25 kidnapped, 60 kidnapped: Naxals strike terror
Nagpur – February 28, 2006 – Left wing extremists used a land mine to blast a convoy of trucks carrying Judum activists, killing at least 25 people and leaving another 40 injured. The incident took place at 145 km from the district headquarters of Dantewada in South Bastar. This is the first time that the Salva Judum campaign was being taken to the deep south of Chhattisgarh. The campaign is being jointly scripted by the ruling BJP government with active support from the Opposition Congress. Officials said the Naxalites today targeted five trucks, blasting one and burning the rest. Admitting a security lapse, the Chief Minister said, “care will henceforth be taken that vehicles are used in Judum. We will increase security and Salva Judum will go on.”
Express News Service
The Indian Express – March 1, 2006.
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Police say Al-Qaeda helped fund Indonesia bombings
Jakarta – Osama bin Laden’s terror network helped fund all the suicide bombings in Indonesia in the past four years, claimed Col Petrus Rienhard Golose of Indonesia counter-terrorism taskforce on Tuesday, highlighting links between Al-Qaeda and militant group Jemaah Islamiyah. Money for the attacks, which have occurred annually in the world’s most populous Muslim country since 2002, was hand-delivered by couriers to leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah, he said.
The Indian Express – March 1, 2006.
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Saudi forces kill militants who tried to bomb refinery
Riyadh – Saudi security forces on Tuesday killed five militants sought for daring attempt to blow up car bombs inside a huge oil processing complex – an al-Qaeda-claimed attack that made oil prices jump by more than $2. In two simultaneous raids at dawn, security forces confronted the five militants in a highway rest stop in eastern Riyadh and detained a sixth at house in the same part of the city. There was a “fierce” but brief gun-battle at the rest house, the interior Ministry said.
The Indian Express – March 1, 2006.
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Baghdad car bomb kills 23
Baghdad – At least 23 people were killed on Wednesday in a Baghdad car bomb attack a day after a spate of bombings in Iraq left 64 dead amid renewed fears of sectarian bloodshed. Bombers struck again in Baghdad’s south-eastern neighbourhood of Jadid at about midday, killing 23 and wounding 58 by blowing up a car on the main road which also housed a market.
AFP Baghdad
Hindustan times – March 2, 2006.
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30 killed in Pak terror raid
Miranshah – Pakistani helicopter gunships and ground forces attacked a militant hideout near the Afghan border on Wednesday killing up to 30 people, according to a senior official in the North Waziristan tribal region. The military operation came just days before US President is due to arrive in Pakistan. The army had acted on intelligence received from the Afghan side of the border that a party of militants had returned to Pakistan territory form the Afghan province of Khost, and the operation had targeted a compound where foreign militants were hiding.
Reuters
The Times of India – March 2, 2006.
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Violence rages in Iraq
Baghdad – March 2, 2006 – A bomb ripped through a vegetable market in a Shia section of Baghdad and a senior Sunni leader escaped assassination as another 35 people were killed on Thursday in a surge of violence attack that has pushed Iraq closer than ever to sectarian civil war. Gunmen attacked the car of Adnan al-Dulaimi, a leader of the Sunnis’ largest parliamentary bloc, killing one bodyguard and wounding five. A convoy of defence Minister was attacked in the same Ghazaliyah neighbnourhood, wounding 6 bodyguards out of whom one later died, but the minister was not traveling in the convoy.
AP
Hindustan Times – March 3, 2006.
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US diplomat killed in Karachi
New Delhi – March 2, 2006 – US President George W. Bush said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Hyderabad House, New Delhi, “India and America both suffered form terrorist attacks on our home soil. “ He added, five people, including an American diplomat and his Pakistani driver were killed on Thursday and dozens wounded in an attack suspected to be the work of a suicide bomber in the parking area of Marriot Hotel in Karachi. “At least lone US citizen….a foreign service officer….has been killed in he attack in Karachi,” said Mr. Bush.
Ramesh Ramachandran
The Asian Age – March 3, 2006.
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Gunmen kill 19 Shiites in Iraq
Baghdad – Gunmen raided a town near Baghdad and shot dead at least 19 people in what police said on Friday was a sectarian attack by Sunnis on Shi’ites. Among the dead were Shiites migrant labourers shot down at a brick factory on Thursday by a suspected al Qaeda-linked group. A local politician said at least 25 died.
