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Locked on 03/05/2008 6:32:51 PM PST by Sidebar Moderator, reason:
New thread - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1981084/posts |
Posted on 02/01/2008 6:55:58 PM PST by nwctwx
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Yikes, that’s a lot of stolen explosives. Thanks for the heads up MamaD.
That, IMO, is a most interesting case. Thanks for the post Velveeta.
there will be a strike on (REDACTED)....
Now Five? This is most curious. Thanks for keeping up on the current cable cutting count Cindy.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1965981/posts
Al Qaeda seen planning attack on U.S.
WashTimes ^ | 2-6-08 | Sara A. Carter
Posted on 02/06/2008 1:29:38 PM CST by STARWISE
Senior al Qaeda leaders have diverted operatives from Iraq across the globe and are increasing preparations to strike the United States, senior intelligence officials told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday. They said the terrorists had plans to attack the White House as recently as 2006.
“Al Qaeda is improving the last key aspect of its ability to attack the U.S. — the identification, training and positioning of operatives for an attack in the homeland,” said Michael McConnell, director of national intelligence, which oversees all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.
“While increased security measures at home and abroad have caused al Qaeda to view the West, especially the U.S., as a harder target, we have seen an influx of new Western recruits into the tribal areas since mid-2006, “ Mr. McConnell said.
Mr. McConnell revealed that al Qaeda had plans to specifically target the White House.
Chinese born made charged with possessing explosives
A man already facing charges in a 2002 pipe bomb attack in New York that blew off part of a man's leg was arrested in Connecticut after he was found asleep in a car with homemade explosives and other items including a disguise, federal authorities said. Yung W. Tang, 38, a citizen of China who lives in Greenwood Lake, New York, was charged Wednesday with transporting explosive materials without a license and possession of an improvised explosive device not registered to him in national records.
Weapons and explosives found within Hampden home
Police and firefighters evacuated the 3400-block of Roland Avenue for several hours Thursday. This after Howard County Police served a felony search-and-seizure arrest warrant. They uncovered a stockpile of weapons and explosives.
A man was taken into custody. A further search of his property revealed firearms, machine guns, C-4 and several chemicals. Hazmat crews tested several small containers filled with an unknown substance.
Book on explosives found in Henrico home
But inside, the house on South Mooreland Road was a warehouse of bomb parts, judging by what police seized. Leading the 10-page search-warrant list of items seized this week from the house and garage is a book: "The Original Poor Man's James Bond." An investigator said yesterday that the book is full of directions and recipes for making improvised explosive devices.
Hedgepeth, a 20-year-old part-time Pleasants Hardware employee, is being held in the Henrico County jail without bond. He is charged with possession of marijuana, a sawed-off shotgun and materials for making illegal explosives.
The items seized Tuesday included PVC pipe; hacksaws; aluminum foil; tape; electrical connectors; shell casings; pipes; drill bits; duct tape; four ammunition boxes; Pyrodex explosive powder; fuses; zip ties; alligator clips; a battery; a wire cutter; a utility knife; measuring spoons with residue; unidentified white, yellow and black powder; road flares; fireworks; smoke grenades; MRE heating packets; PVC end caps; dowel rods; party poppers; a sawed-off shotgun; a handgun and silencer; and computer parts.
Here's to Algiers today:
Algeria to impose new controls on chemical fertilizers
Online videos posted by the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb depict how explosives are made – describing techniques and materials – including agricultural fertilizers.
Weapons, explosives and infra-red binoculars at Algiers Airport
Customs inspection section in Algiers International Airport have managed during the last few days seizing weapons, munitions, and materials used for making explosives alleged of being directed to terrorism networks and arm traffickers. The regional director of external customs Mr. Erreg Benomar told El Khabar that inspection section in Algiers International Airport have seized automatic guns, explosives’ material, infra-red binoculars, telescopes, radio transmitters, handcuffs as well as devices used to falsify serial numbers in cars chassis.
El Khabar has made a visit with inspection section agents to the garage where the abovementioned materials were seized. El Khabar has been told that the seized materials are to be transferred to competent authorities, meanwhile customs agent are pursuing listing materials being seized during the last 24 months.
On another side, customs agents have seized in the dry port of Algiers last week a container full of optical lighters commending Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, as well as thousands of books and magazines promoting terrorism imported with the approval of Culture Ministry.
