[Tolo News] At least six beturbanned goons were killed in NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... -led Arclight airstrike as they attacked an official's compound in eastern Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province on Sunday afternoon, local officials said Monday.
The incident took place around 2:45pm in the Hesarak district of Nangarhar province while the beturbanned goons were firing heavy arms at the district governor's compound, provincial front man Ahamad Zia Abdulzai told TOLOnews.
The Afghan and NATO security forces launched a military counter-attack in which a NATO helicopter targeted the thugs, killing 6 thugs.
The clash ended after the NATO helicopter fired on the thugs, he said.
There were no Afghan or NATO security forces, or civilian, casualties during the clash, he added.
Violence has increased in the province with at least six schools forced to close in the Khogyani district of the province after threats from local thugs.
The Taliban threatened harm against the schools occupants in retaliation for the arrest of a fellow thug, local officials said.
The circumstances of the arrest of a local school teacher by security forces are not clear; however, his release is being demanded by the Taliban beturbanned goons in the area, an official said.
Nangarhar provincial front man Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said that the teacher was tossed in the clink ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... based on evidence but a delegation has been sent to Khogyani district to investigate further.
The district has around 55 schools, officials said.
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#1
The circumstances of the arrest of a local school teacher by security forces are not clear; however, his release is being demanded
While the circumstances may not be clear, they must be correct, or the Taliban would not be worked up over it - mostly they seem to want to close schools and put teachers out of work. Maybe he was arrested because the class he was teaching was 'Panty-bombs 101?'
[Tolo News] At least six schools have been forced to close in Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. province's Khogyani district after local Taliban threatened harm in retaliation for the arrest of a fellow Death Eater, local officials said.
The circumstances of the arrest of a local school teacher by security forces are not clear; however, his release is being demanded by the Taliban faceless myrmidons in the area, an official said.
Which suggests they have more than a casual interest in his fate...
Nangarhar provincial front man Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said that the teacher was locked away I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! based on evidence but a delegation has been sent to Khogyani district to investigate further.
"The teacher was captured based on some proof. A delegation has been sent to investigate about the issue. The residents should not act before full clarification," Abdulzai told TOLOnews.
Provincial council members called upon the Taliban not to use schools for political or thug aims.
"Schools are for learning, they're not a political organ. We ask the forces of Evil not to close schools," Nangarhar council member Zabiullah Zmrai said.
"Closing schools is a national treason and should not be used for personal benefit," he added.
A front man for the provincial Education Department Asef Shinwari said six schools were closed by unknown thugs.
"Six schools were closed by unknown armed forces of Evil in the Khogyani district after several people including a school teacher were locked away I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! in a joint operation," Shinwari said.
"Militants have warned to keep the schools shut if he [the school teacher] is not released."
Khogyani is a remote district of eastern Nangarhar province with an active insurgency in the recent years.
The district has around 55 schools, officials said.
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[Tolo News] Afghan cops have cooled for a few years You have the right to remain silent... two people for attempting to assassinate Takhar provincial council members, Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Sunday.
The pair had placed explosives in a computer hard drive at the provincial council offices and were planning to detonate it during a council meeting, NDS media centre chief Shafiqullah Taheri said.
"Amir Shah, a resident of Taluqan the capital city of Takhar and a computer operator at the provincial council office, and Shahpoor, a resident of Yangi Qala [district] and a student at the faculty of agriculture at Takhar University, who placed bombs in a computer system and planned to explode it in Takhar's provincial council meeting, have been tossed in the slammer," Book 'im, Mahmoud! Taheri said in a presser.
In a separate incident, a person who planned to attack Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. 's airport was also cooled for a few years You have the right to remain silent... by NDS officials, Taheri said.
The person trained in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar and was sent to Jalalabad to launch a suicide kaboom on the airport, according to the NDS.
"He was trained by Mawlawi Nik Mohammad in Peshawar and was sent to launch a suicide attack on Jalalabad airport," Taheri said, without providing more details.
Taheri said at the conference that the Taliban are trying to create opportunities during the spring and target government officials to appear to escalate their attacks.
"Taliban are trying to take full advantage of the spring season and assassinate high-ranking government officials, but the NDS officials well not let them do so," he said.
The Taliban released a statement last week saying they would launch their "spring offensive" on May 3, suggesting that their attacks would become bigger or more frequent compared to their attacks during the winter.
On May 3, the NDS cooled for a few years You have the right to remain silent... a Pak national who was driving a truck laden with explosives in Kabul.
