Blasts in 22 Thai banks – Simultaneous Explosions
Bangkok – August 31, 2006 – At least 22 bombs exploded almost simultaneously on Thursday inside commercial banks in southern Thailand, killing one person and wounding 27, the police said. The homemade bombs, which were triggered by mobile phone signals, were placed in garbage bins, at newspaper stands and near seats where customers wait for service in banks in Yala province.
(AP)
The Asian Age – September 1, 2006.
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It’s Germany’s turn to think about terror
Berlin – August 31, 2006 – Germany just finished implementing a draft of legislation designed to prosecute members of foreign terror groups on German soil, following the revelation that three of the September 11 suicide ploters lived in Hamburg. The attempted train bombings on July 31 also drove home that Germany could itself be targeted. The two main suspects were arrested last week. “The terrorist threat has never been this close before,” the Interior Minister said.
AP
Hindustan Times – September 1, 2006.
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Is Africa next Qaeda haven? – US Mulls New Command There
Johannesburg – There is mounting evidence that the African continent will become the next Al Qaeda hotbed as the militant group seeks to expand its global operations. Speaking on Wednesday at a security conference in Johannesburg, Peter Pham, director of the Virgina-based think-tank, National Institute for International and Public Affairs, cited Africa’s weak governments, large Muslim communities, rampant poverty and its proximity to the Middle East as factors that could make the continent a target. “It’s a natural base of (Al Qaeda) operations. There is evidence that Africa will be the next front for Al Qaeda,” Pham said.
Reuters
The Times of India – September 1, 2006.
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Bomb attacks in Baghdad kill 64
Baghdad – September 1, 2006 – A barrage of coordinated bomb and rocket attacks across eastern Baghdad neighbourhoods killed at least 64 people and wounded more than 200 within about half an hour, the police said on Friday. The attacks occurred between 6 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. and included a car bomb at a market, another behind a telephone exchange building and several rocket and mortar attacks.
Elena Becatoros
The Asian Age – September 2, 2006.
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14 Killed in Afghanistan
Jalalabad – A suicide bomb wounded three people including a foreign soldier in Afghanistan on Saturday, while officials reported that 14 people were killed in a series of Taliban attacks. NATO’s military force in the area had already announced that a British soldier was killed in the area the same day.
Sunday Hindustan Times – September 5, 2006.
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9 held for terror plot in Denmark
Copenhagen – September 5, 2006 – Police in central Denmark early on Tuesday arrested nine men suspected of plotting a terrorist attack and acquiring material to build explosives, the intelligence service said. Justice Minister Lene Espersen said the nine were likely planning an attack in Denmark. “It was the most serious matter I have had in my time as Justice Minister.”
AP
Hindustan Times – September 6, 2006.
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Britain is top terrorist target
London – Washington’s close ally Britain has emerged as Europe’s target of choice for Islamist extremists and the weak link in the war against terrorism, with its poorly integrated and disaffected Muslim minority. Seventy-two per cent of people surveyed in a recent poll believe that the nation’s foreign policy has increased the threat of a terrorist attack and helped make Britain a target. Thirty-eight Muslim organisations last month sent an open letter to Mr. Blair denouncing his policy, which gives “ammunition to extremists who threaten us all” and puts “civilians at increased risk both in the UK and abroad.” The radicalization in the Muslim community is evident. Moderate Muslims represented by the Muslim Council of Britain are distrusted and publicly denounced by many Muslims simply because they agree to talk with government ministers or members of Parliament.
Pierre Lesourd / (AFP)
The Asian Age – September 8, 2006.
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44 killed in bomb blasts across Iraq
Baghdad – September 7, 2006 - At least 44 people were killed across Iraq on Thursday amid a wave of bombings and shootings. The US military also announced that one of its soldiers was killed on Wednesday in the western city of Ramadi while another died in the northern town of Hawija. A suicide attacker killed 12 policemen and wounded 39 people, when he detonated a bomb-laden car near a Baghdad police fuel depot, said interior ministry spokesman. In another attack, insurgents killed three civilians and wounded 17 people in a roadside bombing near a Sunni mosque in northeast Baghdad. Two more people were killed in a double bombing in Amel, in south Baghdad. Insurgents also set off a car bomb near a police commando checkpoint close to the central Baghdad Tayran Square,, killing three police and five civilians and wounding 30 people. A woman and a soldier were killed and nine people were wounded in three attacks in the Yamuk neighbourhood. In the west of the city, a civilian was killed when a roadside bomb went off near a restaurant, while four people were wounded in a second bombing in the area.