Agencies
The Indian Express – March 4, 2006.
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Suicide bomber attacks convoy in Afghanistan
A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a Canadian armoured vehicle in Afghanistan on Friday, killing himself but causing no casualties to Canadian troops, the Afghan Army said. The blast occurred in Daman district, about 15 km south of Kandahar and about 10 kms from the airport, where Canadian troops are based.
The Times of India – March 4, 2006.
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25 killed by insurgents
Baghdad – 50 gunmen stormed an electricity substation and slaughtered Shia factory workers in their sleep, police said. Police recovered 21 bodies, mostly of Shia migrant workers, from a brick factory at Nahrawan, a municipal council leader said. A further four were brought from the local power station.
Agencies/Baghdad
Hindustan Times – March 4, 2006.
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Afghan suicide attack
Kandahar – Five Canadian soldiers were wounded in a suspected car bomb attack on Friday on their armoured vehicle in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. In other violence in Kandahar, a roadside bomb killed a policeman and wounded two others, while in neighbouring Helmand province, police killed eight Taliban guerrillas and arrested 10.
Reuters, Kandahar
Hindustan Times – March 4, 2006.
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3 security-men killed, 30 injured in Valley
Three security men and a militant were killed and 30 others, including six jawans, injured as militants exploded two grenades and ambushed an Army search party in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, where a militant also surrendered today, a police spokesman said. Two Army personnel were killed and a jawan injured when ultras ambushed a search party in Rajouri district, the spokesman said. An identified militant was also killed. In another incident, a CRPF jawan was killed and three others were injured when militants fired a grenade at their vehicle at Sumkochibal in Khanyar area this afternoon, he said. Prior to the incident, militants lobbed another grenade at a crowded bus stand in Pulwama town injuring 25 people. Pakistan-based Jaish-E-Mohammad militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the two attacks.
The Indian Express – March 6, 2006.
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Grenade blast claims soldier
Srinagar – A grenade blast killed a paramilitary solider and injured several in the south Kashmir town of Pulwama, 40 km from here, on Sunday afternoon. The blast injured 24 people. The militants lobbed a hand grenade at a passing vehicle of the CRPF near a busy bus-stand in the heart of the town.
The Telegraph – March 6, 2006.
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Qaeda calls for repeat strikes
Dubai – March 5.2006 – In an audio tape posted on the Internet, urging similar strikes as those against New York, London and Madrid in recent years, Al Qaeda’s deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called for Muslims to attack the West. In a video of his remarks aired by Al-Jazeera television, Zawahri also urged the Islamist militant group Hamas not to recognize peace deals signed by the Palestinian Authority with Israel. He also called on Muslims to boycott countries where satirical cartoons of Prophet Mohammad had been published, including Denmark, Norway, France and Germany, and said that Muslims should prevent the West from “stealing Muslims’ oil”.
Reuters
The Telegraph – March 6, 2006.
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Bomb blasts rock Varanasi, 21 killed
Varanasi – Three bomb explosions ripped through this holy city, killing at least 21 persons and injuring 62 others at a crowded temple and a railway station. The police found two other bombs near the city’s main cremation side on the banks of the Ganga. The first blast took place at 6.30 p.m. inside the Sankat Mochan temple adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Minutes later, another bomb went off in the holding area of platform one of the cantonment railway station. The third blast occurred in a crowded coach of the Shiv Ganga Express just before it was to leave for New Delhi. An official said, 10 persons died at the temple and 11 died at the railway station.
The Hindu – March 8, 2006.
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Bangladesh bomb attacks hurt three
Dhaka – March 7, 2006 – Suspects threw two home-made bombs at a building construction office in western Bangladesh on Tuesday, leaving three people injured. The bombs hit the door of the office, spreading splinters that injured the victims. Investigators are on the trail of two members of Islamic militant groups wanted for a series of deadly blasts in the country.
AP
Hindustan Times – March 8, 2006.
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Gunmen abduct 50 workers in Baghdad
Gunmen in camouflage uniforms stormed the offices of a private Iraqi security company and kidnapped 50 employees, police said on Wednesday. Unidentified attackers hit the al-Rawafid Security Company and forced the workers into seven vehicles, including several white SUV’s, said interior ministry official.
