CONFLICT & TERROR 02/14 ROUNDUP

Muslim teacher in Vienna suspended over pamphlet
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 2:24pm
Officials say a Muslim religion teacher in Vienna has been suspended for allegedly giving his students anti-Semitic pamphlets. Full Story

Alleged skinhead attack on Brazilian stuns Swiss
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 2:25pm
Zurich police on Thursday were investigating an alleged skinhead assault on a pregnant Brazilian woman that caused her to miscarry twins and left her scarred with the initials of Switzerland's main right-wing party. Full Story

Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of attacks
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:47pm
In Pakistan, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abdul Basit, said he had not seen Saleh's comments and could not comment. The army spokesman did not answer a telephone call late yesterday. Full Story

After Israel's election, Palestinians weigh a new Intifadeh
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:49pm
Israel's election and the Gaza conflict have revealed the scale of the challenge facing U.S. President Barack Obama in jump-starting Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Israeli voters tacked to the right, and the government that results from Tuesday's poll will be, if anything, even less inclined to conclude a two-state peace agreement with the Palestinian leadership than the current government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been. Full Story

Five militants, soldier killed in Bajaur
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:50pm
Five Taliban and a soldier were killed on Wednesday in an ongoing military operation in Bajaur  where the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) also set a three-day deadline for the army to vacate posts set up at schools  as the Taliban kidnapped seven people in Hangu. Full Story

TTP threatens to destroy schools
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:51pm
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan threatened on Wednesday to destroy all educational institutions in Bajaur if the government did not withdraw security forces stationed in government schools in the region within three days. Talking to reporters on phone, TTP spokesman Maulvi Omar said security forces had set up checkposts and bunkers in almost all government schools to attack Taliban positions. Full Story

Six Taliban arrested near Quetta
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:52pm
Security personnel raided a house on the outskirts of Quetta on Wednesday and arrested six suspected Taliban, officials said. A security official said that the raid on the rented house in Pashtoonabad had been carried out on a tip-off. The area people said they saw security personnel barging into the house and whisking away some people. Full Story

Police kill 7 in south Russia firefight - agency
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:53pm
Interior Ministry troops shot dead seven suspected rebels on Wednesday in a firefight in Russia's North Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria, Interfax news agency said, quoting local law enforcement. Full Story

India, U.S. in talks ahead of fighter deal contract
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:55pm
India is talking to the United States to resolve a legal clause that allows its inspectors to monitor arms it sells to New Delhi, a major obstacle for U.S. companies bidding for a $10-billion fighter jet contract. Full Story

US air base in Kyrgyzstan working despite threat
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:57pm
Aircraft took off throughout the day and workers built a new fire station at this vital military base Thursday despite Kyrgyzstan's plans to shut down a facility seen as essential to the war in Afghanistan. Full Story

U.S. intelligence chief issues a bleak outlook on Afghanistan
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:58pm
The new director of national intelligence warned Thursday that Afghanistan's weak and corrupt government is failing to halt the spread of Taliban control and said that public support for the Taliban and local warlords was increasing. Full Story

NATO green-lights attacking Afghan drug operations with Taliban links
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 4:59pm
NATO has ironed out its legal concerns and formally issued orders to treat Afghan drug lords who fuel the violent Taliban insurgency as legitimate military targets. Bombing narcotics shipments, arresting drug barons and blowing up opium processing labs with a verifiable link to militants is now a key priority - one that senior commanders and political leaders of the military alliance are confident will not violate international law. Full Story

Afghanistan: Taliban Al-Hamza Brigade carried out Kabul assault says message
Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 5:00pm
The Taliban's al-Hamza Brigades carried out the deadly attacks in the capital Kabul on Wednesday that killed 28 people and injured scores, claimed messages posted to various jihadist websites and signed by the Taliban. Full Story

Pakistan files case against Kasab: reports
Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 9:08am
The Pakistan government has filed a case against Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive for the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008, media reports in the country say. Full Story

Red Cross employee abducted by pro-Taliban militants in Pak
Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 9:09am
A Red Cross employee and his driver wereon Wednesday abducted by pro-Taliban militants in the troubled Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan, more than a week after an American working for the UN refugee agency in Quetta was kidnapped. Full Story

Simultaneous Taliban attacks kill 26
Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 9:24am
NEAR-simultaneous Taliban assaults on three government offices in the Afghan capital left 26 people dead and 55 wounded on Wednesday, the health ministry said. Full Story

