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Showing posts from March 7, 2010

Taliban claims deadly suicide attack in Pakistan

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Source: cnn March 13, 2010 -- Updated 1103 GMT (1903 HKT) Police inspect the site of a suicide bomb blast on the outskirts of Peshawar following an attack from a suicide bomber. Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed at least 13 people and injured dozens in the northwest part of the country Saturday, authorities said. The attack at a security checkpoint in the city of Saidu Sharif injured 37, according to Ibrahim Khan, a police official in the Swat District, where the military launched an offensive against the Taliban last year. The city is near Mingora, the largest city in the district. Khan said the suicide attacker, who was dropped off on a rickshaw, approached a checkpoint manned by police and military personnel. Security personnel opened fire when the attacker refused to stop. Moments later, the attacker detonated explosives.

13 killed in suicide attack in Pak's Swat valley Peshawar, Mar 13 (PTI)

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Source: deccan herald At least 13 people were killed and 52 others injured on Saturday when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a heavily-guarded court complex in the restive Swat valley in northwest Pakistan, a day after multiple blasts in Lahore claimed 45 lives. Witnesses and police officials said the bomber came to the court complex in Mingora, the main city of Swat district, in a rickshaw. As he walked towards the complex, he was spotted and challenged by security personnel manning a check post. "The bomber blew himself up when the security personnel fired at him," district police chief Qazi Ghulam Farooq said.  The check post was manned jointly by army soldiers and policemen. Many of the 13 people killed in the attack were security personnel, officials said. Fiftytwo others were wounded.      The powerful blast also destroyed five cars. Footage on television showed some cars on fire as passers-by carried the injured awa

Indian envoys in Afghanistan face kidnap threat TNN, Mar 13, 2010, 03.54am IST

Source: TOI NEW DELHI: After unarmed Indian citizens, Indian diplomats in Afghanistan are now under threat from Pakistan-supported terrorists. According to government sources, India has received "credible" intelligence inputs on a terrorist plot to abduct Indian diplomats. Coming against the backdrop of a determined effort by ISI to terrorise India into withdrawing from Afghanistan, India has taken the threat seriously, rushing 40 ITBP personnel to ramp up security of its diplomatic corps in Afghanistan. The diplomats, an eyesore for Pakistan since their effort to rebuild Afghanistan's infrastructure has enhanced India's appeal in the country Islamabad considers its backyard, have been asked to be vigilant. While Indian officials have been under constant threat in Afghanistan, the recent spate of intelligence inputs comes in the wake of the February 25 attack on Indians in Kabul. The fear is also because of the track record of Pakistan-backed terror grou

LeT threat prompts security upgrade at Afghanistan and Nepal missions 13 Mar 2010, 0640 hrs IST, ET Bureau

Source: ET NEW DELHI: Even as an additional ITBP platoon leaves for Kabul on Saturday to further secure the Indian mission there, a security upgrade is also underway at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu in view of fresh terror threats from ISI-backed jihadi outfits having bases in Nepal. According to the latest intelligence inputs, ISI-backed terror outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba are looking at targeting Indians on foreign soil. Considering that New Delhi is extremely active in Afghanistan and Nepal, ISI is particularly eyeing the Indian missions there. As part of the security beef-up underway at the Kathmandu mission since last month, the boundary wall is being raised and fortified, CCTVs are being installed for better surveillance and access control is being improved by erecting boom barriers for vehicles at entry points. Though an immediate increase in the number of security personnel currently deployed to secure the embassy is not planned, better surveillance systems and

US Congress told of unholy ET-ISI nexus

source: sify 2010-03-13 13:40:00 Majority of think tanks and experts have informed the US Congress of the close coordination between the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Inter Services Intelligence organization of Pakistan in promoting Islamic militancy in south Asia. They also told the Congress that LET is funded by the ISI to conduct cross border terror attacks like Mumbai. Experts have cautioned Obama administration the impact of supplying arms to Pakistan and said it could complicate the matters. Testifying before the Congressional Committee, Marvin G Weinbaum from the Middle East Institute - a Washington-based think tank-said despite a ban on LET the group is allowed to function with impunity and ISI continues to consider the terror group as an assert. LET chief Hafeez Saeed's appearance in the public rallies where he spewed venom against India and called for waging war was noticed by Lisa Curtis of the Herit

Suicide bombers have attacked the Pakistani city of Lahore, killing up to 45 people.

