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Showing posts from February 7, 2010

Flights Of Fancy About 9/11 Copycat

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Source: Tehelka The arrest of Shahzad, the alleged plotter of an Indian 9/11, was touted as a breakthrough. BRIJESH PANDEY tracks the case in Azamgarh and Lucknow to find a story full of holes Terror pilot? Shahzad being whisked away by the Special Cell of Delhi Police Photo: INDIAN EXPRESS ARCHIVE Outraged His grandfather says Shahzad lived with the family for five months Photo: VIJAY PANDEY ON FEBRUARY 1, 2010, the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police arrested a man called Shahzad Ahmad from his home in Khalispur village in Azamgarh district. A month earlier, the media had gone into a frenzy when police and IB sources revealed that Shahzad was planning a 9/11-style attack in India. However, now the police say Shahzad has received no pilot training in Bengaluru (or in any part of

Pakistan: 2 suicide blasts aimed at police kill 15

Source: AP By RIAZ KHAN (AP) – 1 day ago PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Two suicide bombers struck outside a police complex in northwestern Pakistan, killing 15 people and underscoring the relentless militant threat despite army operations and U.S. missile strikes against al-Qaida and the Taliban. The second blast Thursday went off as rescuers responded to the first — a militant tactic seen before in Pakistan, but not often. Of the 15 dead, at least nine were police, while the 30 people wounded included the city's police chief, hospital official Abdul Hafeez said. The attacks in the city of Bannu coincided with a visit to Islamabad by White House National Security Adviser Jim Jones. Militants have carried out numerous attacks on security forces over the past several years to undermine the public's confidence in the already-weak state. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed 10 police officers and seven civilians in the Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border. No group immediately

14 militants killed in clash in Russia's Caucasus

Source: AP on Google (AP) – 13 hours ago ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — Russian officials said Friday that at least 14 suspected Islamic militants had been killed and one police officer wounded in two days of fighting in the volatile southern province of Ingushetia. The clash, in the forested mountains near the border with Chechnya, was one of the bloodiest and most prolonged in Ingushetia in recent months. Svetlana Gorbakova of the region's Investigative Committee said 14 bodies of suspected insurgents had been found after the fighting, but Kaloi Akhilgov, a spokesman for the Ingush president, put the toll at 18. Ingushetia has not seen a full-scale insurgent war like the two that broke out in Chechnya over the past decade and a half, but suffers persistent small-scale clashes between militants and police and soldiers.

Pakistani officials: Taliban chief is dead

Source: lasvegas sun The Associated Press Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010 | midnight Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has died, the country's top civilian security official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. It was the government's first categorical confirmation of the death of the feared militant, whose passing is likely to weaken, but not vanquish, the al-Qaida-linked insurgent network he led. Reports of Mehsud's death emerged after a spate of U.S. missiles hit his stronghold in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt in mid-January. Mehsud was said to have died of wounds suffered in one of the strikes in the Waziristan region _ another big victory for the CIA-led missile campaign that killed Mehsud's predecessor just six months ago. The Taliban have repeatedly denied his death, but backed off an initial promise to prove the 28-year-old was still alive. In a response to an AP query, Pakistani Interior Minister

Evolving US strategy widens assault on terrorists

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Source: Washington post PHOTOS   Previous           Next          In this image released by the U.S. Air Force, a fully armed MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle taxis down the runway at an air base in Afghanistan Nov. 4, 2007, on its way to another wartime mission. In the early months of his presidency, President Barack Obama's national security team singled out one man from its list of most-wanted terrorists, Baitullah Mehsud, the ruthless leader of the Pakistani Taliban. He was to be eliminated. "The decision was made to find him, to get him and to kill him," a senior U.S. intelligence official said, recalling weeks and months of "very tedious, painstaking focus" before an unmanned CIA aircraft killed Mehsud in August at his father-in-law's house near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson) (Ssgt Brian Ferguson - AP)      WASHINGTON -- In the early months of his presidency, President Barack Obama &

