Taliban fight for imposition of islamic law

ISLAMABAD: A top Pakistan Taliban commander has reaffirmed his group’s ties to al Qaeda, vowing to fight for imposition of Islamic law across the world, according to a video interview.

The purported remarks by Waliur Rehman, the commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in South Waziristan, underlined the persistent efforts of the group to raise its profile beyond Pakistan. “Al Qaeda is a global organisation with branches spread all over the world, whether it is Arab countries, Europe, America or the subcontinent,” Rehman said, sitting on the floor flanked by two bodyguards. A Kalashnikov lay at his feet.
During the interview, the journalist said, two drones orbited overhead, but did not attack. The drones are a boon to his group, Rehman said, because the anger they fuelled helped bring more recruits to their cause. He claimed there were “at least” 2,500 fighters in South Waziristan tying down the Pakistani Army, and about 18,000 TTP fighters across the whole country. reutersmore

Why Would Anyone Want to Blow Up Times Square?

When news comes of Muslims engaging in violence, the triad of politicians, law enforcement, and media invariably presumes that the perpetrator suffers from some mental or emotional incapacity. (For a quick listing of examples, see my collection at “Sudden Jihad or ‘Inordinate Stress’ at Ft. Hood?”). Read more

Pakistan: Nuclear Security and the U.S. Strategy for Southwest Asia

Analysis

As the Pakistani Taliban spread their insurgency beyond the northwestern Pashtun areas and into the country’s core — the government is trying to contain them in an area some 100 miles from Islamabad — concerns are being raised about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. These concerns are not unfounded. Although security forces are beginning to wage a more concerted campaign against the insurgents, the Pakistani state continues to be weakened by mounting political, economic and security issues. Indeed, it is unclear to what extent the government can effectively counter the Taliban’s advance. Read more

Al-Qaeda gains strength, active in Russia’s North Caucasus

Moscow,  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s special envoy for international cooperation on combating terrorism, Anatoly Safonov today said international terrorist organisation al-Qaeda has not become weaker but gained strength, while hundreds of similar extremist groups have emerged worldwide.
”We said al-Qaeda had been weakened financially and that a change of generations had taken place, that did not result in management loss, but in its perfection, reformation, and today we see that the organisation in some ways is more prepared for the current global situation,” Mr Safonov said.

He added hundreds of similar organisations to al-Qaeda have emerged in the recent years with some of them operating in the troubled Russian North Caucasus.

”There are still active representatives of international terrorist organisations, including al-Qaida, operating in Russia’s North Caucasus,” Mr Safonov noted.

Russian Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Yedelev told reporters earlier that al-Qaida was active in Russia’s Republics of Daghestan and Chechnya where they carry out regular inspections of illegal armed units providing them with weapons and explosives.

Sporadic terrorist attacks and militant clashes are common in the Russian republics of Ingushetia and Daghestan, and in neighbouring Chechnya, in the North Caucasus, although the Kremlin has ended its campaign to fight separatists and terrorists there
Read More…

Losses may force Al Qaeda to vacate Fata: US report

WASHINGTON, Feb 15: Losses sustained since 2008 could force Al Qaeda to vacate Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, says a US intelligence report prepared for Congress.

This year’s annual threat assessment by the US intelligence community shows how a concerted military effort to uproot Al Qaeda from Fata has weakened the group the US blames for the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“In Pakistan’s tribal areas, Al Qaeda lost significant parts of its command structure since 2008 in a succession of blows as damaging to the group as any since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001,” says the report.

“Sustained pressure against Al Qaeda in Fata has the potential to further degrade its organisational cohesion and diminish the threat it poses.”

Exploring the possibility that the losses sustained since 2008 could force Al Qaeda to vacate Fata, the report notes: “It is conceivable Al Qaeda could relocate elsewhere in South Asia, the Gulf, or parts of Africa.”

The terrorist group would look for a place where it could “exploit a weak central government and close proximity to established recruitment, fundraising, and facilitation networks,” the report adds.

“But we judge none of these locations would be as conducive to their operational needs as their location in Fata.”

The US intelligence community also points out that if forced to vacate Fata and locate elsewhere, Al Qaeda would be vulnerable to US or host-country security crackdowns as well as local resistance. It probably would be forced to adopt an even more dispersed, clandestine structure, making training and operational coordination more difficult.