Head of Azerbaijan's air force killed
Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:01pm
A gunman fatally shot Azerbaijan's air force chief outside his home on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said. Azerbaijan's chief military prosecutor, speaking from the rain-soaked site of the shooting of Lt. Gen. Rail Rzayev's home in the capital, Baku, said authorities did not know the motive. Full Story

Thousands march in Paris against university reform
Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:02pm
Some 43,000 students, researchers and professors took to streets in Paris and other French cities Tuesday to demand an increase in scholarship funds and protest government plans to cut university jobs amid the economic downturn. Full Story

Dutch protest Britain's ban of right-wing lawmaker
Posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:03pm
The British government has banned Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders from visiting the country to show his anti-Islam film "Fitna" at the Houses of Parliament. Full Story

Mexico to fingerprint phone users in crime fight
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:02am
Mexico will start a national register of mobile phone users that will include fingerprinting all customers in an effort to catch criminals who use the devices to extort money and negotiate kidnapping ransoms. Under a new law published on Monday and due to be in force in April, mobile phone companies will have a year to build up a database of their clients, complete with fingerprints. The idea would be to match calls and messages to the phones' owners. Full Story

Venezuelan opposition leaders left almost powerless
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:03am
Shuttered, padlocked and sprayed with multicolored graffiti, Caracas City Hall is a forlorn sight. Opposition Mayor Antonio Ledezma, whose name is featured in the graffiti -- usually accompanied by the word ''rat'' -- has been unable to work there for almost a month, since a group loyal to leftist President Hugo Chavez occupied the building. Full Story

'More civilians die' in S Lanka
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:03am
More civilians have been reported killed as intense fighting continues between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels in north-east Sri Lanka. The military said the rebels had shot dead 17 civilians and injured about 70 trying to flee the conflict zone. Full Story

More suspects sought in Venezuela synagogue attack
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:04am
A security guard and a police officer who worked as a bodyguard for a local rabbi are among the suspects accused of ransacking and vandalizing a Caracas synagogue, Venezuela's justice minister said Monday. Tareck El Aissami said that one of the two security guards on duty during last month's attack at the Tiferet Israel Synagogue helped intruders by cutting electricity cables feeding an electric fence surrounding the building and deactivating the alarm. Full Story

Mexican drug violence spills over into the US
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:05am
Just as government officials had feared, the drug violence raging in Mexico is spilling over into the United States. U.S. authorities are reporting a spike in killings, kidnappings and home invasions connected to Mexico's murderous cartels. Full Story

Poll of Afghans Shows Drop In Support for U.S. Mission
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:07am
A new poll in Afghanistan shows sagging support for U.S. efforts in that country, with airstrikes a chief concern. A quarter of the Afghans polled said that attacks on American or allied forces are justifiable, double the proportion saying so in late 2006. Full Story

Delhis dossier insufficient: Pakistan seeks concrete evidence
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:21am
The Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) has said that a dossier of information given by India to Islamabad is insufficient to make headway in a conclusive investigation into the Mumbai attacks, and called on India to provide substantial evidence, Daily Times has learnt. Full Story

Nato pair killed in Afghan attack
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:23am
Nato says two of its soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack in Khost province in eastern Afghanistan. The organisation did not immediately release the nationalities of those killed. Most of those serving in the area are American. Full Story

Gunmen shoot aide to Nepal's PM
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:34amThe prime minister of Nepal's personal secretary has been shot and wounded by a group of attackers in the capital, Kathmandu, police and media say. Shakti Bahadur Basnet, 39, was shot in the leg as he got out of his car at his home on Monday evening. Full Story

BBC suspends Sri Lanka FM reports
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:37am
The BBC World Service is to stop providing radio news to Sri Lanka's state broadcaster because of what it calls "deliberate interference". A statement said FM broadcasts to the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation would be suspended from Tuesday. Full Story

UK to impose new visa requirements on South Africa
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:38am
Britain took new measures Monday to protect itself against the changing tactics of violent Islamic extremists by requiring visas for South Africans. Full Story

Spain says no plans for more troops to Afghanistan
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:40am
Spain has no plans to raise its troop levels in Afghanistan despite calls by President Barack Obama for a renewed commitment to fight the resurgent Taliban, Spain's foreign minister said Tuesday. Full Story

