The Daily Terrorist Round-Up 9/30/05

Egyptian police have killed two suspects in July's bomb attacks in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The interior ministry said security forces had killed the two men after a shoot-out in a mountainous region of the Sinai peninsula, and arrested a third. It described them as "the most dangerous fugivie suspects" in the suicide car bombings that killed at least 64 people and wounded more than 170.

The men killed in the shoot-out were identified as Khalid Musaid Salem, 33, a dentist, and Tilib Murdi Soliman, 23. The third suspect, Yunis Mohammed al-Alian, 25, was arrested. The ministry did not elaborate on the alleged involvement of the three in the deadly bombings.

The ministry said the security forces received a tip off that the men were on their way to meet Mussa Mohammed Salem Badran, another suspect in the bombing who was killed on Wednesday.

The hunted men reportedly opened fire, injuring an officer and three soldiers and the security forces responded, killing the two suspects and arresting the third, according to the interior ministry.

Security sources said the three suicide bombers who carried out the attacks on the Sinai resort were Bedouin members belonging to an Islamist cell whose chief has been arrested.

Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have started a large-scale crackdown after interrogations from arrested Asif Choto, a key member of banned militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which is reportedly linked with Al-Qaeda network.

In this regard, special teams have been set up in various cities of Punjab to arrest the members of banned militant groups having links with Al-Qaeda network.

Reliable sources of Interior Ministry told Online that an investigation committee comprising police and law enforcement agencies officials has been constituted for thorough investigation from Asif Choto.

After interrogations from Asif Choto, security agencies arrested two more persons.

Noor Gull who was involved in bomb blast at Imam Bargah in Karachi last year had been arrested along with his brother Samandar both are key members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

Both these terrorists had been prime hunt of security agencies for sectarian violence.

Militancy in Jammu and Kashmir made history in reverse when Mohammad Ayub, a senior commander of the Pakistan-backed Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen, came from across the Line of Control (LoC) and laid down arms before the Indian Army.

Ayub, the first militant to come from across the border, laid down arms before the army on Wednesday night at the Bhadhur post in Poonch district, bordering Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

This is the first such instance in the past sixteen and a half years of militancy in the state.

Ayub's surrender could be a trend setter as hundreds like him across the LoC are reportedly keen on returning and desperate to surrender to live a normal life.

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has often said that Kashmiri militants from across the border are desperate to return.

He had also taken up this issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying that it was a "human issue".

Ayub had gone to Pakistan-administered Kashmir in 1987 and returned on Wednesday morning.

He handed over his AK-47 and some ammunition to the army before declaring that he had ceased to be a militant from now onwards.

"I have seen everything - all aspects of militancy. It was a struggle in futility," army sources in 93 Brigade in Poonch told IANS over phone.

Ayub had told them that almost everyone involved in militancy in Pakistani Kashmir wanted to give up arms and come back.

"They are desperate. Someone had to take the lead that I took today," he is reported to have said, indicating that many more would follow from the other side.

He was aware that he could be shot, but said he had made up his mind long ago that staying on in Pakistan-administered Kashmir was pointless, he told army officers in his initial question-answer session.

Ayub was 28 when he shifted across the border from Poonch like several other youths. He was curious to know what lay on the other side.

He revealed he received training in Afghanistan and fought there, before getting further training in Bagh and Kotli in Pakistan-administered Kashmir to become a leading militant in the pan-Islamic outfit, Al-Badr.

As time passed, Ayub said, he started realising that militancy had no ends to achieve except killing people. He revealed his intentions in the mid-1990s of returning to Jammu and Kashmir and laying down arms.

Sensing his rebellious mood, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) got him jailed for six months.

He was again motivated to join militancy and was admitted to the Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen.

Four bombers allegedly trained by the Jema'ah Islamiyah were nabbed on Wednesday by military operatives while transporting an improvised explosive device in North Cotabato, officials said Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Agustin Demaala, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division base in Central Mindanao, said the suspects were collared Wednesday in an Army checkpoint in Barangay Manuagan, Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.

