LTTE kills Army spy unit chief
Colombo - May 31, 2005 - suspected Tamil Tiger militants on Tuesday shot dead Major Nizam Mutalif, commanding officer of a Sri Lankan Army intelligence unit in Colombo. "It is obvious that this is the work of the LTTE," Brigadier Daya Ratnayake said. Mutalif is the most senior military officer to be killed.
The Asian Age - June 1, 2005.
Go Top
Secret Airlines of the CIA
The CIA maintains a network of airlines that are part of its secret war against terrorism. Aero contractors, reported to be the direct descendant of the Vietnam-era Air America, generally operates from Johnston Country Airport in North Carolina.
(The New York Times)
Hindustan Times - June 1, 2005.
Go Top
38 killed in Iraq attacks
Baghdad - June 2, 2005 - Three suicide car bombings struck within an hour and two parked motorcycles exploded in northern Iraq on Thursday, while gunmen in speeding cars opened fire on a crowded market in Baghdad in a series of attacks that killed at least 38 people. Twenty people were killed as a wide swath of northern Iraq was hit by three suicide bombings within an hour. A suicide bomber struck a restaurant in Tuz Khormato, northern city of Kirkuk on Thursday, killing at least 12 people, and wounding 40, according to the Iraqi Defence Ministry and police.
(AP)
Hindustan Times - June 3, 2005.
Go Top
Kabul police chief among 27 killed in mosque blast
Kandhar - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in Kandhar in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least 27 persons including the police chief of the capital Kabul, officials said. "One man entered the mosque and blew himself up. The explosion killed more than 20 persons and a lot of persons are injured. General Akram, police chief in Kabul, was also killed," the correspondent said. The blast took place around 9 A.M. during prayers.
(AFP)
The Hindu - June 2, 2005.
Go Top
31 killed in a wave of violence in Iraq
Baghdad - At least 31 persons were killed on Thursday in a deadly blast, which occurred in a restaurant in the northern town of Tuz Khurmatu. "Seven cars were destroyed and 12 charred bodies were pulled form the wreckage," said a Defence Ministry statement. An hour later, a second suicide car bombing targeted a US diplomatic convoy entering the complex of the Northern Oil Company in Kirkuk, killing a four-year-old child and wounding 11 civilians, police said. Four more people were killed and five others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in Baquba, an Iraqi security source said. Five were killed in an attack targeting the security forces in Mosul.
The Hindu - June 3, 2005.
Go Top
Suicide bomb kills 10 in Baghdad
Baghdad - Ten Iraqis were killed in an overnight suicide bombing in a remote village north of Baghdad, officials said on Friday, bringing to nearly 50 the number of people killed during the day in Iraq. Early Friday, gunmen killed an Iraqi contractor in charge of renovating a mosque in western Samarra, police official said. On Thursday, a suicide car bomber targeted a home, killing at least 10 Iraqis and wounding 10 more in Saud.
(Agencies)
The Times of India - June 4, 2005.
Go Top
Terror money managers held: Police
New Delhi - June 4, 2005 - Delhi police have arrested three Kashmiri youth, who they claim belong to Hizb-e-Islami, an outfit which primarily works to arrange funds for bigger terrorist organizations. Half a kg of RDX and Rs.1.10 lakh of fake currency were seized form the three youth. The police said the outfit was responsible for funneling money particularly for Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir. In the past five months, people working for Hizb-e-Islami have sent nearly Rs.60 lakhs to militants in Kashmir, the police said.
(HT Correspondent)
Sunday Hindustan Times - June 5, 2005.
Go Top
53 killed in Nepal blast - Bus Carrying 110 Passengers Hits Landmine Planted By Maoists; 40 hurt
Kathmandu - June 6, 2005 - Maoist rebels in Nepal today bombed a packed bus killing 53 people, including three security personnel, and injuring 40 others in Chitwan district. The bus was thrown up five metres in the air, eye witnesses said. The police suspect that the land mine was planted by the Maoist rebels, who have been fighting since 1996. to abolish Nepal’s constitutional monarchy and set up a Communist state.
