Terrorist Attack _______________ Information Only

http://www.afghanradio.com/news/2001/nov...

Top 375. Nov 9, 2001 7:25 PM

» Steven_Russell - Kashmiri terror by Harkatul Mujahideen

How in the world were we so blind to let all these terrorist groups get so organized? A "dozen" of these groups are active in Kashmir alone.

Pakistani militant leader slips into Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - A pro-Taliban Pakistani militant leader, whose group is fighting in Kashmir and is listed as a terrorist organization by Washington, has gone into Afghanistan, sources close to the group said Friday.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, leader of Kashmiri militant group Harkatul Mujahideen, went into Afghanistan Tuesday with a small group of his followers, the sources said.

Khalil has not been seen for several weeks and even his party says he has not been in touch with them for some time.

The funds of the group -- listed for years as a terrorist organization -- were frozen by Washington after the Sept. 11 hijack attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

More than 35 members of Harkatul Mujahideen were killed last month in Kabul when a bomb hit their hostel. Some were buried in Kabul but several bodies were smuggled back into Pakistan.

About a dozen Muslim separatist rebel groups have been fighting Indian security forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.

Thousands of armed pro-Taliban Pakistanis have gone into Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban, under attack by the United States for sheltering Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Pakistani fighters have defied a ban by their government prohibiting its nationals from joining Taliban forces.

Most are being sent by the Tehrik Nifaze Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) movement, or movement to impose Islamic laws, led by radical Maulana Sufi Mohammad.

His son Fazlullah told Reuters by telephone from the remote village of Maidan in Pakistan's northwest that more fighters were preparing to go over and help the Taliban in their jihad, or holy war.

"The first phase is over -- 75 vehicles with our members went into Afghanistan yesterday... Now we are preparing a second group," he said, adding that relief and medical supplies were also being collected to be sent to Afghanistan.

Armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket launchers, followers of Sufi Mohammad have been crossing over in vehicles or on foot through rugged terrain between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government is unable to completely stop people crossing over from the tribal areas along the frontier that have been semi-autonomous since the days of British colonial rule.

Most people are crossing from Ghakhi Pass in Bajaur Agency, where a handful of security personnel lack the resources to stop fighters entering Afghanistan.

-- posted by Steven_Russell

http://www.afghanradio.com/news/2001/nov...

Top 376. Nov 9, 2001 7:42 PM

» Steven_Russell - terror source from Kashmir

I have been fearing that we may be forced to fight the next battle against terror in Kashmir. The Kashmir terrorists are now planning to take the battle to us.

Suicide squads set to target US bases

The Guardian - By Rory Carroll in Islamabad
Taliban leaders have sanctioned suicide squads to seek and destroy United States and Northern Alliance targets in a significant escalation of their resistance to ground assaults.

Teams of militants have allegedly been granted permission to strap explosives to their bodies and vehicles to launch potentially devastating attacks against enemy forces, despite unease over Islam's disapproval of suicide, it was claimed on Wednesday.

A determination to inflict maximum casualties against US troops and their Northern Alliance proxies has apparently convinced the Taliban to approve a tactic that has bloodied Indian security forces in Kashmir.

Muslim militants waging an insurgency in the disputed Himalayan territory have bombed Indian military bases, checkpoints and patrols in a series of spectacular raids that claimed dozens of lives. Fighters willing to make the ultimate sacrifice are known as fidayeen.

The Islamic groups trained for suicide attacks in Afghanistan under the sponsorship of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, which see the fight against the US as a holy war.

According to refugees, Arab and Pakistani hardliners have in recent weeks taken an increasingly dominant role in organising Taliban resistance, elbowing aside those Afghans deemed too moderate. Jaish-e-Mohammed, a fundamentalist Pakistani group suspected of last month's car bomb that killed at least 38 people outside a state assembly building in Kashmir, said its militants had infiltrated Afghanistan and would use identical methods.

"They work against India and they will work against the Americans," said Mohammad Gul, who trains volunteers. "We have redirected our members from Kashmir to Afghanistan."

Sardar Ahmedia, a spokesman for the Northern Alliance in New Delhi, claimed the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, mobilised fidayeen at a meeting in the southern city of Kandahar last week. After being drilled in commando tactics the squads would be slipped across the border to target US bases and supply depots in neighbouring countries such as Tajikistan, he said.

Trucks, tanks and other vehicles loaded with explosives could also be driven at opposition forces trying to retake the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, he told Defence Week magazine.