The suspects are Guimbar Kasan Datukon, 29; Abdul Salam Ali, 25; Sahudin Danda, 29; and Omar Bantas, 31. Datukon is believed to be from Esteros, Cotabato City; the others are from Pigcawayan.

The North Cotabato Police chief, Senior Inspector Raulito Suyom, said the four suspects were intercepted aboard a passenger jeepney from Barangay Matilap on the way to Cotabato City. An improvised bomb with a mobile phone as a trigger device was found under the seat of Datukon, who was seated on the front seat of the jeepney.

"Datukon is not from Matilap but he has been seen there since September 27. Most people from the barangay do not know him," Suyom said.

The four suspects are in the custody of the 6th Infantry Division headquarters for tactical interrogation.

As many as forty militants have reportedly been killed in fresh and severe clashes between security forces and miscreants in Khati Kali area 60 kilometers West of North Waziristan Agency's headquarter Miran Shah on Thursday.

The firing between the two sides still continue as security forces have cordoned off the entire area and militants trapped in the mountainous region were trying hard to break the siege. Security forces besides land troops have also the support of helicopters.

On the other hand security forces have also arrested Ahmed Haqqani, nephew of Taliban Commander Sirajuddin Haqqani.

When Online contacted Director General Inter Services Public Relations Major General Shaukat Sultan, he neither confirmed nor denied the killing of 40 miscreants in Miran Shah clashes. However, he confirmed that Ahmed Haqqani has been apprehended, which is a great achievement in war against terrorism.

However Online has learnt from its correspondents in Peshawar and Miran Shah that forty militants have been reportedly killed in clashes in Khati Kali area.

Shaukat Sultan, however said that security forces had cordoned off the area after learning about presence of large number of miscreants in the area. When search operation was launched miscreants opened fire on troops.

The firing still continues in the area, Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said and added we will continue this operation until flushing out the militants from the area.

He also confirmed that as many as four people have been killed from the firing of miscreants.

He also said that two weeks ago large number of terrorists were arrested by security forces in an operation in a religious seminary Madrissah Haqqania and during the search 18 trucks ammunition was recovered from the seminary.

Israeli soldiers killed three militants during arrest raids in the West Bank early Thursday as it pressed on with a major offensive against Palestinian militants, despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel.

The raid came a day after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas traveled to Cairo to try to enlist Egypt’s help in trying to end the crisis and Palestinian officials said Abbas would travel to Washington to meet US President George W. Bush on Oct. 20.

A meeting between Sharon and Abbas, tentatively set for Sunday, was postponed, apparently because of the flare-up.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israel was trying to teach the militants it would not tolerate any more attacks from the Gaza Strip following its pullout from the area.

Early Thursday, Israeli soldiers entered the West Bank town of Jenin and the nearby town of Burqin to carry out arrest raids on the sixth day of Israel’s offensive against the militants.

Soldiers in Burqin shot and killed two armed men - the targets of the arrest raid - who appeared about to fire on the force, the army said. Soldiers later found assault rifles and ammunition clips on their bodies, the army said.

Palestinians identified the men as Islamic Jihad militants Nidal Khlouf, 32, and Samar Shalaby, 24.

In Jenin, a militant fired at soldiers, who returned fire and killed him, the army said. Palestinians identified the man as Samar Asady, 30, an Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades militant.

The Israeli offensive was triggered by a rocket barrage launched by Gaza militants at Israel, including the border town of Sderot, over the weekend. Since then, militant groups said they would halt attacks and renewed their commitment to a 7-month-old truce, but Israel said it would press ahead with the campaign.

“We will step up our operations and our response until they stop the rocket fire,” Mofaz said in an interview with Channel Two TV. “So long as there is no quiet in Sderot, there will be no quiet in Gaza.”

Early Thursday, Gaza militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli force inside Israel, the army said. No one was injured.

