Thanks to all those who ping me. My work tempo doesn’t allow me to engage in much discussion, however I do read the posts and links and they greatly help me. Notice again the increase of Iraqi and Afghani terrorist leaders right along with an increase in attacks. Most of the leadership that are captured are due to the general peoples getting tired of being blown up. Less than 10% of recent casualities are American.
Let me know if you want on or off the Ping list.
05/08/04 Current National Homeland Defense threat level is YELLOW
1. Attack threat windows - America
05/08/04 Primary Window: No significant windows currently identified.
05/08/04 Secondary windows: None currently identified.
2. Attack Indicators
05/08/05 None currently identified.
3. Current Terrorist Operations
AQ / OBL
05/08/05 Continued vague rumors of an impending OBL tape of some kind.
Southern ASIA Region
Indonesia - State Dept. Travel Warning issued 03/24/05
05/07/05 A flurry of interest was expressed at the beginning of the month in the contents of a 7-page letter, apparently from a Sumatra-based operative of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamyiah (JI), detailing the training of militants for suicide bombings in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. If authentic, the letter indicates that which U.S. officials in Jakarta have suspected, that Indonesia is likely to face a new wave of attacks to match the Bali bombings of October 2002. Senior Indonesian counter-terrorism official Ansyaad Mbai, also confirmed the authenticity of the document, saying that it "corroborates some of our findings in the field that there will be another bombing."
The existence of the letter was reported by the Singapore daily the Straits Times on April 1 and actually dates from last November. The letter was addressed to JI's top bomb maker the Malaysian national Azahari Husin. It detailed how people were being trained to make bombs in the Sumatran towns of Lampung, Bengkulu, Padang, and Palembang, that 12 militants were ready to be martyrs and that plans for a Bali-style attack were underway [http://www.straitstimes.com].
http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369662
Godzilla - notice that this country has been flagged for increased attacks for several months now.
Thailand
Monitoring - AQ attack watch #2 through 12/31/05
05/08/05 Nothing significant.
Burma
05/07/05 Four huge bomb explosions have rocked the Burmese capital Rangoon, killing dozens of people and leaving over 200 injured. The near-simultaneous mid-afternoon blasts targeted two packed upscale shopping centres, the Dagon and Junction Eight, and the downtown Rangoon Trade Centre which is hosting a Thai trade fair. ...snip....
Military-ruled Burma has been at various stages of civil war for decades, with government troops battling several ethnic guerrilla armies, but the capital has not seen an attack on this scale in living memory.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1362405.htm
East ASIA Region
Phillipines
05/08/05 Nothing significant or n ew
N. Korea
05/06/05 White House and Pentagon officials are closely monitoring a recent stream of satellite photographs of North Korea that appear to show rapid, extensive preparations for a nuclear weapons test, including the construction of a reviewing stand, presumably for dignitaries, according to American and foreign officials who have been briefed on the imagery. North Korea has never tested a nuclear weapon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/06/international/asia/06korea.html?ei=5065&en=4f9a21b65c1a45e5&ex=1115956800&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
Godzilla - This may cause Japan to go nuclear as well as sway opinion in S. Korea back towards the U.S. China is still a wild card, but may not want a crazy man in charge of nuclear weapons at this stage of their stratigic game.
Middle East / SW Asia
Pakistan
05/07/05 U.S. officials are working feverishly to decipher numbers and apparent codes in a notebook retrieved from suspected al Qaeda leader Abu Faraj al-Libbi, ABC News has learned. Al-Libbi -- believed to be third in command of al Qaeda leader after Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri -- was arrested by Pakistani authorities on Monday.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2005/05/006056print.html
05/05/05 Pakistani security forces have rounded up some two-dozen suspects around the country in raids using information from the senior Al Qaeda leader arrested early this week, intelligence officials said on Thursday.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/May/subcontinent_May192.xml§ion=subcontinent
Iran
05/08/05 Still going on with their nuclear plans.
Afghanistan
005/07/05 Taliban rebels have been moving in larger numbers since the end of the winter, making them vulnerable to big losses in stepped up attacks by government and U.S.-led forces, Afghan officials said on Friday. About 60 insurgents have been killed in recent days in two battles against U.S. and Afghan government forces backed by air power, the U.S. military said.
