Small Scale Terrorism Plots Pose New Threat

For some time now intelligence experts have warned of a disturbing trend towards homegrown terrorism. Coupled with an additional trend towards smaller scale plots and terror cells comprised of only 1 or more people, authorities are concerned.

After disrupting two recent terrorism plots, American intelligence officials are increasingly concerned that extremist groups in Pakistan linked to Al Qaeda are planning smaller operations in the United States that are harder to detect but more likely to succeed than the spectacular attacks they once emphasized, senior counterterrorism officials say.

The two cases — one involving two Chicago men accused this week of planning an attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the prophet Mohammad, the other a 24-year-old Denver shuttle bus driver indicted in a plot to use improvised explosives — are among the most serious in years, the officials said.

In both, the officials said, the main defendants are long-term residents of the United States with substantial community ties who traveled to Pakistan’s tribal areas, where they apparently trained with extremist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda. The officials, from American military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, spoke on the condition that they not be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the cases.

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2 Chicago Men Charged in Terror Plot Over Muhammad Cartoons

Two Chicago men have been charged in a terrorist conspiracy targeting the facilities and employees of a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Read Federal Criminal Complaint

Details From The Chicago Breaking News Center

Terrorism-related charges were filed against two Chicago men today, accusing them of plotting against targets in Western Europe, including “facilities and employees” of a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked riots in the Muslim world.

Charged are David Coleman Headley, 49, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48.

Headley was described as an American citizen who changed his name from Daood Gilani. He was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts involving murder and maiming outside the U.S. and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the conspiracy, according to a release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Rana, a native of Canada, was charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign conspiracy involving Headley and three other individuals.

Both men remain in federal custody, officials said.

Since at least late 2008 until he was arrested on Oct. 3, 2009, Headley identified and conducted surveillance of potential targets for a terrorist attack during two trips to Denmark in January and July 2009, according to federal complaints against the two men.

Rana allegedly helped arrange Headley’s travels overseas and conceal their purpose, and discussed potential targets for attack with Headley.

Headley allegedly reported and attempted to report n his overseas surveillance to other conspirators, according to the affidavits, including:

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2nd Chicago Man Tied To Terror Plot

The Chicago Tribune reports that the FBI has arrested a second Chicago man allegedly involved in an international terrorist plot with Western European targets.

The man was taken into custody Oct. 3 before he boarded a flight at O’Hare International Airport to Philadelphia, the first stop on a trip to Pakistan, where he planned to meet people with known ties to terrorist organizations that have carried out fatal attacks that resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens, a source said. He has not been charged.

After that arrest, dozens of FBI agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Oct. 18 raided a Grundy County meat-processing plant that specializes in Islamic foods.

The owner of the plant, Tahawar Hussain Rana, also of Chicago, was arrested at his North Side home the same day as the raid on First World Management Services in Kinsman, northwest of Dwight. Agents seized records from the plant, as well as a related North Side business also raided the same day, said the source, who is familiar with the investigation.

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Terror Attack Warnings Issued in Pakistan

Pakistan continues to face terrorist threats and intelligence agencies have issued increased security warnings in face of possible terror strikes across the country.

According to local media reports, the county’s major government building, offices and officials from law enforcement agencies have been placed on militant hit lists.

Awami National Party (ANP) leaders including North Western Frontier Province information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain and other leaders are among the target list of pro-Taliban militants, a Press TV correspondent reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the military said at least five militants were killed and eight others injured during an offensive in the South Waziristan Agency in northwest Pakistan.

Security forces have also claimed to have seized several landmines and rocket launchers in Quetta city in southwest Pakistan late on Saturday.

via Source.

Suicide Bomber Strikes Near Nuclear Facility in Pakistan

A Taliban suicide bomber has killed seven people near a nuclear weapons complex in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Bill Roggio at The Long War Journal has the details .

The suicide bomber detonated outside a security checkpoint near the Kamra Air Weapon Complex in the district of Attock, Geo News reported. Three security personnel and four civilians were killed in the blast, and 12 more were wounded.

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The Kamra Air Weapon Complex is one of three military industrial production facilities in the Wah Cantt, according to Global Security. The Pakistani Ordnance Factories, a collection of 14 factories that produce arms and ammunition for the Pakistani armed forces, and Heavy Industries Taxila are also contained within the Wah Cantt. More than 40,000 Pakistanis are employed at the factories.

