Terrorism Summary 03/31/05 This is a grim day on the non-terror front. But then again there is a degree of terror to it. A group of individuals have determined that a category of humans are not fit to live and have seen to the death of an innocent individual. As such have brought a degree of terror as did those on 9/11 who didn’t believe their victims had any worth either.
Let me know if you want on or off the Ping list.
03/31/04 Current National Homeland Defense threat level is YELLOW
1. Attack threat windows - America
03/31/04 Primary Window: Currently on a 60 day watch due to the 02/20/05 release of a video on Al-Jazerra of AQ number two - Al Zawahiri. Past history has shown that there is a strong likelyhood that this video may be the signal for an attack somewhere within the next 60 days. This watch ends approximately 21 April 2005.
03/31/04 Secondary windows: None currently identified.
2. Attack Indicators
03/31/05 Al-Zawhari video message (see above). No other significant indicators
3. Current Terrorist Operations
AQ / OBL
03/31/05 No new information
Southern ASIA Region
Indonesia - State Dept. Travel Warning issued 03/24/05
03/28/05 8.7 earthquake strikes regions further to the south than the Dec 2004 quake. A 9-meter high tsunami is noted on an island near the epicenter and a 10 centimeter wave in Australia. What impact this may have on terrorist operations is unknown.
Thailand
Monitoring - AQ attack watch #2 through 12/31/05
The documents show that in 2005, the militants plan to attack "soft targets" such as the tropical beach resorts of Pattaya and Phuket, which draw tourist from around the world. Recent attacks have hit other resort areas not affected by the tsunami.
http://www.trackingterrorism.com/Default.asp?dismode=article&artid=1305
03/31/05 No new developments
Pakistan
03/27/05 More than 10,000 protesters rallied in the southwestern city of Quetta in Pakistan on Friday, demanding President Gen. Pervez Musharraf step down. The supporters of a coalition of radical Islamic groups chanted "God is great" and "Pakistan will not be allowed to become a U.S. colony."
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/26/content_428362.htm
East ASIA Region
Phillipines Attack watch through March 27 2005 has ended. There were no attacks during the Easter period. Continued high threat of continued smaller scale terror attacks that have been on-going for a number of years now.
03/30/05 Jemaah Islamiah and allied regional terror groups may be using southern Philippine training camps to build networks and share their deadly expertise, Singapore’s interior minister said Tuesday. Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said coordinated bomb attacks last month in the Philippines highlighted an “urgent need” to disrupt and dismantle these camps in Mindanao Island.
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/mar/30/yehey/top_stories/20050330top7.html
03/28/05 Communist guerrillas on Monday renewed their threat against U.S. troops on training missions in the Philippines, saying the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq prove they can be killed despite their superior military power. The Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army, accused the U.S. government of attempting to crush their insurgency by supplying weapons and training to Filipino soldiers. The rebel army marks its 36th anniversary on Tuesday.
The United States has about 100 soldiers in the Philippines as part of annual training exercises. Washington considers the communist rebels a terrorist organization, although there have been no attacks on American soldiers in recent years.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Philippines%20Communist%20Rebels
Middle East / SW Asia
Qatar
02/29/05 However big a shock a recent suicide bombing in Doha was to the Qataris, it was far from unexpected in Western capitals, where intelligence agencies had discreetly put out a travel warning through their respective embassies. …snip….
Although the group said that this was its first statement, Jund al-Sham is the same name as a group started by the Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Intelligence officials believe it may be a sign that Zarqawi is beginning to attack targets outside Iraq, and may, in fact, be emerging as a replacement to Osama bin Laden as the operational leader of the global jihad. Analysts are concerned that Zarqawi may now begin to redeploy his cadre of militants who, having gained important combat experience in Iraq, are capable of carrying out deadly missions elsewhere.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=610353&page=1
Iran
03/31/05 All pretty much quiet from the mullahs. Did recently admit some reporters to view a ‘secret’ underground nuclear facility.