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(Sh.M.Network) --Uganda has deployed an additional 1,700 troops in volatile Somalia, bringing the total number of Ugandan peacekeepers in the Horn of African country to 8,000, a military front man said here on Monday.
Col. Felix Kulayigye, front man of the Uganda People's Defense Forces, told Xinhua by telephone that the troops will stay in the Somali capital Mogadishu as their colleagues advance deep into hostile territory.
"The troops have already arrived inSomalia. The troops will take charge of the security in Mogadishu as the rest of the troops will move out of the capital to clean up the rest of Somalia," he said.
"Everything is going on well. We hope to seize more positions from the Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... and take charge," he added.
The deployment of the troops which are operating under the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... Mission in Somalia was concluded over the weekend, according to the military.
This increase in the number of troops follows a February UN Security Council resolution that approved the increase in the number of African Union peacekeepers in Somalia from 12,000 to 17, 731.
Uganda and Burundi provide the bulk of the AU peacekeeping troops in the war torn country but also Kenya and Djibouti have troops deployed.
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(Sh.M.Network)-Kenya's top cop now says a deadly attack on a church in Nairobi appears the be the work of al-Qaeda-linked terrorists.
Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere Friday released a photo of the main suspect, known only by the alias Amar. Police officials said Amar is a native Kenyan but trained with al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... , a Somali Death Eater group with links to al-Qaeda.
Iteere also said an al-Shabaab leader named Sheik Ismael Ali grabbed credit for the church attack while preaching to followers in Somalia and vowed to send jacket wallahs toKenya.
Last month's grenade attack on God's House of Miracles International Church killed one person and maimed 16 others. Police officials initially said they thought the attack was the result of strife within the church itself.
A report by a panel of United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... experts issued last year warned al-Shabaab was trying to recruit new members from outside Somalia, and was focusing on other East African countries.
The News Agency that Dare Not be Named said Iteere warns Amar is just one of a number of Kenyans who are returning home after training with al-Shabaab. He says many of them appear to come from a slum inNairobi, the border region near Somalia and areas along the coast.
This article starring:
Sheik Ismael Ali
al-Shabaab
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] About a hundred fighters from across North Africa have joined the ranks of an Al-Qaeda offshoot which now dominates northern Mali, a Malian defence ministry official said on Sunday.
"According to our figures, about 100 north Africans, essentially from Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, have joined the ranks of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," a Malian defence ministry official told AFP.
"AQIM is also looking to recruit Moroccans and Egyptians en masse, but has not succeeded," the official added.
Islamic beturbanned goons and tribal Tuareg groups took advantage of a March 22 military coup in Bamako to push government forces out of northern Mali, an area the size of La Belle France and Belgium, including the cities of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.
In Timbuktu on Saturday, local residents said members of AQIM, supported by the armed Islamist group Ansar Dine, destroyed the tomb of a Mohammedan saint.
Mali's transitional government expressed outrage over the desecration, calling it "an unspeakable act", in a statement read out on national television.
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EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Six Egyptian soldiers were kidnapped by armed Bedouins in the Sinai peninsula on Saturday, before being released shortly afterward, Egyptian officials said.
The soldiers were kidnapped at gun point while on guard 5km from the Egyptian-Israeli border after masked gunnies arrived in two jeeps with unmarked number plates.
Egypt's army deployed dozens of armored tanks in the area, forcing the Bedouin gunnies to release the soldiers.
Sinai Bedouin complain of unfair treatment and government neglect and press their demands by blocking roads and occasionally taking tourists hostage, releasing them soon afterward following negotiations with the authorities.
Such incidents have become more frequent since the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... last year loosened the grip of state security and deepened lawlessness in the isolated Sinai.
Eight people have been killed in festivities in the Sinai in the past month, a Ma'an correspondent said.
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian security forces made a sweep of arrests in the northern Sinai early Monday, officials said.
Forces tossed in the slammer Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! 38 suspects in the city of El-Arish near the Gazoo Strip, including a Paleostinian wanted on weapons charges, a security official told Ma'an.
Security forces also seized people suspected of drug-dealing and theft, the official said.
Separately, families in the Egyptian border city Rafah turned in to the authorities two men suspected of planning a kaboom on the central security headquarters in the city.
Security officials said the pair are affiliated to Jihadi groups in the city and have been transferred to Cairo for questioning.
On Saturday, six Egyptian soldiers were kidnapped by armed Bedouins in the Sinai peninsula, before being released shortly afterward, officials said.
Egyptian security are battling for control of the peninsula since the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... last year loosened the grip of state security in the isolated Sinai.
Military officials also warned that Jihadi groups want to oust state forces and have launched a number of deadly attacks on security officers.
