Jihadi Groups Gather Inside of Pakistan Border To Fight Over Land, Resources

In a perfect scenario, all of the misfit terror groups and jihadi groups that exist along the NW border of Pakistan would pull the trigger and fight an infighting super war this week and each and every one of the vermin would be exterminated - we have seen some of these skirmishes before but the article at DAWN seems to lay out the threat of something much more major.

One can only hope.

Major militant clash feared near Pak-Afghan border


PESHAWAR: Several militant groups are likely to face off in a clash as armed fighters have started taking positions inside Afghan territory near Pakistan's Mohmand agency bordering Afghanistan, reliable sources told Dawn.com on Saturday.

Groups of fighters comprising Lashkar-i-Taiba, Ansarul Islam, Afghan Taliban militants and local militia have started taking positions inside Afghan territory, safe havens for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from where they are known to have previously launched attacks inside Pakistan, the sources said.

The sources said an assault was imminent against the outlawed TTP militants, who have waged a war against the Pakistani state and launched several attacks against its Army.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the banned militant group, confirmed an attack was planned against Pakistani Taliban positions inside Afghanistan’s Kunar province bordering Pakistan, but warned it may result in major bloodshed.

“We have old enmity with Ansarul Islam and some other militant groups who want to avenge their own fights and losses now. They are planning a major attack on us in the bordering areas along Mohmand Agency,” he said, speaking via telephone from an undisclosed location.

A Taliban insider said that the clash might be a continuation of the killing of militant commander Shah Sahib, who led another Islamist group engaged in fighting US-led Nato troops in Afghanistan and was based in Mohmand Agency since 2006.

TTP militants led by Umar Khalid Khurrasani attacked the training centre of the Shah group on July 19, 2008, killing many, including Shah Sahib. Most of the Shah Sahib loyalist were either kidnapped or killed and the group was eliminated from the Mohmand agency.

Most members of the group are presently part of tribal lashkars (local militias), and the attack being planned was part of their strategy to fight the TTP, said the Taliban insider.

Several Pakistani security personnel have been killed in attacks by hundreds of Taliban militants from alleged safe havens across the border in Afghanistan’s Kunar, Nuristan and Nangarhar provinces bordering Pakistani territory from Dir to Chitral.

Former Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan, Rustam Shah Mohmand said there were fears of a huge security vacuum following the planned withdrawal of US and Nato troops from Afghanistan.

The Afghan government has effectively no authority over the vast territory along the Pak-Afghan border, turning it into safe havens for militants, he said.

Shah called the recent tension "a fight for the territory and resources in the bordering area rather than a big clash."

"There is no writ of the Afghan government along the bordering belt with Pakistan. Both Afghan and Pakistani militants have their own interests in the region and infighting is only natural," he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Lashkar-i-Taiba denied any involvement in the events on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

We are not part of any operation against any Taliban group either in Pakistan or Afghanistan, he said, claiming that their operations were only targeted against Indian forces and limited to Indian-administered Kashmir.

Mumbai Terror Attack Jihadi Executed By India, Pakistani Taliban Shocked That a Muslim "hanged on Indian soil"

One of the Pakistani-based Islamic terrorists from the terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, was executed by hanging today in India as punishment for his role in the mass murder of Indian citizens back in 2008.

The Taliban in Pakistan are taking the news hard.  The poor babies are shocked, I tells ya!

From the report from DAWN:

Meanwhile, The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) expressed shock on Wednesday over Kasab’s execution.

“There is no doubt that it’s very shocking news and a big loss that a Muslim has been hanged on Indian soil,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters.

I'm eager for a photo of the hanging - it would be so nice to be able to put up a photo of a Pakistani Muslim swinging high over the soil of India ...I'm sure all of the Pakistani jihadis who come to this site would enjoy seeing that.  I'm thinking the title of the post might be "Indian Hindus Hang Muslim Mujahideen in Disgrace."

Yeah, that outta work.

LeT says Kasab execution will “inspire” more attacks; TTP “shocked”


ISLAMABAD: Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, executed in India on Wednesday for his role in the 2008 Mumbai massacre, was a “hero” who will inspire more attacks, a senior commander of the militant group accused of masterminding the attack told news agency Reuters.

“He was a hero and will inspire other fighters to follow his path,” the commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Meanwhile, The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) expressed shock on Wednesday over Kasab’s execution.

“There is no doubt that it’s very shocking news and a big loss that a Muslim has been hanged on Indian soil,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters.

Report: Lashkar-e-Taiba Terrorists Who Pulled Off Mumbai Massacre Were Trained By Al Qaeda

Indian investigators are uncovering more and more details of the Mumbai massacre that shocked the entire world when Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadis infiltrated India and spread their death across the city of Mumbai.  The newest revelation is that those attackers were actually trained by al Qaeda and it looks more and more like the training took place in Afghanistan.

From the article at The Long War Journal:

Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari, the alleged facilitator of the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, has proven to be a "treasure trove of information" for Indian investigators, according to new reports in the Indian press. Ansari has reportedly revealed that al Qaeda was tasked with training the Mumbai attackers in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) training camp close to the Pakistan-Iran border.

It is not entirely clear where the camp was located, as Ansari has been unable to pinpoint its location for investigators. But according to at least one article, the LeT camp was inside Afghanistan. LeT terrorists are known to operate in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Ansari (a.k.a. Abu Jundal) was captured inside Saudi Arabia and then transferred to Indian custody in June. [See LWJ report, Key Mumbai plotter arrested in Saudi Arabia.]

The Deccan Chronicle reports that Ansari's interrogation reports say he has explained that there is a "great degree of coordination now between Lashkar, Al Qaeda and even the Taliban."

LeT reportedly called in al Qaeda to train its operatives because it was convinced that the organization could do a better job of preparing them for the Mumbai siege. Although 22 to 25 operatives were initially selected for the training, only 10 were able to complete it.

"Had all the 25 militants completed the training and made it to Mumbai the carnage would have been much worse," a senior Indian official told the Deccan Chronicle.

This report and this investigation of this new canary shows just how evil and coordinated the enemy to the West truly is - we see this unholy alliance here between al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Taliban.  This is the kind of coordination that the likes of the Obama administration has been telling us has been dissolved.  Remember when Joe Biden said that there were only 100 al Qaeda left in Afghanistan?  Well, Joe, it looks like 50% of the al Qaeda in Afghanistan must be in the training business.

Damn fools are gonna get us killed.

Report: Al Qaeda trained Mumbai attackers


Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari, the alleged facilitator of the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, has proven to be a "treasure trove of information" for Indian investigators, according to new reports in the Indian press. Ansari has reportedly revealed that al Qaeda was tasked with training the Mumbai attackers in a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) training camp close to the Pakistan-Iran border.

It is not entirely clear where the camp was located, as Ansari has been unable to pinpoint its location for investigators. But according to at least one article, the LeT camp was inside Afghanistan. LeT terrorists are known to operate in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Ansari (a.k.a. Abu Jundal) was captured inside Saudi Arabia and then transferred to Indian custody in June. [See LWJ report, Key Mumbai plotter arrested in Saudi Arabia.]

The Deccan Chronicle reports that Ansari's interrogation reports say he has explained that there is a "great degree of coordination now between Lashkar, Al Qaeda and even the Taliban."

LeT reportedly called in al Qaeda to train its operatives because it was convinced that the organization could do a better job of preparing them for the Mumbai siege. Although 22 to 25 operatives were initially selected for the training, only 10 were able to complete it.

"Had all the 25 militants completed the training and made it to Mumbai the carnage would have been much worse," a senior Indian official told the Deccan Chronicle.

Bin Laden's documents

This is not the first time al Qaeda has been linked to the Mumbai attacks. Documents recovered in Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan safe house reportedly show that the deceased al Qaeda master may have played a role in the plot. [See LWJ article, Report: Osama bin Laden helped plan Mumbai attacks.]

The Hindustan Times previously reported that bin Laden was in close contact with Hafiz Saeed, the wanted LeT chief. Citing Bruce Riedel, a former advisor to President Obama on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Hindustan Times said bin Laden's documents prove the extensive relationship between al Qaeda's deceased emir and LeT.