Mofaz said that since Israel pulled out of Gaza more than two weeks ago after 38-years of occupation, the nation would no longer tolerate any attacks from there.

“They have no right and no excuse to fire on us from Gaza. They need to know the rules of the game have changed,” he said.

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday that US officials had been in contact with both sides about their responsibilities in stopping the violence.

“On the Palestinian side that responsibility is to act to stop any terrorism, to act to dismantle terrorist networks. On the Israeli side ... they (need to) take steps to ease the daily plight of the Palestinian people, as well as to take into account the effect of their actions upon what all share as the ultimate goal of bringing peace and stability to the region,” he said.

The West Bank raids came after several nights of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Early Wednesday, troops also fired live artillery shells into northern Gaza for the first time, hitting an open area the army said was used to fire rockets. The army had fired dummy shells in recent days, in part to help calibrate the artillery.

In a new phase of its offensive, Israel on Wednesday closed down 15 offices across the West Bank, including those of charities linked to local mosques. Israel said the offices were used to distribute money to the families of suicide bombers and militants jailed by Israel.

In addition to its militant wing, which is responsible for hundreds of attacks on Israel in recent years, Hamas also runs soup kitchens, clinics and other charities that have helped make it popular among poor Palestinians.

In one raid Wednesday, Israeli troops took computers and documents from the Tulkarem office of Zaka, a charity network that has been linked to Hamas and collects donations from mosques.

“This is a war against the groups that work to help the needy, those who need food, the orphans,” said Bilal Abu Omar, the head of the Zaka office.

Israel also appeared to be using the offensive as an opportunity to deliver a major blow to Hamas, which had been largely off-limits after it agreed to an informal truce in February.

In recent days, Israel arrested more than 400 suspected militants, including dozens of Hamas candidates for Palestinian parliament elections in January.

Hamas is expected to make a strong showing in that vote and in local elections to be held in more than 100 towns and villages Thursday.

Israel has demanded Abbas disarm Hamas and insisted it should not be able to field parliamentary candidates. Abbas has refused to crack down on Hamas, saying it would start a civil war.

Afghanistan and Pakistan Thursday renewed their resolve to push ahead with their joint campaign against the menace of terrorism, which posed a grave threat to both the countries.

The reiteration of the vow came during an hour-long telephonic conversation between President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a senior official at the Presidential Palace told this news agency late Thursday night.

Karim Rahimi, spokesman for President Karzai, said the two leaders discussed the whole gamut of bilateral relations in a frank and candid manner. "They agreed on continuing high-level discussions on expanding mutually beneficial relations between the neighbours.

He added Musharraf and Karzai conferred in detail on security issues, the ongoing joint campaign against terror and ways of further strengthening relations between the two nations. "It was the Afghan president who made the telephone call after 7.00pm," the spokesman revealed.

During the call lasting 57 minutes, Rahimi said, the two leaders agreed on continuing with dialogue on questions of bilateral interest including trade and political cooperation. The two leaders would exchange visits, for which dates would be firmed up later on, to carry forward the process of mutual consultations, he continued.

Rahimi skirted the question if the border-fencing proposal, floated by President Pervez Musharraf during his recent US trip, was also discussed during the lengthy conversation. He, however, suggested the sheer duration of the call indicated wide-ranging talks on all subjects of interest to the two countries.

Answering a query, the spokesman disclosed Deputy Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel had been named as acting interior minister after Ali Ahmad Jalali formally tendered his resignation a day earlier. He said Karzai had approved Jalali's resignation while decreeing Zarar's appointment as acting interior minister.

It will be pertinent to recall that Zarar Ahmad, who has also been the governor of the northern Parwan province, was appointed as deputy interior minister in February 2005.

Troops of Afghan National Army (ANA)made captive two suspected Taliban operatives in southern Zabul province Saturday, Defense Ministry spokesman said Sunday.

"Troops of ANA in a clean up operation conducted in Khak-e-Afghan district yesterday captured two enemy fighters," Zahir Azimi told newsmen at a press conference in Defense Ministry compound.

