NewsTrust - Terrorism - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

Marine reservist attacked Greek priest he mistook for terrorist

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

St. Petersburg Times - By Alexandra Zayas, Demorris A. Lee - Nov. 11 (News Report) - Bruce ended up in jail, accused of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was released Tuesday on $7,500 bail. Marakis ended up at the hospital with stitches. He told the police he didn't want to press charges, espousing biblical forgiveness.

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Ft. Hood Shooter was Cruelly Mistreated and Harassed for his Ethnicity

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

stopwar.lafilmonline.com - By Jon Raymond, Phillip Rucker, Amy Goodman, Mike Baker - Nov. 10 (News Report) - Everyone else just sat down there and drunk their beer and looked at him and giggled at him,” the woman said, starting to cry. “They just would laugh at him when he walked down with his Muslim clothes. . . . He was mistreated. He didn’t have nobody. He was all alone. He went to his apartment there and was all alone.

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Pakistan at War

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Global Pulse - By Erin Coker - Oct. 28 (News Analysis) - It has been a bloody month for Pakistan. The army has launched an offensive in South Waziristan aided by US drones, and the Taliban are fighting back with suicide bombs in major cities. With hundreds dying, what do the Pakistani people think?

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Phase 2 of Waziristan Campaign; Pakistan Closes Schools; Mahsud Civilians Barred from Roads

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Informed Comment - By Juan Cole - Oct. 24 (News Analysis) - akistan's military began "Phase 2" of its campaign in South Waziristan on Thursday, with a siege of Kotkai, the home town of Hakimullah Mahsud, the leader of the Taliban Movement of Pakistan. So far the army claims to have killed 100 militants, and 300 homes are said to have been damaged. Locals maintain that some of those killed are actually innocent civilians, and most of the houses were unconnected to the Taliban. Even if they were accurate, these numbers suggest that the Taliban have not stood and fought, but rather have melted away, since they only have light arms and would have been killed in large numbers by the Pakistani army, which has artillery and fighter jets.

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What did Rawalpindi Militants Want?

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Informed Comment - By Juan Cole - Oct. 11 (News Analysis) - A hostage standoff at Pakistani military HQ in Rawalpindi ended violently on Sunday morning when Pakistani troops stormed the compound where the militants had holed up with 25 hostages. Three of the hostages were killed in the course of the assault, along with two army troops and four militants. Earlier the militants, some dressed in Pakistani military uniforms, had driven up to the entrance. When they were nevertheless challenged, they opened fire, killing several Pakistani troops and two officers, one a brigadier, and some of them were killed. Others escaped, and managed to take hostages for a time. AP has video on the end of the hostage crisis at the military HQ. One of the hostage-takers is said to have been wearing a suicide bomb belt, ...

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Retired 4-stars repudiate Cheney on torture -

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

airforcetimes.com - Sep. 15 (News Report) - Former Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Charles C. Krulak and former commander of Central Command Gen. Joseph P. Hoar have spoken out against former Vice President Dick Cheney and his support for “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Andy Worthington: Who Are the Two Syrians Released From Guantanamo to Portugal?

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Andy Worthington - Sep. 03 (News Report) - Their stories, as revealed in publicly available documents from Guantánamo, reveal that neither man had any connection whatsoever to international terrorism.

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Memos Suggest Legal Cherry-Picking in Justifying Torture

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Daphne Eviatar - Aug. 27 (Special Report) - On the same day that the government produced the 2004 CIA Inspector General’s report on interrogations, it also turned over seven more memos and letters from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

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Afghan Gun Battle with Police at Pashtani Bank, Kabul

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

demotix.com - Aug. 19 (Other) - This morning at 8.00 locals reported seeing 2 Afghan men enter the Pashtani Bank in the center of Kabul City. They were strapped with ammunition, Ak-47's and hand grenade. Police were quick to arrive at the scene and were immediately welcomed by gunfire from the banks second floor and rooftops, police were then embedded in a 2 and a half hour gun battle with the men, another man was spotted firing from the bank at the police.

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Foreign aid flowing to Taliban

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

GlobalPost - By Jean MacKenzie - Aug. 16 (Special Report) - It is the open secret no one wants to talk about, the unwelcome truth that most prefer to hide. In Afghanistan, one of the richest sources of Taliban funding is the foreign assistance coming into the country. Virtually every major project includes a healthy cut for the insurgents. Call it protection money, call it extortion, or, as the Taliban themselves prefer to term it, “spoils of war,” the fact remains that international donors, primarily the United States, are to a large extent financing their own enemy.

