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Showing posts from June 28, 2009

Pak appeals in SC against JuD chief Saeed's release

Source: The Hindu Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan's federal government and the authorities of Punjab province on Saturday filed two petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the release from house arrest of of outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, wanted by India for the Mumbai terror attacks. Saeed, also the founder of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, was freed from detention on the orders of the Lahore High Court on June 2 after spending nearly six months in detention. The court had said the Pakistan government did not produce any evidence to link Saeed to Mumbai attacks. Saeed and several of his close aides were detained in the wake of last year's Mumbai attacks after his organisation was declared a front for the LeT by the UN Security Council. They were all subsequently freed. India had expressed concern at the delay by Pakistani authorities in appealing against the release of Saeed.

Three dead, 15 hurt in Philippine bomb blast: military

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Militants kill seven in Assam

Source: NEUNDERGROUND BLOG Sushanta Talukdar Guwahati: Suspected militants gunned down seven persons including four women in two separate incidents in southern Assam’s North Cachar Hills district and northern Assam’s Sonitpur district late on Monday night. In the incident in Sonitpur district, four members of a Hindi-speaking family including a three-year-old child were shot dead and two others injured near the Naharani tea estate under Rangapara police station. A group of militants opened indiscriminate fire in which a Hindi-speaking businessman, his wife, the couple’s child Pankaj, and a relative died instantly. A five-year-old girl and a teenaged girl were injured in the attack. Police, however, are yet to identify the militant outfit involved. In another incident a mother and her two daughters were killed in an abandoned Zeme Naga village under Mahur police station late on Monday night. Following this, the death toll in attacks on Naga villages since March 19 has gone up to

Bomb blast kills 33 as Iraqis take charge of security

Source:  Defence talk BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces were in control of towns and cities nationwide after the pullout of US troops six years after the invasion, but a bloody car bombing underscored the tough challenge ahead. US President Barack Obama, who opposed the 2003 war ordered by his predecessor George W. Bush, hailed the US withdrawal as an "important milestone" but warned of difficult days of bloodshed and violence ahead. The landmark day was marred by a bomb attack on a popular market in Kirkuk, an oil hub which has long been riven by ethnic tensions, which left 33 people dead and 92 wounded including women and children. "The explosion occurred at a very busy time. I only saw fire and my stall was thrown over. I saw traders on fire in their shops and there were dead and wounded people on the ground," said Aras Omar Ghaffour, a 28-year-old vegetable stallholder. Iraq marked the American pullback with a national holiday six years after the invasion that toppled

EXCLUSIVE: Pakistan Nukes At Risk

Source: Humanevents Taliban terrorists know where some of Pakistan's nuclear weapons are stored based on information from allies inside the country's national security forces. A military source tells HUMAN EVENTS the Taliban and al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan's western frontier have ties to elements of the Pakistan army and Inter-Services Intelligence. The ISI helped put the Taliban in power in Afghanistan in 1996s. Its agents have helped it carry out attacks, including the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul. It is through these contacts that the Taliban and its extremist allies know the locations of some nuclear warheads. Pakistan is believed to have about 60 atomic bomb and missile warheads. They are mostly kept around the capital of Islamabad, in districts where army control is at its tightest. Some missiles are mobile and are periodically moved to different locations. <A HREF="http://ads.he.valueclick.net/redirect?host=hs0004493&

Analysis: Somalia aid tied to shaky government

Source: AFP By LOLITA C. BALDOR – 3 days ago WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration's recent move to increase aid to Somalia takes aim at Islamic extremists' safe havens, pouring resources into a government that analysts say may not be worth salvaging. Resolving the Somalia dilemma demands that the U.S. walk a delicate line — politically and militarily. Haunted by a disastrous 1993 U.S. military assault into the Somali capital, the administration is carefully working to lower the growing terrorist threat near the Horn of Africa without sending in American troops. A U.S. military footprint, experts and military officials agree, would risk alienating allies and adding to charges by Islamic extremists of a Western takeover. It also would mean an additional military complication for U.S. armed forces already fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The administration's plan is to provide the faltering Somali government money with weapons and to help armies in several neig

India sets up regional base for anti-terror troops

Source: AFP By Phil Hazlewood – 1 day ago MUMBAI (AFP) — India's first regional unit for specialist anti-terror troops has opened in Mumbai, fulfilling a government pledge after criticisms of the military's slow response to last year's attacks on the city. The hub for some 250 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos, opened by Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday evening, is the first of four new centres across the country. The others in Kolkata, eastern India, and the southern cities of Chennai and Hyderabad open on Wednesday. Security officials say the new base -- temporarily housed near Mumbai's international airport until a permanent facility nearby is operational next year -- will reduce incident response times drastically. But security analysts said India still has a long way to go to improve its counter-terrorism capabilities, despite an increase in defence spending since last year. Ajai Sahni, editor of the South Asian Intelligence Review and execut