Dozens killed in Pakistan suicide blasts

Lashkar, Naxals undertook recce of power plants TNN, Mar 10, 2010, 03.04am IST

Source: TOI NEW DELHI: Government on Tuesday said the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Naxalites had undertaken extensive recces in a bid to attack CISF armouries located at power plants in several states. "Militant and terrorist outfits had planned to target some power plants in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Besides LeT, there are also reports of CPI (Maoist) having undertaken extensive recces to target CISF armoury located in some power plants," minister of state for home affairs Mullappally Ramachandran told Lok Sabha in a written reply. As on date, 72 power plants all over the country are being provided security cover by CISF. "There is a proposal to extend CISF security cover to some more power plants in the country and surveys are under process," said the minister.

Bruised, wounded Maoists running helter-skelter 12 Mar 2010, 0558 hrs IST, ET Bureau

Source: TOI NEW DELHI: Four to five days into the joint, inter-state operations launched against Naxalite hideouts along the Jharkhand-Orissa-West Bengal tri-junction, the forces have already busted two major Maoist training camps in Jharkhand and arrested a top area commander and 20 cadres. The joint operations, being mounted by the central forces and the police of the three states, come after the Shibu Soren government in Jharkhand abandoned its initial hesitation and agreed to be part of the inter-state strikes. The joint operation aims to push back the Naxalites from areas hitherto held by them and follow up with a rush of development. Ever since the launch, the forces — around two battalions with SP and commandant-level officers in the lead — have busted two major Naxalite training camps in Chaibasa area of West Singbhum district. On being confronted in these camps, the Naxalites opened fire, dispersed and melted away in the jungles. Around 10 IEDs and Naxal literature were

NATO extends anti-piracy operation off Somalia until end 2012

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Source: rian russia 06:58 11/03/2010 NATO has extended the mandate of its anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia until the end of 2012, the alliance's spokesman James Appathurai has said. Appathurai told reporters on Wednesday the decision was based on "the assessment that this mission is making demonstrable contribution to increased safety for shipping and reduced success rates for pirates." Somali pirates carried out a record number of attacks and hijackings in 2009. According to the Piracy Reporting Center of the International Maritime Bureau, a total of 217 vessels were attacked and 47 of them hijacked last year. In 2008, pirates staged 111 attacks off the Somali coast, seizing 42 ships. About 20 countries, including leading NATO member states, India, China and several Arab states, have sent warships to the Gulf of Aden. Russian warships joined the fight against Somali pirates in the fall of 2008, when the Neustrashimy frigate was sent to the Somali coas

Seychelles Minister Joel Morgan: Somali Pirates Damage Both Maritime Trade and Regional Stability

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Source: novinite Author: Ivan Dikov Interview | March 10, 2010, Wednesday Minister Joel Morgan (left) is the head of the Seychelles Committee on Piracy. Photo by acpsec.org Interview of Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) with Joel Morgan, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources and Transport of the Republic of the Seychelles, and Head of the Seychelles High Level Committee on Piracy. How would you characterize the effects of the activity of the Somali pirates on the Republic of Seychelles? What are the various ways in which your country has been affected? What are the trends in this respect? At its height, in the first half of 2009, piracy activities in our region created havoc for our small and fragile economy. Maritime attacks were carried out on all types of vessels transiting in our waters disrupting the entire spectrum of maritime activities, thus posing a direct threat to our fishing and tourism industries, the two main pillars of our economy. With our

