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Showing posts from September 27, 2009

Deadly Maoist attack in India

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Source: Al jazeera Protecting civilians from Maoist attacks is proving difficult in some parts of Bihar [EPA] Suspected Maoist rebels have killed 16 people in an attack on a village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. A senior police official in the Khagaria district, 200km north of the regional capital Patna, told AFP on Friday that "more than 50 armed Maoists attacked the village and started killing people". Ajay Pandey, a deputy superintendent of polilce, said that five children were among the dead. "The victims were sleeping in their houses". The attack in Amausi Bharen village reportedly took place after farmers defied Naxal demands. A journalis

IAF seeks nod to fire at Naxals

Source: Hindustan Times The Indian Air Force (IAF) does not want to operate in Naxal-hit areas with its hands tied. It has sought the government’s permission to shoot Naxals in self-defence, a reflection of the worsening Maoist problem. Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik said on Thursday, “We have put up a case before the defence ministry. It is absolutely important that the air force be allowed to fire in self-defence whenever its helicopters or aircrew comes under attack.” He was concerned about IAF choppers or the aircrew being attacked while supporting anti-Naxal operations. IAF choppers have been fired upon several times by Naxals. A flight engineer was killed in one such attack last year. The armed forces are not directly involved in the fight against Naxals. They do not want to be involved, either. Naik said, “I firmly believe that the role of the armed forces is not inside the country but to defend (the country) against external aggression.” But the military provides vital support to

Nuclear terrorism a challenge, non-proliferation regime hasn't succeeded: PM

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Source: TOI NEW DELHI: Maintaining that the spectre of nuclear terrorism is a formidable challenge, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday supported Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (C) with Mohamed ElBaradei, Deputy General of International Atomic Energy Agency (R) and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (L), during the inauguration of the conference. (PTI Photo) More Pictures strengthening of global efforts in improving nuclear security and welcomed US President Barack Obama's initiative to hold a summit on nuclear security next year. ( Watch Video ) India, he said, has an updated, effective and comprehensive export controls system and is "committed to not transferring sensitive technologies and equipment to other countries that do not possess them." Holding that India has been sponsoring a resolution at the UN General Assembly calling for measures to address the nuclear terrorism threat, he said, "We support strengthening the international effor

Is economic terrorism a threat to South East Asia?

Source: ET 26 Sep 2009, 1554 hrs IST, SINGAPORE: If the suicide bombers who targeted two luxury hotels in Jakarta this year hoped their attacks would strike a significant long-term blow against Indonesia's economy, the reaction of financial markets suggests they were wrong. Economic warfare is at the heart of the tactics of terrorism. A few militants with primitive and low-cost weaponry can cause economic destruction that reverberates far beyond the physical damage they inflict, impacting whole industries and countries. But the overwhelming evidence from militant attacks over recent decades is that the impact is almost always temporary. In the long run, economies and markets are remarkably resilient. From the hijacked airliner attacks in the United States on Sept.11, 2001, to the suicide blasts at nightclubs in Bali in 2002 and the Madrid and London train bombings of 2004 and 2005, markets have reacted in a highly consistent pattern. Domestic equities, bonds and the local

Terrorist outfits still operate from Pakistan's soil, says ex-Pakistani envoy to India

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Source: ANI thru Yahoo Thu, Oct 1 08:20 PM Wagha Border, Oct 1(ANI): Former Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Humayun Khan, on Thursday said that terrorist networks are still operating from Pakistan's soil and contended that it has been unable to root them out completely. Khan was speaking to the media persons at the Wagah border post in Punjab on Thursday. He is in India as a part of eight-member team to attend the 150th anniversary of the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. An alumnus of the school, Khan and other seven members will be in Shimla for a couple of days to attend the week-long celebrations at their alma mater. "Terrorism has created a lot of problems. Our misfortune is that many terrorist centres are still operating from our soil, in tribal areas and elsewhere. Whatever they do, we are blamed for their actions. This is the biggest problem of today's time," said Humayun Khan. "Any incident related to terrorism - for instance the attack