"The documents and files found in Abbottabad showed a close connection between Bin Laden and Saeed, right up to May 2011," Riedel told the Hindustan Times. Riedel added that the captured files "suggested a much larger direct al Qaeda role in the planning of the Mumbai attacks than many assumed," and said bin Laden may have seen surveillance reports prepared by David Headley, the LeT operative who scouted out locations for the Mumbai siege.

The revelation of Hafiz Saeed's ties to bin Laden also reportedly led the US to offer a $10 million bounty for the LeT chieftain in April. The relationship between Saeed and bin Laden is hardly surprising as al Qaeda and LeT have cooperated with one another since the 1990s. Bin Laden is also said to have played a direct role in LeT's founding.

Still another al Qaeda link to the Mumbai attacks may be found in Ilyas Kashmiri's role. Kashmiri reportedly took part in planning the operation. Kashmiri, a longtime commander in another al Qaeda-allied terrorist group, Harakat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI), played a prominent role inside al Qaeda prior to his demise in 2011. Kashmiri was the head of Lashkar al Zil, or al Qaeda's Shadow Army, which operates in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Kashmiri was also tasked with plotting attacks against Western and other targets. In January 2010, a US federal grand jury indicted Kashmiri for plotting to attack the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

One of Kashmiri's co-conspirators in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper plot was David Headley. It was Headley who performed surveillance on the targets selected for the Mumbai attacks. And it was Headley's surveillance reports that may very well have ended up in bin Laden's hands.

Tension over Pakistan's role

Indian investigators are questioning Ansari about not only LeT's ties to al Qaeda, but also about LeT's ties to Pakistan's military and intelligence establishment. At least two Pakistani army officers have been connected to the plot and to Headley. One of them gave Headley the cash used to perform the surveillance in Mumbai.

The LeT has long been a Pakistani proxy. LeT chieftain Hafiz Saeed is protected by Pakistan to this day, even though there is a large bounty on his head.

Indian authorities say that, based on Ansari's interrogations, Saeed may have even been inside a "control room" in Karachi that was used to coordinate the Mumbai attacks.

Ansari's "interrogations now prove beyond doubt the existence of such a control room," India's home minister P. Chidambaram told reporters last week. "Such a control room could not have been established without some kind of a state support."

Report: Osama bin Laden helped plan Mumbai attacks

This is pretty shocking, quite frankly, as most experts had not tied al Qaeda to any part of the Mumbai terror attacks. This changes a lot of things, even though Bin Laden is dead.

The bottom line is this...if al Qaeda was in cahoots with Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan in regards to the Mumbai attacks, who is al Qaeda in cahoots with right now that we don't know about and where?

The story is from The Long War Journal.

Report: Osama bin Laden helped plan Mumbai attacks


Osama bin Laden was in close contact with Hafiz Saeed, the wanted chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and helped plan the 2008 Mumbai attack, according to a report in the Hindustan Times. Citing Bruce Riedel, a former advisor to President Obama on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Hindustan Times says that documents recovered in bin Laden's Pakistani safe house prove the extensive relationship between al Qaeda's deceased emir and LeT.

"The documents and files found in Abbottabad showed a close connection between Bin Laden and Saeed, right up to May 2011," Riedel told the newspaper. Riedel added that the captured files "suggested a much larger direct al Qaeda role in the planning of the Mumbai attacks than many assumed" and bin Laden may have seen surveillance reports prepared by David Headley, the LeT operative who scouted out locations for the Mumbai siege.

The revelation of Hafiz Saeed's ties to bin Laden led the US to offer a $10 million bounty for the LeT chieftain, according to the report. [For more on the reward, see LWJ report, US offers $10 million bounty for capture of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.]

Such collusion would hardly be surprising. Al Qaeda and LeT have had a strong relationship for more than two decades. Abdullah Azzam, a mentor to bin Laden and co-founder of Maktab al Khadamat, a forerunner to al Qaeda, also helped found the LeT organization. In more recent years, the LeT's network helped al Qaeda operatives flee Afghanistan in late 2001 and early 2002 after the fall of the Taliban. Al Qaeda terrorists have trained in LeT camps, and LeT members have fought alongside al Qaeda and the Taliban against Coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Ilyas Kashmiri, who helped plan the 2008 Mumbai assault, worked for multiple organizations during his tenure, including al Qaeda, LeT, and Harakat ul Jihad al Islami (HUJI). Headley answered to Kashmiri, who was reportedly killed in a June 2011 drone strike, as well as two other handlers in Pakistan.

Documents raise new questions

Assuming bin Laden's files show what has been reported, the documents raise new questions about the former al Qaeda master's ties to elements of Pakistan's military and intelligence establishment.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is a longtime Pakistani proxy that works closely with, and under the direction of, the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. The ISI used LeT to wage a proxy war against Indian forces in Kashmir during the 1990s. LeT head Hafiz Saeed has long received the ISI's protection and backing, even after the Mumbai attacks drew international condemnation. Saeed has frequently been detained as a show of cooperation by Pakistani authorities, only to be released and then quickly returned to his terrorist business.

Saeed is so close to the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment that, according to Press Trust of India, he condemned the recent reward offered by the US during a press conference held at the "Flashman Hotel in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, located a short distance from the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters."

"I am not hiding in caves and mountains, I am here in Rawalpindi," Saeed told those in attendance. Saeed challenged the US to kill him in the same manner as Osama bin Laden.

If Osama bin Laden was in regular contact with Saeed up until his demise at the hands of Navy Seals in May 2011, it is difficult to believe that members of the ISI did not know about it.

During an American trial of one of his co-conspirators last year, Headley testified that two ISI-connected handlers worked with him in the plot. Sajid Mir and a man known as Major Iqbal both worked with and directed Headley throughout his missions.

Intercepted phone calls show that Mir directed the Mumbai attackers. Mir's ties to the ISI were discussed at length in an exhaustive study of the Mumbai siege prepared by Sebastian Rotella for ProPublica and the Washington Post.

Rotella reported that Jean-Louis Bruguiere, a French judge who is renowned for his counterterrorism work, investigated the LeT's operations and concluded "that Sajid Mir was a high-ranking officer in the Pakistani Army and apparently also was in the ISI." Mir achieved the rank of major before leaving the Pakistani Army for some unknown reason.

Obviously, the man known as "Major Iqbal" received that title because he, too, became a major in the Pakistani Army. "US and Indian anti-terrorism officials suspect Major Iqbal was a serving ISI officer and a liaison to Lashkar," Rotella reported. Iqbal reportedly gave Headley $25,000, which was used to facilitate the surveillance of potential targets in Mumbai.

And if this most recent account in the Hindustan Times is right, then the surveillance reports paid for by an ISI man ended up in the hands of Osama bin Laden.

While ISI-connected operatives were clearly involved in the Mumbai plot, questions remain about how much the highest-ranking officials in the ISI knew about it. The same type of debate was unleashed in May 2011, after Osama bin Laden was found living next to an elite Pakistani military academy. The ISI has multiple wings, with the T-wing considered vastly more friendly to the US than the S-wing, which manages the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment's sponsorship of terrorist groups.

US offers $10 million bounty for capture of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed

Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki, left, and Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, right. Images from Rewards for Justice website.

Whoa! The U.S. government has come out with a $10 million bounty on the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Islamic terror group that plotted and executed the Mumbai massacre and also is kicking in $2 million for the guy's brother-in-law. This makes Hafiz Mohammed Saeed one of the most wanted men on the planet - it appears that some of the world's terrorists are finding the fact that Barack Hussein Obama is trying to look "tough on terror" in preparation for the upcoming election not to their liking.

Considering the fact that the Pakistani government could have probably put Lashkar-e-Taiba out of business years ago, perhaps the Pakistani government will try and cash in on the reward this time around...they could use the money.

The report comes from The Long War Journal.

US offers $10 million bounty for capture of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed


The US government has offered a $10 million bounty for the capture of Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the founder of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Pure. A lesser reward of $2 million is being offered for his brother-in-law, Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki, the terror group's deputy leader.

The rewards for Saeed and Makki were announced by US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman at the Aspen Institute yesterday, The Times of India reported.