(PTI/AP)
The Times of India - June 7, 2005.
Go Top
5 blasts kill 18 in Iraq
Baghdad - A coordinated string of four bomb attacks within seven minutes killed at least 18 people and wounded 39 in northern Iraq on Tuesday, while a car bomb injured 28, officials said. Two US Marines died on Monday after separate roadside bombings near Fallujah, the military said. The three suicide bombers struck almost simultaneously targeting army checkpoints on the northern western and eastern entrances of Sunni Arah town, police said. 10 civilians and one soldier were killed at a checkpoint in Dibia. Three soldiers and two civilians were killed at a checkpoint in Bagara.
(PTI)
The Times of India - June 8, 2005.
Go Top
Anti-corruption chief, deputy gunned down
Kirkuk - The head of an anti-corruption unit in this northern oil city and his deputy were shot dead in a drive-by attack, a police sources said on Friday. It was the first time that the anti-corruption unit had been targeted.
The Times of India - June 9, 2005.
Go Top
Maoists abduct 1,000 kids, teachers - Nepal Rebels Seek To Indoctrinate New ‘Recruits’
Kathmandu - Armed groups of Maoists have abducted some 1000 students, mainly from 9 and 10 classes, and four teachers from different schools in western Nepal for forceful indoctrination on rebel ideology, a media report said on Thursday. They forcefully make them attend their programmes, the daily said. The daily also reported that the southern district of Chitawan is in grief four days after the landmine blast triggered by the Maoists that killed at least 40 and wounded dozens traveling on the passenger bus.
(PTI)
The Times of India - June 10, 2005.
Go Top
"Officials: Terrorists Could Target Chicken Nuggets"
Chicago Sun-Times (06/08/05)
The U.S. government is examining the possibility that terrorists could target school lunches, according to an official with the Agriculture Department's Food Safety Inspection Service. Carol Maczka, an administrator with the service, says that the U.S. school lunch program is especially vulnerable to terrorism and that her agency has examined the vulnerability of milk, egg substitutes, and spaghetti sauce. The agency is currently examining the vulnerability of chicken nuggets. Companies that provide food to schools must show federal officials that they are working on a food safety plan, Maczka says, noting that the U.S. government has sent these providers information about food safety.
Security Management Daily - June 9, 2005.
Go Top
Fake cop blows himself up at Iraqi commando HQ
Baghdad - A suicide bomber dressed as a policeman blew himself up during roll call at the heavily guarded headquarters of an elite commando unit on Saturday. Attacks in and around Baghdad killed at least 23 people. Two US Marines were killed on Friday in a roadside bomb attack near the volatile Anbar province town of Saqlawiyah, the military said. Gunmen also opened fire on a minibus in Diyara, killing at least 11 Iraqi construction workers. Gunmen in a speeding car attacked an interior ministry commando convoy in Monsour area, killing three Iraqi forces, police said. Another suicide car bomber blew himself up on Saturday in front of Slovakian Embassy, injuring four people, according to Iraqi and Slovak officials.
(AP)
Sunday Times of India - June 12, 2005
Go Top
Eight killed in Nepal blast
Kathmandu - At least six soldiers and two civilians were killed when a passenger bus hit a landmine planted by Maoist rebels in eastern Nepal, the army said on Saturday.
(AFP)
The Hindu - June 12, 2005.
Go Top
34 injured as blast derails train in Russia
Moscow - In a suspected terrorist strike, four boggies of a passenger train from Chechen capital Grozny derailed near here after a bomb blast on the track, injuring 34 people on Sunday, which coincided with Russia’s National day. Officials said the bomb was equal to 5 kg of TNT. Investigators found wires from the site leading to a crater near the scene of the accident and a remote control device from nearby.
(PTI)
The Times of India - June 13, 2005.