A large number of arms and ammunitions including four assault kalashnikov rifles were also seized from their possessions, he added.

AN Australian special forces patrol has rescued an Afghan police contingent from an ambush in which three officers had been killed.

During one of the first two Australian patrols from their new southern Afghanistan base, the special forces were alerted to the Taliban ambush in a narrow gorge.

The three police were killed and their chief wounded before the special forces contingent arrived. "Our people were able to bring a lot of firepower and that settled it," said Defence Minister Robert Hill.

Senator Hill yesterday visited the special forces base, Camp Russell, and was leaving just as the soldiers returned from a two-week patrol.

It was not confirmed whether the Taliban fired on Australian troops, while the size of the enemy force is not known.

A Bangladeshi minister on Thursday defended his government against accusations it was not doing enough to trace militants linked to last month's wave of bombings, as police detained 23 more suspects.

State Minister of Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar visited the northern city of Rajshahi to review the progress of a six-week-long hunt for the militants and met with local police and intelligence officials.

Police have arrested nearly 400 suspects so far over the Aug. 17 attacks, when about 500 small bombs exploded outside key buildings across the country, killing two people and wounding about 100. Police have detained 23 suspects since Wednesday.

Six militants including a district commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba were among eight persons killed in separate incidents across the state since Wednesday.

Troops killed four militants including the district commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba during a fierce encounter in Haren Gali forest area of Kandi Handwara on Thursday morning.

The troops of 47 RR cordoned off the area and during combing operation came under heavy gunfire from the militants triggering an encounter. In the ensuing gunbattle four militants were killed. The slain militants, according to an army official, have been identified as Abu Hurama, district commander Abu Talha, Liyaq Shah alias Waseem Haider of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Saqib Hussain of HuM.

In the 24 hour long gunbattle at Chakpora Nowgam, troops of 53 RR killed two militants while three soldiers were wounded in the gunbattle that ended today. The bodies of slain militants were recovered from the debris of the house which was completely damaged in the encounter. One more house was damaged in the firing.

Egypt: Police Kill 2 Sharm el-Sheikh Suspects

Rantings of a Sandmonkey
Be forewarned: The writer of this blog is an extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian, disgruntled sandmonkey. If this is your cup of tea, please enjoy your stay here. If not, please sod off

http://egyptiansandmonkey.blogspot.com/2005/09/too-many-masterminds.html

Too many masterminds

The valiant Egyptian Police has taken out 2 Sharm Bombings suspects, of whom they said were yet another 2 masterminds behind the bombing. Given that this is like the 5th time they anounced they arrested or shot a "mastermind" behind the Sharm Bombing, color me officially unimpressed.

posted by The Sandmonkey @ 1:31 AM

From Google:

B. Kutang Bato Caves

The only cave in the country that is right in the heart of the city. Its various entrances, all within traffic a rarity that can only be had in the "Heart of Mindanao". These caves were also the source of the city's present name for "KUTA" means FORT and "WATO" means STONE hence the name "Fort of Stone" which later on became Cotabato. Its walls of white, beige and brownish shade glitters in the dark and echoes a colorful past dating back to the days when no foreign foot yet trampled upon its land. The caves had given sanctuary to the natives when the Spaniards tried to convert them into the Castillan Faith and has served the purpose when the Filipino guerillas fought the invading force of the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War.

When the Japanese firepower proved superior to that of the natives, the caves were then used as an armory and even as a garrison. Within it confines, tortured and oppressed souls that thirst for freedom and democracy echoed their faint moans and cries that were buried in its bossom, muted for over half a century. there are four entrances, the Provincial Capitol Cave, Bagua Cave, Caverna Español and the Kuweba ni Satur.

Israeli soldiers killed three militants during arrest raids in the West Bank early Thursday as it pressed on with a major offensive against Palestinian militants, despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel.

Palis and pledges do not belong in the same sentence.

Thanks for another great roundup SV.

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