Rewards for Justice, a program sponsored by the US State Department, added web pages for Saeed and Makki today.

Rewards for Justice described Saeed as "the founding member of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a radical Deobandi Islamist organization dedicated to installing Islamist rule over parts of India and Pakistan, and its military branch, Lashkar-e-Taiba." Makki is described as "the second in command of Lashkar-e-Taiba."

"Saeed is suspected of masterminding numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 166 people, including six American citizens," Rewards for Justice continued.

As The Times of India notes, Saeed has one of the highest bounties for his capture offered by the US government. Only al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, at $25 million, has a higher bounty on his head. Saeed is now on par with Mullah Mohammed Omar, the head of the Taliban; Abu Du'a, the emir of al Qaeda in Iraq; and Yasin al Suri, a senior al Qaeda facilitator based in Iran; all have $10 million bounties. Saeed ranks above other terrorist leaders, including al Qaeda strategist and leader Saif al Adel and Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan emir Hakeemullah Mehsud.

The bounty on Saeed is sure to make waves in Pakistan, as Saeed is a public figure and popular among millions of Islamists and nationalists in the country. Saeed regularly appears on Pakistani television and is known to dine with top Pakistani Army generals.

Given Saeed's popularity and his value to Pakistan's military and intelligence service, it is highly unlikely Pakistan will lift a finger to detain Saeed. For years, US officials have complained about Pakistan's unwillingness to deal with the terror group he founded, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, despite repeated pleas to have it dismantled.

"Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pakistani government has shown no desire to shut down Lashkar-e-Taiba, despite the fact the group is operating in the open," a US intelligence official told The Long War Journal. "They are a state within a state, backed by the state's intelligence service," the official said, referring to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, which supports a host of terror groups in South Asia, including the Taliban. "They are untouchable."

Background on Hafiz Saeed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and al Qaeda

Osama bin Laden and his mentor Abdullah Azzam encouraged Saeed to form Lashkar-e-Taiba in the late 1980s, and helped fund the establishment of the terror outfit. Lashkar-e-Taiba, like al Qaeda, calls for the establishment of a global caliphate and receives funding from Saudis and other wealthy individuals throughout the Middle East.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is an ally of al Qaeda; the two groups provide support for each other, and their operatives train in each other's camps. Lashkar-e-Taiba has established training camps in Kunar province in Afghanistan, Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and the tribal areas, and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Northern Areas.

Lashkar-e-Taiba forces fought alongside al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the assault on the US combat outpost in Wanat in Nuristan province, Afghanistan in July of 2008. Nine US troops were killed, and 15 US soldiers and four Afghan troops were wounded in the heavy fight that nearly culminated in the outpost being overrun. US forces ultimately beat back the attack, but abandoned the outpost days later.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has an extensive network in Southern and Southeast Asia, where it seeks to establish a Muslim caliphate. The group essentially runs a state within a state in Pakistan; the group has established an organization that is as effective as Lebanese Hezbollah. Its sprawling Muridke complex, just northwest of Lahore in Punjab province, is a town of its own. Throughout Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Lashkar-e-Taiba runs numerous hospitals, clinics, schools, mosques, and other services. In support of its activities, Lashkar is active in fundraising across the Middle East and South Asia, and the group has recruited scores of Westerners to train in its camps.

In 2005, the group succeeded in providing aid to earthquake-ravaged regions in Kashmir while the Pakistani government was slow to act. Over the last several years, Lashkar-e-Taiba provided relief to tens of thousands of internally displaced persons who have fled the fighting between the military and the Taliban in the Malakand Division as well as those impacted by the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010.

The US government designated Lashkar-e-Taiba as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in December 2001. The Pakistani government banned the group in January 2002, but this did little to shut down its operations. The group renamed itself the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and conducted business as usual. After Mumbai, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa used the name Falah-i Insaniat Foundation (FIF), and continued fundraising and other activities. The US designated the FIF as a terrorist group in November 2010. Three FIF/Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders were also added by the US to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

In reality, Saeed and his leaders rebranded the group as a Muslim charity to mask the operations of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Saeed has been arrested several times by Pakistani security forces after attacks in India, but each time has been quietly released. After Mumbai, Pakistan claimed to shut down Lashkar-e-Taiba/Jamaat-ud-Dawa offices and camps, and detained followers, but the efforts were largely cosmetic. Saeed was placed under a loose house arrest in December 2008, but by August 2009, the Lahore High Court said the government did not have grounds to keep him under house arrest.

Saeed and the Laskhar-e-Taiba have strong links with elements within Pakistan's military and the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, or ISI. The Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of the primary terror groups used by Pakistan's ISI to direct military and terror operations inside India and Indian-held Kashmir. During the 1999 Kargil War, when Pakistan invaded Indian-held Kashmir, the Lashkar-e-Taiba fought as the vanguard for Pakistani forces in the mountainous region. To this day, Lashkar-e-Taiba military and terror units continue to infiltrate into the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, with the help of Pakistan's military.

Lashkar-e-Taiba Plans To Infiltrate India With 21 Female Terrorists

The islamic terror group responsible for the Mumbai terror attack has apparently been working on a new plot to strike India once more as they have been training a group of 21 female terrorists to enter India and do the dirty work of the terror organization.

From the report at Times of India:

The Lashkar-e-Taiba is raising a group of 21 female terrorists at its training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for carrying out sabotage activities in India, Army sources said on Tuesday.

"We have confirmed reports that LeT is imparting training to 21 selected female terrorists at its training facilities in Muzaffarabad in PoK for carrying out terrorist activities in India," an Army official said here.

They said the new group, named as Dukhtareen-e-Taiba, is planned to be made active in the Kashmir Valley by the LeT.

In the recent past also, reports have suggested presence of female terrorists operatives in the 42 active terror training camps in PoK.

The women terrorists are planned to be infiltrated into India through routes in Uri sector or using the aerial route through some other country.

While the Indians showed amazing restraint with Pakistan after the Mumbai attack, I have to believe that their patience with Lashkar-e-Taiba has grown thin and if indeed even ONE of these women coming into India to pull off a terror attack is probably going to illicit a response. And there comes the rub - at what point in time is Pakistan going to see that this terror group jeopardizes the very peace with India?

Lashkar raising 21 female terrorists against India: Army


NEW DELHI: The Lashkar-e-Taiba is raising a group of 21 female terrorists at its training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for carrying out sabotage activities in India, Army sources said on Tuesday.

"We have confirmed reports that LeT is imparting training to 21 selected female terrorists at its training facilities in Muzaffarabad in PoK for carrying out terrorist activities in India," an Army official said here.

They said the new group, named as Dukhtareen-e-Taiba, is planned to be made active in the Kashmir Valley by the LeT.

In the recent past also, reports have suggested presence of female terrorists operatives in the 42 active terror training camps in PoK.

The women terrorists are planned to be infiltrated into India through routes in Uri sector or using the aerial route through some other country.

Sources said the raising of the female terror group was brainchild of LeT senior functionary and mastermind of Mumbai terror attacks Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

They said the terror group has suffered serious setbacks in Jammu and Kashmir with the elimination of their top leadership by the security forces.

They are also working on recruiting local youth in certain areas of the state, including Pulwama, to expand terror network and the task has been assigned to a person, Usman Bhai alias Chhota Rehman, they said.

Islamic Terror Leader In Kashmir/Pakistan Says the Pakistani Government Gives His Training Camps and Jihadis a Free Pass

Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi [center], the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who has been implicated in the November 2008 terror assault on Mumbai, prays with Syed Salahuddin [right], the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, just two weeks after the Mumbai attack. Associated Press photograph.

Not that I don't believe what is in this article but we probably should make it known up front that the information actually comes from Times of India which perhaps may distort some information regarding Muslim terrorists in Pakistan but in this piece from The Long War Journal, you can see where a couple of united islamic terror groups brag about their freedom to do their business more or less with the blessings of the Pakistani government and military.

From the article:

The leader of a terrorist alliance that operates in Kashmir and includes groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed said the Pakistani military allows it to operate freely and run hundreds of training camps.

Syed Salahuddin, the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, admitted that the Pakistani military permits his fighters to move freely and run training camps in the region.