Go Top
Blasts in Iran kill 8
Tehran - June 12, 2005 - At least eight people were killed and 36 others injured on Sudnay in four bomb explosions that targeted government buildings and officials in southwestern Iran, state-run television reported. The explosions also damaged cars in the streets. 38 people, including 8 police officers, were injured. The protests were sparked after copies of a letter allegedly signed by Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi circulated in the area. The letter ordered the relocation of non-Arabs to the Ahvaz to make them the majority population. Abtahi denied writing the letter. Arabs make up abut 3% o Iran’s population, Persians account for 51% and other minorities comprise the remainder.
(AP)
Hindustan Times - June 13, 3005.
Go Top
16 dead, over 100 injured in J&K blast
Srinagar / New Delhi - At least 16 people were killed and over 100 injured on Monday when a car laden with 40 Kilos of RDX exploded near the entrance of a government school in Pulwama town of south Kashmir. DIG of Police said eleven civilians and three CRPF officers were killed and some students sustained injuries due to splinter injuries A communication intercepted by intelligence agencies between terrorists in J&K and their commanders based in Muridke (Pakistan) had alerted the authorities.
(TNN and PTI)
The Times of India - June 14, 2005.
Go Top
5 policemen killed in two Iraq blasts
Tikrit, Iraq - A suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle next to an Iraqi police patrol in Tikrit on Monday, killing two police officers and wounding 12 people, most of them civilians. Another suicide car bomber struck a joint US-Iraqi patrol north of Baghdad, killing three Iraqi policemen and wounding five, police said.
(Agencies)
The Times of India - June 14, 2005.
Go Top
Six Maoists, 8 Nepalese troops killed in fighting
Kathmandu - Clashes between security forces and Maoist rebels have killed 14 people, security sources in Kahmandu said. Fierce clashes in Ghartichhap village in Kavre district, on Monday morning led to the death of eight security personnel and six rebels, Royal Nepal Army sources said.
(TNN and Agencies)
The Times of India - June 14, 2005.
Go Top
Suicide attack on U.S. convoy in Afghanistan
Kandhar - A suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives in his car near a US military vehicle in southern Afghanistan on Monday, wounding four American troops, a spokesman for the American military said. Gen. Salim Khan, the deputy police chief for Kandhar city, said a suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into the US vehicle, which appeared to be that of an Arab. Three other bombs were found hidden on roadsides around Kandhar on Monday morning, a Government official said.
(AP)
The Hindu - June 14, 2005.
Go Top
Osama alive, says Taliban
Islamabad - June 16, 2005 - Al-Qaeda terror network chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar are both alive and in good health after more than three years on the run, a key Taliban commander said. "He is absolutely fine, praise be to Allah," Mullah Akhtar Usmani said when asked about Bin Laden’s fate in an interview broadcast on Wednesday by Pakistan’s private GEO television.
(AFP)
Hindustan Times - June 16, 2005.
Go Top
Terror cargo from Dubai
New Delhi - June 15, 2005 - A man was caught at the Indira Gandhi International airport on Wednesday evening after dozens of mobile phones, wireless sets and satellite phones were found in his luggage. The police believe these gadgets were to be delivered to terrorist outfits active in Kashmir. A police official said, the man, who has identified himself as Md. Amin, had arrived by a flight from Jeddah on Wednesday evening.
Hindustan Times - June 16, 2005.
Go Top
31 killed in Iraq attacks
Baquba - Thirty-one persons were killed in two suicide bombings in Iraq on Wednesday, including 23 at an Iraqi army base canteen, as Iraqi forces rescued an Australian hostage held for almost six weeks. A total of 23 were killed and 29 wounded, most of them soldiers, said local council member Samira Shibli. Later, eight policemen were killed and vehicles left ablaze in a second attack, when a bomber targeted their patrol in southern Baghdad. "A suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle next to a motorized police patrol in the Zaafaraniyah district in southern Baghdad," said a defence ministry source. An Iraqi military unit backed by US troops freed the 63-year-old US-based engineering contractor and took a number of militants captive.
(AFP)
The Hindu - June 16, 2005.
Go Top
29 dead, 60 hurt in Iraq bombings
Baghdad - At least 29 people were killed and 60 wounded on Tuesday in bombing attacks in northern Iraq, as the autonomous Kurdish region was set to install its first president. A blast ripped through waiting civil servants outside a bank in the northern Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk, killing at least 19 people and wounding 53 others, police said. A suicide bomber blew himself up amidst public workers standing outside the Al-Rafidain bank in the city center, police said. Meanwhile, 10 Iraqis, including two children, were killed and seven wounded by a car bomb north of Baghdad, according to security sources.
(AFP)
The Times of India - June 15, 2005.
Go Top
16 held in Spanish anti-terror raids
On Wednesday, Spanish police arrested 16 people, linked to an Islamist terror network connected with the Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, and another five suspected of involvement in last year’s Madrid train bombings. In the operation, some 500 Spanish police took part in raids in several cities that led to the arrests, Spain’s interior ministry said. Some of the detainees had said they wanted to become "martyrs for Islam" and were waiting for orders to do so, the ministry said. The other five people arrested in Madrid and Barcelona, were linked to last year’s train bombings in Madrid, which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1500.
(GNS and Agencies)
Hindustan Times - June 16, 2005.
Go Top
Five US Marines killed in Iraq blast
Baghdad - A roadside bomb attack killed five US Marines and gunfire killed an American sailor in a western Iraqi town, the US military said on Thursday. The Marines died after their vehicle was attacked near Ramadi, the military said. A sailor attached to the Marines’ unit was also killed on Wednesday in Ramadi by gunfire, the military said. Meanwhile, a judge and his bodyguard were killed on Thursday in a Mosul neighbourhood where many residents support the Baath Party of Saddam Husein, officials said.
(AP)
The Hindu - June 17, 2005.
Go Top
"Treasury Official Calls Bankers 'Eyes and Ears' in Terror Fight"
Bank Systems & Technology (06/15/05) ; Klug, Foster
With increased enforcement of the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act that mandates that all banks report suspicious activities or face significant fines, Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) director William Fox urged U.S. banks to calm down and trust their instincts rather than file too many suspicious activity reports, which bog down the Treasury. The fact that Riggs Bank was fined $16 million and AmSouth Bank was fined $40 million for failing to report suspicious activity has banks narrowly focused on compliance. Fox believes the problem lies in banks lacking a definitive definition of what constitutes a suspicious activity. To relieve that problem, FinCen is set to offer a series of free workshops to help bankers better understand and comply with the law.
Security Management Daily June 20, 2005
Go Top
Nepalese rebels kill five, free their own men
Kathmandu - June 20, 2005 - Hundreds of Communist rebels killed five policemen, destroyed buildings, freed scores of inmates and took eight government employees hostage on Monday during a raid on a remote town in the mountains of eastern Nepal, officials said. 12 other policemen were missing. Bodies of two rebels were recovered after the clash in Diklet, about 200 kms. south-east of Kathmandu, where rebels destroyed six government buildings, officials said.
Binaj Gurubacharya
The Asian Age - June 21, 2005.
Go Top
Blast kills 10 in Iraq
A suicide car bomb killed at least 10 traffic policemen on Monday and wounded at least 50 outside a police unit’s headquarters in the Kurdish city of Irbil, Iraqi authorities said. The bomber, wearing a police uniform, slammed his car into a gathering of some 200 traffic policemen in a court yard around 8.00 A.M, a ministry of Interior officials said.
(Reuters, Baghdad)
Hindustan Times - June 21, 2005.
Go Top
3 killed in fresh Thai violence
Islamist militants stormed a house and killed three fellow Muslims at evening prayers in an apparent attempt to intimidate government sympathizers and garner support for a violent separatist movement in southern Thailand, police said on Tuesday. The gunmen stormed the rented house in Patani late Monday and opened fire on the praying men, before speeding away, police official said. Police believe the attack was intended to persuade Muslims to support the separatist cause.
(AP, Bangkok)
Hindustan Times - June 22, 2005.
Go Top
Pak hit team tried to kill US ambassador
Kabul - June 21, 2005 - Afghan officials on Monday claimed to have foiled a plan by three Pakistanis to assassinate the American ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, just minutes before the attack was to take place. The three suspects, caught with rockets and assault rifles, were shown on local television in the custody of intelligence officers. "We arrested three men who were intending to commit a terrorist act," deputy chief of the Afghanistan intelligence agency, the National Security Directorate, said in a statement.