Pirates target tropical tourist hot spot

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Source: MSNBC Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 10:02 AM Filed Under: On Assignment By F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com reporter  VICTORIA, Seychelles – With mouths shut and eyes downcast, a group of Somali men and boys sat around a table in the police station in Victoria, the Seychelles’ capital city on the island of Mahé. A police officer un-cuffed the 11 prisoners, some of whom were barefoot, and left the room as their court-appointed lawyer explained that they faced seven years to life in prison on charges of piracy and terrorism.  "Make no mistake, you are facing some very, very, very serious charges," defense lawyer Anthony Juliette said through an interpreter flown in from Kenya. "The evidence against you is quite overwhelming," said Juliette, while promising to do everything in his power to fight the charges against them. It isn’t every day I find myself in a room full of alleged pirates. But that is where I was recently in the Seych

Five Afghan civilians killed in roadside attacks - Summary

Source: earth times Kabul - Five Afghan civilians were killed in two explosions in southern and northern Afghanistan, while two suicide bombers attacked military bases in the country's eastern region, killing Afghan and NATO forces, officials said Wednesday. Three Afghan civilians were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Marjah district in the southern province of Helmand on Wednesday, Haji Zahir, the district governor said. Four more civilians were wounded in the attack, he said. Marjah and the neighbouring district of Nad Ali have been the focus of the biggest military operation in the country - conducted by 15,000 Afghan and NATO soldiers - since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001. The combined forces that began the operation around the middle of last month have retaken Marjah, one of the main Taliban bastions in the region, and cleared almost all the areas in Nad Ali of the insurgents. Afghan and NATO forces detained a Taliban commander involved in planning suicide

Decline in number of incidents of terror during 2009 (India)

Source: PIB RAJYA SABHA As per available information, details of the number of incidents, casualties of civilians, security personnel and number of terrorist/extremist killed and arrested in the State of Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern States are as under:- Jammu & Kashmir Year No. of incidents No. of SFs Killed No. of Civilians Killed No. of Terrorists Killed No. of Terrorists Arrested 2008 708 75 91 339 305 2009 499 64 78 239 187 2010 (Up to 31 st   January) 28 4 4 15 6* *Figures of terrorist arrested upto 15.2.2010                                                                                                                                     North Eastern States Year No. of incidents No. of SFs Killed No. of Civilians Killed No. of Extremists Killed No. of Extremists

Suspected Somali pirates take fishing vessel and 16 hostages

Source: Ethiopian review ethiopianreview.com | March 10th, 2010 at 5:28 pm Suspected Somali pirates have hijacked a Kenyan-flagged fishing boat with 16 crew which may be used as a “mother ship” to launch more attacks in the Indian Ocean, maritime sources said Tuesday. Andrew Mwangura, the head of the East African Seafarers Assistance Programme said that the MV Sakoba had a Spanish captain and 15 other crew members from Kenya, Poland, Senegal, Cape Verde and Namibia. “The vessel was taken hostage in waters off the Kenyan and Seychellois coasts last week”, he said. The European Union’s Atalanta anti-piracy naval mission confirmed in a statement that the ship was in the hands of pirates Tuesday and heading towards the Somali pirate lair of Harardhere. “The Kenyan flagged fishing vessel Sakoba is reported hijacked 400 nautical miles east of Dar es Salam,” the statement said. Atalanta spokesman John Harbour told AFP that the ship’s ownership was unclear and voiced fears that

How 'The Hurt Locker' Bomb suit works

Source: NPR March 10, 2010 By Frank James The critical and Academy Awards success of "The Hurt Locker" has brought much deserved attention to the important role played by explosive ordinance disposal or EOD teams in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conflicts defined by the enemy's use of improvised explosive devices or IEDs. It's also made many people curious about the technology these teams use to neutralize explosive devices, especially the EOD suit which looks something like an astronaut suit. One of the best explainers I've seen about just how explosive devices kill and how the suit protects its wearer is on dvice.com . A snip from John Pavlus' post: I had to know how these blast-resistant suits worked in real life -- so I called up Pravit Borkar, a ballistics engineer at HighCom Security, a firm that manufactures EOD suits for military applications, and asked him to explain. How a Bomb Kills You The "EOD ensemble," as Borkar calls it,