16 killed in suspected Maoist attack in Bihar

Source: TOI PTI 2 October 2009, 08:01am IST KHAGARIA: In the first ever carnage during the NDA regime led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, 16 people were gunned down by suspected Maoist cadres in a village in Bihar's Khagaria district late Thursday night, a top police official said on Friday. "Around 100 people, suspected to be Maoists, armed with automatic weapons attacked the village Amosi Bharen Diara and fired indiscriminately late last night, killing 11 men and 5 children on the spot," Inspector General (Operations) S K Bharadwaj said. According to police, the cultivation on the disputed 30 bighas of land is said to be reason behind the attack on the victims belonging to backward caste. When contacted ADG Headquarters Neelmani said that the attack was carried out on the villagers by the suspected naxalites with the intention of grabbing the land. The victims, belonged to Amdaicharua village and had been living in the makeshift camps on the land for cultivat

One million on US terrorist watch list: rights group

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Source: brietbrat Jul 14 02:53 PM US/Eastern First Ever: Raw Video Released of GITMO Terror Suspect Interrogation A watch list of suspected and known terrorists, compiled by the US authorities, has ballooned and contains more than one million names, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday. The ACLU said it derived that figure from a Justice Department report on the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, which consolidates terrorist watch list information. The Center "had over 700,000 names in its datab ase as of April 2007 and that the list was growing by an average of over 20,000 records per month," according to a report by the Justice Department Inspector General, the rights group said. "By those numbers, the list now has over one million names on it," the ACLU said in a statement. Among those on the watch list are deceased people, such as former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein who was hanged in 2005, decorated war veterans, and US Senator Ted K

British family win £1m terrorism compensation from Turkey

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A British family who were the victims of a terrorist attack while on holiday in 2005 have been awarded more than £1m by the Turkish government. Source: telegraph UK By Chris Irvine Published: 7:00AM BST 01 Oct 2009 Five people died in the attack on a tourist mini-bus in Kusadasi Photo: REUTERS Helen Bennett, from Spennymoor, County Durham, was one of five people killed in the bomb attack, orchestrated by Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, on a tourist mini-bus in Kusadasi in July 2005. Five other members of Miss Bennett's family, including her fiance Stephen Stables, were injured in the attack, with members of the group suffering limb and muscle damage, hearing loss and flashbacks. Following a two-year legal battle, the family have been told they will be awarded more than £1 million, after lawyers argued the extent of their injuries meant some of them could n

Jihadist’s Detonation of Bomb Hidden in Body Isn’t New Attack Method

Source: Homeland security today by Anthony Kimery Thursday, 01 October 2009 Matter of time before suicide bombers use more powerful bombs inside their bodies In recent days, there’s been a flurry of reporting about the ostensibly novel new threat of jihadist suicide bombers detonating explosives that they’ve hidden inside their bodies. The concerns arose from the Aug. 28 detonation of about a pound of explosives that 23-year-old Al Qaeda suicide bomber Abdullah Hassan Tali' Al Asiri had hidden in his rectum. Al Asiri exploded his internal bomb in an attempt to kill Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi Deputy Interior Minister in charge of Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism efforts. The prince sustained only a minor injury from the blast. Al Asiri’s rectally concealed bomb wasn’t an especially new jihadist strategy, however. A year ago, Homeland Security Today revealed in its August 2008 investigative report, Making Black Magic, that determined jihadists had begun to experiment with al

US House puts tough 'no terror' conditions on Pakistan aid

Source: Newskerala By Arun Kumar, Washington, Oct 1 : The US Congress has passed a bill to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to USD 7.5 billion in the next five years, but with stringent conditions demanding action against extremist groups on its soil and prevention of attacks into neighbouring countries. Though the compromise bill passed by House of Representatives Wednesday does not specifically mention India so as not to hurt Islamabad's sensitivities, it specifically lists extremist movements like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the outfit behind 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The House vote on the compromise package to ramp up aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion per year through 2014 passed unanimously by the Senate last week paves the way for President Barack Obama, who has enthusiastically supported the measure, to take the final step with his signature. "We need to forge a true strategic partnership with Pakistan and its people, strengthen its democratic governme

Friends of Fountain Place bomb plot suspect confounded by jihadist label

Source: Dallas news 07:13 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 By MARJORIE KORN and JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News More details emerged Monday about the Jordanian teenager accused of trying to blow up a downtown Dallas skyscraper that would appear to contradict the FBI's assertion that Hosam "Sam" Maher Husein Smadi was an Islamic fundamentalist bent on bloodshed. A California woman described the 19-year-old Smadi as an easygoing youngster who came to this country three years ago not to destroy it, but to get over the painful loss of his mother to cancer. The woman, Temina Elrabodi, and her husband, Hana, are from Jordan and agreed to let Smadi live with them at their San Jose home when he entered the United States. Temina Elrabodi described Smadi as a "very sad kid" and said he lived with them for about three weeks until her husband helped him find a job at a restaurant and he began attending high school. "In my country, Jordan, everybody knows ea