Isolated and battered, Israeli doves hold protest

Source: AP on Google By DIAA HADID (AP) – 1 hour ago JERUSALEM — Israel's battered pro-peace camp is showing signs of life with a weekly Jerusalem protest by a motley collection of anarchists, intellectuals and radical rabbis, but they face a public increasingly hostile to their point of view. Activists have gathered each Friday since November in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the eviction of Palestinians from their homes to make room for Jewish settlers. The demonstrations have become a rallying cry for the shrunken left as well as freedom of speech advocates who say their country has become increasingly intolerant of dissent since waging a bruising winter war in Gaza. Activists point to a recent campaign vilifying a prominent human rights campaigner, arrests of protesters and attempts by government officials and right-wing groups to halt international funding of Israeli organizations they deemed disloyal. "It's about time the left in Isr

NATO Launches Major Afghanistan Offensive

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Source: NY Times Filed at Feb 13th 2010 2:05 a.m. ET Skip to next paragraph MARJAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S.-led NATO troops launched a crucial offensive on Saturday against the Taliban's last big stronghold in Afghanistan's most violent province and were quickly thrown into a firefight with the militants. The assault is a test of President Barack Obama's ordered "surge" of extra troops to Afghanistan in December and the start of a campaign to impose government control on rebel-held areas this year, before U.S. forces start to withdraw in 2011. Within hours of the operation getting underway, U.S. Marines at the tip of the assault battled with Taliban militants in Marjah, in Helmand Province, all the time facing the possibility of being blown up by booby traps rigged across the town. Marines engaged in a firefight with Taliban militants after the U.S. troops landed in helicopters near the town. They fired at least four rockets at mil

Ethiopian Airline crash off Beirut was an act of Al-Qaeda terror

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Source: debka DEBKA file Exclusive Report February 10, 2010, 1:51 PM (GMT+02:00) Bodies recovered from crashed Ethiopian Airliner Evidence has reached debka file 's counter-terror sources that the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 which crashed after takeoff from Beirut on January 25, killing all 92 aboard, was blown up in mid-air. This was an al-Qaeda operation timed for one month to the day after its failed attempt to destroy an American Northwest airliner bound for Detroit . It is becoming clear that either a bomb was planted on the Ethiopian flight with a timer or a passenger acted as suicide bomber. Western security agencies in the Middle East involved in combating al Qaeda believe that its planners picked on the Ethiopian flight for more than one reason apart from the date: They had been tipped off that a group of French undercover agents, including Maria Sanchez Pietton, wife of the

Karachi violence a big blow to economy AFP/Karachi

Source: gulf times A wave of political and sectarian violence sweeping Karachi threatens heavy financial losses in the country’s economic hub, where analysts fear Islamists are bent on fanning maximum instability. Bomb attacks targeting Shias have killed 76 people in six weeks, devastating riots and a surge in political shootings have sparked fears that after relative quiet, Karachi is returning to the eye of the storm. Pakistan’s richest city has been spared the worst of a two-year Islamist bombing campaign but is plagued by crime and kidnappings, which some analysts say militant groups use to bankroll campaigns in the northwest and Afghanistan. “Karachi accounts for nearly 45% of Pakistan’s GDP,” independent economist AB Shahid said. “It translates into roughly Rs15bn ($180mn) per day and tax revenues of Rs1bn per day,” he said. The city is a national headquarters for industry and the service sector, a bustling port city on the Arabian sea with a teeming population of 16mn. “

Why Karachi? By Rafia Zakaria Wednesday, 10 Feb, 2010

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Source: The Dawn A team of investigators examine the site of a bomb blast, which killed 13 people, outside Jinnah hospital in Karachi. — Reuters The question of why a terrorist attack took place in Karachi is seemingly an unfair one. The bloodstained first decade of the new millennium has seen nearly every corner of Pakistan come under attack. Cultural centres like Lahore to markets in Peshawar to small towns like Chakwal and Mian Channu to smaller villages have all been victimised by terror. The reason for additional consternation about attacks in Karachi, however, is simple. As Pakistan’s only mega city Karachi’s demographics, history of communal conflict and dynamics of urban governance all present a lethal mix. In addition, its status as a global city, one with widespread (and largely unregulated) communication systems, present unique opportunities to terrorist groups wishing to use the city as a hub for monitoring and proliferating transnational networks. Fi