Customs inspection section in Skikda port, east of Algeria, has foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons and 4 kg of gunpowder and 5 kg of capsules loaded inside a Peugeot 406 car.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48885
Al Qaeda Recruits Children, Women for Terror Missions
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2008 – Al Qaeda is recruiting and training boys — some younger than 11 — to kidnap and kill, a senior U.S. military spokesman in Iraq said today. (Video)
Five training tapes recovered in a December raid show as many as 20 boys, most thought to be younger than 11 years old, carrying automatic weapons and grenades, storming homes in mock kidnappings and assassinations, and sitting in a circle chanting their allegiance to al Qaeda. Portions of the tapes were aired for journalists at a news conference in Iraq today.
“Al Qaeda in Iraq wants to poison the next generation of Iraqis and hopes to continue the cycle of violence they have brought upon Iraq,” Multinational Force Iraq spokesman Navy Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith said.
In the videos, with what appears to be a July 13, 2007, date stamp, the boys carry weapons, including pistols, machine guns and rocket-propelled-grenade launchers. Pictures show a small boy in a checkered head scarf, carrying a pistol. Another boy with his face covered brandishes an automatic weapon.
As the children carry out training sessions, adults can sometimes be seen providing instructions from the background. In one scene, seven children with their heads and faces covered stop and capture an adult twice their size riding a bike. Another shows the children, again with their faces covered, scaling a courtyard wall, attacking a house and taking its occupants prisoner. Later, in what appears to be the same house, seven boys sit in a half-circle on the floor chanting and singing their allegiance to al Qaeda.
Smith said that this not the first such recovery of videos and photos showing al Qaeda training children, but that the “the volume and content was the most significant and disturbing we’ve found to date.”
Smith said the videos most likely were produced as training and recruiting films.
Forces also recovered in December a proposal to produce a film showing terrorists training children, Smith said. The script was to include children interrogating and executing victims, planting bombs and conducting sniper attacks, he said.
Al Qaeda often refers to children as the “new generation of the Mujahidin,” or warriors engaged in a jihad, he said. There are also reports of al Qaeda entering schools and distributing its propaganda. Thousands of al Qaeda-sponsored Web sites target children, Smith said.
Recently, two 15-year-old boys were used in suicide bombings in Iraq.
Al Qaeda also appears to be increasing the use of women as suicide bombers. Before 2007, only five women had reportedly carried out suicide attacks. In 2007 there were 10, and four such attacks already have taken place in 2008, Smith said.
The two women suicide bombers in last week’s deadly attack in Baghdad were mentally handicapped and likely were unwitting pawns in al Qaeda’s efforts to ramp up violence there, he said.
“The events in recent weeks further remind us of the morally depraved nature of Iraq’s enemy,” Smith said.
Smith contrasted al Qaeda’s motivation with that of Iraq’s government.
“Iraq’s democratic and elected government is building schools, training engineers, police officers and doctors, and offers the children of Iraq hope for a peaceful and prosperous future,” Smith said. “Al Qaeda Iraq, on the other hand, sends 15-year old boys and mentally handicapped women on suicide missions, builds car bombs and is trying to teach children how to kill.”
Iraqi Maj. Gen. Mohammad al Askari, a spokesman for Iraq’s Defense Ministry, also briefed reporters alongside Smith. He said there has been a recent trend by al Qaeda to kidnap children and hold them for ransom to fund their operations. He showed a video of a rescue of an 11-year-old boy who had been kidnapped. Al Qaeda had asked for $100,000 for the boy’s return or, they said, he would be beheaded, Askari said.
Askari said that these acts showed the signs of desperation on the part of al Qaeda.
“Al Qaeda is losing not only his safe havens, but also his resources like funding. … This could be the end of al Qaeda in Iraq,” he said.
Thanks MamaDearest for all those interesting news items here IN THE U.S.A.
http://wtop.com/?nid=598&sid=1340622
(AP)
“State Trooper Finds Record Amount of Heroin”
February 6, 2008 - 5:31pm
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “ELKTON, Md. - A trooper found a record 32 pounds of heroin worth an estimated $4.4 million in a Florida man’s van during a traffic stop on northbound Interstate 95 in Cecil County, Maryland State Police say.
Police say 41-year-old Jose Gomez of Orlando was arrested Tuesday morning after he was pulled over for speeding in a 2003 Dodge Caravan.”