Local Taliban offer conditional support to jirga in FATA
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:38am
Local Taliban from tribal agencies bordering Hangu district on Monday offered conditional support to a peace jirga  established by the district administration  in checking the rising number of kidnappings and Taliban activities in the district. Full Story

Hizbul Mujahideen operational chief arrested in Kashmir
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:40am
The Jammu and Kashmir police Monday said they have arrested the operational chief commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, dealing a severe blow to the Pakistan-based terror outfit. Full Story

Spain says no plans for more troops to Afghanistan
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:44am
Spain has no plans to raise its troop levels in Afghanistan despite calls by President Barack Obama for a renewed commitment to fight the resurgent Taliban, Spain's foreign minister said Tuesday. Full Story

War in Afghanistan 'could be lost by summer'
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:46am
The war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan will be lost by the end of the summer without dramatic changes in counter-insurgency strategy, according to a leading US military expert. Full Story

Kazakhstan helps out US on Afghanistan
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:47am
Kazakhstan on Monday became the latest nation to offer its territory for the transit of supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan, following Kyrgyzstan's shock decision to shut a key US airbase. Full Story

Taliban raising concern, could hurt Afghanistan efforts
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:50am
There is growing concern among U.S. military and intelligence officials about different militants' havens in Pakistan that they fear could thwart U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan this year. Full Story

Call Off Drone War, Influential U.S. Adviser Says
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 12:45pm
For months, Pakistani leaders have complained, loudly, about American drone strikes on their territory. Now, an influential adviser to American policymakers is raising his voice against the unmanned attacks, too. Full Story

Survey: European anti-Semitism strong
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 2:13pm
The Anti-Defamation League said Tuesday that a survey it commissioned found nearly a third of Europeans polled blame Jews for the global economic meltdown and that a greater number think Jews have too much power in the business world. Full Story

Al-Qaeda leader warns India: report
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 2:13pm
A top Al-Qaeda commander originally thought to have died last year has released a video warning India of future terror attacks similar to those in Mumbai in November, the BBC reported Tuesday. Full Story

Interpol issues alert for 85 terror suspects
Posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 2:18pm
Interpol put out an international security alert Tuesday for 85 alleged terrorists suspected of plotting attacks against Saudi Arabia in the largest single batch of wanted notices ever sent to police agencies worldwide. Full Story

A Visit to a U.S. Ally, but an Increasingly Wary One
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 8:55am
When the envoy Richard C. Holbrooke arrives here Monday looking for ways to stop a runaway Islamist insurgency that is destabilizing Pakistan, he will find a pro-American but weak civilian government, and a powerful army unaccustomed and averse to fighting a domestic enemy. Full Story

Seven Pakistani officers killed in attack
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:08am
Seven Pakistani police officers were killed in an attack by militants on a checkpoint in Mianwali near the North-West Frontier province, officials say. Full Story

Kuwait appoints new oil minister
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:08am
Kuwait has appointed a new oil minister to fill a key position left vacant since the Cabinet resigned in November. Full Story

In Anbar, new partnerships are taking root
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:12am
A strong showing in preliminary election results allowed Abu Risha to form a coalition that will change which party controls restive Anbar province, a Sunni Arab enclave west of Baghdad. Full Story

National Security Team Delivers Grim Appraisal of Afghanistan War
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:13am
President Obama's national security team gave a dire assessment Sunday of the war in Afghanistan, with one official calling it a challenge "much tougher than Iraq" and others hinting that it could take years to turn around. Full Story

Former reformist Iranian president will run again
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:15am
Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami declared Sunday he would run again for president, setting the stage for a major political showdown in coming months between the popular reformist leader  who made dialogue with the West a centerpiece of his eight years in office  and the country's ruling hard-liners. Full Story

Gaza smugglers say Egypt tightening tunnel trade
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:16am
In the dunes of rubble along the Gaza border work crews are excavating scores of bombed tunnels, but smugglers say Egyptian forces on the other side are gradually choking off their trade. Full Story

Yemen releases 170 al-Qaida suspects
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:17am
Yemen released 170 men it had arrested on suspicion of having ties to al-Qaida, security officials said Sunday, two weeks after the terror group announced that Yemen had become the base of its activities for the whole Arabian peninsula. Full Story

Israel enters final campaign day
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:18am
Politicians in Israel are making their final appeals to voters before a general election on Tuesday. Full Story