A Taliban defector said two pilots willing to fly kamikaze missions could do so in aging SU fighter bombers that have been hidden and survived the US onslaught. The Frontier Post, a Pakistani newspaper, quoted a Taliban source in Kabul saying death squads, with Russian-made AK-83 sub-machine guns and wearing olive-green chest bands inscribed with verses from the Koran, were operating in several areas.

-- posted by Steven_Russell

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.c...

Top 377. Nov 10, 2001 6:17 AM

» Kirk - Map: Bases for coalition operations

Very good map showing where our bases are in the middle East around Afghanistan along with what ships are deployed in the area.

At the bottom of the page, there is a link to other excellent maps.

-- posted by Kirk

Top 378. Nov 10, 2001 9:55 AM

» BPyles - OBL interview

Here is the interview Hamid Mir, editor of Ausaf, supposedly had with Osama bin Laden. Copied from Dawn site.

Sounds to me like he is out of touch with reality or as French President Chirac said “man of fanaticism, hatred and deceit – in truth a raving madman.”

One little inconsistency in the following: Question by HM: “Some Western media claim that you are trying to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons. How much truth is there in such reports.” OSB answer: “I heard the speech of American President Bush yesterday (Oct 7)****” Maybe the Oct 7 is error in translation or typo or just all plain trash.

Osama claims he has nukes: If US uses N-arms it will get same response

By Hamid Mir

KABUL, Nov 9: Osama bin Laden has said that "we have chemical and nuclear weapons as a deterrent and if America used them against us we reserve the right to use them".

He said this in a special interview with Hamid Mir, the editor of Ausaf, for Dawn and Ausaf, at an undisclosed location near Kabul.

This was the first interview given by Osama to any journalist after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.

The correspondent was taken blindfolded in a jeep from Kabul on the night of Nov 7 to a place where it was extremely cold and one could hear the sound of anti-aircraft guns firing away. After a wait of some time , Osama arrived with about a dozen bodyguards and Dr Ayman Al-Zuwahiri and answered questions.

Hamid Mir: After American bombing on Afghanistan on Oct 7, you told the Al-Jazeera TV that the Sept 11 attacks had been carried out by some Muslims. How did you know they were Muslims ?

Osama bin Laden: The Americans themselves released a list of the suspects of the Sept 11 attacks, saying that the persons named were involved in the attacks. They were all Muslims, of whom 15 belonged to Saudi Arabia, two were from the UAE and one from Egypt. According to the information I have, they were all passengers.Fateha was held for them in their homes. But America said they were hijackers.

HM: In your statement of Oct 7, you expressed satisfaction over the Sept 11 attacks, although a large number of innocent people perished in them, hundreds among them were Muslims. Can you justify the killing of innocent men in the light of Islamic teachings ?

OBL: This is a major point in jurisprudence. In my view, if an enemy occupies a Muslim territory and uses common people as human shield, then it is permitted to attack that enemy. For instance, if bandits barge into a home and hold a child hostage, then the child's father can attack the bandits and in that attack even the child may get hurt.

America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechenya, Kashmir and Iraq. The Muslim have the right to attack America in reprisal. The Islamic Shariat says Muslims should not live in the land of the infidel for long. The Sept 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America's icons of military and economic power.

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was against killing women and children. When he saw a dead woman during a war, he asked why was she killed ? If a child is above 13 and wields a weapon against Muslims, then it is permitted to kill him.

The American people should remember that they pay taxes to their government, they elect their president, their government manufactures arms and gives them to Israel and Israel uses them to
massacre Palestinians. The American Congress endorses all government measures and this proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims. The entire America, because they elect the Congress.

I ask the American people to force their government to give up anti-Muslim policies. The American people had risen against their government's war in Vietnam. They must do the same today. The
American people should stop the massacre of Muslims by their government.

HM: Can it be said that you are against the American government, not the American people ?

OSB: Yes! We are carrying on the mission of our Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him). The mission is to spread the word of God, not to indulge massacring people. We ourselves are the target of killings, destruction and atrocities. We are only defending ourselves. This is defensive Jihad. We want to defend our people and our land. That is why I say that if we don't get security, the Americans, too would not get security.

This is a simple formula that even an American child can understand. This is the formula of live and let live.

HM: The head of Egypt's Jamia Al-Azhar has issued a fatwa (edict) against you, saying that the views and beliefs of Osama bin Laden have nothing to do with Islam. What do you have to say about that ?

