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Showing posts from May 23, 2010

26 killed as train derails after Maoist attack in WB

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AP Rescue workers gather at the scene of the train mishap in West Bengal, early Friday. Maoists blasted rail tracks in West Midnapore district, derailing the Gyaneshwari Express's 13 coaches, five of which were hit by a goods train, leaving 20 dead. Maoists blasted rail tracks in West Midnapore district in the wee hours on Friday, derailing 13 coaches of a Mumbai-bound express train, five of which were hit by a goods train, leaving at least 26 dead and more than 150 others injured, the second attack on civilians by Naxals this month. The South Eastern Railway said that 26 bodies were recovered and 150 injured taken out from the mangled coaches of the Mumbai-bound train. Of the 26 bodies, 18 were taken to the Midnapore Hospital and eight to the Kharagpur State General Hospital, a SER spokesman said. The spokesman said that death toll could go up as rescuers were cutting open the the derailed coaches. The blast occurred at 1.30 am when the Howrah-Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwa

Obama security strategy to highlight domestic terroris

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Source: BBC news  Thursday, 27 May 2010 1:01 UK At Fort Hood 13 people were killed The US president's national security strategy is to highlight homegrown terrorism for the first time, an adviser to Barack Obama says. John Brennan said the document being unveiled on Thursday explicitly recognised the threat posed by "individuals radicalised here at home". The issue has grabbed headlines since the Fort Hood shooting last year and the Times Square bombing attempt. Domestic terrorism did not feature highly in previous strategies. Bill Clinton did not mention the issue in his 1998 strategy, despite the Oklahoma City bombing three years earlier, while George W Bush made only passing reference to the issue in his 2006 document. Presidents use their national security strategy to set broad goals and priorities for keeping Americans safe, the Associated Press notes. Such documents have far-reaching effects on spen

US Needs Plan for Online Terrorism Recruiting, Expert Says

Grant Gross, IDG News May 27, 2010 1:50 am The U.S. government lacks a plan to counter terrorist recruiting efforts online, even though such efforts by jihad groups are growing, one terrorism expert told U.S. lawmakers. The U.S. government doesn't make an effort to engage with people who may be open to terrorist recruiting efforts and dissuade them from joining, Bruce Hoffman, a professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, told lawmakers Wednesday. The U.K. government has a program that works with local communities to identify possible targets for terrorism recruiting, said Hoffman, a former scholar in residence at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. "Very clearly, our adversaries have a communications strategy," Hoffman told a subcommittee of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee. "Lamentably, we don't." Instead of on-the-ground programs working with potential targets of terrorism recruiting, U.S. agencie

AFP: 50 ASG bandits neutralized this year

Source: PIA Zamboanga City (25 May) -- With 24 encounters against the Abu Sayaff Group; with 18 of its terrorists killed, 16 wounded, one arrested, and 15 others captured from January to May 2010, the Armed Forces of the Philippines believes that it has succeeded in stopping the growth of the ASG and in immobilizing them, to a great extent, from spreading terror. For the same period, operating troops have also seized at least 17 firearms from the bandits. About 60 other items such as grenades, batteries, wires, and other improvised explosive device paraphernalia were also recovered. Lt Colonel Gamal S Hayudini PAF, Group Commander of the 4th Civil Relations Group, Civil Relations Service, AFP said that the military has effectively curtailed the terror campaign of the ASG through the strengthened military offensives and with the intensified civil military operations that greatly helped in separating mass based support. By the end of 2009, the strength of the Abu Sayyaf Group is estimate

New York Hindu Leader: Part 4. Pakistan and the U.S.

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Source: Examiner Pakistan has gotten U.S. technology and about $15 billion in subsidy, to fight terrorism.  It only pretended to oppose terrorism [at least until recently, when it started, though very slowly, to fight back when terrorists turned on it].  Pretense is a frequent tactic within the code of jihad.  Pakistan is major font of terrorism and Jihad. The combination of Saudi Arabian funds and Pakistani might is as great a danger to the world as is Iran, Narain Kataria warns.  Pakistani troops are stationed in Saudi Arabia to guard its oil.  That gives Pakistan leverage over Saudi Arabia.  Pakistan controls many Saudi businesses, Kataria charges. Saudi Arabia probably financed Pakistan’s nuclear development.  The Saudis certainly finance the radical madrassas and mosques there and in many other countries that radicalize Muslims into jihadists against civilization.  Every year 500,000 Taliban graduate from 11,000 madrassas in Pakistan.  At least 10,000 graduates a year go al

COMMENT: Getting real on terrorism –Shahzad Chaudhry

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Source: daily times Comparing the sophistication of the 9/11 operation with the crudity of the Faisal Shahzad episode leaves one to conclude that the TTP, yet green at this level, may just have gone a step too far both in its reach and competence All sane minds seem to have reached a singular conclusion: there is no end to the persisting insurgency in the border regions of Pakistan and in Afghanistan through military means alone. It will need a parallel negotiating strategy with groups that have, to date, been labelled barbaric and medieval. The military will buy time and space, but is never good at reintegration and reconciliation — the mantra now for sometime in Afghanistan. No matter how we define them, the Pashtuns form the bulk of this warring lot: around 15 million in Afghanistan, while around four million constitute the seven agencies of FATA. Not all may have taken up arms, yet each may empathise and share the general sense of alienation that this nine-year-long war has i