[An Nahar] Gunmen in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state on Monday rubbed out a Lebanese man and his Nigerian driver and kidnapped another Lebanese national, the state police front man said.
"The gunnies attacked the construction bus in which they were traveling, rubbed out a Lebanese and the Nigerian driver and kidnapped another Lebanese," Aminu Lawan told Agence La Belle France Presse on telephone from Kaduna city.
OTV identified the slain Lebanese man as Fadi Ibrahim. It visited the victim's house in the Zghorta District town of Irba and interviewed his family.
The TV network also identified the kidnapped Lebanese national as Amin Durraq, saying he hails from the Koura District town of Anfeh.
The Nigerian official said the attack took place at a location near Zaria, a large university town.
"We are on the lookout for the criminals and we are searching also for the kidnapped Lebanese," Lawan stated.
A large Lebanese community lives in Nigeria, as in many other African countries.
The attack has added to the feeling of insecurity in Africa's most populous nation battling to curb a deadly Islamist insurgency, especially in northern part of the country.
Islamist group Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... has carried out scores of attacks in the region but criminal groups have also committed violence under the guise of the group.
The sect has regularly widened its targets in its insurgency which has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009.
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[Telegraph.uk] A US drone strike in Yemen that killed two members of al-Qaeda on Sunday was part of a larger effort to intercept the "underwear bomb," the chairman of the US House Homeland Security Committee has said.
Peter King ...U.S. Representative for New York's 3rd (central Long Island) congressional district, serving since 1993. He is of the Publican persuasion and is known for his active support for the IRA Irish republican movement. King serves as the Chairman of the House Homeland Security
told CNN, a day after news of the intercepted bomb that authorities said was intended to make its way to an plane bound for the US or the West, that the drone was "part of the same operation".
Mr King and US security officials did not say what happened to the suspected jacket wallah or if he was killed in the strike. "The person who actually had the bomb is no longer a threat," he said.
John Brennan, President Barack Obama's The campaign's over, John... top counter terrorism adviser and a former CIA official, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that authorities are "confident that neither the device nor the intended user of this device pose a threat to us."
On Monday, the B.O. regime said Middle East authorities had seized an improved underwear bomb within the last 10 days that they said shows al Qaeda's determination to build bombs that can pass through airport security systems.
A day earlier, two Yemeni members of al-Qaeda were zapped by a missile strike on their car, although Washington and Yemen do not acknowledge US drone attacks on hard boyz in the country. "Why blame us? Coulda been anybody!"
US officials have said the plot was detected in its early stages and that no U.S. airliner was ever at risk.
Mr Brennan, who also spoke on NBC and CBS, said Americans boarding airplanes should feel confident that intelligence agencies are working to keep them safe and that officials are "confident that this redundant security system provides us the protection that we need."
US officials have said the latest bomb incorporated design features which were somewhat more sophisticated than a bomb used in two attempted attacks in 2009. Mr King told CNN the bomb did not have any metal parts.
Asked if the new, more sophisticated underwear bomb could have gotten through current airport security checks, Mr Brennan said it "was a threat from the standpoint of the design that we have been able to determine. Now we're trying to make sure that we take the measures that we need to to prevent any other type of IED similarly constructed from getting through."
The plot was proof of the "perverse and terrible" lengths they are willing to go, according to Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another James Baker ... .
Early indications suggest the bomb may have been the work of Ibrahim al-Asiri, al-Qaeda's "master" bomb maker
While the would-be suicide bomber had yet to select a target and there was no imminent threat of attack, the plot served as a reminder of al-Qaeda's ambitions to strike against US civilians.
Leon Panetta ...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... , the US defence secretary, confirmed the operation, saying the US must "continue to remain vigilant against those that would seek to attack this country."
Mrs Clinton, the US Secretary of State, speaking in New Delhi, said: "It is a reminder as to why we have to remain vigilant at home and abroad in protecting our nation and in protecting friendly nations and peoples like India and others."
The FBI said it had recovered the explosive itself but it was not clear whether the terrorist had been captured or killed.
Last night, FBI technicians were analysing the device and early indications suggested it may have been the work of Ibrahim al-Asiri, al-Qaeda's "master" bomb maker.
The Saudi is believed to have made the bomb worn by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in his unsuccessful attempt to destroy a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas 2009.
He is also thought to have been responsible for two bombs planted in print cartridges and put on US cargo planes in 2010. Both explosives were discovered and safely removed at East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire.
The latest bomb did not contain any metal elements and is likely to have passed unnoticed through a standard airport metal detector. However, ars longa, vita brevis... it may been picked up by newer body scanners common at American airports.