AP
The Times of India – March 9, 2006.
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Blast in Spanish party’s office
A bomb exploded on Wednesday at the offices of a far-right political party in Santona in northern Spain after a warning phone call in the name of ETA, officials said. The police said the Basque road assistance organization had received a call at 0615 GMT from someone claiming to represent the Basque separatist guerrillas. The bomb went off at around 0700 GMT.
Reuters, Madrid
Hindustan Times – March 9, 2006.
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Landmine blast kills 28 in Pak
Quetta (Pakistan) - March 10, 2006 – A truck carrying a wedding party hit a landmine in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan on Friday, killing 28 people and injuring seven, a provincial official said. The vehicle was completely destroyed. A man was killed and seven others were injured by other landmine blasts in the province on Thursday. Three Chinese engineers and their driver were shot dead in Balochistan on February 15. Officials blamed the attack on “terrorist” tribal militants who are waging an insurgency to win more autonomy and a greater share in the gas-rich region’s vast natural resources.
(AFP)
The Asian Age – March 11, 2006.
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40 killed in Baghdad blasts
Baghdad - At least 40 people were killed and 95 wounded in three apparently coordinated car bombs at two markets in Baghdad’s Shia district of Sadr City on Sunday. Two car bombs exploded in one market while a third blew up almost simultaneously at another.
Reuters, Baghdad
Hindustan Times – March 12, 2006.
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Muslims ask terrorists to drop ‘Islamic tags’
Hyderabad – March 11, 2006 – Muslim scholars in the city have taken offence to terrorists naming their organizations after references to Prophet and Quran. In fatwas issued after Varanasi blast carried out by the hitherto unknown Lashkar-e-Qahhar, Muslim scholars belonging to different religious institutions have demanded that terrorists drop the “Islamic tags” from their names as their activities are bringing ill-repute to Islam and the Muslims. Such a practice is Satanic, they say. “Every time these terrorist outfits carry out antinational activities, they drag the holy names into the controversy. This is like insulting Islam, the Quaran and the holy personalities,” said a fatwa by Jamiat-ul-Mominath. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board has taken strong objection to the Lashkar-e-Qahhar setting off bombs at the Hanuman temple in Varanasi.
The Asian Age – March 12, 2006.
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Taliban leader vows to step up attacks
Kandhar – March 16, 2006 – A purported statement released on Thursday by Taliban leader Mullah Omar claimed that large numbers of Afghans were signing up as suicide bombers and that an offensive in the next few months would cause many casualties among foreign and Afghan troops. The statement was telephoned to AP Reporter in Kandhar and Islamabad by purported Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif and was then subsequently received by a mail from an unidentified sender.
Agencies
Hindustan Times – March 17, 2006.
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Maoist blockade cripples life
Kathmandu – March 16, 2006 – A blockade ordered by Maoist rebels kept most vehicles off roads across Nepal for a third straight day on Thursday, disrupting food and other supplies and hitting businesses hard, industry officials and residents said. The rebels called the blockade of Kathmandu, district capitals and other cities in a bid to end the absolute rule of King Gyanendra.
Reuters
Hindustan Times – March 17, 2006.
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21 killed in Iran attack
At least 21 people were killed in Iran’s south-eastern Sistan-Baluchistan province in an attack by “terrorists,” a police spokesman told state television on Friday. He said “terrorists with links to foreign secret services” blocked the main road of the provincial cities Zabol and Zahedan on Thursday night, stopped six cars, killed 21 people and wounded seven. They had a “Taliban like” tendency and their aim appeared to be to provoke discord between shia and Sunni Muslims.
DPA, Tehran
Hindustan Times – March 18, 2006.
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Blast kills 7 in Pakistan
Dera Ismail Khan – March 19, 2006 – Suspected Islamist militants triggered two bombs on Sunday in north-western Pakistan, with one exploding near a police van that left seven people dead and four wounded, officials said. The first remote control bomb shattered the police vehicle in Dera Ismail Khan. Three policemen, three paramilitary soldiers and a passenger-by were killed in the explosion on the road in the city’s Kotli Imam neighbourhood. About four hours later, another bomb exploded near the scene of the first one, but no one was injured. Suspected tribal militants fired dozens of rockets and mortars at two military posts in south-western Pakistan today, but no one was injured.
