Terrorism Watch

Source: Reuters By Abu Arqam Naqash MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two soldiers were killed on Friday in the first suicide bombing in Pakistani Kashmir while several people were hurt in a blast near the Afghan border as the army prepares to attack Taliban in that region. Islamist militants have carried out a series of bomb attacks across Pakistan in recent weeks in retaliation for a military offensive in the northwest but there have been no such attacks in Pakistan's part of the disputed Kashmir region. The army launched its offensive after Taliban gains raised fears for U.S. ally Pakistan's future and worry about the safety of its nuclear arsenal. The blast in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir, will raise concern that the militants are expanding their campaign to distract the military as it closes in on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan on the Afghan border. "The bomber blew himself up near a military vehicle. Two of our

Source: interfax Rostov-on-Don, June 26, Interfax - Hackers who attacked a website owned by Chechnya's Press Ministry have said that an organization known as the "special operations Mujahideen group" claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt on Ingushetia's President Yunus-bek Yevkurov. "It has become known that one of the websites of the Press Ministry of the Chechen Republic was attacked today. Unknown hackers posted a statement on its main page that the terrorist attack against President of Ingushetia Yevkurov was carried out by the "special operations Mujahideen group", and that it was "Allah's punishment"," a source in law enforcement services of the South Federal District told Interfax on Friday. The website is not functioning at the moment, the source said. So far, the federal and Chechen authorities have neither confirmed nor denied the report.

Source: VOA By Dan Robinson Washington 26 June 2009 Islamist insurgent fighters near Mogadishu, 1 Jun 2009 The violent and unstable situation in Somalia was the subject of a U.S. congressional hearing on Thursday. Testimony by officials from Somalia, the United Nations and the African Union, and experts came as the Obama administration confirmed it has decided to bolster Somalia's embattled Transitional Federal Government against Islamist forces. With each day bringing further deterioration in Somalia, including among other things the recent bomb attack that killed the Somali transitional government security minister, Thursday's hearing was timely. Coinciding with the hearing, the State Department confirmed that the U.S. is providing urgent shipments of weapons and ammunition to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, the TFG, to help it avoid a complete takeover by Islamist rebels the U.S. suspects has ties to al-Qaida. Ted Dagne, African Affairs

Source: The news Thursday, June 25, 2009 By By Waqar Bhatti Karachi The police have failed to press charged against an alleged terrorist of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), Irfan Islam alias Irfan Lamba, who was announced as having been arrested by Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Sindh Police last week, The News has learnt. Sources disclosed to The News that in reality, Lamba was captured in the first week of this month. Sources also said that Lamba, who was currently on bail from the court on a number of terrorism related charges, was picked up by the SIU prior to the date on which the police cell officially declared his arrest. However, even after several days’ interrogation, they failed to connect him with any terrorism-related activity in the city. The SIU Chief SSP Raja Umer Khattab had told The News on June 17 that SIU and Sindh Rangers had arrested notorious LJ terrorist Irfan Islam alias Irfam Lamba from Orangi Town in a joint raid. He had maintained that Lamba, who is a

Source: Hindustan Times Five states in central and eastern India could be targets for attacks during a two-day strike called by Maoist rebels. Unprecedented spur in Naxal activities in states like Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and West Bengal have intensified with the ongoing Maoist upheaval. With over 1500 killings in the past 8 years, this people's struggle has unfortunately transformed into a power struggle. Here is a list of the 10 deadliest Maoist attacks in India in the past five years. 1)  Attack on N Chandrababu Naidu (Oct. 2003) The TDP chief and then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had a narrow escape, when he was on his way to Tirupati on October 1, 2003. The attack was carried out by a special team of Maoists at the foothills of Tirumala. A few seconds delay in triggering claymore mines saved his life. 2) Naxal Attack in Koraput (2004) In a daring attack, over 1000 maoists atacked Orissa's district headquarters town of Koraput and looted 200 sophistica

President of Russia's Southern Republic of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov is still unconscious after a suicide bomber attack. Nevertheless, the assassination attempt will not disrupt the republics fight against terror.

Source: IANS New Delhi/Lalgarh, June 22 (IANS) The central government Monday extended the ban on the CPI-Maoist across the country, including West Bengal, which has so far resisted moves to declare the outfit a terrorist organisation, the home ministry said. However, West Bengal’s ruling Left Front said it was against banning the CPI-Maoist and would counter such outfits politically, two days after Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee stated that his government will give serious thought to proscribing the rebels. On his part, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat said: “Maoists must be combated politically and administratively.” Meanwhile, the security forces intensified their operation to flush out Maoists from the troubled Lalgarh area as a 48-hour shutdown called by the rebels Monday disrupted normal life in their strongholds in West Bengal. After reclaiming Lalgarh town, security forces continued their operation against the rebels for the fif