Small UPDATE:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-tinley-park-slayings_webfeb07,0,3757810.story
“Tinley Park survivor’s letter released; sketch of suspect expected soon”
By Joel Hood | Tribune reporter
1:09 PM CST, February 6, 2008
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Bruno said the survivor’s account of the shooting has caused authorities to slightly alter their description of the killer. The gunman is now described as having three to five “puffy” corn rows that begin at the top of his forehead. One strand with green beads hangs over his right cheek, police said.”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “While police previously had said that the gunman was between 5 foot 8 inches and 5 foot 10 inches tall and between 230 and 250 pounds, on Wednesday they described him as having a large frame with his weight proportionate to his height. Police said he wore a black jacket at the time of the attack.
Bruno provided no other details about the case and would not comment on the surviving woman’s condition. He said the woman’s account of the attack is helping police put together an artist’s sketch that will be released soon.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=nigeria
#
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1965999/posts
Tension Mounts as Govt Enforces Islamic law (Nigeria)
This Day ^ | 02.02.2008
Posted on 02/06/2008 11:54:31 AM PST by ddtorquee
Tension was rife in Kano following moves by the state’s sharia police against brothel, hotels and cafes situated in non-Muslim sections of the Sabon Gari area of the metropolis. The sharia police numbering about two hundred were seen at night patrolling in seven open vehicles that carried dangerous weapons including bows, arrows, sticks and cutlass. They attacked a civil service club at Magajin Rumfa Road, and all the hotels that are located in Sabon Gari, an area where most of its inhabitants are Christians. The Sharia Police, otherwise called, Hisbah Police, earlier turned down summons by the Kano State Police Command, which had cautioned them about their unconstitutional activities. “We’re operating our duties based on law of the state, and shariah must be complied with by anyone residing in Kano” a top official of the Hisbah said following the police summons. When THISDAY visited the office of the Hisbah Police yesterday, about 70 females were found in cells, put there over allegations of prostitution, while one lady was in chains for declining to render relevant information.
(Excerpt) Read more at thisdayonline.com ...
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_928.html
Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
This information is current as of today, Wed Feb 06 2008 15:58:37 GMT-0800 (PST).
NIGERIA
October 30, 2007
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_2121.html
Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
This information is current as of today, Wed Feb 06 2008 16:00:57 GMT-0800 (PST).
AFGHANISTAN
February 06, 2008
This Travel Warning provides updated information on the security situation in Afghanistan. The security threat to all American citizens in Afghanistan remains critical. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Afghanistan issued April 4, 2007.
The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan. No part of Afghanistan should be considered immune from violence, and the potential exists throughout the country for hostile acts, either targeted or random, against American and other western nationals at any time. Remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qa’ida network, and other groups hostile to NATO-led military operations continue, with the heavy involvement of U.S. forces. There is an on-going threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. Afghan authorities have a limited ability to maintain order and ensure the security of citizens and visitors. Travel in all areas of Afghanistan, including the capital, Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry among political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable.
Terrorist attacks on international organizations, international aid workers, and foreign interests continue. Kabul in particular has seen a rise in militant attacks, including rocket attacks, vehicle borne IEDs, and suicide bombings. The number of attacks in the south and southwestern areas of the country continues to be high as a result of insurgent and drug-related activity, but no part of the country is immune from attacks. The country’s most lethal suicide attack occurred in Baghlan Province in November 2007, killing more than 70 people.
More than 70 attacks were reported in Kabul between April and December 2007. These included repeated incidents at or near Kabul International Airport, suicide bombings, persistent rocket attacks on vehicle convoys, and IEDs on many of the major roadways. These incidents resulted in many deaths and injuries of U.S. and coalition personnel and local civilians.
Incidents have occurred with some frequency on the Kabul-Jalalabad Road (commonly called Jalalabad Road) since June 2006. The road’s use is highly restricted for Embassy employees and, if the security situation warrants, sometimes is curtailed completely.
Foreigners throughout the country continued to be targeted for violent attacks and kidnappings, whether motivated by terrorism or criminality. An American NGO worker and her driver were kidnapped on January 26 in Kandahar. On January 14, gunmen attacked the Serena Hotel and killed at least eight people, including an American contractor and a Norwegian journalist. An employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture was killed in an attack in Ghazni province in October 2007. A Bangladeshi aid worker was abducted in Logar Province, located south of Kabul, and held for three months from September to December 2007. An Afghan-American businessman was kidnapped in Kabul in September. Several German citizens were also kidnapped in Afghanistan last year, including a German woman kidnapped in Kabul while eating at a restaurant in September. In July 2007, twenty-three South Korean aid workers were kidnapped in Ghazni, two of whom were later killed.
Riots and incidents of civil disturbance can and do occur, often without warning. American citizens should avoid rallies and demonstrations; even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.
