largest party on Lincolnshire County Council, which is run by a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition. Mr Hill said: "We need migration but there is an issue about scale and numbers." 'Wrong message' Martin Hill said places like Boston relied on migrant workers "Pe