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Life, death and the Taliban: Blowback

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

GlobalPost - By C.M. Sennott - Aug. 11 (Special Report) - On a dusty plain not far from the border with Afghanistan, mud-brick walls weathered by rain and time still mark the boundaries of what were once sprawling Afghan refugee camps.

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Life, death and the Taliban

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

GlobalPost - By Charles Sennott - Aug. 10 (Special Report) - Life, death and the Taliban seeks to enhance America’s understanding of Taliban history in Afghanistan and Pakistan. At this crucial time in the U.S.-led war against the Taliban, Charlie Sennott recaps the group’s rise to power and looks at current political and counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan. Photographer Seamus Murphy, who has long chronicled the shifts of power in Afghanistan, accompanied Sennott to Kabul for this report.

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Baitullah Mehsud No More!

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Mystified Justice - By Sana Saleem - Aug. 08 (News Analysis) - Baitullah Mehsud’s death can be considered a significant blow but not a definite one. Al-Qaeda has never been a one man army , many more deputes will vow in Baitullah’s place.But the Taliban will require time to groom a leader that commands the same fear among his tribesmen, that made Baitullah an elusive foe. The recent tussle among the Taliban groups has incautiously exposed their weakness. His demise has also managed to shatter the implausible conspiracy theory surrounding his group.The aim now should be to sabotage Baitullah’s legacy.

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Gojra

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Roznamcha – Bach - By Saesneg - Aug. 04 (News Analysis) - In the aftermath two long-running Pakistani discourses emerge – militancy and Pakistan’s Islamized criminal code. On Monday “sources” told Dawn that a mob went on rampage after “youths delivered provocative speeches and set on fire houses and places of worship”. The government believed the incidents were “planned to trigger riots between Christians and Muslims and the government was not ruling out involvement of an external hand”. Fingers were pointed at the Sipah-e-Sahaba, the Guardian reported, which the South Asia Terrorism Portal claims receives significant funding from Saudi interests and is known for violence against Shia’s.

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Pakistani president vows to restore Gojra

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

CCTV - Aug. 03 (News Report) - Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari has ordered authorities to ensure the restoration of law and order in the eastern city of Gojra, after riots broke out there last week. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, on the directions of President Asif Ali Zardari, ordered a paramilitary force to head to Gojra. Zardari's spokesperson conveyed the president's "grave concern" over the incident, in which seven innocent people were burnt to death. Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti says 40 Christian homes were torched on Saturday in rioting led by the banned terrorist group Sipah-e-Sahaba. He said there was no truth to allegations that a Quran had been defiled. Officials say the riots, which began on Thursday but had calmed before flaring again on Saturday, had been instigated by members of a banned extremist Muslim organization. Hundreds of Muslims burned and looted Christian homes in the city in a rampage sparked by allegations that a Quran had been defaced. Shooting broke out, and six people were killed, including a child and four women. Two men wounded by gunfire died in hospital overnight. Christians make up a tiny minority of Pakistan's predominantly Sunni Muslim population of 160 million people.

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Pak Lets Off 26/11 Mastermind Saeed

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

iStream.in - Aug. 03 (News Report) - The case hearing against Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack, adjourned indefinitely by Pakistan's Supreme Court.

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Swat Valley IDPs Continue to Suffer In Pak; Children Some Of The Worst Hit

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Huma Imtiaz - Jul. 29 (News Report) - Twelve-year-old Bahadur speaks of war and the Taliban with the candor children his age employ to talk of video games and cartoons. "I saw helicopters. They dropped shells and mortars. We left home because of the Taliban." An IDP from Mingora, Swat, Bahadur has left behind his age of innocence, and talks frankly of the sights he saw in the Swat Valley. Bahadur and his family walked for days before they boarded a bus that brought them to the IDP camp in Karachi. Gul Mohammad, another young child, has a similar story. "We left Mingora, and took refuge in a small town. After spending two days there, the Taliban, or maybe the army shelled the area with mortar shells. We left and walked for six days before we got to Mardan, and then we came to Karachi." Bushra, an eight year old girl, tries to engage the other 80 children in the camp to play games, a hard feat, considering they have no toys. Bushra talks of the flourishing orchards they left behind, and repeats a constant refrain, "I want to go back home." Every one of the inhabitants of this camp has a similar story to tell. Amina Bibi talks of the ten month child that died in the journey from the Swat Valley as she tries, with very little food supplies, to take care of her one year old child that did survive the trek to Karachi.