"Initial exploitation indicates that the device is very similar to improvised bombs that have been used previously by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in attempted terrorist attacks," the FBI said in a statement.
President B.O. was first informed of the latest plot in April, raising questions as to why the US government had previously said there were no "specific or credible" terror threats linked to the May 2 anniversary of the al-Qaeda leader's death.
[Yemen Post] Al-Qaeda in Yemen said on Monday no agreement has been reached to release the Saudi consul who was kidnapped in Aden on March 28, Almasdar Online reported.
The statement by the Ansar Al-Sharia came as a reply to the statement of Deputy Interior Minister, Muhammad Al-Qawsi, which said on Sunday communication was continuing with the myrmidon group in the south to release, Abdullah Al-Khalidi, the Saudi consul, in 48 hours.
"What has been said over agreement to release the consul was untrue," the website quoted a statement by the myrmidon group.
On Sunday, Al-Qawsi also said the Swiss female teacher, who was kidnapped in March in Hodeida, would be released along with the Saudi consul in 48 hours.
Al-Qaeda, which seized several towns in Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... and Shabwa provinces last year, also kidnapped last month a Frenchie. The three foreigners were said to have been taken to Shabwa.
Separately, the Defense Ministry confirmed the killing of 22 soldiers in raids by Al-Qaeda snuffies in Abyan early on Monday. It reported on its website the casualties occurred during the raids on military posts in the Doufas and Al-Koud areas in Zinjibar.
In this regard, Al-Qaeda said it also captured 28 more soldiers and seized military equipment during the raids, which came as a reply to the threats of President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi two days ago.
In his first speech since he was elected in February, Hadi vowed to continue the war on militancy in southern and southeastern regions until they were cleared from all areas.
Exploiting the unrest in 2011, Al-Qaeda seized some towns in Abyan and Shabwa and has been trying to expand its presence.
But the forces, with direct support from the US and popular fighters, have faced many attacks in Abyan killing and injuring hundreds of snuffies in the past few weeks.
Also, many snuffies have been killed by US drone strikes in the two provinces including Fahd Al-Quso, who was targeted in Shabwa on Sunday.
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[Yemen Post] Public committees formed from rustics in the southern city of Lahj killed on Monday Bassam Al-Sayed, the most dangerous Al-Qaeda operative in Radfan of Lahj governorate.
Al-Said is pursued by Yemen's security on charges of committing murders and abductions.
Eyewitness said festivities erupted between Al-Said and his followers, and rustics of the public committees on Monday, pointing out that Al-Said was killed and his followers managed to escape.
Yemen's authorities set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock You have the right to remain silent... Al-Said in February 2010, but he could escape the prison in uncertain conditions.
Local sources said Al-Sayed engaged with Al-Qaeda and continuously moved between Radafan and Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... after his escape, pointing out that his moves were constrained after the public committees set up checkpoints on main roads.
The sources reradiated that the public committees set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock You have the right to remain silent... in late March eight Al-Qaeda suspects after receiving threats of a surprise attack by Al-Qaeda faceless myrmidons against Lahj, pointing out that Syrian and Saudi were among the arrestees. They affirmed that rustics handed over the faceless myrmidons to security services of Lahj that in turn transferred them to Al-Anad military camp. Ansar Al-Shariah repeatedly threatened to storm Yafa'a, a distrct of Lahj, and take control on the town, local sources said.The Yemeni army made progress against Ansar Al-Shariah in Abyan and could reach to the heart of Zinjibar after air-fighters launched strikes on the town.According to Yemen's Defense Ministry, most veteran leaders of Al-Qaeda including Fahad Al-Qasa were killed and some others could escape outside the governorate of Abyan.However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... Al-Qaeda killed and captured dozens of Yemeni soldiers on Monday two days after Yemen President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi vowed to defeat Al-Qaeda in Abyan, his birthplace province.
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[Yemen Post] At least 30 soldiers were killed and many others captured when al-Qaeda bully boyz raided military posts in Yemen's southern Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... province on Monday in retaliation for the killing of a senior al-Qaeda leader the prior day in Shabwa, Almasdar Online reported.
Fahd al-Quso, one of the beturbanned goons suspected in the bombing of the USS Cole Destroyer in Aden more than a decade ago, was killed an Arclight airstrike by a US drone in Shabwa on Sunday, security officials said.
"A drone strike targeted the car in which al-Quso and another al-Qaeda bad turban were in Shabwa," the sources said. "The two were killed and the car completely destroyed," they said. Al-Qaeda confirmed the death of al-Quso in a dronezap.