'3000 bombers' set for Pakistan

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Source: Brisbane times DEAN NELSON DELHI March 11, 2010 Pakistani Christian women stand beside their destroyed houses a day after a car bomb attack in Lahore. Pakistan’s Taliban faction claimed responsibility for the attack. Photo: AFP THE Taliban claims it is ready to unleash 3000 suicide bombers in Pakistan in protest at military operations and US drone attacks in its tribal areas. In the past few weeks the Taliban's military commander for Afghanistan, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar's deputy, was captured in a raid in Karachi by Pakistani and US agents. Several members of the Quetta Shura, the movement's ruling council, were later captured in the city, while the group's Pakistani leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, was believed to have been killed in a missile strike by an unmanned Predator drone. Earlier this week, Mullah Omar

Four Pakistani Taliban members arrested in Lahore

Source: Dna India PTI Wednesday, March 10, 2010 14:34 IST LAHORE: Four members of Pakistani Taliban militant group have been arrested here in connection with Monday's suicide car bomb attack on a special investigation unit that killed 14 people. The men arrested by the Crime Investigation Agency are Mohammad Yasin alias Junaid, Mohammad Kamran alias Zarar, Abu Bakr alias Suleman and Khurshid Ali. Lahore police chief Pervez Rathore said the CIA worked with intelligence agencies to gather the particulars of these terrorists and arrested them from a house in the northern part of the city. Rathore told PTI that the arrested men were members of the Punjab-based network of the Pakistani Taliban and had been trained in Waziristan and Afghanistan. "They came here after completing their training to carry out terror attacks in the city," Rathore said. Police were investigating their role in Monday's attack on the office of the special investigation unit, he said. A su

Kalam calls for national campaign to eradicate terror

Source: Indian express Just as they came together determinedly and got the Women’s Bill passed in Rajya Sabha, all political parties should unite to fight against the curse of terrorism, said former President A P J Abdul Kalam at a seminar on terrorism at the Tata Theatre, NCPA, on Wednesday. The seminar— Fight against Terrorism— was the third in the series organised by the Mumbai police. Kalam stressed on a ten year mission for elimination of terrorism through an aggressive national campaign. Senior police officials, defence personnel, school students and police trainees attended the event. “We need a multi-pronged approach to counter terrorism which should ideally include the use of upgraded technology in weapons, a unified and empowered intelligence mechanism and task force. Intelligence gathering at the ground level is also important. The campaign would include the creation of a unified civil agency, enactment of a law to ensure stringent punishment to terror attack perpetra

Pa. suspect: Caretaker by day, 'Jihad Jane' online

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Source: AP By MARYCLAIRE DALE (AP) – 3 hours ago PHILADELPHIA — Colleen LaRose spent long days caring for her boyfriend's father in a second-floor apartment in Pennsburg, a small town north of Philadelphia. But online, federal authorities say, the devoted caretaker developed a daring alter ego, refashioning herself as "Jihad Jane" while helping recruit and finance Muslim terrorists — and eventually moving overseas to try to kill an artist she perceived as an enemy to Islam. LaRose, 46, was charged Tuesday with conspiring with jihadist fighters and pledging to commit murder in the name of a Muslim holy war, or jihad. The indictment was announced hours after authorities arrested seven suspected terrorists in Ireland allegedly linked to LaRose, who has been in prison since her Oct. 15 arrest while returning to the United States. In e-mails recovered by the FBI over 15 months, LaRose agreed to marry an online contact from South Asia so he could move to Europe. She also a

Five killed in attack on aid agency in Pakistan

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Source: BBC NEWS Unidentified gunmen have attacked the office of a Western aid agency in Pakistan, killing up to five people, the police said. The victims, including two women, were all Pakistanis, reports say. The attack took place on the office of the World Vision in Mansehra district, 65 km (40 miles), north of Islamabad, the police said. Islamic militants have attacked offices of foreign NGOs in the past in Pakistan, correspondents say.