Taliban Threatens To Poison Waziristan Water Supply

Pakistani Taliban have threatened to contaminate water sources and reservoirs with poisonous materials to pressure the army to stop.

The cantonment boards of Rawalpindi and Chaklala received the threat from the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. A letter, faxed to the Directorate of Military Lands and Cantonments in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, said the Taliban had procured 200 litres of poisonous materials that would be used to contaminate water.

Source

From The Deccan Herald

Confirming reports of the threat from the Taliban, Rafiq Adil Siddique, the CEO of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board, said the Directorate of Military Lands and Cantonments has taken “effective security measures”.

All six wards in the area have been divided into four zones headed by engineers, supervisors, directors, tube-well operators and valve men to ensure the security of water sources.

Tube-well operators and valve men have been issued special instructions to keep the doors of their offices closed and boundary walls of tube-well sections are being raised, the daily reported.

Source

German Police Seek Terror Suspect In Afghanistan

Germany’s federal police are reported to have taken an unusual step of distributing posters in Afghanistan, warning of a German terrorism suspect thought to be hiding in one of the tribal areas.

Authorities have identified a 27-year-old German convert to Islam as the al-Qaida associate suspected of traveling to Afghanistan and planning to attack German targets

According to the report, red-framed posters have been placed in the capital Kabul and other Afghan cities, alerting people to the 27-year-old Muslim convert known as “Jan Sch.”, whom the poster describes as possibly “violent and armed”.

The Kazakhstan-born German from Saarland is believed to be hiding in the remote border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan and is suspected of having links to terror network Al-Qaida.

His targets could be German military bases or civilian reconstruction facilities, the report said.

The federal police (BKA) have aimed the posters at international forces in the war-torn country and have therefore put them up mostly at security checkpoints and facilities where foreigners work.

Jan Sch. is regarded by German anti-terrorism officials as part of the so-called “Sauerland group”, led by another convert, Fritz Gelowicz, who was caught along with three co-conspirators while planning a major terrorist attack in Germany in 2007.

via Sourcel.

Terrorists Using Blogs To Engage Counter-terrorist Experts Online

This is an interesting article from the UK. Although I have never received any response from known terrorists on this site, I’ve often wondered if someone like Adnan G. el Shukrijumah, Adam Gadahn or others go online to research and read stories and posts about themselves. When someone like Gerald Posner does an in-depth investigative piece on a terrorist like el Shukrijumah, does el Shukrijumah see it? My assumption has always been that he does. Many well known terrorists have an obvious strong desire for attention in the media and this article makes that case.

A senior Arab Afghan adviser to al Qaeda and the Taliban has openly challenged an Australian counter-terrorism expert in a series of blog posts. Abu Walid al Masri has written direct responses to Leah Farrall, an Australian academic who writes the All things Counter Terrorism blog and has years of experience fighting terrorism with the Australian Federal Police.

Farrall recently described al Masri as “one of Mullah Omar’s most trusted advisers” in an op-ed for the Australian. He has written 12 books in Arabic relating to Afghanistan and al Qaeda, and has just re-emerged as an author for the Taliban’s flagship magazine publication, in which he recently encouraged the Taliban to engage in the kidnapping of British and American soldiers. Because of this, Al Masri has been one of Farrall’s “main academic interests for many years” and she was shocked read his blog posts about her: “To say that I am blown away by this would be a pretty massive understatement”.

In his first blog post, Abu Walid al Masri joked that Farrall’s “focus on academic research will give us a bit of comfort and space so we can work safely in the field (terrorism). Therefore I thought it would be a good to distract her with these dialogues so the rest of the gang can do the work.”

He compares Farrall to the “beautiful female soldiers” who tortured “our brothers” in Abu Ghraib, and then begins the dialogue sardonically:

Read Full Article

Terrorists in Kabul Attack UN Guesthouses and Hotel

UPDATE: Insurgents Wednesday morning attacked two guesthouses and a hotel in downtown Kabul that housed United Nations and other international staff, in one of their most daring attacks on the Afghan capital.