In retaliation, the bully boyz raided early Monday military posts in the Doufas and al-Koud areas in Abyan killing, injuring and arresting scores of soldiers, the website said. There were officers among the locked away Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! and the number of the bully boyz who were killed in the battles was unclear, it added.
The bully boyz also seized military equipment, the website said.
In March, bully boyz raided military posts in Abyan killing, injuring and capturing scores of soldiers and seizing military equipment.
With direct support from the US, the Yemeni army has been fighting AQAP for the past few years.
Exploiting the unrest in 2011, AQAP seized some towns in south Yemen, raising fears of the West in one of the poorest countries in the world.
More recently, the army in association with popular fighters has waged fierce battles against the bully boyz in southern and southeastern regions including Abyan and Shabwa.
Hundreds of bully boyz have been killed and injured and the forces have cleared bully boyz from many areas including the capital of Abyan, Zinjibar.
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A drone missile strike in Shabwa, Yemen, on Sunday killed a man named Fahd Mohammad Ahmed Al-Quso, the Yemeni government said in a statement. Al-Quso, 37, from Yemen, was best known in the United States for heading terrorist operations in the USS Cole bombing, which killed 17 American sailors in 2000. More recently, Al-Quso had replaced Anwar al Awlaki as head of external operations for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
But this part is new...
He was continuing the terrorist group's plans to take down an international airliner with an explosive -- one foiled in recent days, government officials say.
A previous attempt, with a bomb made by AQAP bomb-maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, had failed on Christmas Day 2009, when the bomber, Umar Faruq Abdulmuttalab, failed to detonate the device that had been hidden in his underwear.
Although he did manage to catch it on fire, with predictable results...for him.
U.S. government sources tell ABC News that Al-Quso and Asiri continued to plan for a similar terrorist attack, using a small IED that could be hidden on a person, with the same goal of bringing down an international airline.
In April, their plot, based in Yemen, was detected by intelligence sources. American and other intelligence agencies were, sources said, on top of the plot from the beginning and closely monitoring it. Early last month White House counterterrorism czar John Brennan told President Obama about the plot.
I'd forgotten we had a counterterrorism czar. What is it that he does, exactly?
Senior administration officials say their understanding is that this was not a plot tied to the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, that this was just a coincidence of timing. U.S. intelligence sources assess the threat from AQAP is growing "due to the territorial gains the group made during the political standoff in Yemen that lasted from early 2011 until this past February, a government official says. "Those territorial gains have allowed the group to establish additional training camps."
Which is why, remember, we had to wipe them out of Afghanistan. We may have to play whack-a-mole and go heavier into Yemen, though with Champ in charge it's unlikely. If we do, I certainly hope we've learned our lesson and don't try to do any 'nation-building'...
"We were aware of the plot throughout its development," a senior administration source tells ABC News. "So we never thought Americans were at risk. They never got to the point where they were close to putting it on a plane."
"The device has the hallmarks of previous AQAP bombs that the group used in the failed assassination attempt on Saudi security official Mohammed Bin Nayif and that it used in the failed 2009 Christmas Day bombing," the government official said. "The device, like those earlier devices, is non-metallic."
And no doubt why there have been so many stories of mortifying Depends inspections recently.
A preliminary review indicates that it has some significant differences from Abdulmuttalab's device, the third official said.
"It is clear that AQAP is revamping its bomb techniques to try to avoid the causes of the failure of the 2009 device," that official said. "We are confident that the study of the device will yield valuable insights that will aid us in adapting security practices and counterterrorism operations here and abroad."
The IED is in the hands of top experts the FBI and is, according to sources, being thoroughly examined.
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#2
He had not yet determined when he planned to do it or bought a plane ticket. They got him before that and are finding the source of the explosive now.
#4
This just in, NYT: The would-be suicide bomber dispatched by the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda last month to blow up a United States-bound airliner was actually a double agent who infiltrated the terrorist group and volunteered for the suicide mission, American and foreign officials said Tuesday. In an extraordinary intelligence coup, the agent left Yemen, traveling by way of the United Arab Emirates, and delivered both the innovative bomb designed for his air attack and critical information on the groups leaders to the C.I.A., Saudi and other foreign intelligence agencies.
[Iran Press TV] The CIA has reportedly thwarted a plot by al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of the late Osama bin Laden, ... who walked in the Valley of the Shadow of Death and didn't make it out... the News Agency that Dare Not be Named has learned.
The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time al-Qaeda developed a more refined detonation system, U.S. officials claim.