OSB: The fatwa of any official Aalim has no value for me. History is full of such Ulema who justify Riba, who justify the occupation of Palestine by the Jews, who justify the presence of American troops around Harmain Sharifain. These people support the infidels for their personal gain. The true Ulema support the Jihad against America. Tell me if Indian forces invaded Pakistan what would you do? The Israeli forces occupy our land and the American troops are on our territory. We have no other option but to launch Jihad.

HM: Some Western media claim that you are trying to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons. How much truth is there in such reports?

OSB: I heard the speech of American President Bush yesterday (Oct 7). He was scaring the European countries that Osama wanted to attack with weapons of mass destruction. I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent.

HM: Where did you get these weapons from ?

OSB: Go to the next question.

HM: Demonstrations are being held in many European countries against American attacks on Afghanistan. Thousands of the protesters were non-Muslims. What is your opinion about those
non-Muslim protesters ?

OSB: There are many innocent and good-hearted people in the West. American media instigates them against Muslims. However, some good-hearted people are protesting against American attacks because human nature abhors injustice.

The Muslims were massacred under the UN patronage in Bosnia. I am ware that some officers of the State Department had resigned in protest. Many years ago the US ambassador in Egypt ha resigned in protest against the policies of President Jimmy Carter. Nice and civilized are everywhere. The Jewish lobby has taken America and the West hostage.

HM: Some people say that war is no solution to any issue. Do you think that some political formula could be found to stop the present war ?

OSB: You should put this question to those who have started this war. We are only defending ourselves.

HM: If America got out of Saudi Arabia and the Al-Aqsa mosque was liberated, would you then present yourself for trial in some Muslim country ?

OSB: Only Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Pakistan follows the English law. I don't consider Saudi Arabia an Islamic country. If the Americans have charges against me, we too have a charge sheet against them.

HM: Pakistan government decided to cooperate with America after Sept 11, which you don't consider right. What do you think Pakistan should have done but to cooperate with America ?

OSB: The government of Pakistan should have the wishes of the people in view. It should not have surrendered to the unjustified demands of America. America does not have solid proof against us. It just has some surmises. It is unjust to start bombing on the basis of those surmises.

HM: Had America decided to attack Pakistan with the help of India and Israel, what would have we done ?

OSB: What has America achieved by attacking Afghanistan ? We will not leave the Pakistani people and the Pakistani territory at anybody's mercy.

We will defend Pakistan. But we have been disappointed by Gen Pervez Musharraf. He says that the majority is with him. I say the majority is against him. Bush has used the word crusade. This is a crusade declared by Bush. It is no wisdom to barter off blood of Afghan brethren to improve Pakistan's economy. He will be punished by the Pakistani people and Allah.

Right now a great war of Islamic history is being fought in Afghanistan. All the big powers are united against Muslims. It is ' sawab ' to participate in this war.

HM: A French newspaper has claimed that you had kidney problem and had secretly gone to Dubai for treatment last year. Is that correct ?

OSB: My kidneys are all right. I did not go to Dubai last year. One British newspaper has published an imaginary interview with Islamabad dateline with one of my sons who lives in Saudi Arabia. All this is false.

HM: Is it correct that a daughter of Mulla Omar is your wife or your daughter is Mulla Omar's wife ?

OSB: (Laughs). All my wives are Arabs ( and all my daughters are married to Arab Mujahideen). I have spiritual relationship with Mulla Omar. He is a great and brave Muslim of this age. He does not fear anyone but Allah. He is not under any personal relationship or obligation to me. He is only discharging his religious duty. I, too, have not chosen this life out of any personal consideration.

-- posted by BPyles

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/11/10/ret.bus...

Top 379. Nov 10, 2001 12:35 PM

» rasputin - Bush's UN speech

If you didn't get a chance to hear every word of his speech, you can at least read every word. It was an all-time, world class speech. Classic. Classy. Terrific content, great pacing and cadence. What a great guy.

-- posted by rasputin

Top 380. Nov 10, 2001 7:35 PM

» JenL_4 - Re: Bush's UN speech

In response to message posted by rasputin:

Thanks Ras - an all-time world class speech indeed...

<img src="/files/mysites/jen7/bushun11-10.jpg" width=318 height=450 align="left"> "History will record our response and judge or justify every nation in this hall. The civilized world is now responding. We act to defend ourselves and deliver our children from a future of fear.

"We choose the dignity of life over a culture of death. We choose lawful change and civil disagreement over coercion, subversion and chaos.