Source: newyork times BAGHDAD — Seven bomb blasts in and around Baghdad on Monday killed at least 24 people and wounded scores, including 3 American soldiers, while a series of firefights in the northern city of Mosul left 7 people dead, according to Iraqi security officials. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Hadi Mizban/Associated Press The driver, left, of a minibus on which a bomb exploded Monday. Three students were killed. The spate of violence renewed concerns that extremists would step up their attacks as the June 30 deadline approached for American troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities. There was no discernible pattern to the attacks on Monday, which were likely intended to undermine a general feeling of security that had grown here as violence had receded. Some of the blasts were aimed at Iraqi security forces and others singled out civilians. In one attack, a bomb exploded on a minibus carrying high school students to their final exams, killing t

Dubai:   Source: Indian Express Al Qaeda would use Pak's N-weapons if it were in a position to do so, said Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, a leader of the terror group. If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States, a top leader of the group said in remarks aired on Sunday. Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda's Taliban allies in the Swat Valley since April after their thrust into a district 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital raised fears the nuclear-armed country could slowly slip into militant hands. "God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands of the Americans and the mujahideen would take them and use them against the Americans," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the leader of al Qaeda's in Afghanistan, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.  "We expect that the Pakistani army would be defeated (in Swat) ... and that would be its end everywhere, God willing.&qu

Source: Strategy page June 23, 2009: In Pakistan, Taliban leaders are suddenly trying to distance themselves from the growing number of terrorist attacks. The Taliban, and some politicians, now insist that these atrocities have nothing to do with Islam. This is an attempt by the Taliban to recover some of their popularity. The terrorist attacks, plus the earlier atrocities (especially against women) committed by the Taliban in the tribal territories, has really turned the country against them. This, the Taliban did not expect. Some Taliban factions don't care, but the more ambitious Taliban leaders can see where this all leads, and it's not good for the Taliban. The army is now advancing into North and South Waziristan, and, as usual, the Taliban cannot hold a position against the troops. Taking to the hills and waging a guerilla war doesn't work as well as it used to, because the army now has over 300 helicopters, and the Americans are always up there with their UAVs an

Source: Nasdaq SRINAGAR, India (AFP)--The Indian army said Monday it had defused a bomb placed along a route used by Hindus taking part in an annual pilgrimage to a mountain shrine in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Soldiers discovered an Improvised Explosive Device, or IED, on a road south of Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar, and called in a bomb disposal team. "The IED was concealed in a bag lying on the side of the mountainous road," an army officer said. "The timely detection avoided a possible catastrophe." The road is used every day by thousands of Hindus from across India and the world to reach a Himalayan cave to a sacred ice form. The icicle resembles a fertility symbol known as a lingam and is worshipped as a representation of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. Thousands of security forces are deployed along mountain roads and trails to protect the pilgrims, who have been targeted in the past by Islamic militants fighting New Delhi's

The assassination attempt on Ingushetia's Yunus Bek Yevkurov sends the president to the hospital. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev calls the blast 'a terrorist attack.' By Megan K. Stack 10:02 AM PDT, June 22, 2009 Reporting from Moscow -- A suicide car bomber struck the motorcade of the president of the restive Russian republic of Ingushetia on this morning, killing at least one aide and sending the president to the hospital amid conflicting reports of his condition. The attempt to assassinate Yunus Bek Yevkurov, a career military and intelligence officer charged with taming the violence in the largely Muslim republic, underscored the instability and insurrections plaguing Russia's southern borderlands. Witnesses said the bomber skirted his car around the president's police escort and barged into the convoy before setting off his blast. Yevkurov's staff said the president was unconscious and in "serious but stable" condition today. The presid

By PAUL ALEXANDER – 47 minutes ago ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Taliban faction leader who criticized the militant group's Pakistani head over attacks that killed civilians was fatally shot Tuesday, reportedly by one of his own guards. The attack on Qari Zainuddin appeared to be a sign that divisions within the Taliban have broken into the open as they come under military assault. The army is clearing out militants from the Swat Valley and has been pounding strongholds of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in the South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan in apparent preparation for a major offensive. Zainuddin was gunned down in nearby town of Dera Ismail Khan. He had emerged as Mehsud's chief rival. Dr. Mahmood Khan Bitani told The Associated Press that he pronounced Zainuddin dead on arrival at a local hospital with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Baz Mohammad, an aide of the militant leader who also was wounded, said a guard barged into a room at Zainu

Speech Calls for Unity, Institution-Building Prime Minister Salam Fayyad responded to recent speeches by the leaders of the U.S. and Israel. (By Abbas Momani -- Pool) Washington Post Foreign Service Source: Washington post Tuesday, June 23, 2009 ABU DIS, West Bank, June 22 -- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday called for the establishment of a Palestinian state within two years, a timeline he said is possible if Israel upholds its existing commitments and Palestinians "roll up their sleeves" and concentrate on building government and civic institutions. In comments directed as much at the Islamist Hamas movement as at Israel, Fayyad said competing Palestinian factions need to take advantage of international support for the creation of a Palestinian state, something the Obama administration is pushing as a priority. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and has been responsible for thousands of rocket and mortar attacks against Israel in recent years. The gro