Sabah Jerges / (AFP)
The Asian Age – September 8, 2006.
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2 Qaeda CDs recovered in J&K from LeT terrorists
Srinagar – Security forces on Friday recovered two CDs, containing a film on a training camp being operated by Al Qaeda at an unknown location along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, from the possession of two slain Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. The LeT terrorists were killed during an encounter at Mehandar in Poonch of Jammu earlier, DGP J&K said. The CDs in Arabic language show Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden delivering speech to new recruits at the training camp and inspiring them to join the jihadi cause.
TNN
The Times of India – September 9, 2006.
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Blast near US Embassy
Kabul – The driver of a car packed with explosives rammed into a US military convoy in Kabul on Friday, killing himself and at least 16 others, including two American soldiers. Two other American soldiers were among 29 people wounded in the blast near the US Embassy in Kabul. Sixteen people were killed and 29 wounded, said a senior police officer.
Associated Press
The Indian Express – September 9, 2006.
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Terror threat swells on the high seas
Reports by the coast Guard of clandestine shipment of weapons of mass destruction show that a terror threat on the high seas is a possibility and that sea lanes are being used as alternative routes by such outfits. Whether it is a piracy, hijacking or smuggling of explosives and arms, terror outfits are now shifting their focus to the sea front. The Malaccan Straits, Indonesian and Somail waters, Lankan coast, Southeast Asia waters and Southwest Asia coast are the most piracy-prone. According to the International Maritime Bureau, on an average, over 200 incidents involving piracy, and ship-hijacking of merchant vessels happen annually.
Arun Kumar Das/TNN
Sunday Times of India – September 10, 2006.
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7 killed in Jammu and Kashmir violence
Jammu/Srinagar – Seven persons, including two special police officers (SPOs), were killed and four civilians injured in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, officials said on Saturday. One militant was killed in an encounter with a joint team of Rashtriya Rifles and the police at Kasblari village in Poonch district on Saturday afternoon. In another encounter between militants and security forces at Donadi in Pulwama district, one militant had been killed. In the Bhallesa area of Doda district, tow SPOs were shot dead by their colleagues in connivance with militants. In another incident, some terrorists killed a surrendered militant in Gandoh tehsil of Doda district on Saturday night.
PTI
The Hindu – September 10, 2006.
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Bomber kills Afghan governor
Kabul – September 10, 2006 – A suicide bombing killed the governor of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province outside his home on Sunday, the police said. Two others were also killed. Three others were wounded in the attack. The attacker, with explosives attached to his body, ran towards the governor’s car and detonated the bomb as he was leaving the house, a senior officer said. The other fatalities were a bodyguard and a secretary of the governor. Three policemen on duty at the house were wounded, he said.
AP
Hindustan Times – September 11, 2006.
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Al Qaeda issues threat to Gulf
Dubai – September 11,, 2006 – Al Qaeda warned in a video aired on the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks that US allies Israel and the Gulf Arab states would be its next target in a campaign that would seal the West’s economic doom. Deputy Al Qaeda head Ayman al Zawahri said in remarks apparently addressed to Western leaders, ”I tell them do not bother yourselves with defending your forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. These forces are doomed to failure.” Zawahri’s warning of attacks in the Gulf, the world’s top oil exporting region, follows previous calls by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to target oil facilities to cripple the West. In the video, Zawahri urged Muslims to step up their attacks against the US and the West.
Reuters
Hindustan Times – September 12 2006.
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Suicide car bomber kills 4 Iraqis
Baghdad – A suicide car bomber tried to attack a US military convoy in eastern Baghdad and at least four Iraqi bystanders were killed and three people injured, the police said. There were no reports of any American injuries in the attack, which took place in Baghdad’s eastern neighbourhood of Mustansiriya.