The FBI is examining the latest bomb to see whether it could have passed through airport security and brought down an airplane, officials said. They said the device did not contain metal, meaning it probably could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it.
Reports said no target had been chosen and no plane tickets purchased by the time the alleged plot was foiled. There is no indication on the status of the would-be bomber.
It is not clear who built the device, but officials say it shares some features with the bomb sewn into the underwear of would-be jacket wallahUmar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a plane bound for Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
News of the alleged plot comes a day after Fahd al-Quso, a senior al-Qaeda leader in Yemen, was killed by a U.S. drone strike.
Looking as if we did get him after all. People are talking that way...
The AP learned about the thwarted plot last week but agreed to White House and CIA requests not to publish it immediately because the sensitive intelligence operation was still under way.
More courtesy than they showed Dubya...
Once those concerns were allayed, the AP decided to disclose the plot on Monday despite requests from the B.O. regime to wait for an official announcement Tuesday.
This article starring:
Fahd al-Quso
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab
Posted by: Fred ||
05/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
D *** NG IT, why boom Fruit-of-the-Loom + Hanes, etc. all the time - IS THERE NO RIGHTEOUS OR DIVINE HATRED FOR CHEAP GENERICS???
[Tolo News] Several bully boyz ambushed a security checkpoint in North Wazoo near the Afghan border, killing nine Pak soldiers on Sunday, officials said.
The attack took place yesterday in Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... town in North Waziristan, the Pak Army said in a statement.
The army statement says that bully boyz had been firing on the checkpoint for the past few days before they ambushed it.
North Waziristan is considered a haven for bad turbans. It is also believed to be a key command and control center for bully boyz fighting US troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
The US forces have used Arclight airstrikes from drones to curb the threat but the Pak parliament has called for an end to the strikes, viewing them as an unacceptable violation of illusory sovereignty.
There have been significantly fewer strikes this year.
But the US is unwilling to stop completely because the use of drones has weakened Al Qaeda and associated groups in Pakistain's tribal regions, parts of which are not under the control of the Pak state.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Indiscreet firing at a restaurant in Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighbourhood killed two people and injured another in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , DawnNews reported on Monday.
How does that compare to discreet firing at restaurants?
Unidentified myrmidons attacked the restaurant in block 13-D of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, injuring three people.
The injured were taken to a nearby hospital where two gave up the ghost during treatment.
The incident spread chaos in the locality and owners were forced to shut their shops and small businesses.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/08/2012 00:00 ||
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#1
How does that compare to discreet firing at restaurants?
Not discreet at all. Utilized 'Insh'allah Aiming Method'.
No wonder the Pakistainers moved their capital from 'Krotchy' to Islamisbad.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/08/2012 14:20 Comments ||
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[Dawn] A man was killed and four others were maimed when explosives went off at a workshop in Lower Dir district on Sunday.
Police said that Shahid Khan, a mechanic, was repairing engine of a passenger coach at his workshop when kaboom lying there suddenly went kaboom! with a big bang.
They said that Shahid, a resident of Doog Darra, was killed while Ibadullah of Kaladaag Maidan, Mohammad Faraz of Kamar Kotkay, Mohammad Shahid of Kaladaag and Adnan of Timergara received injuries in the blast. Tahir Shah, in-charge of the Bomb Disposal Squad, told journalists that about one kilogram explosives were used in the blast.
A source said that a man had brought a machine, used in mining, for repairing to the workshop. He said that the explosives meant for mining went kaboom! that harmed the people present there.
In Darra Admakhel, helicopter gunships pounded the hideouts of Death Eaters in Akhorwal area on Sunday.
Sources said that helicopters targeted the Death Eaters roaming on the link road between Darra Adamkhel and Khyber Agency. "The Death Eaters target private vehicles and security forces from Akhorwal area," they added.
According to unconfirmed reports, Death Eaters managed to escape towards Khyber Agency, however, their several temporary hideouts were destroyed in the shelling.
The security forces, guarding Indus Highway and Kohat tunnel for the last five years, had tightened security and checking of vehicles.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Slats Chumbaloni was staring into a hole that was just .45 inch in diameter and was less than three feet from his face ... Death Eaters bombed two schools in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... and South Wazoo agencies on Saturday night.
Locals said that Death Eaters planted explosives in government middle school for boys in Haleemzai area of Mohmand Agency that went kaboom! in the night. The school was situated near the village of Malik Shamal.
The kaboom caused damage to the building of the school. Officials said that 94 schools both for boys and girls had been targeted in Mohmand Agency. Local authorities have made makeshift arrangements with the help of donor agencies for
students to attend classes in tents.