According to the Associated Press, at least seven people were killed in the guesthouse attacks, including three United Nations staff.

There also were sounds of explosions elsewhere in the city, suggesting a large-scale, coordinated attack on the capital.

The assailants managed to take over one of the guesthouses, Bakhtar, but were repelled by security guards at another, the Imperial. According to a U.N. spokesman in Kabul, three U.N. staff members were killed in the Bakhtar attack, and an unknown number was injured.

By midmorning the hostage crisis appeared to be over and the building secured, with firemen trying to extinguish fire amid billowing smoke on the roof.

Source

UN staff killed in Kabul attack

The attack began at dawn on Wednesday

At least three UN employees have been killed in an attack in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul, the UN says.

Heavy gunfire and an explosion were heard at a guesthouse used by the UN, after militants entered the building.

An Afghan official later told the BBC that six foreigners and three gunmen were killed in the attack for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.

There are also reports of rockets being fired at the Serena Hotel in the city, which is used by diplomats.

There is no information yet on whether anyone has been injured or killed at the hotel, but about 100 people inside at the time were taken to secure rooms.

Read Full Article

Afghan forces exchanged gunfire with a group of terrorists holed up inside an international guest house in the centre of Kabul on Wednesday, police said.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan said it was possible some of its staff and other foreigners were inside.

Intense automatic weapons fire and an explosion resounded in the capital, and plumes of black smoke rose above buildings.

A Reuters witness said a number of streets had been cordoned off by the police as the gunfire continued, and sirens reverberated across the city.

“There are five or six terrorists inside,” said Waheed Sadiqi, a policeman at the scene.

An increasingly resurgent Taliban have vowed to stage attacks ahead of a second-round run-off in Afghanistan’s presidential election on Nov. 7.

via Read Full Article

AFP reprts

Afghan police were locked in a stand-off with a “group of terrorists” holed up in an apartment building in central Kabul on Wednesday, a police officer at the scene said.

The police officer told AFP that one of the group detonated an explosives vest before the rest of the group fled into the apartment building in a crowded neighbourhood near Kabul’s Chicken Street.

“We don’t know how many of them there are,” he said.

An AFP reporter and photographer saw a number of wounded being taken from the area to a local hospital, including at least two foreigners.

Source

Western Terror Recruits Are On The Rise

A rising number of Western recruits including Americans are traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan to attend paramilitary terrorist training camps.

Midway through a propaganda video released last month by a group calling itself the German Taliban, a surprise guest made an appearance: a cleanshaven, muscular gunman sporting the alias Abu Ibrahim the American.

The gunman did not speak but wore military fatigues and waved his rifle as subtitles identified him as an American. The video contained a stream of threats against Germany if it did not withdraw its troops from the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Although the American’s part in the film lasted only a few seconds, it has alarmed German and U.S. intelligence officials, who are still puzzling over his background, his real identity and how he became involved with the terrorist group.

U.S. and European counterterrorism officials say a rising number of Western recruits including Americans are traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan to attend paramilitary training camps. The flow of recruits has continued unabated, officials said, in spite of an intensified campaign over the past year by the CIA to eliminate al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders in drone missile attacks.

via Read Article.

Militants Pose A Serious Threat To Pakistans Future

An analysis in Sunday’s UK telegraph describes Pakistan’s government and army as being in a state of denial about the extent of the Taliban’s threat, despite nearly a dozen suicide attacks in as many days.

Pakistan’s militants are intent on nothing less than toppling the government, assassinating the ruling establishment, imposing an Islamic state and getting hold of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.

The attacks in advance of the army’s ground offensive in South Waziristan were widespread, taking place in three of the country’s four provinces and involving not just Taliban tribesmen from the Pashtun ethnic group, but extremist Punjabi factions who were until recently trained by the Interservices Intelligence (ISI) to fight India in Kashmir.