"Our mujahideen can come and go at their own will," Salahuddin told a local news agency, according to The Times of India. "There is no question that the army can stop us."

"And we have hundreds of training camps in the state where we recruit and train the mujahideen," Salahuddin continued. He did not say if the camps were located inside Pakistan or in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Salahuddin, whose real name is Mohammed Yusuf Shah, is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, an alliance of 16 terrorist groups that are fighting in Jammu and Kashmir. The United Jihad Council is supported by the Pakistani military and its Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, two groups which are on the US and the United Nation's lists of terror organizations, are part of the United Jihad Council.

Salahuddin has close links to both terror groups. Less than two weeks after the November 2008 terror assault on Mumbai, Salahuddin was photographed praying with Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who has been implicated in the deadly attack in India.

Now, just a couple of days ago another report came out detailing how Pakistan's intelligence services were directly involved in the Mumbai terror attack so this is nothing new to tie Pakistan to appeasement of terrorists.

We have to remember that Pakistan is about as complicated a country as you will find - you have all extremes....from some fairly serious hawks in the government that want the Taliban and other groups wiped out to some in the government who literally swear allegiance to these groups. What cannot be denied is that Pakistan currently sees more islamic terror attacks inside of its borders than any other country on earth at the moment...and that doesn't seem likely to change.

Hizbul Mujahideen chief: Pakistan allows terror group to run 'hundreds of training camps'


The leader of a terrorist alliance that operates in Kashmir and includes groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed said the Pakistani military allows it to operate freely and run hundreds of training camps.

Syed Salahuddin, the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, admitted that the Pakistani military permits his fighters to move freely and run training camps in the region.

"Our mujahideen can come and go at their own will," Salahuddin told a local news agency, according to The Times of India. "There is no question that the army can stop us."

"And we have hundreds of training camps in the state where we recruit and train the mujahideen," Salahuddin continued. He did not say if the camps were located inside Pakistan or in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Salahuddin, whose real name is Mohammed Yusuf Shah, is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, an alliance of 16 terrorist groups that are fighting in Jammu and Kashmir. The United Jihad Council is supported by the Pakistani military and its Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, two groups which are on the US and the United Nation's lists of terror organizations, are part of the United Jihad Council.

Salahuddin has close links to both terror groups. Less than two weeks after the November 2008 terror assault on Mumbai, Salahuddin was photographed praying with Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who has been implicated in the deadly attack in India.

For decades, Pakistan has sponsored jihadist groups to attack Indian security forces, the government, and civilians in an attempt to liberate the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Salahuddin routinely advocates violence against the Indian state, without incurring repercussions from the Pakistani state. In March 2010, Salahuddin said that "[t]he only way to liberate Kashmir is jihad," during a rally that was attended by top leaders of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Pakistan continues to support terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2009, Indian intelligence estimated that Pakistan had expanded to 62 the number of terror camps that train terrorists to carry out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. This occurred during the year after the Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the terror assault in Mumbai that killed more than 165 people.

India Issues Nationwide Terror Alert For New Year's, Braces For Lashkar-i-Taiba Attack

Well, leave it to the radical islamists of the world to bring in the New Year of 2011 with a bang - the islamic terror group, Lashkar-i-Taiba, is apparently planning a New Year's attack on the nation of India and the Indian government is taking it so seriously that they have issued a nationwide increase security alert.

From the article at DAWN:

India increased security in major cities across the country Tuesday after receiving information that banned militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba was planning an attack over New Year’s weekend.

More police were deployed to city streets, including in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, which was attacked in 2008. Airports and railway stations and the popular beach resort state of Goa all tightened security following intelligence reports that Lashkar-i-Taiba was planning to target these places, an official with the Home Ministry said. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

India has taken even minor terror threats seriously since a three-day terrorist siege killed 166 people in Mumbai, though there has been no major attack there since.

Police have been searching since Friday for four men who authorities believe entered Mumbai to carry out a terrorist attack. Computer-aided photographs of the four suspects were released.

On Tuesday, police made house-to-house searches in some parts of Mumbai, and tightened security checks at bus and train stations, churches and markets.

You can see from the article that with four terrorists confirmed having landed in the country, this is a dire situation for the Indians and it certainly looks pretty iffy that they will find these guys before an attack takes place. At the same time, with the possibility of another Mumbai-style attack, it's almost impossible to guard against that tactic.

I'm not sure if any of you noticed yesterday but it was announced that India had established a Sharia-compliant indexing of their stock exchange - just another overture by the government of appeasement to the islamists in India and how are such jestures treated? Well, more terror attacks are planned, that's the response you get when you cowtow to Islam and the terrorists.

Europe appears to have escaped the Christmas holidays without the realization of the threat of attacks by al Qaeda ... we can only hope that India is just as lucky come the end of this week.

India issues nationwide terror alert


NEW DELHI: India increased security in major cities across the country Tuesday after receiving information that banned militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba was planning an attack over New Year’s weekend.

More police were deployed to city streets, including in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, which was attacked in 2008. Airports and railway stations and the popular beach resort state of Goa all tightened security following intelligence reports that Lashkar-i-Taiba was planning to target these places, an official with the Home Ministry said. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

India has taken even minor terror threats seriously since a three-day terrorist siege killed 166 people in Mumbai, though there has been no major attack there since.

Police have been searching since Friday for four men who authorities believe entered Mumbai to carry out a terrorist attack. Computer-aided photographs of the four suspects were released.

On Tuesday, police made house-to-house searches in some parts of Mumbai, and tightened security checks at bus and train stations, churches and markets.

In the 2008 attack, 10 armed terrorists fanned out across Mumbai attacking two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a railway station.

In March, Mumbai police said they prevented a major terrorist strike after they arrested two Indian men, who, police said, were preparing to hit several targets in the city.

Then in September, police issued a terror alert for the city during a popular Hindu festival. Police said they had information that two militants were planning a terror strike and that the men were acting on directions from handlers allegedly residing in Pakistan.

So, What DO Jihadis Learn at Islamic Terrorist Training Camps?

One of the real benefits of America's War on Terror ....you know, the strategy of George Bush where you take the fight TO the terrorists....not the appeasement of "man-caused disasters" put in place by Barack Hussein Obama....has been the fact that the Taliban and al Qaeda simply have not been able to run the elaborate jihadi training camps that they used to.

This article from The Foreign Policy Explainer, talks about the current state of affairs of islamic terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan and just what the suicide bombers of today are actually learning in today's version of a training camp:

First of all, today's terrorist training camps are not what they used to be. Sprawling al Qaeda camps complete with such amenities as firing ranges, like Tarnak Farms near Kandahar, Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to have plotted the 9/11 attacks, are largely a thing of the past.

Today, al Qaeda outsources most of its training to Pakistani outfits like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), the group believed to be behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The camps these groups run are often small, just one or two buildings, and temporary -- such groups stay on the move to avoid detection by satellite or intelligence agents.

Evenings are for indoctrination. It might seem strange that students enrolled in militant training would need further convincing, but local recruits are reportedly often cajoled or forced into attending by their families or madrasas. Recruits are shown hours upon hours of video depicting Western atrocities against Muslims to dispel any doubts about the cause of jihad.

As you'll see in the article, there is an inordinant amount of time spent further indoctrinating new jihadi recruits into the fevered hatred of the West and of all infidels. I guess this doesn't surprise me, in that we have seen in the theaters of Iraq and Afghanistan where the jihadis have run up against a U.S. force just too formidable and literally, the only thing that can keep the jihadis in the battle is a serious brainwashing. At the same time, we have to remember that many of the recruits are going to be asked to slap on a suicide belt and walk into a police station and blow themselves into a thousand pieces so it's not like that dude would need 12 weeks on AK-47 training.

What those calling for the end of our War on Terror operations don't understand is that there is a direct correlation between the size and degree of devastation with the relative solitude of jihadi training camps - when bin Laden had all the time and peace in the world in Afghanistan, he was able to prepare for 9/11 and when Lashkar-e-Taiba had relative peace in Pakistan at the time, they were able to train completely for Mumbai. Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, do away with our predator drones in Pakistan and you'll see the world hit by the same huge attacks once again.

What do you learn at terrorist training camp?


Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the failed plot to bomb New York City's Times Square, has told U.S. investigators that he received bomb-making training at a camp in Pakistan's Waziristan region. Given the botched, even amateurish nature of Shahzad's attempt -- he forgot to take the keys to his getaway car, for instance -- many observers are now asking: What exactly does one learn at a terrorist training camp?

First of all, today's terrorist training camps are not what they used to be. Sprawling al Qaeda camps complete with such amenities as firing ranges, like Tarnak Farms near Kandahar, Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to have plotted the 9/11 attacks, are largely a thing of the past.

Today, al Qaeda outsources most of its training to Pakistani outfits like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), the group believed to be behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The camps these groups run are often small, just one or two buildings, and temporary -- such groups stay on the move to avoid detection by satellite or intelligence agents. These groups are believed to be increasingly sharing resources when it comes to training. According to some estimates, there are about 40 militant training camps around Pakistan.

Enrolling in a militant training program is not easy, particularly for foreigners. Groups like the TTP, whose leadership has been decimated by U.S. drone strikes in recent months, are extremely wary of outsiders, believing that anyone who turns up looking for training could be a spy.

Five young American men learned this the hard way last December when they were picked up by Pakistani authorities after being rejected by several militant groups. However, wannabe jihadists of Pakistani descent, like Shahzad, can improve their odds of enrolling by having a relative or friend vouch for them. Insurgent groups with Western connections, like the so-called "German Taliban," are also believed to vet potential recruits from abroad.

Assuming you meet the entrance requirements -- Pakistani security officials say camps train only about 20 recruits at a time -- the curriculum can vary.

A typical day will begin with morning prayers, followed by a sermon on the significance of jihad. Physical drills and operational training take place during the day. Instructors are typically veteran jihadists, although in groups like LET or the Kashmiri nationalist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed, former members of Pakistan's intelligence services are also believed to have been on the faculty.

Evenings are for indoctrination. It might seem strange that students enrolled in militant training would need further convincing, but local recruits are reportedly often cajoled or forced into attending by their families or madrasas. Recruits are shown hours upon hours of video depicting Western atrocities against Muslims to dispel any doubts about the cause of jihad.

Typically recruits are given lessons on how to handle small arms such as AK-47s and PK machine guns as well as rocket-propelled grenades, tactics for attacking military convoys, and instructions for planting mines. Pre-2001 al Qaeda camps also trained their recruits on sniper rifles and mortars, but this is rarer today. Students found to be quicker learners are given more specialized training in skills such as bomb-making or operational security.

Relatively few foreigners have gone through the camps, and groups like the TTP rarely attack targets outside Pakistan or Afghanistan, so it's difficult to know what kind of specialized training Shahzad might have received or why he seemed so unprepared for his mission. One theory has it that Shahzad was trying to prove his loyalty in order to gain access to the movement and receive more advanced operational training.

In any evident, despite ample evidence of its involvement, the TTP doesn't seem too anxious to claim the would-be bomber as one of its alumni.

Suicide Gunmen Attack Mosque Near Pakistani Army HQ - 40 dead

I wonder, does a jihadi get 72 virgins if he kills 40 muslims who are spread out on the floor of a mosque praying? Interesting question.

Well, near the Pakistani army headquarters in Rawalpindi there's a mosque that was packed today with civilians and army officers which was then attacked by jihadi gunmen shooting and throwing grenades. When the dust and blood settled, there were 40 dead - 4 of them from the attacking group.

From the article at Times Online:

Suspected Islamic militants stormed a mosque close to Pakistan army headquarters in Rawalpindi today killing at least 40 people including several army officers and 10 children.
Six gunmen attacked the mosque packed with worshipers with grenades and opened fire before two of them blew themselves up.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but security officials blamed the Taleban. “It is a retaliation to the military operation in South Waziristan,” said Mr Malik.

Now, you can see that local officials are blaming the Taliban and that could very well be true but I'm holding out on my guess for right now just because this attack has some similiar elements of the Mumbai massacre that was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba - you see, while the Pakistani military is busy pounding the Taliban and those same Taliban HAVE been attacking many civilian targets over the past month, the Pakistani army has also taken a toll on Lashkar-e-Taiba. At the same time, what makes me hesitate here is the influence of al Qaeda on the Taliban - I'm interested why this wasn't a car bombing of the mosque of it was al Qaeda linked Taliban....certainly, a car bombing would have taken out 4 times as many here. If you remember, the Mumbai massacre was basically very similar to this with attackers using rifles and grenades. I guess we'll have to wait and see who steps up to take credit.

Suicide gunmen kill 40 at Pakistan army mosque

Suspected Islamic militants stormed a mosque close to Pakistan army headquarters in Rawalpindi today killing at least 40 people including several army officers and 10 children.
Six gunmen attacked the mosque packed with worshipers with grenades and opened fire before two of them blew themselves up.
The cleric had just finished his sermon when an explosion shook worshippers in the Parade Lane mosque.
The attackers had climbed over the compound wall of the heavily fortified mosque which is popular with army officers.

“I heard at least seven blasts before firing started,” said Ishtiaq Ahmed, the driver of an army officer who was injured. More than 150 worshipers were inside the mosque .
Nasir Ali Sheikh was walking towards the mosque when he heard the blast. “They were killing people like animals,” he said. “I couldn’t understand what was happening.”
Aslam Tarin, a senior district official said at least 40 worshipers were killed and more than 80 others injured, many of them seriously. General Mohammed Yousuf, a former vice chief of army staff was among army personnel wounded in the attack. A part of the mosque was also destroyed.
After the attack a helicopter hovered over a wide avenue sealed off by security forces with G3 rifles, apparently searching for militants who may have fled the scene.
Four gunmen were killed in exchanges of fire with the security forces, said an army spokesman. Rehman Malik, the federal interior minister said many army officers were among dead, but they were not identified.
The latest attack was the part of wave of militant violence which has killed more than 400 people since October. The attack underscored the resilience of militant networks despite army offensives against the Taleban in the northwest regions bordering Afghanistan.
Islamic militants have increasingly targeted security installations and personnel as Pakistani forces take-on the Taleban in north-western Pakistan. It was the third militant attack in Rawalpindi’s high security zone in the last two months.
In October gunmen raided the army headquarter which triggered a 22-hour stand-off in which more than two dozen people, including two army officers, were killed. On Wednesday a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Pakistan Naval Headquarter in Islamabad, killing one security guard.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but security officials blamed the Taleban. “It is a retaliation to the military operation in South Waziristan,” said Mr Malik.
More than 30,000 troops backed by air force jets are battling the Taleban and al Qaeda militants in the region bordering Afghanistan. The militants have intensified attacks inside Pakistani cities as they are driven out from their bases. Pakistan military said a large part of South Waziristan had been cleared off the militants.

Pakistan Military Kills 43 Taliban In Khyber

The Pakistani military forces are off to a good start this weekend as operations have netted in excess of 43 dead Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadis. Full story is below from Breitbart:

Pakistan: 43 suspected militants killed in Khyber

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani troops killed 43 alleged militants in an operation in the Khyber tribal region while airstrikes left several more dead Saturday in the stronghold of the new Taliban chief elsewhere in the northwest, officials said.
Militants frequently attack trucks along the famed Khyber Pass, a main route for supplies destined for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
That's one reason Pakistan is under intense U.S. pressure to crack down on insurgents along the Afghan border, especially the lawless tribal belt where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is suspected to be hiding. The U.S. believes militants use Pakistan's tribal areas and other troubled parts of the northwest as safe havens from which to plan attacks on Western troops across the frontier.