17 killed in Jamrud suicide bombing

Source:  Daily times * 11 khasadars, six civilians among dead, 10 people injured * Witnesses say 18-year-old bearded youth rammed car into khasadars van ISLAMABAD: A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a khasadar patrol vehicle on Wednesday in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency, killing 17 people, including 11 khasadar personnel, officials said. They said Rangers’ Captain Saleem and six civilians were among the dead in Wazir Dhand area of Jamrud, while 10 people were injured in the blast. The injured were taken to the Hayatabad Medical Hospital for treatment. Officials said a reporter for a Peshawar-based English daily, Amjad Afridi, was also injured in the blast. The officials said the khasadar mobile was on a routine patrol when the suicide bomber attacked them in a car. Eyewitnesses told Daily Times that an 18-year-old bearded youth hit a white car into the khasadar van coming from the opposite direction. According to the AFP, 13 people, including seven khasa

Suicide Attack Kills 17, Mostly Police, in Pakistan

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Source: NYT ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In one of the bloodiest days for Pakistani security forces, at least 17 people, including 13 police officials, were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy in the northwestern tribal area of Khyber, local news outlets reported. Skip to next paragraph Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era. Go to the Blog » Khyber is strategically located next to North-West Frontier Province and its capital, Peshawar, and serves as one of the main supply routes for the American forces inside Afghanistan. Convoys of trailers carrying supplies for NATO troops have repeatedly been attacked in Khyber by Taliban fighters. According to initial reports, the suicide bomber was on foot and detonated his explosives as the police convoy passed through a market on one of the main roads of the area. The powerful blast ripped through the convoy and also damaged several civilian vehicles. Local tel

Bombings hit Iraq Shia pilgrims in Karbala

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Source : BBC Advertisement The aftermath of the blasts Two suicide bombers have killed at least 40 people and injured more than 140 on the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Karbala, police reports say. About a million Shia Muslim pilgrims are in the city to visit the Imam Hussein shrine. About 60 pilgrims were killed in two other attacks this week. Friday is the last and most important day of the Arbaeen, 40 days of mourning for the Prophet Muhammad's grandson. Meanwhile, 25 people were killed in an attack on Shias in Karachi in Pakistan. Election fears Police said the Karbala attack was a double suicide bombing - two cars packed with explosives were detonated on either side of a bridge across which pilgrims were making their way in and out of the city. Some reports said the car bomb attack was followed up by mortar rounds.

A Shiite militant group in Iraq has posted an Internet video showing an American it says it abducted and who appears to be a contractor reported missing by the U.S. military. (Feb. 6)

Afghanistan death toll passes Falklands War milestone as three more British soldiers die ahead of big offensive

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Source: daily mail By Ian Drury Last updated at 10:07 AM on 09th February 2010 The British death toll in Afghanistan has passed that of the Falklands War. The grim milestone was passed when a soldier from the 36 Engineer Regiment, part of the counter-IED Task Force, was killed yesterday by an explosion in Nad-e-Ali, Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said. It followed the deaths of two soldiers killed by a Taliban bomb in lawless Helmand Province. Their deaths brought the British toll to level that of the Falklands War. Facing the enemy: A British soldier is seen holding on to the turret gun of a manoeuvring armoured vehicle in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, yesterday ahead of Operation Moshtarak as the death toll for UK servicemen hit 255 The pair from the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, were caught in the roadside blast while on a foot patrol on Sunday. Their deaths came as a strike-force of 15,000 coalition troops - including 4,000 fr

EDITORIAL: Violence revisited

 Source: daily times As Karachi buried its dead, it was a grim reminder of the recent sectarian terror wave that has enveloped the largest city of Pakistan. The blast on the day of Ashura, in which at least 43 people were killed and dozens more wounded in Karachi, was still fresh in memory when another blast rocked a bus going to the Chehlum procession, killing more than a dozen people and injuring scores of others on Friday. Women and children were also among the dead and injured. The procession marks the end of the 40-day mourning period commemorating the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain in Karbala. The injured were taken to the Jinnah Hospital where less than two hours later there was another blast in its parking lot near the emergency ward, killing 13 more and injuring dozens others. The death toll has risen to 31 overnight. These ruthless terrorist acts cannot be condemned enough. It is with heavy heart that we heave a sigh of relief at another bomb being discovered in the hospi

In Pakistan, 3 U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb the Taliban claimed responsibility for. As Lara Logan reports, Americans were in Pakistan to train members of a paramilitary force.

A witness in Karachi, Pakistan captured video of a bombing on their cell phone. Smoke can be seen billowing from the explosion site.