"We've stepped up our operations and at the same time the Taliban have been operating in bigger numbers since the weather warmed up," said Salim Khan, a senior police official in Kandahar province in the south. "So they easily lose men in fighting, whether they're attacking or defending," he said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL21018.htm
Iraq
05/07/05 Iraqi security forces have captured an aide to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq, the government said on Saturday.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO743448.htm
Saudi Arabia
05/06/05 A message from al-Qaeda in the Land of al-Haramain (Saudi Arabia) asking bin Laden for help was posted to the internet today, May 5, 2005.
The message is a plea to bin Laden to aid the al-Qaeda Organization in Saudi Arabia, which, according to the communiqué, has “suffered greatly…[and] we call upon you, our father asking you to fulfill your promise” . The message calls upon bin Laden to attack the US immediately as he promised: “The blows, the blows that you promised to give America our sheikh. The zero hour has come and there is no way back.”
Following the message, the poster of the message, Hareth Ben Harran, posted his own comments saying he is “fed up with woman appearing more than before on Arabic channels especially the Saudi (women) when they talk and issue fatwas which nobody controls. We are fed up with people who attack the mujahideen everywhere.”
http://www.siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications43205&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
Israel - Terror Attack Watch through May 1, 2005
05/08/05 There have been scattered, common attacks, no serious incidents.
Lebanon
05/07/05 At least one person has been killed in an explosion in Lebanon's Christian heartland, security sources said. More than seven people were reported injured in the blast, near the centre of the port town of Jounieh. It was the latest in a string of bombs in Christian areas. Three people were killed in a bomb in Jounieh in March. The latest attack comes on the eve of the return of the anti-Syrian Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, after 14 years in exile in France.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4523903.stm
Africa
05/08/05 Instability in African countries are being identified as potential locations for terrorism bases to spring back up again.
Europe
Russia
05/07/05 Gadel Sugayumov, 20, detained yesterday in Zelenograd (northwestern Moscow) had arrived in the Moscow region to mastermind and perpetrate terrorist attacks on the eve of the 60th VE Day celebrations, police reported.
http://en.rian.ru/society/20050506/39942248.html
05/05/05 Russian security forces said they foiled a major terrorist attack today, discovering a truck bomb and a cache of poisons days before dozens of dignitaries arrive in Moscow for celebrations marking the Allied victory over Nazi Germany.
The find is likely to raise fears that other terror attacks could be in the works as the world turns its attention to Russia and Monday's ceremonies marking the end of World War II. Russian authorities almost immediately blamed the planned attacks on militants, including some with reputed ties to al-Qaida.
The truck with more than a ton of explosives was found near the Chechen capital, Grozny, said Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin, chief spokesman for the federal forces in the North Caucasus region. The truck frame and chassis had been fitted with about 2,640 pounds of explosives, he said.
"The only thing left to do was to put a suicide bomber behind the wheel and turn on the electric detonator," Shabalkin was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-050505russia_wr,0,6955208.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The Americas
United States
05/08/05 A New York ringleader of a Pakistani-based terrorist group — who was seen taking pictures last year of the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges — was arrested yesterday for allegedly lying on his immigration papers about his terror links, officials said. Tariq Javid is a member of Sipah-e- Sahaba, which is aligned with al Qaeda and the International Islamic Front and has declared jihad against Americans, according to the complaint issued by Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2005/05/006076print.html
05/06/05 More Than 500 People Linked to September 11
There's an interesting nugget in a Washington Times article interviewing Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray who provides the following information. "Terrorists will fail, official says," with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:
...Criminal Division prosecutors and investigators, working with state and local authorities, have disrupted more than 150 terrorist cells and threats from Portland, Ore., to Lackawanna, N.Y., incapacitating more than 3,000 known operatives. They also have charged 375 persons in terrorism-related cases, 195 of whom already have pleaded guilty or been convicted, and removed from the country more than 500 people linked to September 11. The targeted terrorists have included members of al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas as part of an effort to prevent and prosecute those who commit or intend to commit terrorist acts against the United States...
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2005/05/006034print.html
05/06/05 Jund al-Sham (Soldiers of Levant) claimed responsibility for the small explosions outside of the British consulate in New York City, claiming that the attack was “the beginning of war inside and outside of America.” No one was hurt in the blast. Since late March, Jund al-Sham has claimed responsibility for random attacks across the globe, including in Qatarand Lebanon. In addition, the group claimed responsibility for an explosion at a Texasoil refinery. The group argues that the United States overlooked the Texas refinery explosion, and that more attacks will ensue. “We will not hesitate,” the communiqué states, “to hit the parties and coffee shops, the hotels and the churches, with the help of Allah.” To complete its task, Jund al-Sham calls for “our cells in Americato start battles in the streets.”