Afghanistan
03/31/05 One person was killed and one wounded when a car bomb exploded in front of government buildings in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, a state agency official said. The blast, for which Taliban guerrillas claimed responsibility, came as Laura Bush, the U.S. first lady, was to visit Kabul about 120 kilometers, or 75 miles, to the west of Jalalabad. It was the latest incident in a wave of violence. Taliban activity had dropped off during the winter.More attacks are expected with the onset of spring.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/30/news/afghan.html
03/29/05 bin Laden’s Al Qaeda is making efforts to engineer a Taliban comeback and regain its foothold in Afghanistan, said US commander Lt Gen David Barno on Tuesday. Barno said the US believed both Bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar were still in the region, possibly on the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said, “Al Qaeda is still providing financing, with guidance, training, support and selected people to help lead and motivate Taliban operations in Afghanistan.” ….snip….
Taliban fighters were in disarray and would avoid direct contact with US-led troops, said the US commander, adding that he did not anticipate a “countrywide offensive”. He said that an Afghan government amnesty offer to rank-and file-Taliban fighters would “fracture” the Taliban movement and the US had indications that over 1,000 out of several thousand Taliban would be eligible.
Barno said the US hoped that Pakistan would continue to keep up the pressure on the Taliban and Al Qaeda on the other side of the Afghan border. “Pakistanis have done more than any other single country in terms of arresting Al Qaeda leadership and breaking down their networks inside of Pakistan,” he added.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_30-3-2005_pg7_2
03/28/05 A senior Taliban commander has given up resistance and surrendered to the Afghan government Saturday, said an official of defense ministry here on Sunday. "Backing government's amnesty and reconciliation policy, a prominent Taliban commander Mullah Amanullah surrendered to government troops in Deh Chopan district of Zabul province," Zahir Azimi told a press conference. Another armed Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Rahman was apprehended in the same area that day, added the spokesman.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-03/27/content_2750312.htm
Iraq
03/31/05 U.S. forces in Iraq are holding a senior operative of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who holds joint American-Jordanian citizenship, defense officials said Thursday. The man was captured in a raid by U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq late in 2004, said Matthew Waxman, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152107,00.html
03/30/05 For most of March, enemy attacks have been running at less than half the level of the past few months. Attacks have not been this infrequent since last April. It is believed that the attacks are fewer because of poor morale among the attackers, and the loss of many terrorist and Sunni Arab leaders. The anti-government forces never really recovered from the beating they took in Fallujah last November. While most of the enemy leaders got out of Fallujah and set up shop in other Sunni Arab cities, the failed effort to stop the January 30th vote exposed many of the surviving terrorist groups to attack by Iraqi and coalition forces. The terrorists also suffered from the increasingly bad reputation they were getting. When the “resistance” began 18 months ago, it was pitched as a “popular uprising” against “foreign occupation.” But the foreign troops proved to be deadly opponents, and they were aided by a growing number of Iraqi police and troops. In fact, the Iraqi government forces were seen as a deadlier enemy to terrorists and anti-government gunmen. An Iraqi cop could more quickly identify who was bad, or hiding guns, or bomb making equipment. So the terrorist increasingly turned their guns on Iraqis. Over the last six months, the anti-government efforts turned increasingly into brutal terrorism against Iraqi “collaborators.” Recently, the terrorists have been releasing more video tapes of Iraqis, or foreign civilians (particularly Arabs or Turks), working for the government or coalition forces. But pure terror often doesn’t work, and tends to backfire. It’s backfiring now, and the terrorists are trying to come up with a new tactic. There aren’t many options. Iraqis have gotten numb to all the suicide bombings and assassinations. Moreover, people have more to fear from criminal kidnappings (there are several hundred a month), robbery, hijacking and burglary. Foreign terrorists are in greater danger than ever before, with more Iraqis willing to turn them into the growing number of Iraqi police. In more cases, Iraqis are taking the law into their own hands, and killing foreigners, or Iraqis, suspected of terrorist, or criminal, activity.
http://www.strategypage.com//fyeo/qndguide/default.asp?target=IRAQ.HTm
Saudi Arabia
Monitoring - AQ attack watch extended through 03/28/05
Call for attacks on oil infrastructure in Iraq and Gulf region by Osama bin Laden
03/31/05 This watch has ended, however the threat that AQ may attempt to strike at SA oil infrastructure remains a juicy target..