Carjackings, robberies, and violent crime remain a problem. American citizens involved in property disputes — a common legal problem — have reported that their adversaries in the disputes have threatened their lives. Americans who find themselves in such situations cannot assume that either local law enforcement or the U.S. Embassy will be able to assist them.
Official Americans assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are not permitted to have family members reside in Afghanistan. In addition, unofficial travel to Afghanistan by U.S. Government employees and their family members requires prior approval by the Department of State. From time to time depending on current security conditions, the U.S. Embassy places areas frequented by foreigners off limits to its personnel. Potential target areas include key national or international government establishments, international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel, and public areas popular with the expatriate community. Private U.S. citizens are strongly urged to heed these restrictions as well and may obtain the latest information by consulting the embassy website below. Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombings, assassinations, carjackings, rocket attacks, assaults or kidnappings. Possible threats include conventional weapons such as explosive devices or non-conventional weapons, including chemical or biological agents.
The United States Embassy’s ability to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is limited, particularly for those persons outside the capital. Afghan authorities also can provide only limited assistance to U.S. citizens facing difficulties. U.S. citizens who choose to visit or remain in Afghanistan despite this Travel Warning are urged to pay close attention to their personal safety, security and health needs and are expected to assume primary responsibility for their own well-being. They are also encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy through the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the U.S. Embassy. Registering makes it easier for the Embassy to contact Americans in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy is located at Great Masood Road between Radio Afghanistan and the Ministry of Public Health (the road is also known as Bebe Mahro (Airport Road), Kabul. The phone number is +93-70-108-001 or +93-70-108-002; the Consular Section can be reached for after-hours emergencies at +93-70-201-908. The Embassy website is http://afghanistan.usembassy.gov.
Updated information on travel and security in Afghanistan may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. For further information, please consult the Country Specific Information for Afghanistan and the current Worldwide Caution, which are available on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website at http://travel.state.gov.
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48888
“Gates Urges Action to Bolster NATO Effort in Afghanistan”
By Sgt. Sara Moore, USA
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2008
What kind of world are we leaving to future generations?
After the video finishes, click on “Enter The Site”,
scroll down all the way to see a map of the United States,
that clearly defines where the Muslims have set up
terrorist cells in all but a few states!!!
ADDING to post no. 268:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48871
“Defense Intel Director Tells Senate of Military Threats”
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2008
The plot thickens and the plotters thicken.
God alone is our Refuge.
Nevertheless, PREPARE, FOLKS.
NOTE: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48879
Coalition Forces Continue to Hunt Down Terrorists in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2008 – Coalition forces killed seven terrorists and detained 27 suspects today during operations to disrupt al Qaeda networks operating in central and northern Iraq.
In today’s operations:
— Coalition forces targeted suspected associates of an al Qaeda suicide-bombing network during operations southwest of Kifri. The targeted individuals are believed to be associated with terrorists killed yesterday near Khalis. As the ground force arrived in the area, the soldiers saw four enemy personnel leave the target building. Supporting aircraft engaged their position, killing the four terrorists. When the individuals inside the building did not comply with the forces’ instructions to exit the building, the ground force engaged, killing three more terrorists. Coalition forces also detained 11 suspected terrorists during the coordinated operations and destroyed a building in the target area due to its potential use for terrorist activity.
— Forces captured an alleged al Qaeda associate involved in the facilitation of weapons, improvised-explosive-device materials, vehicles and suicide bombers for use by terrorist networks throughout the capital city region. The suspect reportedly is a direct associate of several facilitators operating outside Iraq as well as four other suspected facilitators detained by coalition forces within the past month for their roles in the network, leaving the network in what officials called “a severely degraded state.” In addition to the wanted individual, the ground force detained another suspect.
— Coalition forces captured an alleged al Qaeda member involved in facilitating supplies and finances for the Karkh IED network in Baghdad. The suspect reportedly is a close associate of several other bomb facilitators, including a senior leader of the northern Karkh network trying to reestablish operations after the network suffered significant degradation at the hands of coalition forces.
— Coalition forces captured an alleged associate of an al Qaeda senior leader, who reportedly has direct ties to the overall leader of al Qaeda in Iraq during operations in Mosul. The suspect is believed to be a close associate of the terrorist leader’s family and to have involvement in al Qaeda operations in the region. The ground force detained an additional three suspected terrorists during the operation.
— Two suspected terrorists were detained during an operation targeting associates of an al Qaeda senior leader in southern Mosul. The terrorist leader allegedly is responsible for a group of foreign terrorists and suicide bombers who attack coalition and Iraq forces operating in the area. Reports indicate the group is responsible for a Jan. 28 attack that killed five coalition soldiers.
