Dirty bombs’ – a real threat in India – CISF fears chemical and biological attacks on airports.
New Delhi – October 1, 2006 – A recent threat assessment survey conducted by the CISF, which guards 54 airports, has listed chemical and biological attacks as one of the threats apprehended by the force. The report assumes significance in the wake of the unearthing of a terror plot in Britain to blow up flights mid-air by using explosives that could be made by mixing readily available substances like gels. Other threats identified by the CISF are armed attacks, sabotage, hijacking, suicide bombing and IED blasts, most of which can be thwarted by tightening perimeter security.
Manoj C.G./(PTI)
The Asian Age – October 2, 2006
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Taliban close Pakistan office
Peshawar – October 1, 2006 – Pro-Taliban Islamic militants have shut down an office they had set up to fight crime in a restive Pakistan tribal region, amid concerns it could be seen as a challenge to government authority, an official said on Sunday. The office in Miran Shah, the main town in north-western Pakistan’s north Waziristan tribal area, was closed over the weekend also because it projected a “negative perception” about the recent peace deal between militants and the government, said a government spokesman. The establishment of the office had raised fears that militants were increasing their influence in north Waziristan following the peace accord.
(AP)
The Asian Age – October 2, 2006
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Al Qaeda HQ in Waziristan in Pakistan
Washington – October 2, 2006 – Information recovered from safe houses when an Al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq was killed six months ago placed the group’s leadership in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, The Washington Post reported on Monday. A member of Osama bin Laden’s high command said in a December 11 letter to Abu Musab Al Zarqawi that he was writing from Al Qaeda headquarters in the semiautonomous tribal region where Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters had been active, the report said.
Reuters
Hindustan Times – October 3, 2006
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LTTE agrees to talks with government
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels on Tuesday agreed to unconditional talks with the government, but warned they would pull out of the 2002-Ceasefire if the government persisted with its military campaign, a spokesman for the insurgents said. “We have said that we are ready for talks. We have not placed any conditions and neither has the government,” the spokesman said.
The Times of India – October 4, 2006
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52 dead in fresh Iraq violence
A suicide bomber unleashed a blast in a Baghdad fish market on Tuesday and two Shia families were found slain north of the capital as violence across Iraq claimed at least 52 lives. On Wednesday, a series of bombs went off in rapid succession in a shopping district in a main Christian neighbourhood of Baghdad, killing nine people and wounding 71, the police said. Other attacks around Iraq killed four other people, and the US military announced the death of a soldier in the north.
The Asian Age – October 4, 2006
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Turkish plane is hijacked to protest Pope’s Islam remarks
Rome – Hijackers seeking to send a message to Pope Benedict seized control of a Turkish passenger plane flying from the Albanian capital Tirana to Istanbul on Tuesday, and were forced by interceptor jets to land in Italy. “As far as we know, the hijackers want to talk with Italian authorities to send a message to the Pope,” a spokeswoman for Italy’s civil aviation authority said.
Reuters
The Times of India – October 4, 2006
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24-hr Srinagar gunbattle ends, toll goes up to 10
Srinagar – A 24-hour-long encounter between security forces and Al Mansoorian (a Lashkar-e—Taiba wing) terrorists ended in Srinagar on Thursday, with the gunning-down of the two holed-up fidayeen. In all, 10 people, including seven security personnel and one civilian and two terrorists, were killed and 18, including six civilians, were injured in the encounter, the police said.
M. Saleem Pandit/TNN
The Times of India – October 6, 2006
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Lashkar fixes new rates for ‘motivators’ to get recruits
Srinagar – Lashkar-e-Taiba has launched a recruitment drive in north Kashmir. Motivators who used to earn Rs.5000/- per recruit now receive Rs.10,000/-. The motivators are targeting teenagers and school drop-outs and are motivating them by giving them false impressions about the excesses of the army, said a senior police officer. The motivator receives the money after he hands over the Kashmiri boy to Pakistani militant commanders near the Line of Control.
M. Saleem Pandit/TNN
The Times of India – October 6, 2006
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1 Killed in Baghdad, 4 bodies recovered
Baghdad – October 6, 2006 – One person was killed and four others injured early on Friday in a bomb attack in north-eastern Baghdad. A bomb went off at 6.15 am outside a neighbourhood power generator in the Qahira district, setting it ablaze, police officer said.
