Terrorism Watch

Source: 234next Terrorism in Nigeria is a direct consequence of the people’s deep dissatisfaction with their government, said participants at the fifth policing executive forum held recently in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, which dwelt on responding to the emerging trends of terrorism in the country. A lecturer of Mass Communications at the University of Maiduguri, Abubakar Mu’azu, while tracing the antecedents of several dissenting groups along Nigeria’s geographical lines, including the Niger Delta militants in the South South; the Oodu’a People’s Congress in the South West; the Bakassi Boys and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra in the South East, and the Jama’atu Ahlus Sunnah Lid Da’awati Wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, in the North, said Nigerian leaders mishandling of national issues gave rise to these groups. “There is widespread disenchantment with the Nigerian State arising from its failure to meet its ob

Source: tvnz Syria said today that seven of its soldiers and police were killed in an operation against terrorists in the central town of Rastan, where armed resistance has emerged after months of mostly peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad. The state news agency reported the deaths in the first official comment on a three-day government offensive to recapture the area from army defectors. "The units responsible have inflicted big losses on the armed terrorist groups," the agency said, quoting a military spokesman. "The confrontation resulted in the killing of seven personnel, among them two officers, and the injuring of 32, including seven officers, from the army and security police." Syria's army and security forces have remained mostly loyal to Assad during the six months of protests demanding his overthrow in which the United Nations says 2,700 people have been killed. But army deserters, many of whom defected because

Source: VOA Russian officials say a car bomb attack has killed eight people, including a police officer, in the North Causasus region of Dagestan. Authorities say Wednesday's explosion occurred in a suspicous vehicle that police were inspecting near Khadzhalmakhi. The blast killed one police officer and injured six others. The other people killed included the occupants of a passing car and an 11 year old girl. The attack comes one week after three car bombings killed six people and gunmen killed four others in the volatile region. There have been no claims for responsibility for the attacks, but Islamist rebels have been linked to similar attacks in the past. Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia, plagued by violence linked to an Islamist insurgency. Separatists in neighboring Chechnya fought two major wars against the Russian government. Although the major fighting ended about a decade ago, attacks on government targets continue al

Source: AFP KIRKUK, Iraq — Attacks killed five Iraqis, including three who died when a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-packed truck in the northern city of Kirkuk, and an American soldier on Thursday, officials said. In the deadliest attack, blamed on Al-Qaeda, two women and a man were killed and 76 others were wounded by a truck bomb in front of a bank in Kirkuk as policemen collected their monthly salaries. The hurt included 26 policemen, more than 20 employees of the targeted bank as well as surrounding offices, and the rest were civilians, according to Kirkuk provincial health director Sadiq Omar Rasul. "Al-Qaeda is trying to send a message that they are there," said provincial police chief Major General Jamal Taher Bakr. "They are trying to ignite sectarianism between Kirkuk's communities." An AFP correspondent at the scene said the blast caused massive damage to the bank and surrounding buildings. Several police vehicles were

Source: AFP SALE, Morocco — Nine men accused of launching a bomb attack that ripped through a Marrakesh cafe packed with European tourists, killing 17, each denied their involvement at a trial hearing on Thursday. Main suspect Adil El-Atmani and eight others have been charged with orchestrating the April 28 blast in Marrakesh's bustling Djemaa El-Fna square. Their trial resumed in Sale near Rabat on Thursday, attended by the families of both the victims and the accused. The hearing began with the questioning of suspect Hakim Dah who denied any part in the bombing while criticising the conditions under which he is being held in Sale prison. He did say however that he had made trips to Libya, Mauritania, Mali and Algeria. "I met El-Atmani in Libya where we met three French tourists. The five of us then went to Mauritania," he told the court. Dah said that in Nouakchott he took up a job in the mobile phone trade. When the judge asked why he went to