US warns North Korea over missile
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:19am
The commander of US forces in South Korea has said he has not ruled out a military response if North Korea test-fires a long-range missile. US General Walter Sharp urged North Korea to cease what he referred to as provocations, and behave like a responsible country. Full Story

Kazakhstan to allow US shipments
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:22am
Kazakhstan has said it will allow the United States to ship non-military cargo via its territory to Afghanistan. The foreign ministry said it had given its consent to the transportation of "material for civilian use" by land. Full Story

China submits rights record to UN
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:24am
China has presented its first report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The document focuses on improvements brought about by economic development, but also admits that China faces serious challenges. Full Story

China pursues Latin America ties
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:27am
Two top Chinese officials have started visits to Latin America as part of an intensified effort to strengthen ties with the region. Chinese Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu is to visit Argentina, Ecuador, Barbados and the Bahamas. Vice-President Xi Jinping is visiting Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela and China's two biggest trading partners in the region, Brazil and Mexico. Full Story

CIA warns Barack Obama that British terrorists are the biggest threat to the US
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 9:53am
American spy chiefs have told the President that the CIA has launched a vast spying operation in the UK to prevent a repeat of the 9/11 attacks being launched from Britain. Full Story

Bomber kills 17 in Sri Lankan refugee camp
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 10:00am
At least 17 people were killed and 45 others wounded Monday when a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a camp where civilians had sought refuge from the fighting between government troops and Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka, the defense ministry said. The attack occurred at a camp in Mullaittivu, where the government said it was providing refuge, medical care and sustenance to displaced civilians. Full Story

Up to 50 terror camps active in Pakistan: Army chief
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 10:09amTerror infrastructure in Pakistan is "existing and active", according to Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, who puts the number of terror camps there in between 30 and 50. Full Story

Militants killing laughter and music in Pakistan region
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 10:13am
Pakistani comedian Alamzeb Mujahid had bad news for his fans after being freed by Islamist militants who kidnapped him in Peshawar city last month. Full Story

Nine children among 13 killed in Pakistan fighting
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 10:15am
At least 13 people, nine of them children, were killed in northwestern Pakistan on Monday when two mortar bombs hit a house during a battle between security forces and Taliban militants, the military and residents said. Full Story

Pakistani National Pleads Guilty in Terrorism Financing Scheme
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 2:08pm
Imdad Ullah Ranjha, age 34, a Pakistani national residing in Glen Burnie, Maryland, pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money remitting business, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Full Story

Angry protests at Pakistan blast
Posted on Friday, February 6, 2009 at 11:45am
Angry protests have struck Pakistan's Punjab province after a bomb attack on a Shia religious procession on Thursday left 30 dead. Full Story

U.S. troops in Afghanistan use radio to help tune out Taliban
Posted on Friday, February 6, 2009 at 11:53am
In this badly understaffed post, one of the more successful battle strategies for isolating the Taliban has been what the U.S. Army calls RIAB  Radio in a Box. Full Story

Release of nuclear scientist angers Indian government
Posted on Friday, February 6, 2009 at 2:04pm
Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan was released on Friday from house arrest by a Pakistani court, prompting angry reactions by Indian government officials. Full Story

Car bomb explodes at trade fair center in Spain
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 7:36am
A car bomb believed planted by the armed Basque group ETA exploded at a business park on Madrid's outskirts Monday, but no one was injured, police said. Full Story

Merkel loses Economy Minister ahead of election
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 7:38am
Conservative Michael Glos stood down as Germany's economy minister to make way for newcomer Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Monday, dealing a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel's preparations for this year's federal election. Full Story

Pakistan Taleban 'kill hostage'
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 7:39am
Taleban militants in Pakistan say they have killed a Polish engineer kidnapped in September and have released a video purporting to show his death. Full Story

New envoy to Afghanistan, Pakistan
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 8:19am
The current ambassador in Kabul was named on Monday as Britain's new special representative to both Afghanistan and Pakistan, working closely with US special envoy Richard Holbrooke. Full Story

French DM rules out more troops for Afghanistan
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 8:20am
France's defense minister is ruling out for now increasing the country's military presence in Afghanistan. Full Story

NATO commander: Afghanistan drug raids imminent
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 8:22am
In an effort to strike at a key income source for Taliban militants, the top NATO commander said Sunday that operations to attack drug lords and labs in Afghanistan will begin within the "next several days." Full Story


Courtesy Terrorism Research Center, Inc.