A Day in the Life of Israeli Extremists

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Source: MWCNEWS A Day in the Life of Israeli Extremists As Washington demurely casts its eyes to the side, Israel’s campaign of violence against the Palestinians is intensifying. Whether or not Israel’s barbarism constitutes a model of Washington’s overall attitude toward the world’s Muslim people is a question Americans need to start contemplating. Israeli Violence Military Terrorism. Today, June 30, Israeli naval vessels again fired on Palestinian fishing boats. Despite the diplomatic efforts of Hamas to reach an accommodation with the Israeli occupiers, Israel continues to punish the population of Gaza by denying it food; the penalty for defying Israel ’s limitations is military attack. Piracy. In a particularly egregious move that at once served to humiliate the U.S. by its disrespect toward a former U.S. congresswoman and to slap the world community in the face by showing its utter contempt for humanitarian concerns, Israeli naval vessels highjacked the “

Farooq Naek calls for world support to win war on terror

Source: APP ISLAMABAD, Jul 2 (APP): Chairman Senate, Farooq H. Neak said on Thursday that Pakistan is committed to combat terror in all forms and manifestation as the menace poses threat to the country as well as to rest of the world. He was speaking as the guest of honour at a reception hosted by British MP of Pakistan origin, Lord Nazir Ahmed in London last night, says a message received here on Thursday. The Chairman said backing of the on-going military operation by all mainstream political parties in Pakistan alongwith the civil society is a manifestation that we have recognized the fact there is no choice but to fight it out with the militants with all our force and might. “It is our war because religious extremism going unchecked would have devoured the meaning of Pakistan. Our message to terrorists is loud and clear. We could not allow our territory to be used by terrorists or extremists and we would not be deterred by enormity of the task to stamp out terr

Two policemen killed in bomb blast in Pak

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Taliban Ends Peace Deal in Pakistan

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source: VOA By Catherine Maddux Islamabad 30 June 2009 Taliban militants have pulled out of a peace deal in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region, dealing a blow to the government's efforts to eliminate attacks by Islamic extremists. The announcement by a spokesman for Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar could signal the end of months of relative peace in North Waziristan. Ahmadullah Ahmadi told news agencies on Tuesday the group decided to scrap the deal because Pakistan had not put an end to missile strikes from unmanned U.S. aircraft - or Predator drones - in both North and South Waziristan. The abandoned agreement was negotiated between local authorities and Taliban representatives last year. Its collapse comes just weeks after the Pakistani military began its campaign to hunt down Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban in neighboring South Waziristan. Pakistani analyst Khalid Aziz says the breakdow

Two Dead in Baghdad Bomb Blasts

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By VOA News 15 June 2009 Iraqi women pass by a destroyed minibus after a bomb exploded in the Shaab neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, 15 June 2009 Iraqi authorities say at least two people were killed and six others wounded when two bombs planted on vehicles exploded Monday in the capital, Baghdad. Officials say one bomb was attached to a bus and a second was inside another vehicle in the mainly Shi'ite district of Shaab. Overall violence has declined in recent months in Iraq, but sectarian strife has been evident in the capital in recent days. On Friday, the leader of the main Sunni bloc in Iraq's parliament (Harith al-Obeidi of the National Accordance Front) and four other people were shot dead after Friday prayers in the Yarmouk area of Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki has ordered an investigation into that attack, which he called "a futile attempt to incite sectarian strife." Some informati

Twin bomb blasts hit Afghan town June 22/ 2009

Source: BBC At least six people have been killed by two bomb attacks in the eastern Afghan town of Khost, officials say. More than 20 others were injured, including a number of children. Some reports put the death toll higher. One of the blasts went off outside a government building. It is not clear who was behind the attacks. Meanwhile, three soldiers were killed and four others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a military patrol in Kandahar province, officials say.

Iraq Bombing Kills at Least 41, Wounds 120 in Kirkuk

Source: bloomberg By Daniel Williams June 30 (Bloomberg) -- A car bomb in the northern Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk killed at least 41 people and wounded 120 others on the day U.S. forces withdrew from all the Middle Eastern country’s cities. The blast occurred in the Aruba neighborhood, said Major James Rawlinson, spokesman at the U.S. encampment located in the Kirkuk Regional Air Base. Rawlinson said Iraqi police, who are on the scene, provided the casualty figures. The city of Kirkuk is populated by Iraqi Arabs and Turkmen and Kurdish minorities. Tensions between the Arabs and Turkmen on one side and the Kurds on the other have simmered for the past six years over domination of land and Kirkuk’s surrounding oil fields. The region produces 25 per cent of Iraq’s petroleum exports, according to the U.S. State Department . U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq’s cities today under an agreement signed between the Bush Administration and the Iraqi government. In the two weeks leading