The New TNT: Christopher Dickey

Source: Newsweek New studies of suicide bombers say that most have three important qualities in common: testosterone, a narrative fantasy, and a desire to make theater. Sep 29, 2009 Al Qaeda has made a horrifying—if bizarre—advance in terrorist tradecraft. As recently reported by my friend Frank Gardner, security correspondent for the BBC, the suicide bomber who tried unsuccessfully to blow up Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism chief in August actually had the explosives inside his body . It's possible the bomb—which was made from materials that wouldn't set off metal detectors—was swallowed or stitched into him in some fashion, but according to one usually authoritative Saudi official, the explosives had been inserted in the terrorist's rectum. The target, Prince Ahmed bin Nayef, escaped with minor injuries, but the blas

The ‘keister bomb’ is the newest terror threat

Source: Kansascity By RICK MONTGOMERY The Kansas City Star Al-Qaida’s new method of delivering a deadly payload — in effect a plastic explosive suppository — would make security experts nervous, you might think. It is not easily spotted by conventional detectors. But it does have some who know their explosives busting a gut. A month ago in Saudi Arabia, a terrorist named Abdullah Hassan Tali’ al-Asiri reportedly walked past palace checkpoints with a small bomb inserted in a body cavity. Judging by the al-Qaida video featuring him proudly holding a device before committing the deed, it was about 3 inches long. He wanted to blow up a Saudi prince but succeeded only in blowing off his own bottom half and destroying the floor, killing himself in the process. His intended target, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and others in the room were largely unharmed. A Saudi news service quoted the prince saying, understatedly, “He surprised me by blowing himself up.” Suffice to say al-Asiri’s technique ha

Terror arraignment...Afghan blast...Philippines toll...

Source: KXnet Sep 29 2009 7:42AM Associated Press Terror arraignment...Afghan blast...Philippines toll NEW YORK (AP) An Afghan immigrant is scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn this morning to be arraigned on charges he was planning a terrorist attack on New York City. Law enforcement officials allege Najibullah Zazi (nah-jee-BOO'-lah ZAH'-zee) and his co-conspirators were buying beauty products containing hydrogen peroxide and acetone to make homemade bombs. Zazi has denied any wrongdoing. KABUL (AP) A bus packed with Afghan civilians has hit a roadside bomb near the southern city of Kandahar. Police say 30 people are dead, including seven children. Another 39 were wounded. Some of the more severely wounded have been taken to a NATO base for treatment. MANILA, Philippines (AP) Rescuers continue to pull bodies from swollen rivers in the northern Philippines. The confirmed death toll from weekend flooding and landslides has now reached 246. More than three dozen peop

Fresh Taliban attacks pose renewed threat to Pakistan

Source: www.chinaview.cn 2009-09-27 by Yangtze Yan ISLAMABAD, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's security officials termed the Saturday strikes a part of the Taliban militants' campaign of revenge against the operations in Malakand division and Khyber tribal agency in the country's troubled northwest. Twenty people were killed and over 100 others injured on Saturday as suicide bombers blew up vehicles in Peshawar and Bannu in North West Frontier Province (NWFP). As the United States claimed again that the incidents are a reminder that extremism still poses a threat to the people of Pakistan, the top leaders of the front terror-fighting country renewed their pledges to root out terrorism and extremism from Pakistan with full force. A DEADLY DAY WITH TWIN BLASTS The first attack took place in Bannu, a main town to the south of the NWFP capital of Peshawar, at 7 a.m. when a truck carrying over 150 kg of explosives blew up outside a police station, killing 10 peopl

Honduras Shuts Down Broadcasters, Some Constitutional Rights Suspended

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By Brian Wagner Tegucigalpa 29 September 2009 The interim government in Honduras has closed two news broadcasters and suspended some constitutional rights in response to the country's ongoing political crisis. In Tegucigal, officials say they are concerned that supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, who has taken refuge in the Brazilian embassy, might seek to destabilize the country. Soldiers, police officers stand guard outside Globo radio station after its closure in Tegucigalpa, 28 Sep 2009 Honduran security forces shut down Cholusat TV and Globo radio after conducting raids on their offices in Tegucigalpa early Monday. The interim government says the stations are closely tied to ousted President Zelaya and accused them of seeking to provoke rebellion and unrest. Globo radio's Internet Web site posted a recording of its final moments on the air. The announcer said police were trying to take the station off the air in what he called a