Read Full Article
\

NY Times Reporter Tells His Story – Held by the Taliban

Today the New York Times launched the first installment in a five-part series offering a first-person account by reporter David Rohde, of his seven months as a captive of the Taliban in Pakistan. Mr. Rohde was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues on Nov. 10, 2008, as they traveled to an interview with a Taliban commander outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Rohde and Afghan reporter Tahir Ludin, 35, you might remember,escaped their captors by climbing over the wall of a compound where they were held in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan.

The articles are based on Mr. Rohde’s recollections and, where possible, records kept by his family and colleagues. For safety reasons, certain names and details have been withheld.

The car’s engine roared as the gunman punched the accelerator and we crossed into the open Afghan desert. I was seated in the back between two Afghan colleagues who were accompanying me on a reporting trip when armed men surrounded our car and took us hostage.

Another gunman in the passenger seat turned and stared at us as he gripped his Kalashnikov rifle. No one spoke. I glanced at the bleak landscape outside — reddish soil and black boulders as far as the eye could see — and feared we would be dead within minutes.

It was last Nov. 10, and I had been headed to a meeting with a Taliban commander along with an Afghan journalist, Tahir Luddin, and our driver, Asad Mangal. The commander had invited us to interview him outside Kabul for reporting I was pursuing about Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The longer I looked at the gunman in the passenger seat, the more nervous I became. His face showed little emotion. His eyes were dark, flat and lifeless.

I thought of my wife and family and was overcome with shame. An interview that seemed crucial hours earlier now seemed absurd and reckless. I had risked the lives of Tahir and Asad — as well as my own life. We reached a dry riverbed and the car stopped. “They’re going to kill us,” Tahir whispered. “They’re going to kill us.”

via Read The Full First Installmemt.

Truck Bomb Targeting NATO Troops Kills 25 in Afghanistan

A logging truck rigged with explosives detonated near Afghanistan’s capital, killing 25 people Thursday morning, local officials said.

The attack near Kabul seemed to be targeted at NATO troops in the area, but there were no reports of casualties or injuries to coalition troops, said Deen Mohammed Darwesh, a spokesman for the governor of Logar province.

Twenty-one civilians and four policemen were killed in the attack, said Zamarai Bashari, spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Ten other people were wounded in the attack. Many of the wounded were students going to school, the Interior Ministry spokesman said.

U.S. Soldier Captured in Afghanistan

Insurgents have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Thursday.

Spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier went missing Tuesday.

“We are using all of our resources to find him and provide for his safe return,” Mathias said.

Mathias did not provide details on the soldier, the location where he was captured or the circumstances.

“We are not providing further details to protect the soldier’s well-being,” she said.

An Afghan police official said the soldier went missing during the day Tuesday in the Mullakheil area of eastern Paktika province. Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said there is an American base in the area.

Source

U.S. Begins Major Offensive Operation Against Afghan Taliban

Thousands of U.S. Marines began a “major operation” in southern Afghanistan early today, moving into towns and villages to protect civilians from the Taliban under the Pentagon’s new counterinsurgency strategy.

Almost 4,000 American personnel and 650 Afghan soldiers are taking part in Operation Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword, pushing into the Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored vehicles to set up bases, the military said in an e-mailed statement.

“Where we go, we will stay and where we stay, we will hold,” Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said in the statement.

The operation comes two days after U.S. combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities under a drawdown that will allow the Pentagon to focus on the conflict in Afghanistan. The Marines involved in today’s offensive were deployed as reinforcements in May, as part of President Barack Obama’s commitment to defeat a resurgent Taliban.

U.S. General Stanley McChrystal assumed command of international forces in Afghanistan last month and is spearheading new counterinsurgency tactics aimed at better protecting civilians.

U.S. and NATO-led forces have failed to establish a permanent presence in the Helmand River valley, an insurgent stronghold and center of illicit opium production where militants have thrown out local police and government officials.

Read Full Article

West Warned on Nuclear Terrorist Threat From Pakistan

The next few months will be crucial in defusing a global terrorist threat that would be even deadlier than the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, a leading Washington counter-terrorism expert warns.

David Kilcullen — a former Australian army lieutenant colonel who helped devise the US troop surge that revitalised the American campaign in Iraq — fears Pakistan is at risk of falling under al-Qaeda control.