Agencies
Hindustan Times – March 20, 2006.
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Taliban raid kills two
Kandhar - Taliban rebels raided a police post in the southern Afghan province of Kandhar on Sunday, killing two policemen, a government official said. Four policemen were missing after the overnight attack. Two Taliban fighters were killed in the assault on the police post, said Interior Ministry spokesman.
Reuters, Kandhar
Hindustan Times – March 20, 2006.
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Nepal violence claims 16 lives
Kathmandu – Communist rebels ambushed an army patrol in Nepal on Monday, sparking a clash that killed at least 13 soldiers and an insurgent, while a booby trap killed two civilians. The ambush took place near a central Nepal army camp at Bhakundebeshi, about 80 kms east of Kathmandu. The soldiers had been on patrol and the rebels hiding on the roadside set off an explosion and then fired on the soldiers, killing at least 13 soldiers. Separately, two civilians were killed as they removed piles of stones and sacks that blocked an east-west highway at Morang.
AP
The Times of India – March 21, 2006.
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Pak Taliban take control of tribal belt
Peshawar – March 21, 2006 – On Monday, a bomb blew up a radio transmitter in Wana, taking the state radio off the air. Militants collect taxes from passing vehicles at new checkpoints, and last week an Islamic court was established in Wana to replace the traditional jirga, or council of elders. A gang of seven alleged bandits were executed in Miran Shah in December and their bodies were hung form a post in the town center. The Pakistani military deployed 70,000 troops to Waziristan two years ago to rein in the militants. But the campaign is faltering. An army assault against an alleged Al Qaeda training camp outside Miran Shah on March 1 left more than 100 dead. Analysts say the Pakistani Taliban is a loose alliance of tribal militia operating under radical clerics such as Sadiq Noor and Abdul Khaliq. The tribesmen are allied with Al Qaeda fugitives, mostly from Uzbekistan and Chechnya.
Guardian News Service
Hindustan Times – March 22, 2006.
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Nepal violence leaves 33 dead
Kathmandu – On Tuesday, ten police officers and 23 Maoists were killed in new violence in Nepal. Rebels attacked a police post in the village of Birtamod around 600 kms from here as well as a police post in nearby Sunsari district. The attacks in eastern Nepal left 10 police officers and 3 Maoists dead, police officials said. “So far 20 bodies of Maoist rebels have been recovered,” an army official said. On Monday, 13 Nepalese soldiers and a Maoist guerrilla were reported killed in a gun-battle in east of Kathmandu.
AP
The Times of India – March 22, 2006.
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28 killed as militants storm Iraqi jail; 33 inmates freed
Baghdad – AS many as 100 insurgents armed with automatic rifles and grenades stormed a jail about dawn on Tuesday in the Sunni heartland north of Baghdad, killing at least 17 policemen and a court-house guard. Authorities said all 33 prisoners in he lockup were freed and 10 attackers were killed in the battle. After torching the police station, the insurgents detonated a string of roadside bombs as they fled, taking the bodies of many of their dead comrades with them, police said. At least 13 policemen and civilians and 15 gunmen were wounded in the attack. Five other police were wounded in two separate roadside bombs.
AP
The Times of India – March 22, 2006.
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ETA ends its war against Spain
Vitoria – March 22, 2006 – The Basque separatist group ETA announced a permanent cease-fire on Wednesday, bringing a dramatic end to a decades-long campaign of violence and closing the door on one of Western Europe’s last active armed separatist movements. In a video statement, the Basque group said it “has decided to declare a permanent ceasefire as of March 24, 2006,”which is Friday. “The aim of (the ceasefire) is to promote a democratic process in the Basque country and to build a new framework in which our rights as a people will be recognized, the group said. “Any peace process after so many years of horror and terror will be long land difficult,” PM JOSE Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told parliament.
Victoria Press
The Indian Express – March 23, 2006.
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Iraq rebels kill 7 cops in latest brazen raid
Insurgents on Wednesday launched a pre-dawn attack on a police station and police commando headquarters south of Baghdad, killing seven people in the second brazen raid on Iraqi security forces in as many days. Fighting also erupted in the capital after two Shia pilgrims were killed and 42 wounded in separate3 ambushes in the west of the capital.