“Without access to its Fata safe-haven, Al Qaeda also undoubtedly would have greater difficulty supporting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.”

According to the annual US intelligence report, key Al Qaeda leaders killed in Fata over the past year include Khalid Habib, the group’s military chief and the fourth man in its chain of command; Abu Layth Al Libi, who directed cross-border attacks against US forces in Afghanistan and was a rising star in the organisation; Abu Khabab Al Masri, the group’s leading expert on explosives and chemical attacks and a driving force behind its terrorist plotting against the US Homeland and Europe; and Usama Al Kini who was involved in the bombings of US embassies in East Africa in 1998 and later became the chief planner of Al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

The loss of these and many other leaders in quick succession has made it more difficult for Al Qaeda to identify replacements, and in some cases the group has had to promote junior figures considerably less skilled and respected than the individuals they are replacing.

The US intelligence community, however, warns that the primary threat to Western interests comes from Europe-based extremists affiliated with Al Qaeda who return from training in Pakistan to conduct attacks in Europe or the United States.

The report notes that Al Qaeda is not using Pakistan only to plan attacks against others but is also trying to destabilise Pakistan.

“Al Qaeda and its extremist sympathisers in Pakistan have waged a campaign of deadly and destabilising suicide attacks throughout Pakistan,” the report warns.

The US intelligence community places much importance on India-Pakistan relations for countering the threat of terrorism in South Asia.
Read More…

Qaeda figure calls for attacks on new Somali govt

DUBAI (Reuters) – An al Qaeda leader, in a video released on Islamist websites on Friday, urged Somali militants to step up attacks against Somalia’s new moderate government, which he dismissed as U.S.-backed.

“Aim your arrows towards them…, direct your battles against them and intensify your campaign against them,” Abu Yahya al-Libi said on the video. He called for a jihad, or holy war, against the new government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist who was elected late last month as president.

“Prepare to fight against the campaign of conspiracies illustrated by the recent farcical presidential election …, which America — the world leader of infidels — was the first to welcome,” Libi said.

Read More…

Al-Qaeda warns India against any attack on Pakistan

Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said in the video shown on Indian news channels that Indians suffered ‘humiliation’ in the November assault and more was in store if India decided to retaliate against Pakistan.

   ‘India should know that it will have to pay a heavy price if it attacks Pakistan,’ al-Yazid said in the 20-minute video in Arabic that was received by the BBC in Islamabad. ‘The mujahedin will sunder your armies into the ground like they did to the Russians in Afghanistan.’

   ‘We will bring mujahedin and suicide attackers from all over the Muslim world to confront you,’ he said. ‘We will target your economic centres and raze them to the ground.’

   Al-Yazid had been reported killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan last year. He is in charge of al-Qaeda’s operations in Afghanistan and is ranked behind number 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and top leader Osama bin Laden.

   Al-Yazid has been linked to a number of terrorist attacks, including last year’s Danish embassy bombings in Pakistan, and had claimed responsibility for assassinating former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Read More…

Yemen on high alert amid fears of al Qaeda attack

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Over the last several weeks a growing number of al Qaeda operatives have entered Yemen from Saudi Arabia and have established a renewed network that potentially threatens U.S. and Saudi targets in the region, both U.S. and Yemeni officials have told CNN.
“There are strong indications of heightened activity in Yemen,” one U.S. official told CNN. “There is real concern in the U.S. government that al Qaeda is trying to mount attacks in Yemen.”

The United States continues to worry about attacks against the U.S. embassy or other U.S. business interests in Yemen the official said. But there are also growing concerns that a renewed al Qaeda network in Yemen could plan attacks against Saudi oil infrastructure or the massive cargo shipping operations that run through the immediate region — potentially disrupting an already shaky world economy.

The official said there is a flow of intelligence information in recent weeks backing up that assessment. “There are clear indications al Qaeda is placing emphasis on Yemen as a place to conduct operations and train operatives.”

Both U.S. officials said one of the major concerns is that a number of al Qaeda operatives have crossed the border from Saudi Arabia since a Saudi crackdown has stepped up. Al Qaeda, he said appears to be looking for a new place in the immediate area where it can still operate.

Read More…