If that were to happen, the terrorist group could end up controlling what Dr Kilcullen calls “Talibanistan”. “Pakistan is what keeps me awake at night,” said Dr Kilcullen, who was a specialist adviser for the Bush administration and is now a consultant to the Obama White House.

“Pakistan has 173 million people and 100 nuclear weapons, an army which is bigger than the American army, and the headquarters of al-Qaeda sitting in two-thirds of the country which the Government does not control.”

Compounding that threat, the Pakistani security establishment ignored direction from the elected Government in Islamabad as waves of extremist violence spread across the whole country — not just in the tribal wilds of the Afghan border region.

“We have to face the fact that if Pakistan collapses it will dwarf anything we have seen so far in whatever we’re calling the war on terror now,” Dr Kilcullen told The Age during an interview at his Washington office. Late last month, when US President Barack Obama unveiled his new policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, he warned that al-Qaeda would fill the vacuum if Afghanistan collapsed, and that the terror group was already rooted in Pakistan, plotting more attacks on the US.

As the US implements its new strategy in Central Asia, Dr Kilcullen warned that time was running out for international efforts to pull both countries back from the brink.

via West warned on nuclear terrorist threat from Pakistan.

Austrian Al-Qaeda Cell Watched For 3 years

he Austrian public prosecutor’s office has reportedly been investigating an Austrian cell of worldwide terror network Al-Qaeda for three years.

The magazine News will have a report about that in its edition that goes on sale tomorrow (Thurs) based on documents allegedly in the possession of the Office for Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism (BVT).

The magazine claims US officials informed their Austrian counterparts at the end of 2005 that Austrian citizen Abdulrahmen H., born in Mödling, Lower Austria in 1983, and four others had trained as para-militaries at an Al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan from August to October 2005.

News said Abdulrahmen, the head of the Austrian Al-Qaeda cell, had been killed along the Afghan-Pakistani border and another cell member had died in Afghanistan. The magazine added three other cell members were abroad, one in prison in Tunisia.

News also reported BVT investigators had questioned a former Al-Qaeda member in October 2007 in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina about the training of Austrian cell members at Al-Qaeda camps.

The magazine added that, according to the charge against German terror suspect Aleem Nasir, Abdulrahman H. had trained at explosives expert Nasir’s “Mir Ali” camp in Pakistan.

Source

al Qaeda-Taliban Combo Has Chemical Weapon Formula

The al-Qaida-Taliban combo plans to use parts of the Middle East as launch pads for attacks against the west. Not only so, the groups

have also developed some expertise in making bio-chemical weapons, NWFP police chief Malik Navid told a Pakistan National Assembly’s standing committee.

Navid warned that the Pakistan government needed to urgently focus on containing militancy as it spread from its bases. “Taliban’s philosophy is to create pockets everywhere,” he said, adding that jihadi groups were moving through southern Punjab and eventually aimed to reach the financial hub of Karachi.

The frank assessment of the police official serves to confirm concerns about whether Pakistan and its military complex in particular was prepared to clearly acknowledge the threat posed by jihadists given the army and ISI see Taliban as allies in ensuring a “friendly” dispensation in Afghanistan while also feeding the jihad in Jammu and Kashmir. The army’s sporadic efforts to roll back jihadis lacked conviction and have predictably shown poor results.

Navid’s testimony also points to the virtual merger of al-Qaida with Taliban, with the latter being both part of the core and the major striking arm. Indian intelligence assessments see anti-India groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba being very much a part of this conglomerate.

via ‘Qaida-Taliban combo has chemical weapon formula’ – South Asia – World – The Times of India.

Baituallah Mehsud Claims Responsibility

Pakistani Taliban militant leader Baituallah Mehsud claimed on Saturday responsibility for an attack on a U.S. immigration center in New York state in which 13 people were killed.

“I accept responsibility. They were my men. I gave them orders in reaction to U.S. drone attacks,” Mehsud told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

via Reuters.

Next Page »