AFP
The Times of India – March 23, 2006.
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Al Qaeda makes foray into Israel
Jerusalem – March 22, 2006 – Israel linked West Bank Palestinians with the Al Qaeda network for the first time when a military court charged two youths with receiving funds from the jihad group to carry out a coordinated double bombing in Jerusalem. The Palestinians, from the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, met Al Qaeda operatives in Nordan, arranged for secret e-mail communication, and opened a bank account and received 3,000 Jordanian dinars ($4,240) from Al Qaeda to carry out the Jerusalem attack. The indictment comes just weeks after Palestinian President said Al Qaeda was trying to recruit West Bank and Gaza Palestinians. Israeli security officials, including Defence Minister, have confirmed that Al Qaeda has been trying to infiltrate the Palestinian terrorists, and Israel is considered a prime target for such attacks.
AP
Hindustan Times – march 23, 2006.
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17 killed in Iraq attacks
Baghdad – Seventeen persons were killed in an array of shootings and bombings on Friday in an unusually violent day of prayer in Iraq. Five men were killed and 17 wounded when a bomb exploded among a crowd of Sunnni Arab faithfuls leaving a mosque after Friday prayer in northeast of Baghdad.
AFP
The Hindu – March 25, 2006.
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Philippines bomb blast kills 13
Jolo – March 27, 2006 – At least 13 people were killed and more than 20 seriously wounded today in a bomb blast on the restive Philippine island of Jolo, the military and witnesses said. The explosive device was planted on the ground floor of the two-storey building in downtown Jolo.
Agencies
The Indian Express – March 28, 1006.
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24 abducted as violence rages in Iraq
Baghdad – March 28, 2006 – Three groups of gunmen kidnapped at least 24 Iraqis working at a currency exchange and two electronics stores in Baghdad o Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said. In the south of capital, a car bomb exploded as police exchanged fire with two suicide bombers at a police station, wounding at least a dozen people. Meanwhile, Baghdad police found the bodies of 14 men who had been shot. Policemen thwarted a suicide car bomb attack on their station in the south of Baghdad this morning, killing two insurgents.
Agencies
Hindustan Times - March 29, 2006.
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Iraq fights terror within; 94 killed
Baghdad – More than 90 people were killed in a spate of suicide attacks across Iraq. A suicide bomber on Monday killed 40 people waiting outside an Iraqi army recruitment center as US forces defended themselves of attacking a Shia mosque in Baghdad. The US military said Iraqi special forces raided a meeting hall in northeast Baghdad being used by an Insurgent cell land killed 16 people and detained 18 others.
Agencies
The Times of India – March 28, 2006.
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7 killed in Afghan violence
Seven people were killed and a suicide bomber targeting foreign troops wounded seven civilians in Afghanistan on Thursday in the latest attacks indicating an intensifying Taliban insurgency. Those killed included la district governor, his two bodyguards and a colleague in Laghman province, a police director land his brother in Helmand province and a man in Mazar-i-Sharif.
AFP, Kandahar
Hindustan Times – March 31, 2006.
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ISI backing Lankan terror group: LTTE
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence is backing a Muslim terrorist group called “jihad” in Eastern Sri Lanka, the LTTE’s ideologue and chief peace negotiator charged on Wednesday. According to the Tamil daily Sudar Oli, Balasingham had complained about this to the Norwegian peace facilitator when the latter met him in London on Wednesday. Balasingham told him that the Jihad group had been operating with the help of the |Sri Lankan Army’s intelligence wing. When the LTTEL exposed the existence of this group, the Sri Lankan government took cover by absorbing the rage tag group into its regular army, he said. The Muslim regiment being raised by the Sri Lankan army was meant to give the Jihad group legitimacy, Balasingham charge. Muslim political parties and civil society groups have vehemently denied the existence of any armed militant group in the community.
P.K. Balachandran
Hindustan Times – March 31, 2006.
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Food for Thought
I have never understood why people consider youth a time of freedom and joy. It is probably because they have forgotten their own.
- Margaret Atwood
I am a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
- Thomas Jefferson
Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
- Joseph Addison
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