Games a terrorist target, says accused bomber

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Source: Herald sun AN accused bomber has confirmed the New Delhi Commonwealth Games are a terrorist target, Indian police say. Construction work in progress at the future Commonwealth Games Villlage site in New Delhi. Picture: AFP Source: Herald Sun Shehzad Ahmed reportedly told police suicide bombings at the Commonwealth Games had been discussed by terror group Indian Mujahideen. Ahmed, 21, is accused of planting a bomb in the centre of New Delhi in September 2008. Five explosions ripped through a children's amusement park, killing 26 people and injuring 150 others. Ahmed is also accused of killing a police inspector the pervious day. Police say Ahmed told them more terrorist acts were planned. "He told us they (Indian Mujahideen) wanted to conduct a spate of attacks on people of importance so that the country is perceived unsafe for any big international event like the Commonwealth Gam

TTP has sent 8 female suicide bombers to target Punjab’

source: daily times  LAHORE: The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have sent eight female suicide bombers to attack high-value targets in the province, according to intelligence reports. According to the reports, the would-be female bombers are veiled and would be wearing gloves and socks to further conceal their identities. They said the females may pose as social workers. Law enforcement agencies have been put on high alert across the province. aaj kal report

Several Jundallah militants extradited to Iran: Fehmida

Source: daily times ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have captured several members of the Jundallah terrorist group and handed them over to Iranian authorities, National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza has said, according to Iran’s Press TV channel. The National Assembly speaker said this during a meeting with Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran. Mirza and Mottaki discussed various issues of mutual interest as well as the latest regional developments, APP reported. Mirza stressed for the enhancement of cooperation between Pakistan and Iran in all sectors of the economy especially a gas pipeline project, which would help Pakistan meet its energy needs. She said that Pakistan and Iran share a common threat of extremism and terrorism and Pakistan would try to avert all threats to peace and stability in Iran. Mirza said there was ample potential for expansion of mutual cooperation between both countries, which should be explored for mutual benefit. daily times

‘NATO, Afghans to hold Taliban bastion forever’

sorce: daily times LASHKAR GAH: NATO forces and their Afghan allies will hold territory seized from militants in an imminent major operation “forever”, the commander of British forces in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province said. British and US forces are poised to take the town of Marjah, the last major bastion of Taliban control in the province, in what will be one of the biggest operations of the eight-year-old war. Troops have raided Marjah in the past, but lacked the forces necessary to hold it. The commander of the nearly10, 000-strong British contingent in Helmand said this time they were coming to stay, under a “clear, hold, build” counter-insurgency strategy. “What’s the counter-insurgency? It is not about defeating the enemy in old fashioned victory; it is about winning the people,” Brigadier James Cowan said at his headquarters in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah on Monday. The NATO-led force in Afghanistan now numbers more than114, 000 and is due to rise to nea

Little progress in Chehlum day blasts case so far

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source: daily times Jundullah network too well-organised for LEAs By Faraz Khan KARACHI: Police have claimed time and again that they have rooted out the network of terrorist outfit Jundullah from Karachi, but apparently, activists of this group keep carrying out attacks in the city. Investigators have so far been unable to make much progress in the Chehlum day blasts case, but they believe that Jundullah was responsible for these attacks since the method used in them is similar to one used in the Ashura day blast. So far, police have claimed that they have solved the case of the Ashura day blast and arrested four Jundullah operatives, who were allegedly involved in the bomb blasts on Muharram 8, 9 and 10. A source privy to the matter disclosed that police officials are still trying to understand the modus operandi used by the arrested Jundullah operatives, who were following the directives of an Egyptian Al Qaeda commander, Hamza Joffi alias Misry. The source said scor

Iran and Pakistan: Terrorism States or Victims of Terrorism?

source: news blaze By Ivan Simic For the past few months we had the "honour" to read many articles and news reports in which above countries have been described as major threats and terrorism/terrorist supported states without any sustainable evidence. It is not a secret that these states are facing much political and economical turbulence's, but that does not necessary means they are the world threats. The titles like "Pakistan Terrorism Heaven", "Iran the Most Active Terror Sponsor", "Pakistan Supports Terrorism" and "Iran Worst Terror Proliferator", among others, are very insulting and unfair as they present sovereign countries and their citizens as terrorists. Are the attacks and accusations on these and other states work of bad journalism or maybe corrupted journalism, or both, or maybe government propaganda or failed intelligence? Let's take a look on some interesting facts concerning these states which are not