(Reuters)
Hindustan Times - June 22, 2005.
Go Top
CIA describes Iraq as terror lab
Washington - June 22, 2005 - A new classified assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency says that Iraq may prove to be an even more effective training ground for Islamic extremists than Afghanistan was in Al-Qaeda’s early days, because it is providing a new laboratory for militants to hone their skills in urban combat. The Central Intelligence Agency has issued warnings recently that jihadists who survive will leave Iraq "experienced in and focused on acts of urban terrorism," and might form "a potential pool of contacts to build transnational terrorist cells, groups and networks in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries." The assessment said the central role played by Iraq meant that for now, most potential terrorists were likely to focus their energies on attacking American forces there, rather than carrying out attacks elsewhere, the officials said.
Douglas Jehl
The Asian Age - June 23, 2005 - June 20, 2005.
Go Top
Fears of Taliban resurgence
Islamabad " On Sunday, the Taliban claimed to have executed a district police chief, Nanal Khan, one of at least 13 officers being held hostage since an ambush in Kandhar province last week. Hours later, a rocket exploded near an American Special Forces base in Kandhar city, but no casualties were reported. Afghanistan is fast becoming the forgotten eastern front of US President George Bush’s "war on terror". Although a helicopter crash claimed 15 of the recent casualties, attacks on US and Afghan forces have become increasingly deadly, a trend that officials link to a renewed collaboration with Al-Qaeda. Earlier this month, a bomb ripped through a mosque in central Kandhar, killing 20 people, including Kabul police chief. Predictions of a Taliban collapse, made by US commanders after last October’s presidential election and a long winter lull, look increasingly hollow. Militants were carrying out the same number of attacks at this time last year, but with greater effectiveness.
Declan Walsh
The Hindu - June 21, 2005.
Go Top
40 killed in Iraq blasts
Baghdad - Nearly 40 people have died in a rash of car bombings in Iraq’s capital over a 12-hour span, including two coordinated blasts early on Thursday outside two Shia mosques that killed 15 and wounded 28 more, police said. At least 23 people were killed in western Baghdad’s Shula neighbourhood and a nearly suburb. Nineteen were killed in Shula alone.
(AP)
The Times of India - June 24, 2005.
Go Top
Nine armymen die in blast
Srinagar - June 24, 2005 - The Hizbul Mujahideen triggered a blast at Nishat in Srinagar on Friday, killing nine armymen and injuring 16 others. The militants had planted an ID in a private car parked on the road at Nishat. As any army convoy passed by, the militants blew up the explosive-laden car, which hit a private bus carrying armymen. Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin claimed responsibility for the attack.
Rashid Ahmed
Hindustan Times - June 25, 2005.
Go Top
Bomb havoc in Iraq: An Update
Baghdad - June 24, 2005 - Car bombers have struck Iraq 480 times in the past year, and a third of the attacks followed the naming of a new Iraqi government two months ago. According to an Associated Press count based on reports from police, military and hospital officials, from April 28 to June 23, 2005, there were at least 160 vehicle bombings that killed at least 580 people and wounded at least 1734. In total, from the handing over of sovereignty on June 28, 2004 to June 23, 2005, there were at least 480 car bombs, killing 2,174 people and wounding 5520.
(AP)
Hindustan Times - June 25, 2005.
Go Top
US female Marines ambushed in Iraq
Baghdad - June 25, 2005 - At least four women serving in the American military, including three Marines, are among the six known dead in a suicide car bombing in Fallujah on Thursday, military officials in Baghdad and Washington said on Friday. 13 Marines, including 11 women, were injured. It was the largest number of women in the armed services killed in a single attack during the Iraq War.
James Glanz and John F. Burns
The Asian Age - June 26, 2005.