"These commitments -- hope and order, law and life -- unite people across cultures and continents. Upon these commitments depend all peace and progress. For these commitments we are determined to fight.

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_4

Top 381. Nov 10, 2001 7:52 PM

» JenL_4 - Re: Journalists

In response to message posted by BPyles:

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_4

Feds probe more local businesses for terrorism ties

Top 382. Nov 10, 2001 10:17 PM

» JenL_2 - Re: Terrorists' money

In response to message posted by JenL_2:

more Seattle raids from 11/9 SeattleTimes.com:

....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 383. Nov 11, 2001 6:25 PM

» BPyles - Britian Under Public emergency

Britain placed under state of public emergency . This comes less than 24 hours after warnings from America that Britian is a top target for OBL's el-Qaeda terrorist network.

· Rights law scrapped for internment

Kamal Ahmed, Antony Barnett and Martin Bright
Sunday November 11, 2001
The Observer

Britain is to be placed under a state of 'public emergency' as
part of an unprecedented government move to allow internment
without trial of suspected terrorists.

In a historic initiative that will incense civil liberties groups, David
Blunkett, the Home Secretary, will lay the order before the
House of Commons in the next 48 hours, to be followed by
anti-terrorist legislation which will be rushed through in the next
four weeks.

The order, which says the events of 11 September are
'threatening the life of the nation', will allow Britain to opt out of
Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which
bans detention without trial.

It will pave the way for indefinite imprisonment of foreign
nationals who the Government suspects are terrorists, and
comes less than 24 hours after warnings from America that
Britain is a top target for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist
network.

The move reveals the seriousness the Government places on the
threat to Britain. Such orders can be used only in times of war
or when there has been an event that puts the security of the
nation at risk. Whitehall sources said the order would not be
reviewed 'for at least a year'.

Internment was last used during the Gulf war against Iraqis
suspected of links to Saddam Hussein's army. It has also been
used against terrorist suspects in Northern Ireland and Germans
during the Second World War. It is the first time the Government
has sought such a major opt-out of the Convention, which is the
cornerstone of human rights laws in the country.

John Wadham, director of Liberty, said it would seek to
challenge the order in the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
'This is a fundamental violation of the rule of law, our rights and
traditional British values,' he said. 'There is no evidence of direct
plans to commit atrocities against Britain.'

Government officials insisted this was a 'formal procedure' and
did not signal a change in the level of risk to the country, but
said the police needed more powers to detain suspected
terrorists.

'Britain is closed to terrorism, and we will take whatever action
we can,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said. 'People
will object to it, but we are absolutely determined to get the
balance right between human rights, which are important, and
society's right to live free from terror.'

Downing Street believes that the public will back the moves,
which it says are necessary to maintain national security.
Intelligence reports suggest a number of terrorists linked to
extremist Middle Eastern organisations have attempted to enter
the country using the cloak of asylum laws.

The official spokesman said a handful of people would be
targeted by the new laws and they would be offered the
opportunity to travel to a third country if it could be arranged.

Even suspects who attempt to travel through British airports can
be detained if the new terrorism laws are passed.

The Government plans to rush the legislation through both
Houses of Parliament by Christmas and is hoping for
cross-party support.

The public emergency order will be the first of a series of
controversial measures closing what the Government says are
loopholes in the law. As well as internment, the terrorism Bill will
contain new laws to tackle religious hatred and harsh sentences
for people behind 'non-bomb' hoaxes, such as anthrax scares.

It will also contain new measures against money- laundering and
a crackdown on bureaux de change, which are often used to
move terrorists' assets, and will order banks to scrutinise and
report on any suspicious transactions.

New bills on fast-track extradition laws and asylum reform are
not now expected until the new year.

*The Home Office is also planning to seize passports from
British Muslims who are planning to travel abroad to fight for the
Taliban or Osama bin Laden.

Home Office Minister Angela Eagle has confirmed she will give
'serious consideration' to powers at present used against football
hooligans trying to travel abroad.

The law allows action against 'a person whose past or proposed
activities are so demonstrably undesirable that the grant or
continued enjoyment of passport facilities would be contrary to
the public interest'.

Andrew Dismore, Labour MP for Hendon, said he would now
pass a list of names to Eagle of people who had expressed a
desire to travel abroad to fight for the Taliban. 'It is clear that if
any British Muslim says he wants to travel to Afghanistan to try
to kill British or US soldiers, then that is clearly against the
public interest and his passport should be removed,' Dismore
said.

-- posted by BPyles