30 Afghan Civilians Killed in Roadside Bombing

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By VOA News 29 September 2009 The Afghan interior ministry says a passenger bus struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, killing 30 civilians and wounding at least 39 others. Officials say the bomb exploded on a highway in Kandahar province early Tuesday. They say the victims included several women and children. Government officials blame Taliban militants for planting the explosives. The Taliban insurgency relies heavily on roadside bombs and suicide attacks in their fight against foreign forces and Afghan troops. A U.N. report issued last week said violence in Afghanistan has killed more than 1,500 civilians this year, with more than two-thirds of the deaths resulting from militant attacks. On Monday, Afghan officials say U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers killed at least 40 Taliban fighters in a joint operation in western Farah province. Officials said the strike began Sunday night and continued throughout Monday. No

Troops Killed in Philippines Land Mine Blast

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3  By VOA News 29 September 2009 The Philippine military says two members of the U.S. Navy and a Philippine marine were killed Tuesday in a landmine explosion on the restive southern island of Jolo. Philippine military spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner releases details of two U.S. Navy Seabees that were killed in a roadside bomb, 29 Sep 2009 Military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Romeo Brawner had earlier said that the two Americans were in the Army. Brawner said two other Philippine marines were wounded, when the vehicle they were riding in hit the mine near a marine outpost outside the town of Indanan. The American deaths are the first since 2002, when a soldier at a restaurant in the southern port city of Zamboanga was killed by a bomb placed outside the building. The United States has had military forces stationed in the southern Philippines since 2002 to advise and train Philippine soldiers in counter-insurgency operations. Th

Suspected US Missile Strike Kills 5 Militants in Pakistan

By VOA News 29 September 2009 Pakistani intelligence officials say a suspected U.S. missile strike has killed five Taliban militants in one of the country's restive tribal regions. Officials say two missiles apparently fired from an unmanned aircraft hit the house of Taliban commander Irfan Mehsud Tuesday near the Afghan border in South Waziristan. They say at least six militants were wounded in the strike, which demolished the house located some 60 kilometers north of Wana. At least two of the dead militants appear to be Uzbek nationals. The area surrounding Wana is a stronghold for the network of former Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed in a U.S. missile strike last month. Officials blame Mehsud's militant network for attacks against Pakistan's government and foreign troops in the country. U.S. unmanned aircraft, known as drones, are believed to have fired more than 40 missiles in r

3 CRPF jawans killed in militant strike in Sopore

Source: PTI STAFF WRITER 19:20 HRS IST Srinagar, Sep 29 (PTI) Militants struck at a crowded bus stand in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore town this evening, killing three CRPF jawans, including a head constable, and seriously wounding a woman bystander. The attackers, whose number could not be ascertained, fired at the para-military troopers, on duty at the bus stand, from point-blank range at around 1725 hours, CRPF spokesman P Tripathi told PTI. Two jawans died instantly while one succumbed to gunshot wounds on way to hospital, he said adding the pistol-wielding militants fled after staging the attack in the apple-rich town, some 55-km from here. The dead were Head Constable Des Raj and Constables D Pratab and Ramesh Kumar who were deployed at the crowded bus stand when the ultras struck. A woman, waiting for a bus, was hit by a bullet and was admitted to hospital where her condition was described as critical.

Death Toll in Guinea Protests Rises Above 150

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Source: VOA By Ricci Shryock Dakar 29 September 2009 Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, attends a meeting at Camp Alpha Yaya Diallo military camp in Conakry, Guinea (File) Guinea's military ruler is trying to distance himself from Monday's killing of at least 150 opposition demonstrators by security forces.   The death toll from Monday's shootings continues to rise as victims of the violence are located. Military police opened fired on demonstrators at Conakry's September 28 Stadium who were protesting the expected candidacy of military ruler Captain Moussa Dadis Camara. International condemnation of Monday's killing is mounting, with the Economic Community of West African States expressing its 'disgust' at the attacks. Former colonial power France says Captain Camara should listen to the Guinean people's legitimate aspiration to choose their leaders democratically.   Captain Camara is trying to distance hi