(AP)
The Asian Age – October 7, 2006
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25 killed in Iraq violence
Baghdad – October 7, 2006 – At least 25 people were killed in scattered violence around Iraq on Saturday, including 14 who died when a suicide car bomber hit an Iraqi Army checkpoint at 8.45 a.m. in the northern city of Tal Afar, said a senior police officer. Near Sinjar, about 150 km northwest of Mosul, two people were killed and another injured when gunmen attacked their car. About 85 km northwest of Mosul, gunmen killed an Iraqi contractor and two workers. Two civilians were killed and four more injured when a mortar shell hit a house in Iskandariyah, 50 km south of Baghdad, a police officer said.
The Asian Age – October 8, 2006
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Footprints of terror on icy heights
Kathmandu – October 10, 2006 – The Maoist rebels have now targeted the Himalayan Nation’s pride – the Mount Everest. The insurgent outfit has intensified its extortion drive in the areas close to the world’s highest peak and is forcing foreign trekkers and mountaineers to “donate” to the red coffers. The largest circulated Nepali daily Kantipur on Tuesday reported that the Maoists were collecting Nepali Rs.2500/- from every tourist and trekker as “donation”.
Anirban Roy
Hindustan Times – October 11, 2006
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Lashkar-e-Taiba issues fresh threats – Islamist polemic proliferates in Pakistan despite detention of terror group’s chief
New Delhi – Eight weeks after the detention of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the group’s parent political organisation has resumed issuing public threats of terrorist operations directed against India. Last month’s issue of the Jamaat-ul-Dawa’s house journal Majallat al-Dawa has proclaimed that its fidayeen commandos would soon “butcher every Hindu and Kashmir will be freed.” In a recent interview to The Hindu, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri argued that the Jammat-ut-Dawa “is doing charitable work.”
Praveen Swami
The Hindu – October 13, 2006
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15 killed in sporadic Iraq attacks
Baghdad – October 13, 2006 – At least 13 people were killed in attacks around Iraq on Friday, including the commander of a battalion of the special interior ministry police and six women and two girls who were shot south of Baghdad. In Baqouba, a father and his two sons were killed by unknown gunmen. Two other people were killed and one injured when unknown assailants opened fire on them.
Christopher Bodeen(AP)
The Asian Age
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Policemen killed in militant attack
Militants killed a policeman and injured another at the city centre in Srinagar on Sunday. They were fired upon from point-blank range. Police rushed to the spot, and one policemen succumbed to injuries and the other is in serious condition.
The Indian Express – October 16, 2006
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86 killed in Iraq violence spree – National Reconciliation Meet Postponed
Baghdad – Iraq’s government indefinitely postponed a much-anticipated national reconciliation conference on Sunday as a two-day spree of sectarian revenge killings and insurgent bombings left at least 86 Iraqis dead. The US military meanwhile said three Marines and four soldiers were killed from Friday through Sunday. Three of the soldiers died in a roadside bombings on Saturday south of Baghdad, while the fourth was killed in a roadside bombing on Friday, southwest of the capital.
The Times of India – October 17, 2006
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Taliban leader beheads eight men on video
A leading Taliban commander in Afghanistan has been filmed brutally beheading eight men accused of spying for British and American forces. The horrifying video broadcast by a Pakistan television station shows Mullah Dadullah hacking off the victims’ heads and placing them on their lifeless torsos. The video is similar to those produced by Al Qaeda and related militant groups who had kidnapped and then executed hostages in Iraq. A statement released with the latest video claims that the eight men beheaded were spies working for the Christians and crusaders’.
Mathew Hickley
The Times of India – October 17, 2006
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98 sailors killed in attack
Colombo – Suspected cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Monday afternoon drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a Sri Lanka naval convoy near Harbarana, killing at least 98 sailors and injuring 100 others. The LTTE has not owned up responsibility.
B. Muralidhar Reddy
The Hindu – October 17, 2006
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J&K policemen killed
Srinagar –Two policemen were shot dead by militants in Batmaloo and Hazratbal localities of Srinagar.