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UPDATE: A Taliban suicide bomber killed seven people outside a key Pakistani air force facility yesterday, with officials quick to deny suggestions the target was linked to the country’s nuclear program. Source

The Case Against Alleged Terror Suspect Tarek Mehanna

Alleged terror suspect Tarek Mehanna, arrested earlier this week, plotted to attack Americans at a shopping mall according to the FBI. Failing at that,it is alleged he turned to cyber attacks.

Frustrated at failing in his travels overseas to locate a terrorist training camp, a Massachusetts man returned home in 2003 to begin plotting a domestic terror attack. Thrilled by the 9/11 attacks and impressed by the success of the Washington, D.C., snipers in terrorizing the public in late 2002, Tarek Mehanna and several friends began planning an attack on a shopping mall, a Federal Bureau of Investigation complaint alleges.

In “multiple conversations, discussions, and preparation,” Tarek Mehanna, a student living at home with his parents in Sudbury, Mass., discussed with three other men how to “obtain automatic weapons, go to a shopping mall, and randomly shoot people,” according to the federal criminal complaint filed in a US district court Wednesday.

The trio – Mehanna, Ahmad Abousamra, and an unnamed informant – debated logistics, types of weapons needed, the number of attackers needed, how to coordinate the attack, and how to attack emergency responders, the FBI says.

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Shopping Mall Terror Plot Alleged In Boston Area Arrest

An alleged shopping mall terror plot on U.S. shopping malls has resulted in the arrest of A 27-year-old Massachusetts man according to early reports this morning. The man has been charged with conspiring with others to support and plan terror attacks in and outside the United States according to the reports.

From the Boston Herald

A 27-year-old man from Sudbury has been arrested on charges he planned terrorism attacks inside and outside the United States, including a plot to use automatic weapons to open fire at shoppers and emergency responders in shopping mall attacks, federal prosecutors said today.

Tarek Mehanna, is accused of conspiring with Ahmad Abousamra and others to obtain the automatic weapons needed to carry out a mall ambush in which they planned to open fire at random, said Acting U.S. Attorney Michael K. Loucks.

The plot included plans to fire at emergency responders, but was abandoned because the men could not obtain the weapons, authorities said.

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If this story and the names involved sound familiar …. This may be why.

From The Boston Globe 2008

Statements that Tarek Mehanna allegedly made to the FBI two years ago in the midst of a terrorism investigation came back to haunt him last weekend, when the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy graduate was arrested as he was about to board a Boston flight to start a new job overseas.

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Additional details are available at My Pet Jawa, who also covered the story here.

Turkey Detains 32 al Qaeda Terror Suspects Plotting Attacks

Reuters reports Turkish security forces have detained 32 suspected al Qaeda terrorists believed to have been plotting attacks on NATO, U.S. and Israeli targets.

The suspects were detained in simultaneous raids across eight provinces, it said, quoting security officials as saying some were believed to have been trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan.

Security officials found documents linking the suspects to the outlawed group during the raids.

“Teams from the Istanbul Anti-Terror Squad have launched an operation against al Qaeda members found to be planning operations against U.S. and Israeli representative offices and NATO installations,” Anatolian reported.

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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.

Report – Terrorist Plot To Attack World Cup Thwarted

The UK’s Daily Star is reporting that a plot by al-Qaada to attack next year’s World Cup has been thwarted by police. Officers in South Africa smashed a cell planning to hit Western targets according to the report.

The plan was being hatched in Khayelitsha, a shanty town near Cape Town, by militants linked to extremists in Somalia and Mozambique, off the east coast of Africa.

The network had links with Osama bin Laden’s henchmen in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a source said. Police seized mobile phones and SIM cards after intercepting a call to the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabaab group in Somalia discussing setting off bombs.

The source said: “The interception revealed that these people planned to move en masse from Mozambique to here in 2010.”

The operation was jointly run by American agents, SA’s National Intelligence Agency and senior police forces.

But yesterday analyst Hussein Solomon, head of the International Institute of Islamic Studies in Pretoria, blasted security preparations as “woefully inadequate”.

He said: “We must not think we are protected because we are not.”

Both England and the US have qualified for the World Cup, which will be the first to be held in Africa.

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Milan Terrorist Had Accomplices, More Explosives

It’s surprising that yesterdays terror attack on the Milan army barracks is not receiving more attention. The New York Post reports that two additional suspects have been taken into custody, and if the 100kg of fertilizer that was confiscated is any indication of what the group had planned, the attack could have been much worse.

The Libyan man who tried to bomb a Milan army barracks had suspected accomplices and the group had more explosives ready, police said on Tuesday.

