2000 early : (PAINTBALL CELL TRAINS IN MD, MO, DC--- see LeT, ROYER, ALI AL TIMIMI) In preparation for its jihad, the group trained from early 2000 through last May in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs of Washington and in St. Louis, Mo., the indictment said. It also trained in small-unit military tactics near Fredericksburg, Va., using AK-47 assault rifles and other firearms, Fox News reported. In the group's combat simulations in northern Virginia, it also used toys to fire paintballs, according to the Washington Post. - "GLOBAL JIHAD : Americans charged in 'holy-war' plot : Accused of conspiring to train on U.S. soil for battle overseas," WorldNetDaily.com , June 27, 2003
2000 : (PAINTBALL CELL MEMBER RANDALL ROYER TRAVELS TO PAKISTAN, WORKS ON BEHALF OF LASHKAR-E-TAIBA-- see VA JIHAD) Royer went to Pakistan and helped write press releases and set up a worldwide e-mail list for Lashakar-I-Taiba in 2000. He [later] said he gave al-Hamdi and Kwon a contact number for Lashkar-I-Taiba leaders when they traveled to Pakistan.- "12 Washington-area Muslims investigated for alleged terrorist ties," By Karen Branch-Brioso, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thu, Jun. 12, 2003
DECEMBER 22, 2000 : (INDIA : RED FORT ATTACK BY THE GROUP LASHKAR E TAIBA, A MEMBER OF AL QAEDA'S "INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC FRONT FOR JIHAD AGAINST THE US AND ISRAEL") The Red Fort, as the seat of the Muslim rulers of the past, is an important symbol in its eyes. ... While reporting the Red Fort attack on December 22, 2000, sections of the foreign media described the Lashkar as a Kashmiri militant organisation. It is not. It is a Pakistani organisation based in Pakistan and operating from there. It is a member of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front For Jihad Against the US and Israel. The wrong perceptions abroad about this organisation need to be corrected vigorously. The activities of Osama bin Laden and his announcement of an International Islamic Front For Jihad against the US and Israel assume ominous significance in the context of his past and continuing links with the Markaz Dawa Al Irshad (the Centre For Preaching) of Pakistan and the Lashkar-e-Toiba (the Army of the Pure), its militant wing. The Markaz and the Lashkar have been involved in acts of terrorism, not only in J & K, but also in other parts of India. - "Lashkar e Taiba: A Backgrounder," EXTRACTS FROM PAPER DATED 26-8-1998, TITLED " MARKAZ DAWA AL IRSHAD: TALIBANISATION OF NUCLEAR PAKISTAN"
DECEMBER 23, 2000 : (A TV CAMERA IS STOLEN IN GRENOBLE FRANCE ON CHRISTMAS EVE-- IT WAS LATER USED TO SMUGGLE A BOMB INTO THE CAMP OF AFGHANISTAN'S NORTHERN ALLIANCE LEADER AHMAD MASSOUD IN SEPTEMBER 2001WHERE IT WAS USED IN HIS ASSASSINATION JUST DAYS BEFORE THE AL QAEDA ATTACKS ON THE USA -- See LeT, WILLIE BRIGITTE, SYDNEY CELL, VA JIHAD) ... A TV camera believed to have contained the bomb is known to have been stolen from a French camera operator in Grenoble [France] on Christmas Eve 2000. Massoud's murder was a severe setback to moves to oust the fundamentalist Islamic regime that harboured al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. ------ "Deportee tie to assassination," By Peter Fray, Paris & Mark Forbes, Canberra, The Age [Australia] , October 29, 2003 ; This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/28/1067233172665.html