Another middle school for girls was targeted in Karikot area near Wana in South Waziristan Agency. Reports said that two kabooms occurred in the school.
The kabooms damaged the main gate and also caused cracks in the building. No group has grabbed credit for the attacks. Several schools have been closed in the volatile area owing to security reasons.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/08/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Talibs beheaded two Pak soldiers and hung their heads from wooden poles in a town in the country's northwest on Monday, a day after they killed nine soldiers in an ambush there, officials said.
The killings in Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , the main town in the North Wazoo tribal area, highlight the dilemma facing the Pak military in dealing with the most important turban sanctuary in the country.
North Waziristan is a key base for the Pak Taliban, which have waged a bloody battle against the government and its security forces over the past several years. But it is also a refuge for Afghan and Pak Orcs and similar vermin battling U.S.-led forces in neighboring Afghanistan who are believed to be close to the government in Islamabad.
The U.S. has repeatedly demanded that Pakistain launch an offensive against the Orcs and similar vermin conducting cross-border attacks from North Waziristan, especially the Haqqani network. Pakistain has refused, claiming its forces are stretched too thin fighting the Pak Taliban in other parts of the tribal region.
However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... many analysts believe Pakistain is reluctant to target Orcs and similar vermin in North Waziristan with whom it has strong historical ties and who could be useful allies in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw.
But those Orcs and similar vermin are also closely allied with the Pak Taliban, the country's fiercest enemy.
On Sunday, the Taliban ambushed a security checkpoint in Miranshah, killing nine Pak soldiers, the army said. Militants had been firing on the checkpoint for the past few days before they ambushed it, the army added.
The army retaliated with helicopter gunships, which pounded suspected turban hideouts and also hit three houses and a mosque in the town, said intelligence officials. Three non-combatants were killed and 20 were maimed in the helizaps, they said. It's unclear how many Orcs and similar vermin were killed.
A Taliban capo said the military raided two houses in Miranshah on Sunday night, killing a turban commander and several of his colleagues. The Orcs and similar vermin seized two soldiers during the raids, beheaded them and hung their heads in different parts of Miranshah, said the commander.
The intelligence officials did not specify how the soldiers were seized, but confirmed that their heads were hanging from poles in Miranshah.
The army has retrieved some of the bodies of the soldiers who were killed, and authorities are working with local tribal elders to try to get the Orcs and similar vermin to return the rest, said the officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/08/2012 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
DAILY TIMES.PK says the Taliban beheaded up to 13 Soldiers in North Waziristan.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/08/2012 8:14 Comments ||
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#3
Not to say this isn't gruesome and horrible, but I gave a big sigh of relief after reading it was Pakistani soldiers.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/08/2012 9:29 Comments ||
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#4
Is the world going nuts over the "head on a stick" issue? Americans photographed with dead bodies has that effect - why not here? Mounting heads is preferable to urinating on bodies - is that it?
ARTIC = denotes possible PAK ISI support for the Pak Taliban killing sprees agz pro-peace AFghan factions despite the Pak ISI seemingly losing its control oer the TTP = Pak Taliban???
17 year-old Paleostinian was placed in durance vile You have the right to remain silent... Sunday near the Tapuah Junction in possession of three pipe bombs. Border Guard forces spotted, stopped and neutralized him from the bombs. He was transferred into the custody of security forces for questioning.
This is the third time in a week that Paleostinians carrying explosives were caught in the area.
Lebanese army intelligence seized a large quantity of weapons hidden inside cars aboard an Italian ship on Monday night at the port of Tripoli, in the north of Lebanon, Lebanese security sources told Al-Manar TV.
The security sources revealed the involvement of Lebanese parties in the smuggling of weapons seized in the port of Tripoli.
As Safir daily said the ship docked in the port of Tripoli coming from the Egyptian port of Alexandria en route from Germany, adding that the army moved the car to al-Qubbeh base and launched a probe. "The two Rapid cars were imported by the agent A. M," it said.
The daily reported that one of the cars contained 15 boxes of ammunition each containing 1,000 bullets used for different kinds of machineguns. It added that the ammunition was for 9 mm and 12.7 mm machine guns and Kalashnikovs bullets.
This comes just days after Lebanese Army Marines confiscated the Lutfallah II arms shipment off the Lebanese port of Batoun while it was carrying 300,000 pounds of weapons within three containers. Reports said the cargo ship, which was flying the flag of Sierra-Leone, had left Libya and was bound for Syria.