HTC
Hindustan Times – October 18, 2006
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Bush signs tough anti-terror bill
Washington – US president George Bush signed legislation on Tuesday authorizing tough interrogation of terror suspects and smoothing the way for their trials before military commissions, calling it a “vital tool” in the fight against terrorism. “With the bill I am about to sign, the men our intelligence officials believe orchestrated the murder of nearly 3,000 innocent people will face justice,” Bush said, referring to the 9/11 attacks. “It is a rare occasion when a president can sign a bill that he knows will save American lives,” Bush said. “I have that privilege this morning.” “Those who kill the innocent will be held to account.”
AP
The Times of India – October 18, 2006
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IGP’s driver killed in Srinagar
Srinagar – On Monday, militants killed the driver of Kashmir range IGP near the police headquarters.
M. Saleem Pandit/TNN
The Times of India – October 18, 2006
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LTTE suicide attack kills 17 in tourist hub
Galle – Tamil Tiger rebels staged an audacious suicide attack against Sri Lanka’s historic port of Galle, killing at least two people and destroying three navy craft officials said. The attack in Galle came as foreign envoys pushed for the government and the Tigers to hold peace talks later this month. The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said a force of 15 rebels in five boats entered the tightly guarded port. Two boats landed and carried out rocket propelled grenades on the harbour while three explosives-laden boats rammed and sank three naval craft, the Tamilnet said.
AFP
The Times of India - October 19, 2006
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Eight killed in Afghan ambush
Kabul – Gunmen ambushed a car carrying Afghan civilians and killed eight of them on Friday, the police said. The ambush victims, who worked for the US military as labourers in the mountainous Korangal area of Kunar province, were killed while driving home from work. Gunmen stopped the workers’ car, searched them and took about $6,000 before gunning them down. However, two workers escaped.
AP
Hindustan Times – October 21, 2006
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Terror economy hurts northeast
New Delhi – October 22, 2006 – In insurgency ridden northeastern states, black economy is thriving and major militant outfits have their own extortion territory. According to an unpublished study by New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), the worth of undeclared transactions in the seven states of Northeast was Rs.18,000 crores and rising in 2004. Ajai Sahni, executive director of ICM, said government departments in the Northeast were compelled to pay up a fixed percentage of revenues to various militant groups and even the Union government had allegedly come to terms with this scenario. The ICM estimates that outfits operating in Manipur collected Rs.400 crores by extortion in 2005. Militant outfits also divert commodities from the public-distribution system into the open market.
Srinand Jha
Hindustan Times – October 23, 2006
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Blast kills 5 in Baghdad
Baghdad – October 22, 2006 – Bombs ripped through crowds of shoppers stocking up on sweets and other delicacies ahead of the Muslim holiday of Id-ul-fitr, killing at least five people, the police said on Sunday.
(AP)
The Asian Age – October 23, 2006
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A Terrorism Nightmare--400 kg of Explosive Stolen From Newcastle Train
Daily Telegraph (AU) (10/26/06) ; Phelps, James
Thieves stole 400 kg of explosive-grade ammonium nitrate--the same volatile fertilizer that was used in the 1996 Oklahoma City bombing and 1993 World Trade Center bombing--from a freight train in Newcastle, Australia. The theft occurred between 6:25 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. on Oct. 6 as the train had stopped on the tracks to allow another train to pass. Anti-terrorism authorities believe that a well-organized group is responsible for the theft.
Security Management Daily – October 26, 2006
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Terror brush for India’s tech hub
Bangalore – October 27, 2006 – Two Pakistani militants, who are said to be belonging to the al-Badr Foundation, an extremist group active in J&K, were planning to bomb the Vikasa Soudha (State Assembly) when they were arrested on Friday in Mysore.
B.R. Srikanth
Hindustan Times – October 28, 2006
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Foreign tourists on hitlist
New Delhi – October 29, 2006 – Vital installations, communication links, places of worship, commercial, industrial and scientific centres. There is an addition to this list of potential targets. A Union Home Ministry official said the list of potential targets was expanded in view of recent intelligence inputs that the tourism sector, especially in a state like Goa, was on the radar of terror groups.
Aloke Tikku
Hindustan Times – October 30, 2006
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31 killed in Baghdad blast
Baghdad – A bomb targeting poor Iraqi Shias lining up for day jobs in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum killed at least 31 people including a TV anchor on Monday and wounded more than 50 others, the police said.
Agencies
The Times of India – October 31, 2006
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Food for Thought
Blessed is he who expects nothing for he shall never be disappointed.
- Jonathan Swift
A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
- Gilbert K. Chesterion
To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brain.
- Mary Poole
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