Lebanon
Godzilla - Hizbullah is trying to revive the terror of the civil war era by splitting the anti-Syria coalition up. However, too much water is under that bridge and I think the Lebanease are more united in expelling Syria than renewing old quarrels
03/27/05 A building in a Beirut industrial area is turned into a raging inferno Saturday, March 26, 2005. Arab TV stations cited security officials saying a bomb caused the blast. The nature of the explosion was not immediately known, but witnesses said the blast, coming on the eve of the Easter holiday, occurred in the predominantly Christian northeastern Beirut suburb of Dekweneh. Other witnesses said the blast took place in the Bouchrieh-Dekweneh industrial zone, one of the largest such areas north of Beirut where several wood, plastic and cable factories are based. It is also close to a residential area.
http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/003856.html
Israel
03/31/05 Hizballah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas have intensified their efforts to smuggle weapons from Egypt to cells operating in the territories, with the increasing involvement of Negev Bedouin, according to an internal Shin Bet document.
http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/003888.html
03/29/05 Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is scheduled to arrive this evening in Washington D.C. for high level talks with U.S. administration officials. Mofaz likely to discuss what he has called, to a New York Times interviewer, **"A red line,"** the Terrorists have crossed.
The Defense Minister has claimed that PLO Arabs, working with members of the PA military intelligence agency have smuggled Strela shoulder-fired anti aircraft missiles into Gaza. Mofaz demanding the PA track down and confiscate those anti-aircraft missiles, and give them to Israel.
Arab terrorists, as well as a number of Arab businessmen, regularly smuggle many types of weapons in from Egypt, often through deep tunnels dug especially for the purpose. As part of PM Sharon's Gaza Disengagement plan, Egyptian troops would be trusted to stop much of that smuggling.
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=79276
3/24/05 An Israeli Arab from Bakka al Gharbiya who transported the suicide bomber who blew up at the Stage nightclub in Tel Aviv on February 25 was also involved in deciding on the location where the attack would take place, officials announced Thursday. The attack occurred on a Friday night as club-goers stood in line, waiting to enter the Stage. Four people were killed instantly, and fifth later died of his wounds.
Details released on Thursday by the Shin Bet and Israel Police revealed that Ashraf Kasi, 26, was in touch with senior Islamic Jihad official Nidal Abu Sa'ada of Ilar, north of Tulkarm, who was one of the key planners of the attack. Security officials said that the investigation into the affair after Kasi's arrest a day after the attack revealed one of the first times that an Israeli Arab was deeply involved in planning the attack and choosing its location, and not just in transporting the suicide bomber into Israel.
http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/003858.html
Europe
General
03/31/05 Iraq's most wanted man, the fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been planning a chemical weapons attack in Europe, a German magazine said on Wednesday, citing intelligence sources. "We in Europe have been afraid that a big bang is coming sometime and that Zarqawi is planning it," an official at Germany's BND federal intelligence service told the April edition of the political monthly Cicero.
According to the magazine, the Jordanian extremist and his supporters, who are linked to the al-Qaeda network, have been trying to get hold of arms components in Russia's volatile north Caucasus region and in Georgia. Another BND source said that it was unclear whether Zarqawi's attempts had been successful. "We only know that he is working on it," the source said.
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1682715,00.html
Spain
03/31/05 Spanish police have detained a man who was found to have 755kg (1,664lb) of explosives, 5,312 detonators and 500m of fuse in his garage near Barcelona. Officers also discovered 33 packs of dynamite in a bag in the back of the 50-year-old's car. The dynamite, Goma 2, is the same type used in the 11 March attacks that killed 191 people last year.
But Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said the find does not appear to be in any way related to terrorism. Police say they are still investigating why the man had the explosives, but it appears he may have been storing the material over the last 13 years while he worked as an explosives expert. The arrest in Gurb, in north-eastern Spain, also uncovered a stash of 750 kg of ammonium nitrate - a fertiliser that can also be used to make bombs like the one used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in the United States.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4394885.stm
The Americas
United States
Godzilla - Now that they have found the missing worker, the probability that this was a terror related attack has significantly diminshed. However, IF AQ were to target refineries, they would be able to disrupt our gasoline supplies and send prices through the roof. That would have a big impact on our economy. How big is uncertain, but depending upon duration , could put the dampers on a large part of our recovery.
03/29/05 The only worker still missing after the explosion of BP's Texas City refinery was found dead in the plant's rubble today, bringing the death toll to 15. At least seven other blast victims, meanwhile, are fighting for their lives in hospitals. …snip….
Until the 15th body turned up this morning, BP officials thought the missing worker had simply left the plant Wednesday and neglected to check in.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory/3100123
03/31/05 A Web site with connections to the Iraqi insurgency posted a schematic map of JFK International Airport in New York City, along with a manual on how to use shoulder-fired missiles, NBC News' Lisa Myers reported on Wednesday.
NBC News obtained the information showing potential terrorists how to down civilian airplanes by using the missiles. The Internet posting also contained a simple map of JFK Airport, plotting flight paths of planes and the security perimeter. The Web site also showed a sketch of a terrorist shooting a missile at a plane from a rooftop.
New York officials are aware of the information, and said they have warned security personnel at JFK and the Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/4332574/detail.html
03/29/05 A former Detroit Public Schools official is accused of conspiring with a Florida man in the mid- and late 1990s to raise money and recruit Muslim extremists to fight in Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya and Somalia. A criminal complaint issued unsealed in Miami charges 43-year-old Kifah Wael Jayyousi and another man. Authorities say Jayyousi -- a former assistant superintendent -- was arrested Sunday at Detroit Metro Airport after stepping off a flight from Amsterdam. Jayyousi is set to appear tomorrow for a detention hearing in Detroit.
Prosecutors want him sent to Miami to face charges. Jayyousi and ther other man are charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources for terrorism and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure people or damage property in a foreign country.
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/news/0329_Terror%20Arrest.html
03/29/05 An animal rights activist has been arrested here on a federal domestic terrorism warrant after spending seven years on the run, authorities said Tuesday. Peter Daniel Young, 27, was indicted along with two others by a federal grand jury in 1998 in connection with trespassing on mink farms in Wisconsin, South Dakota and Iowa, and allegedly freeing thousands of the animals, Supervisory Special Agent Mike Johnson in the FBI's Milwaukee bureau said. Young fled soon after the indictment, Johnson said.
He was arrested March 21 at a Starbucks Coffee shop in San Jose. According to a police report, San Jose Officer Ian Cooley witnessed Young attempting to steal music CDs from the cafe. Young was arrested and found to be hiding a handcuff key taped inside the rear of his belt, according to the report. …..snip….
A telephone message left at the offices of the Animal Liberation Front in Canoga Park, Calif., was not immediately returned Tuesday.
http://www.bakersfield.com/state_wire/story/5396822p-5410800c.html
4. Attack method.
11/23/04 No real change in the preferred method of choice of AQ which are bombs - the bigger the better. There are special concerns regarding the use by terrorists of the following types of vehicles:
1. Uhaul type cargo trucks.
2. Gasoline / Propane supply / tanker trucks.
3. Emergency vehicles (ambulances, police cars, fire trucks)
The has been a great deal of discussion regarding the possibility of a bio-attack against the US and the west. Stacked on top of this are concerns that the avian flu might mutate and spread to humans - touching off a pandemic.
Godzilla - Over the past year there has been discussion regarding unusual ‘scuba diver’ incidents around the country. It appears that this potential threat is gaining more interest by DHS.