Lebanese judicial authorities were continuing their investigations with the detainees to uncover the direction of the ship, and the party behind the load of weapons that were on board. An official arrest warrant was issued against one of the suspects.
So was this for the Syrian government or the Syrian rebels? Can't be Hezbollah, the Lebs would have let those guns in...
[An Nahar] Syrians voted Monday in the first "multiparty" parliamentary election in five decades, against a backdrop of violence and dismissed as a sham by the opposition and bordering on the "ludicrous" by the U.S.
Voters cast their ballots in the capital and other regions, while in opposition strongholds residents boycotted the poll, instead staging protests and a general strike.
The election went ahead despite the unrest that has swept Syria since March 2011 when Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... resorted to force in a bid to quash a revolt against his autocratic regime.
The United States said holding an election while violence is still raging "borders on ludicrous."
"It's not really possible to hold credible elections in a climate where basic human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... are being denied to the citizens and the government is continuing to carry out daily assaults... on its own citizens," the State Department said.
U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... joined the criticism.
"Only a comprehensive and inclusive political dialogue can lead to a genuine democratic future in Syria," Ban said through his front man Martin Nesirky. "These elections are not taking place within that framework.
"Moreover, a democratic process cannot be successful while violence is still ongoing," he added.
The vote, initially scheduled for last September, was postponed to May 7 after Assad announced the launch of a reform process backed by a referendum.
A total of 7,195 candidates registered to stand for the 250 seats, state news agency SANA said.
The 12,000 polling stations closed at 10:00 pm (19H00 GMT), state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported. There was no immediate indication of turnout or when the results may be expected.
Pro-regime parties led by Assad's Baath were represented under a coalition called the National Progressive Front.
The opposition dismissed the vote as a sham and a ploy by the regime to buy time and dupe the international community into believing it is serious about reforms.
"Whoever drowns Syria in blood, displaces... Syrians and shoots at the Syrian people does not have the legitimacy to draw up a constitution, an electoral law, or to run elections," the exiled opposition Syrian National Council said.
Several towns and villages across the country, including some neighborhoods of Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... , held demonstrations, boycotted the vote and organized a general strike amid reports of continued violence.
Regime forces killed at least 14 civilians nationwide on Monday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which also reported three military fatalities.
Clashes between soldiers and rebels were reported in several areas of Hama province as well as other regions, the Britannia-based Observatory said.
"There are no signs of a national election in or the surrounding areas," activist Nureddin al-Abdo told Agence La Belle France Presse via Skype.
"The regime is trying to delude itself that it still holds power by organizing these fake elections, but it is only capable of ruling with tanks."
Shops were closed and streets empty in several areas of Hama, Idlib, northern Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , Daraa in the south and Damascus itself, activists said.
State television reported high turnout in several of the same regions.
"In Aleppo, only the main polling stations were full, and that was because the authorities brought its loyalists in to vote," Aleppo-based activist Mohammad al-Halabi said.
"But the rest of the polling stations, where there was no media presence, were empty."
In Yabrud village, Damascus province, children led an anti-regime demonstration, waving independence-era flags, according to amateur video posted on YouTube.
Another video showed an unidentified man in Midaq village of Hama province accusing paramilitary regime forces of having burnt down shops after their owners joined the strike.
International media freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), meanwhile, condemned the killing by Syrian regime forces of citizen journalists.
Regime forces have killed six such journalists this year, according to RSF, which named the latest as Abdul Ghani Kaakeh, 19, killed in Aleppo while filming a demonstration.
According to the Observatory, more than 11,100 people have died in violence, most of them civilians, since the anti-regime uprising broke out in March last year.
Monday's election was the first time Syria has held a vote since the adoption in February of a new constitution allowing for multi-party polls. Nine parties have been created, and seven had candidates vying for a parliamentary seat.
Political analysts do not expect the election to lead to significant change in Syria, where a tenuous U.N.-backed ceasefire that came into effect on April 12 has failed to take hold.
More than 600 people have died since the truce began, according to the Observatory.
U.N. observers deployed in the country to monitor the truce have reported violations by both regime and rebel forces.
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Monday that his government was "facilitating" the work of the observers.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/08/2012 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Tolo News] 
[Telegraph.uk] A US drone strike in Yemen that killed two members of al-Qaeda on Sunday was part of a larger effort to intercept the "underwear bomb," the chairman of the US House Homeland Security Committee has said.
Hillary Clinton
[Iran Press TV] The CIA has reportedly thwarted a plot by al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of 
Wazoo
[Dawn] Indiscreet firing at a restaurant in Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighbourhood killed two people and injured another in 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