AP
Hindustan Times – September 12, 2006.
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Experts: US likely to be hit again
Washington – September 10, 2006 - Despite a government overhaul and more than $250 billion spent to bolster security on airlines, at borders and in seaports, few doubt Al Qaeda’s intent to strike the United States again. “I know of nobody in the intelligence field who doesn’t believe there will be another attack,” said Thomas Kean, former New Jersey governor “There’s going to be another attack,” Mr. Kean said.
(AP)
The Asian Age – September 11, 2006.
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US embassy in Syria attacked
Damascus – September 12, 2006 – Armed Islamic militants attempted to storm the US Embassy in a bold attack today using automatic rifles, hand grenades and at least one van rigged with explosives, the government said. Syrian security forces killed three of the attackers. A witness said one Syrian guard outside the embassy was also killed.
AP
Hindustan Times – September 13, 2006.
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Terror camps spreading in rural UK: Recruits Don’t Need To Go To Pak
Security experts fear increasing numbers of terror training camps being set up in Britain. Previously, recruits travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan for the final stages of their indoctrination. But the police warn that parts of the UK are now seen as havens for terror camps. On Monday night, Scotland Yard charged Ugandan-born Yassin Mutegombwa with terrorist offences after he allegedly attended camps near a New Forest caravan site and on a former Berkshire farm. He is accused of receiving weapons training at both places on three occasions this year. His brother was charged with financing terrorism. The pair was among 14 held in a series of raids across London on September 1. Last week it was reported that young Muslims in Manchester were attending training sessions at a paintball park near Congleton, Cheshire.
Ben Taylor & Dan Newling/Daily mail, London
The Times of India – September 13, 2006.
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Fragile states are fertile ground for terrorism
Singapore – September 14, 2006 – The World Bank on Thursday called for more effective assistance to countries in danger of collapse due to conflict and poverty, which it said make fertile ground for terrorism, crime and disease. The number of such “fragile” states has risen sharply to 26 this year from 17 in 2003 with some 500 million people. A report said, “Neglecting the fragile states – home to ‘500 million people, half of whom are living in extreme poverty – risks worsening their misery, in turn feeding regional land global instability,” said Vinod Thomas, head of the unit.
AFP
Hindustan Times – September 15, 2006.
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France now in Al Qaeda sights
Deputy Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged a militant Algerian Islamist group to punish “Crusader nation” France, even though it vehemently opposed the US-led war in Iraq, a newspaper said on Thursday. The Le Figaro daily cited a security expert who had reviewed the entire tape released on Monday, in which Zawahiri called on the Algerian GSPC group to become “a bone in the throat of the American and French crusaders”. He also urged the GSPC to sow fears “in the hearts of the traitors and the apostate sons of France” and to crush the “pillars of the Crusader alliance.”
AP
Hindustan Times – September 15, 2006.
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Four Killed as Six Blasts Rip Through Southern Thai City
Taipei Times (09/18/06) P. 1 ; Yai, Hat
A Canadian English teacher was among four people killed Saturday night when six bombs exploded simultaneously in the popular tourist city of Hat Yai, Thailand. The attacks wounded 72 others, including an American and three Britons. The bombs were planted in areas frequented by expatriates and tourists, including bars, cafes, a hotel, and two department stores. Two of the bombs were planted inside motorcycles and detonated remotely via a cell phone. About 1,000 tourists have been evacuated from the area. Attacks by Islamic terrorists have killed more than 1,400 people in southern Thailand, but the Canadian teacher was the first Westerner to die in the attacks
Security Management Daily September 18, 2006
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4 Arrested in Alleged Al Qaeda Bomb Plot
Los Angeles Times (09/17/06)
Authorities in Sana, Yemen, thwarted suicide-bombing terrorist attacks on two oil facilities on Friday, killing four terrorists who were attempting to blow up the installations. On Saturday, four other alleged Al Qaeda terrorists were arrested in connection with the plot. During the arrests, authorities seized a dozen bags of volatile explosives, with each bag containing up to 110 pounds of explosive material.