KABUL ( BNO NEW S) -- Three more coalition service members were killed on Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded in southern Afghanistan, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Thursday, raising Wednesday's total death toll to 9. ISAF said Thursday that three of its service members were killed as a result of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Afghanistan's south on Wednesday. As usual, the multinational force gave no other details about the incident, including the exact location. The nationalities of the service members were also not immediately disclosed by ISAF. "It is ISAF policy to defer casualty identification procedures to the relevant national authorities," a brief statement said. The deaths, which were not disclosed until Thursday, raise Wednesday's coalition death toll in Afghanistan to nine, making it one of the deadliest days in weeks. Among those killed was a soldier from New

SOLO, Indonesia ( AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up inside an Indonesian church as hundreds of worshippers were filing out after the Sunday service, injuring at least 22 people, police said. The bomber's mangled body lay at the entrance of the Tenth Bethel Gospel Church. Around him, screaming people were splattered in blood. Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the low-intensity device appeared to be attached to the man's stomach. "We are now waiting for DNA test results to confirm his identity," Pradopo said. "We hope to reveal it soon." A woman working at an Internet cafe near the church in the Central Java town of Solo said the man had visited her shop an hour before the explosion and browsed websites about al-Qaida and a local Islamist group. He left a bag behind containing a copy of the Quran, a mask and a cellphone charger, Rina Ristriningsih told The Associated Press. She said all of the items had been confiscated by pol

Source: chicagotribune MONROE, Mich. (AP) — A car bomb caused a powerful explosion on a street in southeastern Michigan, seriously injuring a lawyer and his two sons, who are "very fortunate" to have survived an attack that turned their vehicle into a blackened hunk of metal, officials said Wednesday. Investigators were poring over what remained of the Volvo after the Tuesday evening blast, looking for clues about how the bomb was made and who might have planted it, said Donald Dawkins, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ."There was a lot of power behind it. The victims are very fortunate, very blessed, to be alive," Dawkins said. Investigators were trying to determine if the victims were targeted or whether the attack was random. The driver was attorney Erik Chappell, according to a law enforcement official who is familiar with the investigation but who requested anonymity because he was

FBI's terror search goes under water STORY HIGHLIGHTS FBI agents are being trained to search for terrorism clues underwater The FBI Technical Dive Team's training will be complete next year They wear special dive suits to work in contaminated water Recently, they found 15,000 punds of cocaine in a sunken cargo hold Key West, Florida ( CNN ) -- They search the ocean depths hunting for evidence left by predators deadlier than great white sharks. They are members of the FBI's Technical Dive Team, an elite group of special agents tracking terrorism underwater. Starting next year, this 10-member team could be called on to search for evidence left behind by international terrorists in water contaminated by chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear waste. "There have been enough scenarios recently," says team member Supervisory Special Agent James Tullbane, citing the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, which began when

Read more:  missoulian A German court has convicted three men for supporting a terrorist organization by posting radical Islamic propaganda videos on the Internet, including one that gave details of how to prepare a suicide attack. The Munich state court sentenced the Germans _ 28-year-old Daniel P., 20-year-old Jonas T. and 19-year-old Salim Mohammed A. _ to community service and probation ranging up to 1 1/2 years, Germany's dapd news agency reported Wednesday. Full names weren't given in accordance with German privacy laws. All were involved in posting videos between 2006 and 2008 to raise recruits for al-Qaida. The court says it took into account in its sentencing the fact that the suspects had confessed and had since distanced themselves from Islamic extremism.

Source: newstoday India's view on terrorism inthe region is increasingly being 'believed and subscribed to, Indian Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao has said, even asthe Obama administration stepped up pressure on Pakistan torein-in Haqqani network, which allegedly has links with ISI. Rao said the India has repeatedly said that onecan't have segmented approach when it comes to applyingpressure on any terrorist groups. . One has to deal with all the groups that threaten peaceand stability in the region, she argued. 'India's point of view (on terrorism) is increasinglybelieved in and subscribed to,' Rao said here at a paneldiscussion on India-US Strategic Relations organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industryand the Brookings Institute, a Washington-based think-tank.peace and stability in the region, she argued. In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Raos