Act of terrorism averted in Kabardino-Balkaria

Source: ITAR TASS 25.05.2010, 11.05 NALCHIK, May 25 (Itar-Tass) -- An act of terrorism has been averted in the city of Baksan of Kabardino-Balkaria on Tuesday morning. As ITAR-TASS learnt at the press service of the republican Interior Ministry, a homemade device consisting of an F-1 grenade and a clockwork was planted five meters away from the entrance to the building where the city and regional police stations are situated. “Measures are being taken to defuse it. Its power is being established. The site of the incident is encircled, residents of the nearest houses are evacuated,” a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said.

FUTURE SUMMIT: Tackling terrorism

QUICK SUMMARY | FULL STORY Australia needs to be more creative in its approach to terrorism and extend beyond political quick fixes, the Future Summit has heard. University of New South Wales senior law lecturer Edward Santow said Australia’s response to terrorism needed to extend beyond the “knee-jerk reaction” of increasing resources for security agencies and strengthening anti-terrorism laws. “I think we need to be a bit more creative about what are the most effective ways of combating terrorism,” he said. “At some level we have to acknowledge that perhaps we have done all we need to do to terrorism laws and we need to ask the harder political question, which is ‘what if the problem is not our laws? What if the problem lays with the way the federal police, ASIO, or whoever is exercising the laws?' That is a more difficult question to ask, because it is far quicker and far cheaper to respond to a threat of terrorism by having stronger laws,” Mr Santow said.

Kidnapping of Americans in Yemen not terrorism-related, U.S. says

Source: Star telegram WASHINGTON -- The kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Yemen was apparently not an act of terrorism, the State Department said. Spokesman P.J. Crowley said that the man and woman, who were not identified, were taken Monday and that U.S. officials are working with local authorities to gain their release. Crowley characterized the incident as an example of "'tourist kidnappings' where, for whatever reason, a certain tribe has a particular grievance with the [Yemeni] government and uses the presence of foreigners for leverage," Crowley said. In the past few years, the al Qaeda terrorist network has also kidnapped foreigners in Yemen . -- The Associated Press

Key conspirator of 26/11, Abdul Bhatkal, arrested 25 May 2010,

Source: ET NEW DELHI: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has arrested Simi leader Abdul Samad Bhatkal, a key conspirator in the 26/11 attacks and German Bakery blast case, from Mangalore. Acting on a tip off from intelligence agencies, Bhatkal was arrested early on Monday morning from Mangalore’s Bajpe airport shortly after he arrived from Dubai. He was whisked away to an undisclosed location for interrogation. Abdul Bhatkal is a close relative of Indian Mujahideen (IM) founder Riaz Bhatkal. The arrest comes months after the government issued a look-out notice for Bhatkal, who is believed to have planned and co-ordinated the 26/11 attacks while staying in Pakistan. Abdul Bhatkal’s hand is also suspected in this year’s German bakery blast on February 14 in Pune. His arrest is likely to provide vital clues to the investigators probing the 26/11 case and in cracking the German Bakery blast case. Abdul Bhatkal would be grilled for a

UPA's “wrong'' policies promoting naxalism: BJP

Source: The hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary Abhimanyu on Monday charged that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime had failed to tackle burning issues like rising prices, terrorism, naxalism and unemployment. Talking to media persons here, Capt. Abhimanyu said that there was nothing to celebrate about the UPA government completing one year in power. Rather, the people were fed up with the UPA regime headed by Manmohan Singh as it had failed miserably to deliver the goods. He further demanded that the Prime Minister should apologise to the nation for the abject failure of his government to bring down the skyrocketing prices. He alleged that the “wrong'' policies of the UPA regime were “promoting terrorism and naxalism.'' There were differences of opinion between the UPA Cabinet and the Congress as to how to tackle naxalism. The issue had assumed national proportions and it was no longer a State matter. The BJP was ready to help the UPA gover

Thai court issues terrorism warrant for Thaksin

Source: By foreign affairs editor Peter Cave A Thai court has issued an arrest warrant for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on terrorism charges. The charges relate to anti-government protests in Bangkok over the past two months. The Thai government says Mr Thaksin was behind the street rallies by his Red Shirt supporters and that he must face terrorism charges, which can carry the death penalty. A special prosecutor has submitted evidence to the court on his involvement in the rallies and the subsequent violence and arson by bankrolling and coordinating the protests. The billionaire businessman has been in exile in a number of countries, avoiding arrest on corruption charges, and legal experts say terrorism charges will add weight to the government's moves to extradite him.