The Taliban-affiliated group Lashkar-e-Islam has been a main target of the latest government offensive in Khyber, which authorities say has killed scores of alleged militants.
The paramilitary Frontier Corps announced the latest deaths in a written statement, adding an important headquarters of Lashkar-e-Islam was also destroyed.
The Khyber operation was launched about a week ago after a suicide bombing at a border checkpoint killed 19 police. The top government official in Khyber, Tariq Hayat, said it would continue until all the militants were flushed out of the region.
Elsewhere in the northwest Saturday, Pakistani fighter jets and helicopter gunships pounded militant hide-outs in three villages of the Orakzai tribal region—the stronghold of new Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud.
The death toll could not immediately be ascertained, but it could be 20 or more, said one of two intelligence officials who confirmed the attacks. The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to media.
Azmat Khan, a resident of one of the three villages, told The Associated Press by telephone he could confirm some people were killed in bombings, but he was not sure how many.
Khyber and Orakzai are remote regions largely off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the information independently.
Also Saturday, lawyers said a Pakistani anti-terrorism court resumed pretrial proceedings against five suspects in last year's attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people.
The hearings were held behind closed doors at a high-security prison in Rawalpindi and Pakistani authorities have released few details.
Government prosecutor Malik Rab Nawaz and a defense lawyer, Shahbaz Rajput, confirmed in phone interviews Saturday that the hearings resumed but said little else because the court ordered them to avoid discussing the case with the media.
Rajput said he has asked that the case be opened to the public.

Pakistani Security Forces Retake Embattled Police Academy, 11 Police Cadets Dead, 8 Jihadists Dead

Whoa, there's a bunch of stories all over the place regarding the attack on the police academy in Pakistan where jihadists, much in the same manner as the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, stormed the the academy and killed up to eleven cadets while now the latest report here from Breitbart states that Pakistani security forces have retaken the academy. Some reports claim that up to 40 have died in the attack and ensuing siege. Here's some of the latest report:

A government official says Pakistani security forces have overpowered militants who attacked a police academy, arresting six.
Rao Iftikhar says eight of the gunmen died, including two who blew themselves up.
Reports on the death tolls from the assault have varied wildly, with officials confirming at least 11 to The Associated Press. Other reports said up to 40 people had died.

And here's a bit on the original attack by jihadists and subsequent events:

Pakistani soldiers killed at least four gunmen who had seized a police academy Monday in a brazen attack that killed at least 11 officers and left at least 35 police held hostage.
The well-organized, highly coordinated assault came less than a month after an ambush on Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team in the heart of Lahore, underscoring the threat that militancy poses to the U.S.-allied, nuclear-armed country.
It prompted the country's top civilian security official to say that militant groups were "destabilizing the country."

Monday's attack occurred as dozens of the officers carried out morning drills at the Manawan Police Training School.
"We were attacked with bombs. Thick smoke surrounded us. We all ran in panic in different directions," said Mohammad Asif, a wounded officer taken to a hospital. He described the attackers as bearded and young.
At least 11 police officers died in the attack, police official Ali Nawaz told The Associated Press. Mobin, another police official, told the AP that at least 91 wounded police were sent to hospitals. About 700 trainee officers were inside the academy at the time.
"Some of the attackers are wearing (police) uniforms," police officer Ahsan Younus told the AP. "They have also taken some of our police as hostage."

I think what has to be stressed in this attack is that this is Lahore. This is NOT the volatile NW Tribal Areas - this is a big, big city in Pakistan and we are seeing a second wave of attacks here in less than one month.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but as with the Sri Lankan one, most fingers are going to point towards Lashkar-e-Taiba which was of course involved in the Mumbai massacre. But in Pakistan right now, there's a long list of jihadi groups including al Qaeda who usually has their fingers in every kind of terror. The point of all of this is that slowly but surely, the Pakistani government continues to lose control of this country. Don't forget, this is a country with nuclear weapons. I've said it before...ever since this weak-kneed government took over in Pakistan, there has been a huge uptick in terror and organized attacks - the whole time this government has sent nothing but signals of appeasement and this is what it has gotten them.

One can say all they want about the reign of Musharraf here in Pakistan but if you recall, NONE of this shit was happening when he had an iron hand on the controls of the military. I, personally, don't see any way that this government can regain control and some in the West better have some contingent plans to move in here and protect those nukes at some point in time.

Pakistan: Security forces retake attacked academy

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - A government official says Pakistani security forces have overpowered militants who attacked a police academy, arresting six.
Rao Iftikhar says eight of the gunmen died, including two who blew themselves up.
Reports on the death tolls from the assault have varied wildly, with officials confirming at least 11 to The Associated Press. Other reports said up to 40 people had died.

Iftikhar says he will provide a more exact death toll from the brazen assault later Monday.
The attack underscored the threat posed by militants to Pakistan's stability

Soldiers and other security forces surrounded the compound on the outskirts of the city, exchanging fire in televised scenes reminiscent of last November's militant siege of the Indian city of Mumbai. Armored vehicles entered the compound while helicopters hovered overhead. Some police tried to escape by crawling on their hands and knees around the bodies of fallen officers.
Six hours after the initial assault, police captured one of the suspected gunmen, dragging him to a field outside the academy and kicking him. Soon afterward, four loud explosions rocked the scene. Government official Rao Iftikhar said four gunmen were killed, including three by army snipers. However, roughly 11 gunmen remained holed up on the top floor of a building, holding some 35 police hostage.
Reports also emanated from inside the compound. Inspector Mohammad Akram told Express News TV by phone that he and 20 other policemen were locked in a room inside one of the buildings.
"We are hearing gunshots very close to us. We are sitting ducks. We request that please for God's sake take us out," he said in a low voice. "Everybody ran here and there and took shelter wherever they found."
Pakistan has endured scores of suicide bombings and other attacks in recent years, and it faces tremendous U.S. pressure to eradicate al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents on its soil. Most of the violence occurs along the country's northwest border with Afghanistan, but attacks have occurred in all the major cities, including in eastern Punjab province, of which Lahore is capital.
Monday's attack occurred close to the Indian border. No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The attacks pose a major threat to the weak, year-old civilian administration of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, which has been gripped with political turmoil in recent weeks. The Obama administration has warned Pakistan that militancy poses a threat to the nation's very existence, while U.S. officials complain the country's spy agencies still keep ties with some of the insurgent groups.
Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told state-run TV that Pakistan's police are not equipped to fight the terror wave.
"In our country, at our different borders, arms are coming in, stinger missiles are coming in, rocket launchers are coming in, heavy equipment is coming—it should be stopped," Malik said. "Obviously, whoever did this attack has attacked our country's stability."
The provincial governor, Salman Taseer, told reporters at a hospital that an army brigade had "laid a complete siege," adding that a curfew was imposed in the neighborhood.

Sri Lankan Cricket Team Ambushed By Terrorists In Pakistan

Pakistan...you really are becoming the gold standard of terror, now aren't you? In a brazen attack today, radical islamic terrorists attacked the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team killing 8 of its members and then fleeing. No one has claimed responsibility yet but I think the choices are pretty narrow as to who is responsible. Here's some of the details from Yahoo News:

Gunmen attacked Sri Lanka's cricket team in a gun and grenade assault Tuesday in the Pakistani city of Lahore that killed eight people and wounded seven members of the squad.
The attack sparked condemnation from around the world and threw a massive question mark over the future of the game in the troubled nation -- a co-host for the 2011 cricket World Cup.
"The plan was apparently to kill the Sri Lankan team but the police came in the way and forced the attackers to run away," Lahore's police chief Habib-ur Rehman said.
"They appeared to be well-trained terrorists," he told reporters.
Rehman said up to 12 gunmen ambushed the team's convoy close to the Gaddafi stadium with rockets, hand grenades and automatic weapons, unleashing a fierce gunbattle with security forces.
The gunmen fled after the ambush, triggering a giant manhunt.

I think that probably the most telling part of the article is this:

Pakistani officials said the attack bore all the hallmarks of the November 2008 assault on the Indian city of Mumbai, which was blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic militants.

Now, with that bit of information, most are going to turn the spotlight on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group of terrorists in Pakistan that was nailed for the Mumbai massacre. At the same time, one might argue that Lashkar-e-Taiba has been laying pretty low since Mumbai so this could quite possibly be more linked directly to al Qaeda - I know, there is a ton of grey area when you mention terror groups and al Qaeda but my thoughts are that this resembles Lashkar's doing more in the use of the small weapons. Al Qaeda is more of a bomb and awe operation.

The fact of the matter is that Pakistan continues down this path of no return - they are giving away their first born to pacify the Taliban in the northwest part of the country, they have al Qaeda growing in numbers by the day up in the northwest as well and they seemingly have no control of Lashkar-e-Taiba who is further south in the country. It's a bloody mess, pardon the pun.