7 Blasts Around Baghdad Kill at Least 24 , jun 22/2009

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Source: NYT 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 three of the

Bomb kills four in Pakistan: police

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Source: MSN PH A bomb killed at least four people and wounded five others Tuesday near a hotel in Pakistan's restive province of Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan and Iran, police said. The blast occurred in Kalat district on the main highway linking the provincial capital Quetta to Pakistan's financial hub Karachi. "Four people were killed and five others were injured," Kalat police chief Nazir Kurd told AFP. According to initial reports and witnesses, the bomb exploded near a hotel along the highway when a white Suzuki car pulled up, Nazir said. "It is not clear whether the bomb was planted in the car or on the roadside," he said. Police suspect the target was trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan. "Some trucks carrying NATO supplies were also stopping over at the hotel for tea or lunch and we suspect that the bomb was targeted at them. However, no damage was caused to any truck," the police official said. Among the dea

Tanzeemat-e-Madaris asks govt not to level allegations of terrorism against madaris without evidence

Source: online news ISLAMABAD: Tanzeemat-e- Madaris (T.M) has called upon the government not to level allegations against seminaries in terms of involvement in terrorism and extremism adding madaris fuelling terrorism and extremism be identified and evidence to this effect be provided. They made this demand through an open letter addressed to interior minister A Rehman Malik here Sunday. The letter which was issued with the signatures of Mufti Munib ur Rehman and Qari Muhammad Hanif Jalandhri said government should accord legal status to the examination board of madaris and the certificates and degrees being issued by this board from matric to MA level be recognized. A working relationship group comprising representatives of government and madaris be constituted and parliament should legislate in regard to madaris in the light of recommendations of the working group, letter further stated. The letter termed the harassment of madaris management, distribution of survey forms and raids

Turks increasingly turn to Islamic extremism

Source: LATIMES Al Qaeda's reliance on Arabs is altering as recruits from Turkey and Turkic-speaking areas of Central Asia form a recent wave of trainees, experts say. By Sebastian Rotella June 28, 2009 Reporting from London -- In an audio message from a hide-out in South Asia this month, an Al Qaeda chief did something new: He sang the praises of an ethnic group that once barely registered in the network. "We consider the Muslims in Turkey our brothers," said Mustafa Abu Yazid, the network's operations chief. Lauding Turkish suicide bombers killed in recent attacks near the Afghan-Pakistani border, he declared, "This is a pride and honor to the nation of Islam in Turkey, and we ask Allah to accept them amongst the martyrs." The message is the latest sign of the changing composition of Islamic extremism, anti-terrorism officials and experts say. The number of Turks in Al Qaeda, long dominated by Arabs, has increased notably, officials say. And milita

Somalia: The Crisis and Prospects for Lasting Peace

Source: All africa http://allafrica.com/stories/200906260822.html?page=2 The following is the prepared testimony of Ted Dagne of Congressional Research Service before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health on June 25, 2009 in Washington, DC. The hearing was entitled, "Somalia: Prospects for a Lasting Peace and Unified Response to Extremism and Terrorism." Chairman Payne, Ranking Member Smith, and members of the sub-committee, let me first express my appreciation for the opportunity to testify before your sub-committee.  I am sure some of you have seen the images on TV, read about it in the newspapers, and some of you have witnessed the untold suffering of many Somalis over the years. I have stopped counting how many innocent civilians have been killed, maimed, or how many more people displaced from their homes because of fighting.  Unfortunately and sadly, many more people will die in the coming weeks and months. A Somali fri

Pakistan widens offensive; U.S. triples aid

Source: Reuters By Adil Khan BANNU, Pakistan, June 12 (Reuters) - Pakistani forces stepped up attacks on militants across the northwest on Friday as the U.S. House of Representatives approved tripling aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion a year for the next five years. Security forces have made progress in more than a month of fighting against Taliban militants in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad, and in recent days have begun attacks in several other parts of the region. Rising Islamist violence has raised fears for Pakistan's stability and for the safety of its nuclear arsenal but the offensive in Swat has reassured the United States about its commitment to the global campaign against militancy. Pakistan is a vital security ally for the United States as it struggles to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan and defeat al Qaeda. U.S. officials said on Thursday insurgent violence in Afghanistan had accelerated sharply alongside the arrival of new U.S. troops, reachi

Pakistani Journalist Details A 'Descent Into Chaos' from NPR

Pakistani Journalist Details A 'Descent Into Chaos'  Source: From NPR Listen Now [37 min 45 sec] add to playlist | download