03/31/05 Al Qaeda frogmen sound like one of the more exotic terrorist threats—but Homeland Security chiefs are preparing, just in case. Last month the Coast Guard launched a special program to train members of its seagoing SWAT teams how to protect U.S. ports against scuba-diving attackers. Members of Coast Guard commando teams based at 12 ports on the U.S. coastline will be taught underwater fighting techniques and how to use secret weapons. NEWSWEEK has learned that team members will try to master the proper use of "entanglement nets." The nets are meant to be thrown over an underwater intruder, who then becomes ensnared in the mesh. The commandos are also supposed to be taught how to operate special sonar the Coast Guard is developing that should be able to tell a diver from a dolphin or seal. Sonar rigs will be deployed at strategic locations so they can be rapidly set up around ports or ships in the event of specific threats. Commandos will also get access to a special underwater sound system to send out verbal warnings to underwater intruders.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7244239/site/newsweek/
5. Personnel
03/31/05 Nothing significant to report.
6. Significant meetings canceled:
03/31/04 No new cancellations.
7. Security has been heightened in specific cities
03/31/04 NYC is at a locally declared ORANGE where it had been since. 9/11/01.
GENERAL: Ongoing work to upgrade security at sea ports and airports.
8. Military operations.
03/31/05 No announced operations out of normal.
9. Dept of Homeland Security. / State Department
03/27/05 Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
This information is current as of today, Sat Mar 26 2005 17:41:12 GMT-0800.
PAKISTAN
March 25, 2005
This Travel Warning is being reissued to remind U.S. citizens of ongoing security concerns in Pakistan. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning dated September 24, 2004.
Due to on-going concerns about the possibility of terrorist activity directed against American citizens and interests, the Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Pakistan. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the Consulates in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar continue to operate at reduced staffing levels. Family members of official Americans assigned to the Embassy in Islamabad and to the three consulates in Pakistan were ordered to leave the country in March 2002 and have not been allowed to return.
Al-Qaida and Taliban elements continue to operate inside Pakistan, particularly along the porous Afghan border region. Their presence, coupled with that of indigenous sectarian and militant groups in Pakistan, continues to pose potential danger to American citizens. Continuing tensions in the Middle East also increase the possibility of violence against Westerners in Pakistan. As security has tightened at official U.S. facilities, terrorists and their sympathizers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack more vulnerable targets, including facilities where Americans are generally known to congregate or visit, such as hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, or outdoor recreation events.
U.S. citizens who travel to, or remain in Pakistan despite this Travel Warning are encouraged to register with the Embassy's Consular Section or the Consulates in Lahore, Peshawar, and Karachi through the State Department's travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov and obtain updated information on travel and security within Pakistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Persons wishing to register in person at the U.S. Consulate General in Karachi should call that office for information on how to register given the special security measures in effect. Updated travel and security information for Pakistan is issued periodically via the emergency alert system (the warden network). U.S. citizens in country should take appropriate individual precautions to ensure their security and safety. These measures include maintaining good situational awareness, avoiding crowds and demonstrations, as well as keeping a low profile, varying times and routes for all required travel and ensuring that travel documents and visas are valid.
From time to time, any post in Pakistan may temporarily suspend public services for security reasons. Official Americans may be prohibited from traveling to certain areas of Pakistan due to security concerns. Therefore, they may not be able to render immediate service to American citizens in distress. The Embassy and Consulates websites have the latest information on more specific travel restrictions and conditions. Many areas of Pakistan such as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the international border and the area adjacent to the Line of Control in the disputed territory of Kashmir are restricted for non-Pakistanis. Travel to any restricted region requires official permission by the Government of Pakistan. Failure to obtain such permission in advance can result in arrest and detention by Pakistani authorities.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_930.html
10. Suspicious Domestic Incidents Not Currently Linked to Specific Terrorism Attempts
03/30/05 Massachusetts Port Authority officials huddled in a marathon meeting yesterday to examine how, for the second time since the 2001 terrorist attacks, undocumented workers obtained passes to some of the most secure areas of Logan International Airport.
Fourteen Brazilian immigrants, who authorities say are in the country illegally, were arrested at the airport late last week. In 2002, immigration officials had arrested 20 undocumented workers, most of whom were charged with falsifying information on their employment applications.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/03/29/arrests_raise_security_questions_for_logan/