Security Management Daily September 18, 2006
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Terror shadow on recruitment drive
New Delhi – September 20, 2006 – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered Jammu and Kashmir youths jobs in paramilitary forces as part of his reconstruction plan. Seven hundred jobs are still on offer in the CRPF, but there are no takers for them. Terror threats to families of fresh recruits in the Central Reserve Police Force and a stern warning to others is discouraging enough for the youth to sign up. Adding to the problems is the discrepancy in the rules drafted in Delhi and the ground situation in the troubled state. Militants from outfits like the Hizbul Mujahideen started meeting families of the fresh recruits in their native villages to ask the jawans to withdraw from the force.
Aloke Tikku
Hindustan Times – September 21, 2006.
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'Kill PM' Al-Qaeda Video Game
Sun (UK) (09/21/06) ; Hughes, Simon
A U.K.-based Islamic organization has created a video game targeted at children that casts players in the role of well-armed Al Qaeda operatives attempting to assassinate President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The game, which was created by the Global Islamic Media Front, features instructions in English. A U.K. politician has called for police to investigate the game and prosecute its creator. The game attempts to brainwash children, says one terrorism expert. Meanwhile, a board game called "War on Terror" has sparked similar controversy.
Security Management Daily – September 21, 2006
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16 hurt in grenade attack in Sri Lanka
Vavuniya (Sri Lanka) – September 13, 2006 - A powerful explosion ripped through a chicken market in Sri Lanka’s northern town of Vavuniya on Wednesday, wounding 16 civilians. The police believed the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) exploded a grenade inside the market.
AFP
Hindustan Times – August 21, 2006
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Suicide attack kills 2 US soldiers
Baghdad – September 15, 2006 – A suicide bomber killed two US soldiers and wounded 25 more in one of the biggest attacks on coalition troops, as Shia and Sunni Muslims went to Friday prayers amid a spike in sectarian violence. The suicide bomber detonated his vehicle “next to a hardened structure the guards were guarding” west of Baghdad, the US military said, killing the two soldiers instantly and wounding another 25.
(AFP)
The Asian Age – September 16, 2006.
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1 killed, 4 hurt in LTTE attack
Colombo – September 17, 2006 – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a roadside bomb near Sri Lankan forces on a foot patrol on Sunday, wounding four, and shot to death one electricity board employee in an overnight attack, the military said. The roadside explosion in the eastern Trincomalee district injured a soldier, a guard and two civilians, a defence ministry spokesman said.
Anthony Deutsch/(AP)
The Asian Age – September 18, 2006
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18 killed in suicide attack in Kirkuk
Kirkuk – September 17, 2006 – A suicide truck bomber firing a machine gun with one hand exploded his vehicle near a police centre on Sunday, killing, at least 18 people. Four other blasts rocked the city, killing another four people. The attack on the police centre, which wounded at least 65 people, was clearly aimed at Iraq’s fledgling security forces, the police said.
Marwan Ibrahim /(AFP)
The Asian Age - September 17, 2006.
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3 US troops killed in Baghdad
Baghdad – September 19, 2006 – Three US soldiers died in separate incidents in Baghdad, the US military reported on Tuesday. On Sunday, one soldier was killed when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in northeast Baghdad while the second was killed by small arms fire shortly thereafter in north-central Baghdad.
(AFP)
The Asian Age – September 20, 2006.
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4 hurt in explosion in Pak province
Khar (Pakistan) – September 19, 2006 – Suspected Islamic militants detonated a roadside bomb near a van carrying government employees in a Pakistani tribal region on Tuesday, wounding two female health workers, their driver and a passer-by, an official said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is suspected Islamic militants carried it out.
(AP)
The Asian Age – September 20, 2006.
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Double bombing kills 21 and injures 50 in Iraq
Baghdad – September 20, 2006 – A suicide truck bomb slammed into a Baghdad police headquarters on Wednesday, killing seven policemen, and wounding 14 people, said police Captain Jamil Hussein. Authorities said a double bombing in northern Iraq overnight killed 21 people and wounded another 50.
Qais Al-Bashir / (AP)
The Asian Age – September 21, 2006.
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6 policemen killed in Iraq
Baghdad – September 21, 2006 – Six policemen were killed when their western Baghdad station was hit with mortar and gunfire on Thursday, while the US military said an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the capital.