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Taliban suicide bomber kills two troops in North Waziristan

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Long War Journal - By Bill Roggio - Jul. 29 (News Analysis) - Baitullah Mehsud from a Taliban video. Click image to view the slideshow of the Taliban Leadership in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A suicide bomber killed two paramilitary security personnel in an attack in the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan. Four more security personnel were beheaded and three more were seriously wounded in an attack in Pakistan?s violent northwest. The suicide bomber manned by the paramilitary Khasadar force near the main town of Miranshah in North Waziristan on Tuesday, killing two and seriously wounding three other troops. The military responded by launching a helicopter attack on a vehicle in the Miramshah bazaar, and claimed four Taliban fighters were killed. A Taliban commander took credit for ...

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Profile: Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure)

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Council on Foreign Relations - Jul. 28 (Special Report) - The Indian government has often accused the group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) of terrorist attacks, including the November 2008 deadly assault in Mumbai that killed nearly two hundred people and injured more than three hundred. LeT is among several banned Pakistani militant groups that experts say received backing from Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, to fight in Indian-administered Kashmir. Analysts say the group continues to operate freely inside Pakistan under a different name and has now become a global terrorist organization.

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Senior Obama Official Backs Cheney and CIA, Says Concealment of Assassin Program Legal

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

rebelreports.com - By Jeremy Scahill - Jul. 17 (News Analysis) - As Democrats try to build momentum for the hearings, a senior Obama official has now come forward to defend the legality of Cheney and the C.I.A.s' alleged concealment. President Obama's Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, says the C.I.A. did not violate the law. In an interview with The Washington Post, Blair said that he believes the C.I.A. should have informed Congress, but was not required to. "It was a judgment call," said Blair. "We believe in erring on the side of working with the Hill as a partner."

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The Press Association: N Korea blamed for cyber attacks

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Press Association - Jul. 09 (News Report) - South Korea's main spy agency has said North Korea is believed to be behind the cyber attacks targeting government and other websites in the country and in the United States. North Korea, which has been firing missiles and spewing threats against America, is not known for its computing prowess, but experts said such attacks would be easy - and cheap - to mount by hiring outside help. The attacks began paralysing websites in the US over the July 4 Independence Day holiday weekend and in South Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday. And a South Korean computer security company said another wave of cyber attacks was now expected in South Korea. South Korea's National Intelligence Service told members of parliament's intelligence committee that Pyongyang or its sympathisers were believed to be behind the attacks, according to aides to two of the MPs.

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Selling Confidence in Iraq

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Link TV - Jul. 02 (News Analysis) - Iraq celebrates the withdrawal of American troops from cities and villages. More than 250 people were killed in bombings over the past 10 days. Will the "enemies of Iraq" succeed in igniting sectarian violence? And will democracy survive in Iraq?

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Call for Iran 'rioters' to be executed

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Australian Broadcasting - Jun. 26 (News Report) - A hardline Iranian cleric has called for the execution of "rioters", in a sign of the authorities' determination to stamp out opposition to the June 12 presidential election result. Iran's top legislative body, the Guardian Council, said it had found no major violations in the election, which it called the "healthiest" vote since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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Realigning Pakistan's Security Forces

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Council on Foreign Relations - By Jayshree Bajoria - Jun. 18 (News Analysis) - Growing militancy inside Pakistan has spotlighted the inability of the country's security forces to fight domestic insurgency. Militants have been expanding their reach: Large swaths of territory in northwestern Pakistan are out of government control; extremist groups across the country are working together; and suicide bombings frequently rock major cities like Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad. In May, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani described the fight against terrorism (AP) as a "war of the country's survival." The United States sees Pakistani cooperation to defeating its militants as crucial to winning the war in neighboring Afghanistan. The Obama administration, through its Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, is now focused on strengthening Pakistan's counterinsurgency capabilities, and it is pushing for increased assistance for equipment and training for Pakistani forces. But some analysts say Pakistani authorities, especially in the military, don't see the need to convert to a counterinsurgency force and continue to view India as the country's primary threat. Questions of continuing links between some militant groups and Pakistan's security forces--the army, the Frontier Corps, and the military intelligence agency known as the ISI--remain.

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U.S. military teaches 'protesters' are 'low-level terrorists'

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

wnd.com - By Bob Unruh - Jun. 18 (News Report) - According to the ACLU letter, the DoD's "Annual Level 1 Antiterrorism (AT) Awareness Training for 2009" tells department personnel "that certain First Amendment-protected activity may amount to 'low-level terrorism.'" Specifically the training "Knowledge Check 1" asks, "Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism activity?" ... The multiple choices are: Attacking the Pentagon, IEDs, Hate crimes against racial groups and Protests. The correct answer in the training course is "Protests." According to Loo, the use of the term apparently is routine.

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