Go Top
Nepal soldiers attacked by Maoist rebels
Kathmandu - June 26, 2005 - Scores of Maoist rebels attacked a large contingent of soldiers in the southwest of Neal, causing several casualties in a day-long battle, a senior Army Officer said on Sunday. "The clashes began early on Saturday and lasted until the evening. We were waiting for report," he said The Army launched an air and land counter-attack near the Royal Bardiya National Pak, 535 kms south-west of Kathmandu, an Army spokesman said. Meanwhile, Communist guerrillas ambushed a government security patrol in Nepal, killing at least 12 security forces, and an ensuing battle left a number of rebels dead, military officials said on Sunday.
(AFP / AP)
The Asian Age - June 27, 2005.
Go Top
Blast at Olympic arena in Madrid
Madrid (Spain) - June 26, 2005 - A car bomb exploded near Madrid’s track and field arena following a warning call by the armed Basque group ETA, officials said. No injuries were reported. The car bomb went off on Saturday at 7.00 p.m. at a parking lot outside the Peineta Complex, which is one of the sites which is part of the city’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics, an interior ministry spokesman said.
Mar Roman
The Asian Age - June 27, 2005.
Go Top
25 Colombian soldiers die in rebel attack
Bogota (Colombia) - At least 25 soldiers were killed land 19 were missing near the Ecuadoran border following one of two attacks by Colombian rebels on Saturday that left heavy army causalities, the army said in a statement. Eight other troops were also injured in the attack on the army’s 27th Brigade by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia’s 48th Front. In the Putumayo attack, "intense combat" was ongoing on the frontier with Ecuador, air force General Jorge Lesmez said.
(AFP)
The Asian Age - June 27, 2005.
Go Top
Suicide attacks leave 33 dead in Mosul
Mosul (Iraq) - A string of suicide attacks killed at least 33 persons and wounded 27 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Sunday, the US military and police officials said. The first attack happened at the police headquarters in Mosul, killing 10 policemen and two civilians and wounding eight more, said US Army official. After two hours, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a parking lot outside an Iraqi army base, killing 16 and wounding seven more, one Army Captain said. A third attacker strapped with a belt of explosives walked into Mosul Jumhouri Teaching Hospital and blew himself up in a room for police officers, killing five policemen and wounding 12 others.
(AP / AFP)
The Hindu - June 27, 2005.
Go Top
‘Terror training in Pakistan goes underground’
Washington - June 25, 2005 - Long before the FBI arrested Hamid Hayat and his father, Umer-Hayat, law enforcement and intelligence officials were watching the Pakistan-based training sites with increasing anxiety. Due to military strikes on Al-Qaeda strongholds in Pakistan’s tribal territories, the Jihadist training effort has scattered and gone underground where it is much harder to detect and destroy, US and Pakistani officials said in interview. The ISI has worked closely with the groups in training Pakistan’s own network of militants to fight ongoing conflicts in Kashmir and elsewhere, and to protect the country’s interests in neighbouring Afghanistan. The militant groups also derive tremendous influence from their affiliations with powerful fundamentalist political parties in Pakistan. According to US and South Asian intelligence agencies, US military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan have caused many Pak-based terrorists to redirect their rage toward US targets. "Pakistan military and intelligence are well-aligned with the radical fundamentalists," said a senior US counter-terrorism officials.
Josh Meyer
The Asian Age - June 27, 2005.
Go Top
4 killed, 33 hurt in Baghdad car blast
Baghdad - Four people were killed and at least 33 wounded when a car bomb ripped into a crowded market in southeastern Baghdad, interior ministry and medical sources said. "I am sure it was not Iraqis but Arab combatants, surely Saudis," said Akram Mohammed. "That is why the Shias don’t attack the Sunnis, they know they are not guilty. The carnage added to a growing death toll that included two US crewmen who died when their Apache attack helicopter crashed northwest of he capital.
(A.F.P.)
The Times of India - June 29, 2005.
Go Top
Food for Thought
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful. Committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
-- Margaret Mead
Measure yourself by your best moments, not by your worst. We are too prone to judge ourselves by our moments of despondency and depression.
Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.
Go Top
|