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications43305&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
05/05/05 Two makeshift grenades exploded outside a building housing the British Consulate early Thursday, Election Day in Britain, causing slight damage but injuring no one, officials said. Officials stressed that it was not clear whether the consulate itself had been targeted. The midtown Manhattan office building houses a variety of domestic and foreign companies.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB6FH00D8E.html
05/05/05 A 41-year-old Dearborn businessman sought to support the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah by collecting at least $600 to send to relatives of suicide bombers, the FBI said Tuesday. FBI agents arrested Nemr Ali Rahal on April 20 at his Dearborn home. They found a videotape of a 2002 Hezbollah rally in Lebanon attended by Rahal. Agents also found books, posters and videos -- one of which was titled "A Martyr Speaks About Martyrs."….snip….
On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Steven D. Pepe ordered Rahal to stand trial on charges he had committed financial fraud by stealing more than $400,000 -- largely by opening more than 30 credit card accounts and then failing to pay balances.
http://www.detnews.com/2005/wayne/0505/05/B03-170716.ht
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)
5. Significant meetings canceled:
05/08/04 No new cancellations.
6. Security has been heightened in specific cities
05/08/04 NYC is at a locally declared ORANGE where it had been since. 9/11/01.
7. Military operations.
05/08/05 No announced operations out of normal.
8. Dept of Homeland Security. / State Department
05/07/05 Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
This information is current as of today, Sat May 07 2005 01:01:40 GMT-0700.
YEMEN
May 06, 2005
This Travel Warning is being issued to warn U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Yemen due to the high security threat, even though the authorized departure for non-emergency personnel and family members of U.S. Embassy personnel has been lifted. This supersedes the Travel Warning for Yemen issued April 8, 2005.
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to Yemen. The security threat to all U.S. citizens in Yemen remains high due to terrorist activities in Yemen. The Department continues to be concerned about possible attacks by extremist individuals or groups against U.S. citizens, facilities, businesses and perceived interests. From time to time the Embassy may temporarily close or suspend public services for security reasons. Emergency assistance to U.S. citizens during non-business hours (or when public access is restricted) is available through Embassy duty personnel. ...snip...
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_936.html
05/07/05 PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
This information is current as of today, Sat May 07 2005 01:32:32 GMT-0700.
Uzbekistan
May 06, 2005
This Public Announcement is being issued to remind U.S. citizens to the potential for terrorist actions in Uzbekistan. This Public Announcement updates the Public Announcement of November 4, 2004, and expires on October 5, 2005.
The United States Government has received information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks against U.S. interests in Uzbekistan in the near future. Supporters of extremist groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al-Qaida, the Islamic Jihad Group, and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement continue to remain active in the region. These groups have expressed anti-U.S. sentiments and may also attempt to target U.S. Government or private interests in Uzbekistan. The Department of State urges Americans in Uzbekistan to exercise extreme caution, including avoiding large crowds, celebrations, and places where Westerners generally congregate.
Uzbekistan experienced a wave of extremist violence in 2004. Three suicide bombings occurred in July 2004 in Tashkent, including one outside the U.S. Embassy. Other targets included the Israeli Embassy and the Uzbekistani Prosecutor General’s Office. The Islamic Jihad Group released a statement claiming responsibility for these attacks.
Multiple attacks also occurred in Tashkent and Bukhara in late March and early April 2004. These attacks used suicide bombers, mainly focused at police and Uzbek private and commercial facilities. In late July, approximately 15 people pled guilty in an Uzbekistan court to charges related to the attacks. The Islamic Jihad Group also claimed responsibility for these operations.
In 2003, the U.S. Embassy received information indicating that terrorist groups had planned attacks against hotels in Uzbekistan frequented by Westerners, as well as against other institutions affiliated with or representing foreign interests.
Terrorist groups do not distinguish between official and civilian targets. As security is increased at official U.S. facilities, terrorists and their sympathizers seek softer targets. These may include facilities where Americans and other foreigners congregate or visit, such as residential areas, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, hotels, outdoor recreation events, resorts, beaches, maritime facilities, and planes.
The U.S. Embassy in Tashkent continues to employ heightened security precautions. U.S. citizens should report any unusual activity to local authorities and then inform the Embassy. ....snip....
