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.
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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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
Note: A terrorist with a different name and/or a different colored turban is still a terrorist. -Cindy
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080207/FOREIGN/564925018/1003
“Banned terror groups back with new IDs”
By Ralph Joseph
February 7, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan