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WASHINGTON: Federal authorities on Monday arrested a prominent US-based pro-Pakistan activist associated with the Kashmiri separatist movement, accusing him of funneling money from the Pakistani spy agency ISI to lobby US decision-makers. In the process, the Obama administration's law enforcement brigade also blew open the Pakistan and its spy agency's two-decade long subversion of the so-called Kashmir cause. The FBI swooped down on the Virginia residence of Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, a well-known representative of Kashmiri separatists in the US and detained him on charges of ''participating in a long-term conspiracy to act as agents of the Pakistani government in...

MIRAMSHAH: A US missile strike targeting a militant compound killed five rebels in Pakistan’s tribal badlands near the Afghan border on Friday, security officials said. The strike took place in Ghwakhwa area, 10 kilometres (six miles) west of Wana, the main town of South Waziristan tribal region, where the military launched an operation two years ago. “A US drone fired three missiles on a militant compound, killing five rebels,” a senior security official in the area told AFP. Another security official confirmed the strike and casualties but said the “identities of those killed in the attack were not immediately known”....

Peshawar, June 4, 2011, Harkat Ul Jihad Islami leader and Amir Ilyas Kashmiri has killed in drone attack last night. We will not compromise at our leader death and US will face new attack very soon, said a statement issued from the spokesman of Brigade 313. In Urdu language written statement issued from the Abu Hanzla Kashir spokesman of Harkat Ul Jihad Islami, brigade 313. Abu Hanzla Confirmed the death of Ilyas Kashmiri and his friends said that he has targeted in US drone attack last night on 3 June 2011. Written statement issued on 4 June 2011 through statement...

PESHAWAR: According to a BBCUrdu report, Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani terrorist leader with ties to al Qaeda, was among those killed in the latest drone strikes in South Waziristan. The report quoted locals as saying that Kashmiri was killed in the strike that killed at least nine militants. Kashmiri was the chief of the Harkatul Jihad al-Islami (HJI), an organisation affiliated with al Qaeda. He is widely believed to have masterminded the attack on the PNS Mehran naval base in Karachi. A government official in Peshawar told BBCUrdu that although he had been receiving information regarding the death of Kashmiri...

NEW DELHI: The agreement between David Coleman Headley and US authorities, under which he pleaded guilty to being part of the 26/11 plot in order to dodge the death sentence and extradition to India, has considerably abated the fear here that the Americans would let off Headley aka Daood Gilani, a suspected "double agent", lightly. It also marks a big boost to New Delhi's efforts to expose Pakistan's propaganda to project Lashkar as a group focused on J&K. Details of the "guilty" plea made by Headley validate India's claims about the Lashkar leadership masterminding 26/11, and suggest that the American...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Travel Alert U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs Europe October 3, 2010 The State Department alerts U.S. citizens to the potential for terrorist attacks in Europe. Current information suggests that al-Qa’ida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks. European governments have taken action to guard against a terrorist attack and some have spoken publicly about the heightened threat conditions. Terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and target both official and private interests. U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation...

PHOTO CAPTION: "Banner for the Al Qaeda 313 Brigade website/forum. Pictured, from left to right, are Mustafa Abu Yazid, Abu Laith al Libi, and Ilyas Kashmiri." ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A website connected to al Qaeda's military arm in Pakistan has sprung up on the Internet in the past month. The website, called Al Qaeda Brigade 313, at www.aqbrigade313.com, was registered on June 2, 2010, and became active in early July. The site has 86 registered users and five administrators, according to a report at the Open Source Center that was obtained by The Long War Journal. The website contains a forum...

SNIPPET: "Al Qaeda commander continues to pose a threat to U.S. and South Asian security as Pakistan’s military and intelligence services look the other way” IPT News June 22, 2010 SNIPPET: “Top Al Qaeda commander Ilyas Kashmiri poses a major threat to U.S. interests both at home and abroad. Described by intelligence agencies “as the most effective, dangerous and successful guerrilla leader in the world,” Kashmiri heads Al Qaeda’s military operations wing. He figures prominently in two recent high-profile terrorism indictments issued in Chicago. But Kashmiri remains free in South Asia and in control of a renowned Al Qaeda terror...

A Chicago taxi driver who is a Pakistani native was arrested today on charges he provided material support to Al Qaeda by attempting to send money overseas, federal authorities said. Raja Lahrasib Khan, 56, claimed to be an acquaintance of terror leaders in Pakistan, authorities said. He is due in federal court in Chicago later this afternoon. Khan was arrested without incident this morning in downtown Chicago while working, authorities said.

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 18, 2010 Chicago Resident David Coleman Headley Pleads Guilty to Role in India and Denmark Terrorism Conspiracies Admits Conducting Surveillance for Lashkar e Tayyiba in Planning 2008 Mumbai Attacks David Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen of partial Pakistani descent, pleaded guilty today to a dozen federal terrorism charges, admitting that he participated in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, as well as later planning to attack a Danish newspaper. In pleading guilty to all 12 counts that were brought against him in December and were...

NOTE: The following text is a quote: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-nsd-038.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, January 14, 2010 Tahawwur Rana and David Headley Indicted for Alleged Roles in India and Denmark Terrorism Conspiracies Ilyas Kashmiri & Retired Pakistan Major Charged in Denmark Plot A federal grand jury today returned a superseding indictment adding three defendants, including Tahawwur Rana, to charges filed last month against David Coleman Headley, alleging that they and others participated in conspiracies involving a planned terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper and the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed approximately 164 people, including six Americans. The 12-count...

SNIPPET: "Search at Grundy County plant called part of ongoing probe" SNIPPET: "But a source said the owner of the plant, which processes lamb and goat, was taken into custody at his home in Chicago. Documents and records were taken from the plant and from a Chicago travel agency on West Devon Avenue, also owned by the same person, the source said."

Note: Photo included. A senior al Qaeda leader and longtime Pakistani jihadi with strong ties to Pakistan's military and intelligence services who was thought to have been killed in a US airstrike in the tribal areas has surfaced. Ilyas Kashmiri, the operational chief of the Harkat-ul Jihad Islami (HuJI) and al Qaeda's Brigade 313, survived the Sept. 14 airstrike in the village of Turikhel near the town of Mir Ali in Taliban-controlled North Waziristan. Kashmiri was thought to have been killed with Najmuddin Jalolov, the leader of the Islamic Jihad Group, an Uzbek terror group based in Pakistan's tribal areas....

This isn't a disaster, but it's a worrying sign. Kashmir has enjoyed three years of relative peace, thanks in large part to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's efforts to start talks with India, enforce a military cease-fire and rein in militant activity. In the past 10 days, Pakistani soldiers have fired three times on Indian troops at the "line of control" in Kashmir, killing one. That's made India twitchy, and understandably so. The bomb blasts that killed more than 60 people in Jaipur last week may have been linked to Pakistan-funded militants. The idea of settling border disputes and agreeing on...

Gen Musharraf says he wants troops to withdraw from Kashmir Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has suggested Pakistan would give up its claim over disputed Kashmir if India accepted his peace proposals.Gen Musharraf called for a phased withdrawal of troops in the region and self-governance for Kashmiris. India responded by saying its position was that the map could not be redrawn but borders could be made irrelevant. Both nations claim Kashmir in its entirety. It has sparked two of their three wars since independence in 1947. Gen Musharraf told NDTV that he had a "four-point solution" to ending the impasse...

Chairman Sayed Salahuddin (R) with bodyguard ISLAMABAD, April 23 (Reuters) - The commander of Kashmir's largest militant group said on Sunday Pakistan had caused "irreparable damage" to the Kashmiri fighters' cause by pursuing peace without winning more concessions from India. Sayed Salahuddin, the leader of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and chairman of the United Jihad Council grouping a dozen Kashmiri militant organisations, staged a protest last month over Pakistan's strategy in the peace process begun in early 2004. "One-sided pragmatism and confidence building measures, which are not reciprocated by the Indian side, have caused irreparable damage to the ongoing freedom struggle in...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 12 — Several men believed to be American citizens have been taken into custody here during the past few weeks on suspicion of being linked to Al Qaeda, senior Pakistani officials said today. The Pakistani officials said most of the men had been picked up along with other suspected Al Qaeda and Taliban members in joint American-Pakistani raids in the country's remote tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan. They said they believe that the men form a disjointed network of disaffected Westerners who converted to Islam and have been drawn to militant causes, fighting alongside Al...

JAMMU, Jan 27: Three civilians, two of them women, and an Army jawan were killed and another jawan was injured in the separate militancy related incidents in the Jammu region since last evening. Army also rescued a boy kidnapped by the militants and destroyed a hideout in Gool. Official sources said a group of militants opened firing on a joint patrol party of police and security forces at village Malhan in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district late last night. The firing was replied by the security personnel. In the heavy exchange of firing, an Army jawan was injured while a...

SRINAGAR, Jan 11: Even as militants have mercilessly killed a couple in Tral and a cable operator in Rajpora area of Pulwama district, security forces have killed two militants in a fierce gunbattle in Bijbehara area of south Kashmir since last evening. Meanwhile, security forces have killed two more militants in the encounter that had begun at Bakhipora in Rafiabad area of Baramulla district on Friday. Informed sources in south Kashmir told the EXCELSIOR that late last evening, a group of heavily armed militants barged into the house of a small time photographer Farooq Ahmed Mirza S/o Gul Shah at...

Tipplers in Jammu and Kashmir risk losing their ears for drinking during Ramzan. That's what happened to Ghulam Rasool Lone, who was found to be indulging in liquor during the Muslim holy month of fasting. Late Sunday, a group of unidentified persons barged into Lone's house in Naidihal village near Bandipore town, 40 km from here, dragged him out and slashed both his ears. "He was taken some distance from his house. The attackers used a sharp instrument and chopped off his left earlobe while his right earlobe was partially knifed. He was profusely bleeding and unconscious when we shifted...