India Deploys Rapid Response Team To Nuclear Facilities

It’s difficult to say if the threat reported here a couple of weeks ago have increased however; news sources in India today say that the government has tightened security at its nuclear facilities, assigning a rapid response military team to complement civil protection measures after intelligence warnings the sites were a prime target for militants.

There are 22 nuclear reactors across the country, some of them close to crowded cities such as Mumbai, and guarding them is seen as a security challenge for a country of 1.1 billion people. Army officials told Reuters that this was the first time the country was strengthening coordination between its civilian forces and military to secure nuclear facilities.

“The security arrangement in place at all vital installations is unprecedented to tackle all kinds of threats,”an army officer said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Federal forces guarding vital installations traditionally also provide security to nuclear facilities, but junior Home Minister Mullappally Ramachandran said the military was also being brought in and air defence cover provided.

“In view of the prevailing security scenario, the nuclear installations continue to remain prime target of the terrorist outfits,” Ramachandran told parliament on Tuesday.

The security move comes within weeks of intelligence warnings that militants looking for targets may have carried out reconnaissance of some of the nuclear facilities.

via Reuters

Terrorists Launch Simultaneous Attacks In Lahore Pakistan

Militants launched a series of simultaneous attacks against police facilities in Lahore Pakistan today, killing at least 18 people and plunging the Pakistani city into chaos.

Attackers armed with weapons and suicide jackets attacked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) headquarters in the city centre and two police training centres on the outskirts just after 9am this morning.

Police said two of the attacks were over but one, at the Elite Police Training School, was continuing, with reports of explosions and intermittent gunfire. Helicopters hovered overhead as authorities deployed paramilitary forces across Punjab province.

At least three people were reported to have died at the training facility, located among fields on edge of the city. Police and paramilitary rangers surrounded the facility and appeared to be preparing to storm the building.

According to reports, the attackers included women, which would be a new departure in Pakistan’s rapidly escalating battle against extremist militancy.

Meanwhile, in North West Frontier province a Taliban suicide bomber exploded his vehicle next to a police station killing 10 people, including school children.

via Several killed as militants attack Pakistan police buildings | World news | guardian.co.uk.