— Coalition and Iraqi forces captured an alleged associate of a suspected al Qaeda leader in Kirkuk, who also was detained by Iraqi forces yesterday.
— Four suspected terrorists were detained northeast of Samarra, while coalition forces were targeting associates of the al Qaeda leader in the city.
— Two suspects were detained in Baghdad in connection with a Feb. 2 bombing attack in the eastern neighborhood of Shaab.
In other news from Iraq, soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team detained two suspected insurgents during a raid in southern Ghazaliyah yesterday. One of the men is a known member of a bombing network in the area. He is known to provide and emplace bombs and distribute materials within Baghdad’s Karkh district. His attacks primarily are directed at coalition forces, officials said.
Also yesterday, coalition forces killed six terrorists during two coordinated operations to disrupt al Qaeda networks operating north of Baqouba.
During one of the operations, coalition forces targeted alleged associates of a suicide-bomber facilitator operating between Baqouba and Baghdad. Intelligence reports led coalition forces to the suspected terrorists; location, where the assault force fired warning shots to get the three armed individuals to comply with instructions. One of the armed individuals detonated a suicide vest he was wearing, killing them and destroying a vehicle.
In a follow-on operation, forces targeted another alleged associate of the suicide-network facilitator. Coalition forces saw a suspected terrorist leave the target area and quickly maneuver into a nearby building after seeing them approaching. The assault force entered the building and received enemy gunfire. Responding in self-defense, they returned fire, killing three terrorists. The force also found a weapons cache inside the building.
Two Iraqi civilians were injured during the initial engagement and were treated on site before being airlifted to a military medical facility. The ground force secured the area and found two additional weapons caches, one inside the target individual’s vehicle and another just outside the building.
“We sincerely regret when civilians are injured during our operations and we make every effort to protect them,” Army Maj. Winfield Danielson, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said. “Al Qaeda kidnaps and tortures Iraqi citizens, deliberately bombs civilians in schools and marketplaces, and continues to endanger innocent women and children by hiding among them. The threat they pose to a safe and secure Iraq cannot be allowed, and we will continue to hunt down and dismantle al Qaeda’s networks across Iraq.”
On Feb. 4, a tip from an Iraqi on the location of a wanted insurgent led coalition forces to detain 10 suspects in the Sayifiyah area. Soldiers from 3rd Infantry Division conducted the raid against one of the squadron’s high-value targets. The soldiers discovered nine other individuals with the targeted individual at the site. All suspects were taken in for questioning.
Also on Feb. 4, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers seized a large weapon and bomb-making cache in Abu Ghraib, west of the Iraqi capital.
The soldiers were searching the area as part of an ongoing operation when they recovered 13 120 mm mortar rounds, 132 82 mm mortar rounds, 51 60 mm mortar rounds, three cans of 120 mm mortar fuses, 23 boxes of mortar fuses, three mortar sights, 35 82 mm mortar primers, six 60 mm mortar primers, 22 40 mm mortar primers, a 120 mm tube, 130 blasting caps, 30 rifle rocket-propelled grenades, 24 RPG warheads, an RPG sight, two bags of RPG propellant, 12 RPG propellants, four artillery fuses, four anti-personnel mines, two 57 mm rockets, 126 fragmentation grenades, three Russian grenades, 600 yards of detonation cord, a variety of machine guns, seven cell phones, four IED switches, 26 30 mm anti-aircraft rounds and 17 .50-caliber rounds. An explosive ordnance disposal unit destroyed the cache with a controlled detonation.
“This was significant cache find,” said Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a Multinational Division Baghdad spokesman. “The recovery and destruction of these items does contribute to the overall security of the Iraqi people — our No. 1 priority.”
Iraqi security forces advised by U.S. special operations forces detained three suspected terrorist weapons dealers and three insurgent cell members in separate Feb. 3 operations. The three are suspected of trafficking arms in support of terrorist activities near Ramadi. At the suspects’ residence, a weapons cache consisting of six 200-gram blocks of TNT; three 400-gram blocks of TNT; nine electric blasting caps; electric wiring; an RPG launcher; four RPGs; four AK-47 assault rifles; 3,000 rounds of ammunition; 47 weapons magazines; and several sets of body armor was recovered.
Also on Feb. 3, Iraqi special operations and U.S. forces detained three suspected members of an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for improvised explosive device attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces in Mosul. The cell also is suspected of kidnapping Iraqi civilians.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
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