Category Archives: Terrorism

BBC: Pakistani police killed in suicide car attack

According to the BBC, Pakistani police killed in suicide bomb attack:

A suicide bomber has killed at least eight policemen in Pakistan’s volatile tribal area on the border with Afghanistan, officials say.

The attacker rammed his explosive-laden car into a police vehicle travelling on a highway in the Khyber area.

At least five civilians were also killed in the blast, the officials say.

No group has yet said it carried out the attack. The region is well known as a stronghold of militants linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The officials said the policemen were on a routine patrol when the suicide bomber attacked them.

Several other vehicles were damaged by the force of the blast.

U.S. Man Accused of Helping Plot 2008 Mumbai Attack – NYTimes.com

From the Times coverage by (Ginger Thompson and David Johnston) of the prosecution of David C. Headley, an American citizen who has been accused of assisting in the 2008 Mumbai  attacks.

The suspect, David C. Headley of Chicago, is accused of helping identify targets for a Pakistan-based terrorist group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, whose two-day attack on luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a Jewish community center and a crowded train station brought India’s financial capital to a halt and shocked the world. The complaint described Mr. Headley’s repeated scouting visits to the sites nearly two years before the attacks, which have reignited tensions between India and Pakistan.

The authorities say that among his conspirators was Ilyas Kashmiri, regarded by Western officials as one of the most dangerous Islamic militants operating in Pakistan’s restive tribal areas.

The charges, including six counts of conspiracy to bomb public places and to murder and maim, significantly expanded the government’s case against Mr. Headley, 49. And his profile — he has roots in the United States and links to high levels of the Pakistani government and military — makes him a highly unusual terror suspect.

Mr. Headley was arrested in October, along with another Chicago resident, Tahawwur Rana, and charged with plotting to attack a Danish newspaper that in 2005 published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, outraging much of the Muslim world.

Since his arrest, Mr. Headley has cooperated with the authorities. That assistance, along with new leads from the authorities in Pakistan and India, and an examination of e-mail messages between Mr. Headley and others suspected in the two plots, led to the new charges involving the Mumbai killings, officials said

U.S. Man Accused of Helping Plot 2008 Mumbai Attack – NYTimes.com.

According to the Times, he’s got a history as a DEA informant as well:

Friends and a relative said Mr. Headley dropped out of college and fell into trouble. In 1998 he was convicted of smuggling heroin into the United States, but avoided a long jail sentence by cooperating with the authorities. He later conducted undercover operations in Pakistan for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Times has also published an archive of unsealed court documents.

More on this story from other sources:

The Telegraph reports that Headley was identified to United States authorities by British Intelligence.

Top News India reports that an Indian actor, first name “Rahul,” may have been a target as well. LeT’s filmi target: ‘Rahul’

Robert Baer on Brian Lehrer/WNYC

A conversation worth listening to: Robert Baer, former CIA officer, interviewed by Brian Lehrer. Link to WNYC archive here .

Baer – we’ll try to update later with links to his books – I’ve read all but the most recent – is also a columnist for Time . Here’s a link to his latest piece, The CIA Is Keeping Secrets. Hello?

I’ve found Baer to be thoughtful, incisive and unpretentious. Agree with him or not (I confess that I do, for the most part), his contribution to the public discussion about terrorism/counter-terrorism is invaluable.

Domestic Terrorism: physician assassinated in church

Our most immediate association of an assassination committed in a church is that of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Dr. George Tiller, 67, a physician, was killed standing in the foyer of his church; he was serving as an usher, greeting parishioners and visitors. From George Tiller Suspect May Be Charged Monday,

by Joe Rodriguez, Tim Potter and Stan Finger of the Wichita Eagle:

Monday, a 51-year-old Johnson County man could be charged with murder and aggravated assault in the shooting of Tiller, who had been shot before by an anti-abortion foe.
The crime has drawn condemnation and outrage from the president and stirred strong emotions across the nation.
Tiller, 67, was shot once just after 10 a.m. Sunday as he stood in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran Church, 7601 E. 13th St., where he was serving as an usher. The gunman threatened to shoot two men who tried to apprehend him.

According to The New York Times,

moments after services had begun at Reformation Lutheran Church, Dr. Tiller, who was acting as an usher, was shot once with a handgun, the authorities said. The gunman pointed the weapon at two people who tried to stop him, the police said, then drove off in a powder-blue Taurus. Dr. Tiller’s wife, Jeanne, a member of the church choir, was inside the sanctuary at the time of the shooting.
The police in Wichita described the man who was detained as a 51-year-old from Merriam, a Kansas City suburb, but declined to give his name until he was charged. The Associated Press reported that a sheriff’s official from Johnson County, Kan., where the man was taken into custody, identified him as Scott Roeder.

Violence in Northern Ireland

Violence in Northern Ireland resulted in the deaths of two British soldiers, and the shooting injuries of two additional soldiers and two pizza deliverymen, shot on the rationale that delivering pizza to the British barracks was an act of political “collaboration.” Details and background via Wikipedia News.

7 March 2009, two British soldiers from 38 Engineer Regiment were shot dead outside Massereene Barracks in Antrim town, Northern Ireland. Two other soldiers and two civilian deliverymen were also shot and wounded during the attack. The Irish republican paramilitary group, the Real IRA, issued a statement claiming responsibility.[internal citations omitted]

Explosives found at Paris department store – International Herald Tribune

French police found a package of explosives at the Printemps department store complex in central Paris on Tuesday, a spokeswoman at Paris police headquarters said.

The spokeswoman, Mélanie Leprettre, said a warning about the explosives had been sent Tuesday morning to the French news agency Agence France-Presse, which alerted the police.

A previously unknown group demanding the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan claimed to have planted the explosive devices. Officials said that five sticks of dynamite had been found.

Explosives found at Paris department store – International Herald Tribune .

Infochart: recent macro trend in terrorist incidents

The Point-by-Point blog has this interesting chart:

global-terrorism.gif

Alice at Point-by-Point, in an update, notes that the hypothesis of Abu Ghraib knowledge as causal event is vulnerable. We agree that it can’t be proved – but anecdotal evidence suggests that the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo (and “black site”) disclosures have strengthened the rhetorical positions of terrorist cheerleaders and recruiters.