Eight dead in attack on Sri Lanka cricketers in Pakistan

Witnesses said the upmarket district, home to many designer boutiques, was transformed into a battle zone as gunmen hidden behind trees opened fire in a sophisticated, coordinated attack.
"The bus came under attack as we were driving to the stadium," Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene told Cricinfo.
"The gunmen targeted the wheels of the bus first, and then the bus. We all dived to the floor to take cover."
He said most of the injuries appeared to be minor and caused by debris.
It could have been worse -- Rehman said the attackers fired a rocket which missed the bus, then threw grenades underneath which failed to explode.
He said weapons recovered from the scene "suggest the terrorists were well prepared and organised."
A police official said two civilians and six policemen guarding the players were killed in the attack as the team was heading for the third day's play in the second Test against Pakistan.
Sri Lankan officials said seven team players and a coach were wounded.
Star batsman Thilan Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranavithana were treated in hospital but out of danger, while Jayawardene, vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilina Thushara and Suranga Lokumal had minor injuries.
Assistant coach Paul Farbrace, a British national, was also hurt.
Samaraweera is one of Sri Lanka's leading players and earlier this week he became only the seventh batsmen in Test cricket to notch a double hundred in consecutive matches.
Sri Lanka said it was rushing its foreign minister to Pakistan in the wake of the assault, which Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse called a "cowardly terrorist attack."
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani also strongly condemned the "terrorist" attack and ordered an inquiry.
Two air force helicopters evacuated the Sri Lankan team from the stadium to an air base, from where they were to be flown home immediately.
Experts defused two car bombs and recovered grenades, three kilograms (6.6 pounds) of explosives, a pistol and a detonating cable.
Blood stained the front seats of a vehicle used by Pakistan's elite force, the van raked with gunfire with its wheels shot up and radio system disabled.

Mumbai Plotter's Computer Accessed, Shows 320 World Targets Were Planned

Can you imagine? The group primarily held responsible for the planning and attack on Mumbai, India that left nearly 200 people dead apparently had much bigger plans than just the Indian city. One of the leaders of the suspect terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, namely Zarar Shah, had a computer with a list of a 320 world targets the group had targeted for similar commando attacks...that's right 320! Here's some of the details from the article at The Guardian:

The plotters behind the Mumbai attack, which left more than 170 people dead, had placed India's financial capital on a list of 320 worldwide locations as potential targets for commando-style terror strikes, the Guardian has learned.
It suggests that Lashkar-e-Taiba, the outlawed terror group that planned much of the attack from Pakistan, had ambitions well beyond causing mayhem in India.
Western intelligence agencies have accessed the computer and email account of Lashkar's communications chief, Zarar Shah, and found a list of possible targets, only 20 of which were in India.

Now, the article doesn't refer specifically to the targets on that list of 320 but for pete's sakes, with 320 of them there can't be too many places NOT on the list. Now, some may say this is a bit of overkill by the plotters or some wishful thinking, but let's face it...with the amazing success this group found in the Mumbai massacre, one has to think that a number of the other targets probably would have been sitting ducks as well.

Personally, I'd like to see this list just because I suspect there might be some interesting targets on it - I'm guessing there may be some islamic target cities on it, ....Tehran? Turkey? Egypt?

The article states later in it that this group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, isn't really set up globally but hell, didn't experts at one time say that about al Qaeda?

Mumbai attackers had hit list of 320 world targets

The plotters behind the Mumbai attack, which left more than 170 people dead, had placed India's financial capital on a list of 320 worldwide locations as potential targets for commando-style terror strikes, the Guardian has learned.
It suggests that Lashkar-e-Taiba, the outlawed terror group that planned much of the attack from Pakistan, had ambitions well beyond causing mayhem in India.
Western intelligence agencies have accessed the computer and email account of Lashkar's communications chief, Zarar Shah, and found a list of possible targets, only 20 of which were in India.
Two of the November 2008 attack's key planners – Shah and Lashkar's operations chief, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi – are now in police custody in Pakistan.
Islamabad's decision to bring criminal charges against nine men accused of involvement in the Mumbai attack has partly placated Indian officials. But officials in New Delhi have been warning that they want to see people brought to justice for terrorist acts.
"If the west can prosecute people for crimes against humanity in The Hague or use rendition to interrogate them in undisclosed locations then what is stopping them now? After all, [western] citizens were killed in Mumbai too," an official said.
The US has been trying behind the scenes to co-ordinate intelligence exchanges between the two nuclear-armed rivals. The CIA has worked hard to be seen to help New Delhi – including by recovering phone numbers deleted by the terrorists on their satellite phones.
The fallout from Mumbai has destabilised the government of Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, which is attempting to face down Islamist groups his predecessors cultivated.
Intelligence agencies have warned that Mumbai raises the spectre of a new style of terrorist assault. The city of 19 million people was brought to a halt by 10 heavily armed gunmen rampaging through restaurants and hotels for three days.
Nine of the gunmen were killed – but the lone survivor has given Indian investigators a full confession that the assault was planned in Pakistan by Lashkar, a militant group that originally began an armed campaign against the Indian army in Kashmir.
There has been some speculation that raids in Spain which netted 12 men – an Indian and 11 Pakistanis – were a result of the investigations into Lashkar's role in the Mumbai attacks.
The dozen men were reportedly picked up for forging passports and other travel documents for terror organisations, including al-Qaida. Pakistan's government has said the Mumbai attacks were partly planned from Spain.
Analysts say the computer list is more of a statement of intent because Lashkar would need time to set up terrorist cells in so many places.
"Lashkar is an increasingly prominent terrorist group within the jihadi community but I am sceptical of it being able to act globally and extensively on its own," said Maria Kuusisto, an analyst covering Pakistan and Afghanistan for the Eurasia Group, a political consultancy in London.

Pakistan Ducks India Again...All of a Sudden, Wanted Terrorists Aren't In Pakistan!

Good grief...the Pakistanis are playing with fire here as they continue to jerk India's calls for justice in regards to the Mumbai massacre. The latest insult to India by the Pakistani government is to suddenly reveal that the leader of one of the suspected master mind terrorist groups behind the Mumbai attack, Jaish-e-Mohammed, is now not in the country while just a few weeks ago the Pakistanis claimed he was under arrest! I personally don't know where India is getting this patience or they are just imbeciles but if someone jerked around America by hiding terrorists like this...oh wait...the Taliban in Afghanistan DID do this same thing in protecting Osama bin Laden and that's right, American beat the piss out of the Taliban and removed them from power. Remember that India? Take a page out of the history books, dude.

Here's some of the details from The Long War Journal:

A wanted terrorist leader recently under house arrest and a mafia don with close ties to South Asian terror networks are not in Pakistan, according to a senior Pakistani official
Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, and South Asian crime boss Dawood Ibrahim are not in in the country, according to Rehman Malik, the Interior Advisor to Prime Minister Gilani. Malik made the comments at a meeting of the federal cabinet in Lahore, Geo News reported.
The claim the Azhar is not in Pakistan directly conflicts claims made by Pakistani officials that he was under house arrest in in Bahawalpur in early December 2008. Pakistani officials later claimed Azhar was not under house arrest and his location was unknown.
Rumors later cropped up that claimed Azhar was operating in South Waziristan. Rashid Rauf, an al Qaeda operative who is a member of Azhar's family, is also thought to have fled to South Waziristan after his escape from custody. Rauf was reported to have been killed in a November 2008 US Predator strike in South Waziristan, but his associates claimed he is alive.

Dawood Ibrahim is perhaps Indian's most wanted man. Ibrahim runs an extensive criminal network throughout South Asia. Al Qaeda and other Pakistani and Bangladeshi terror groups have allied with Ibrahim to leverage his network of weapons smuggling and other services. The US government branded Ibrahim as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2003.
Ibrahim has been implicated in the 1993 Mumbai bombings and is known to receive backing from the Inter-Service Intelligence agency. His network also played a role in facilitating the 2008 Mumbai terror assault.