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1157.html
9. Suspicious Domestic Incidents Not Currently Linked to Specific Terrorism Attempts
05/08/05 There have been more MSM articles about the strange intrusions into hospitals by impostors. Greater inclination to view as terror reconnanisance.
Thank you Godzilla. Your summaries are greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much, "Zilla.
Your synopsis of the current state of things is much apprciated.
THANK YOU Godzilla for that summary.
N.K. has 6 (in other words that brain damaged criminally insane maniac has 6) :
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1399220/posts
Okay Godzilla...you got a big cleanup job!
Great post as always...
Note: The following text is an exact quote:
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2005/20050508_934.html
109 Terrorists, Series of Weapons Caches Snared in Iraq Raids
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 8, 2005 – Multinational force operations netted 109 terrorists and suspects throughout Iraq today and May 7, and included finding large weapons caches.
In simultaneous operations conducted early today north of the town of Al Qaim, 54 terrorists within the circle of known terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were captured or killed, according to Multinational Force Iraq officials today. Coalition forces also destroyed car bombs, bomb-making material and two buildings that contained large weapons caches to include hand- and rocket-propelled grenades.
Multiple sources of intelligence indicate that terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's key lieutenants, suicide bombers and a large population of foreign fighters are located in the region in and around Al Qaim, near the Syrian border.
In recent months, terrorists operating in this unstable region attacked Iraqis and coalition forces, established safe houses and helped move foreign fighters, weapons and money from Syria into Iraq.
In other action May 7, Task Force Baghdad raids snared 38 terror suspects in the Baghdad area, including two high-value targets in a series of early morning raids May 7.
The raids included getting 29 suspected terrorists in the largest strike of the day in south Baghdad. And a separate operation detained five more suspected terrorists, one thought to be the leader of a terror cell in southwest Baghdad. There, troops also found 1,000 rounds of assault-rifle ammunition in a burlap bag covered with mud.
In addition, U.S. soldiers on patrol in east Baghdad also found another weapons cache containing two mortar rounds and 10 rocket-propelled grenades.
In Babil province May 7, Multinational Division Central South forces detained 17 terror suspects during cordon-and-search operations. Iraqi, Polish, Salvadoran and U.S. troops conducted the combined operation in an area of Al Mashru, capturing anti-Iraqi and anti-coalition forces, illegal weapons and ammunition.
Elsewhere, Marines and soldiers of Multinational Force West recently discovered and destroyed hundreds of weapons and tons of ammunition found in 13 hidden caches near Al Amiriyah in Anbar province. The find was the largest in recent months in western Iraq.
Marines of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, and soldiers of the 155th Brigade Combat Team unearthed a series of caches April 27 while they were conducting cordon-and-search operations. The caches took nearly a week to uncover, catalog and destroy.
The caches contained significant numbers of weapons and explosives that could be used in attacks on Iraqi citizens, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces. Items included more than 4,100 mortar rounds, more than 800 rocket-propelled grenade rounds, more than 100,000 rounds of machine-gun ammunition, more than 400 grenades, and several thousand pounds of different types of explosives and bomb-making material.
Some materials were buried, while others were in underground bunkers. Most of the weapons and ammunition were in good condition and ready for use.
(Based on a Multinational Force Iraq news release.)
TOWNHALL.com: "WAKE UP WASHINGTON!" - Column by Caroline B. Glick (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Hamas and al-Qaida share more than financial networks. They share the same ideological roots. Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaida is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.") (May 7, 2005)
INTERNET-HAGANAH.US (ITAR-TASS-Russia): "RUSSIANS SAY JORDANIAN MERCENARY PLANNED ATTACKS USING POISON" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "An emissary of the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda international terrorist networks, he arrived in Chechnya from Jordan in 1992 and controlled several Wahhabi groups in Ingushetia. Law enforcement bodies learned that the attacks using toxic substances were to have been carried out by a Wahhabi group led by Alash Daudov, 45, who obtained the substances through Abu Mujahid.") (May 6, 2005)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 843: "KUWAITI INTELLECTUAL: THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD ORGANIZATION SHOULD BE PUT ON THE U.S. TERRORIST LIST" (January 7, 2005)
MEMRI.org - MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE Special Dispatch Series - No. 655: "NEW MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD LEADER: RESISTANCE IN IRAQ AND PALESTINE IS LEGITIMATE; AMERICA IS SATAN; ISLAM WILL INVADE AMERICA AND EUROPE" (February 4, 2004)