- The Asian Age – September 22, 2006.
Baghdad explosion kills 32
Baghdad – September 23, 2006 – A bomb blew up a kerosene tanker truck in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighbourhood on Saturday, and killed lat least 32 people.
AP
Hindustan Times – September 24, 2006.
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Taliban bombs kill 20
Kandahr – A suicide blast tore through a crowded southern Afghan town on Tuesday, killing 18 people, while a powerful bomb in Kabul killed an Italian soldier and a child in a wave of Taliban attacks. The suicide attacker blew himself up at a security post near a mosque in Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, where hundreds of people had gathered to decide who would go to the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca later this year.
AFP
Hindustan Times – September 27, 2006.
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Grenade attack in market
Srinagar – September 25, 2006 – Suspected militants tossed a hand grenade into a running police jeep at Maharaj Bazaar here, on the first day of the fasting month of Ramzan on Monday, killing a woman police officer and wounding six others. Witnesses said that the grenade exploded inside the police Gypsy, causing the casualties.
Special Correspondent
The Asian Age – September 26, 2006.
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Prabhakaran agrees to talks
Colombo – September 27, 2006 –The LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, has assured the Sri Lankan government that his organnisation will enter into sincere talks to end the current military conflict and find a solution to the ethnic problem, according to the government’s defence spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella. One of the main demands of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government has been that Prabhakaaran himself must give a “credible and verifiable” assurance that he will enter into unconditional and sincere talks. Prabhakaran had said that he would be available, in some way, for consultations during the talks, Rambukwella said. The LTTE chief had explained that because of security considerations, he would not be present at the talks venue itself.
P.K. Balachandran
Hindustan Times – September 28, 2006.
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Attacks in J&K on 3rd day of Ramzan
Srinagar – Terrorist attacks on Wednesday killed a policeman at Bori Kadal in downtown Srinagar, injuring another at the Jehangari chowk. A policemen spokesman said terrorists opened fire from close range on Ghulam Mohammad Malik, a selection grade constable of Jammu and Kashmir police, when he was escorting the deputy commissioner of sales tax department. The terrorists fired at the police officer and killed him on the spot.
M. Saleem Pandit/TNN
THE Times of India – September 28, 2006.
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Taliban bomb Afghan official’s compound
A Taliban suicide bomber killed 18 people outside a provincial governor’s compound on Tuesday. A blast at the doorstep of Helmand governor Mohammed Daoud Safi’s compound came on the same day an attack against a Nato patrol in Kabul area killed an Italian soldier and a child.
The Times of India – September 28, 2006.
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Taliban set up office in Pak district
Miramshah – September 29, 2006 – The Taliban Shura has appointed a committee to run their office in Miramshah, the HQ of North Waziristan Agency. The Taliban have imposed ban on the movement of “masked men” in the agency and asked people to inform them if anybody found moving about in the area with his face covered. The pamphlet said that if an incident of robbery, dacoity or any other criminal act took place in the area, people should immediately contact the Taliban by phone or lodge a complaint at their office.
Pazir Gul / Dawn
The Asian Age – September 30, 3006.
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Al Qaeda asks N-scientists to join jihad
Baghdad – September 29, 2006 – In an audio tape released on Thursday, an Al Qaeda leader called for nuclear scientists to join his group’s holy war and urged insurgents to kidnap Westerners so that they could be traded for blind Egyptian sheik who is serving a life sentence in a US prison. “We are in dire need of you,” said the speaker, who identified himself as Abu Hamza Al Muhajir – also known as Abu Ayyub Al Masri, in the audiotape. The field of jihad can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them.” The voice could not be independently identified but it was thought to be Al Masri’s, who is believed to have succeeded Abu Musaba Al Zarqawi (died in June).
David Rising/AP
Hindustan Times – September 30, 2006.
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Food for Thought
An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while the pessimist sees only the red stoplight. The truly wise person is colour-blind.
- Albert Schweitzer
A liberal knows that the only certainty in this life is change, but believes that the change can be directed toward a constructive end.
- Henry A. Wallace
Pride defeats its own end, by bringing the man who seeks esteem and reverence into contempt.
- Henry Bolingbroke
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