Okay, so I realize that the Pakistanis hate the Indians with a passion but to play this little shell game between nuclear powers is beyond me. Is the Pakistani government so scared of retribution internally by Jaish-e-Mohammed? Well, if that is the case then Pakistan better hope that Jaish-e-Mohammed doesn't mount an attack on Americans over there or the Chinese or the Afghans - because I think the reaction by those countries would be a helluva lot more swift than that of India.

Pakistan: Wanted terrorists Azhar, Ibrahim not in country

Ibrahim's whereabouts are unknown, but he known to operate his criminal-terror empire in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi.
After the terror assault on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai in November 2008, India demanded Pakistan turn over senior leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, and Harkat ul-Jihad-I-Islami. Both Azhar and Ibrahim were on the list of more than 20 wanted terrorists.
Azhar is the founder of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, or Army of the Prophet Mohammed, a terror group group that conducts attacks in Indian-held Kashmir but also has close links to and conducts operations with Lashkar-e-Taiba and al Qaeda in Pakistan and India. In 1994, Azhar was detained by Indian security officials in Srinagar.
He was released along with Omar Saeed Sheikh from an India jail in exchange for hostages held in an Indian Airlines flight hijacking in December 1999. He established the Jaish-e-Mohammed the next year as an offshoot of the Harkat-ul-Ansar, one of many terror groups created to fight the Indians in India-occupied Kashmir.
Azhar has been in Pakistani detention at least two times in the past decade. He was briefly detained after the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, but was cleared of charges by a court in Lahore. Pakistani police detained Azhar after the 2003 assassination attempts against then-President Pervez Musharraf, but quietly freed him months later.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed was implicated along with the Lashkar-e-Taiba as being behind the Dec. 13, 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament building in New Delhi. In October 2001, the US designated Jaish-e-Mohammed as a foreign terrorist organization. The group receives support from Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency.

India Makes Stronger Accusation Against Pakistan On Mumbai

I still think the aftermath of the Mumbai attack is going to take a very bad turn and evidence of that is the comment yesterday from India's Prime Minister that came the closest yet to actually accusing the Pakistani government of aiding the terrorists in their attack on Mumbai. Here's the details from the piece over at Breitbart:

Pakistani authorities "must have had" a hand in the deadly Mumbai siege, India's prime minister said Tuesday, stopping just short of directly accusing Islamabad of aiding the gunmen.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh repeated India's allegations that the attack was carried out by the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. But in his most forceful speech since the November attacks, he also said "there is enough evidence to show that, given the sophistication and military precision of the attack, it must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan."
The careful phrasing seemed aimed at keeping tensions between the bitter rivals at a low burn, and reflects the widespread belief that there are multiple power centers in Pakistan.

You know, the Pakistani government has handled the aftermath of Mumbai probably as poorly as is humanly possible - it reminds me of the kind of bumbling that could be the hallmark of a U.S. President with so little leadership experience under his belt ( wink, nod ). Every step of the way in the post-Mumbai investigations, the Pakistani government has made itself look as guilty as possible and at the same time, they seem oblivious that the Indian government is under huge pressure to give the Indian people some justice.

I, personally, think that Pakistan's only option in this situation is to turn over the leadership of Lashkar-e-Taiba. But Pakistan has even been hesitant to admit some basics in the aftermath and that's like sticking a hot iron in an open wound for the Indians.

India: Pakistanis `must have' backed Mumbai attack

The overwhelmingly Muslim nation's civilian government is relatively new and weak, while its military-controlled spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, is thought to have a high degree of independence.
Singh did not directly name any Pakistani officials, but India has blamed the ISI for being involved in attacks against India in recent years.
Singh also charged Pakistan with "whipping up war hysteria," and criticized what he called their reluctance to crack down on militants operating on their territory.
The speech came one day after India handed Pakistan evidence that New Delhi says proves the attacks were plotted in Pakistan. The dossier included details from the interrogation of the lone surviving gunman, recovered weapons, and intercepted communications with the suspected handlers back in Pakistan.
The investigation into the attack, which left 164 dead, showed the 10 gunmen could not have been working on their own, Singh said.
"Unfortunately, we cannot choose our neighbors," Singh said. "Some countries like Pakistan have in the past encouraged and given sanctuary to terrorists and other forces who are antagonistic to India."
He spoke before a meeting with senior officials from around the country to discuss security concerns in the latest in a recent ratcheting up of Indian rhetoric.
Pakistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Malik Hamad Khan said Islamabad was committed to take action against non-state actors if they were involved in the attacks.
"We have been saying from day one that the state of Pakistan is not to blame if any non-state actors are involved" in the attacks, adding that the actions of individuals should not be blamed on Pakistan.

Lashkar-e-Taiba Operatives Admit To Mumbai Massacre

Whoa! This article here at The Long War Journal is absolutely damning to both Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Pakistani government's cover up of Lashkar's guilt - read the whole thing! The Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives that were rounding up by the Pakistanis after the Mumbai attack are singing like canaries and now, the U.S. and Britain have provided even more damning evidence of more Lashkar-e-Taiba responsibility. Here's some of the article:

A Lashkar-e-Taiba leader in Pakistani custody admitted to his role in last month's terror assault in the Indian city of Mumbai, Pakistani sources told The Wall Street Journal. The confession comes as the US and UK provided recording of another senior Lashkar leader speaking to one of the Mumbai terrorists during the operation.

Zarar Shah, "is singing," a Pakistani official involved with the interrogation told the newspaper. Shah is the Lashkar-e-Taiba communications expert who set up the network that allowed the Mumbai terrorists to speak with Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders in Pakistan during the attack. He also serves as a key liaison between the terror group and Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence agency. Pakistani police detained Shah earlier this month during raids on Lashkar's offices and train camps.

Meanwhile, the United States is pressuring Pakistan to turn over Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Dawn reported. The US has provided Pakistan with communications intercepts between Lakhvi and the Mumbai terrorists. Lakhvi was also detained by Pakistani police during the sweeps against Lashkar offices and camps.

Now, here comes the sticky part and believe me, this could really bring some trouble in the region between India and Pakistan:

Pakistan has rejected the evidence of Lashkar’s complicity in Mumbai that was turned over by India, the US, and the UK. Pakistani officials said the information is "inadmissible in court," Dawn reported. "They said that since the confessions had been obtained under severe pressure by the Indians, this could not be admissible in judicial process. They have insisted that the information provided would not stand scrutiny in any court."

As you can see, there is a MOUNTAIN of evidence that this attack was planned, executed and now being covered up in Pakistan. If the Pakistani government goes down this road of rejecting this evidence and if these operatives who planned this mission are set free or get a slap on the wrist, I thoroughly expect India to take action INSIDE of Pakistan against Lashkar-e-Taiba and that of course will bring serious trouble. The Pakistanis better suck it up and realize that the terror group in their midst is caught red-handed and best give them up.

Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives directly linked to Mumbai

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only Mumbai terrorist captured by Indian police, admitted his 10-man team trained in Lashkar camps in Pakistan with the support of the Inter-Service Intelligence agency and launched their attack from the Pakistani port city of Karachi.
Sabauddin Ahmed and Fahim Ansari, two other Lashkar operatives detained earlier this month, also confirmed elements of Shah and Kasab's account.

Since the Mumbai attack, Pakistan's president, prime minister, and national security advisor have said evidence on Kasab's nationality was insufficient. "Have you seen any evidence to that effect," President Asif Ali Zardari said when asked if Kasab was a Pakistan during a BBC interview in mid-December. "I have definitely not seen any real evidence to that effect."
Yesterday, National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani refused to admit Kasab was a Pakistani citizen. "Could be," Durrani said when asked if Kasab was a Pakistani citizen. "I am not saying more than that because we don't have, I hate to say this we don't have proof."
But Pakistan has been given proof of Kasab's nationality. Kasab himself admitted he is from Pakistan and submitted a request for consular access. The request is "under review" by Pakistan's foreign office.
Kasab's father and neighbors were interviewed by Pakistani television and news outlets and confirmed he was indeed from Pakistan. His own father identified him and provided a nearly identical account of his son's background as Kasab gave to Indian intelligence. "This is the truth," Kasab's father told a Pakistani news outlet. "I have seen the picture in the newspaper. This is my son Ajmal."