There was no official word on the motive for the attack but newspapers said the 35-year-old failed suicide bomber, Mohammed Game, was an unsuccessful businessman who turned to militant Islam and wanted to force Italy to pull out of Afghanistan.

Police said they had arrested two of Game’s suspected accomplices — an Egyptian and a Libyan — and found 100 kg of “fertilizers and other materials” used to make explosives at one of their homes.

Game got inside the perimeter of the Santa Barbara barracks early on Monday and detonated his bomb while shouting in Arabic. But an army corporal managed to stop him getting close to the main building and a defect meant the bomb only detonated partly.

“It could have been much worse,” said Milan anti-terrorism magistrate Armando Spataro, who was heading the investigation.

Source

Tags: milan bomb, milan bomber, milan terror, terror attack, terror plot, terrorism, terrorist

Surviving Disaster – Shopping Mall Active Shooter

October 13, 2009 by national  
Filed under Emergency Preparedness

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For terrorists intent on making a statement, a shopping mall is a perfect target. Tonight on Spike TV’s Surviving Disaster, Host Cade Courtley shows you how to survive and escape an active shooting by a group of terrorists in a shopping mall.

Watch The Video Preview here.

Tags: active shooter, cade courtley, disaster, Shopping mall, spike tv, surviving disaster, terror attack

Taliban Gunmen Take Hostages at Pakistan’s Military HQ

October 10, 2009 by national  
Filed under World Report

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UPDATE: Pakistani security forces have launched an operation to free hostages being held by militants in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad. Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC the operation had been a success with most hostages freed but he could not give casualty figures.

Original Post

Fifteen people have been taken hostage in a brazen terrorist attack on Pakistan’s main army headquarters. Six soldiers are reported to have died in a shootout as suspected Taliban terrorists took over the facility.

Aleem Maqbool from BBC News in Islamabad points out in his analysis, the army’s main headquarters lies within one of the most heavily secured areas in the country. To attack it in the middle of the day, and then take hostages, shows a new level of audacity on the part of the militants.

Just a few weeks ago, the government here said it was winning its fight against the militants, and that the Taliban was in disarray. The events of this week will have many questioning those claims.

Source

From the UK Telegraph

Gunmen wearing army uniforms killed the soldiers when they attacked Pakistan’s army headquarters. They shot their way through a first checkpoint before a firefight broke out at the second checkpoint.

Four of the attackers were killed and an army spokesman declared the attack over. But soon afterwards it emerged that two more who were holed up inside the heavily fortified complex were still fighting seven hours later, as helicopters with snipers on board prowled the skies of Rawalpindi hunting for attackers who may have escaped. It became clear several hours into the incident that the attackers had taken hostages, thought to include several soldiers. Senior officers including a brigadier and a lieutenant-colonel were among the dead.

via Source.

Debka is reporting the attack on the Military HQ could be part of a much larger strategy by the Taliban, one that culminates in the takeover of at least part of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. U.S. and Pakistan authorities have repeatedly stated the nuclear arsenal is safe and that contingency plans are in place should the Taliban make such an attempt.

From Debka: Taliban gunmen take hostages at Pakistan’s military HQ, push towards its nuclear arsenal

Tags: hq, pakistan military headquarters, taliban, taliban hostages, terror attack, terrorism, terrorist

Alleged US Terror Plot Among The Most Serious – Holder

October 6, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News  
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Attorney General Eric Holder made it clear, the recently disrupted New York terror / bombing plot represented one of the most serious security threats to the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks,  said on Tuesday. When asked about whether there would be more arrests and others charged, Holder replied, “It is our intention to bring all those involved in the plot to justice” and “the investigation is ongoing.”

From Reuters
“I can say the investigation is pretty far along. We have a pretty good handle who was involved and what was intended,” Holder told a news briefing.

“This alleged plot was one of the most serious terrorist threats to our country since September 11, 2001.”

An Afghan immigrant, Najibullah Zazi, was indicted last month by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of plotting to explode bombs in the United States. Zazi, who is being held without bail, has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said Zazi took a bomb-making course at an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, had notes on how to make explosives his laptop computer and acquired materials similar to those used in bomb attacks in London in 2005, buying acetone and hydrogen peroxide at beauty supply stores.

Holder said the plot, if it had been successful, could have killed “scores” of Americans, based on the chemicals involved, the history of similar plots and the number of people suspected of being involved.

The FBI has had under surveillance other suspects it believes may have helped Zazi acquire the chemicals and consulted with him on how to make explosives.

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Tags: holder, homeland security, new york terror, terror, terror attack, terror plot, terrorism, terrorist, zazi

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