Sept. 5 airpower summary: B-1B supports close-air missions
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) — Coalition airpower supported coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Sept. 5, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
In Afghanistan, Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles dropped guided bomb unit-38s and strafed enemies on a hillside near Kandahar. The aircrews also fired cannon rounds on another enemy compound and dropped GBU-12s and GBU-38s on enemy personnel and a vehicle in the area.
Other F-15Es attacked insurgents in a compound with GBU-38s and a GBU-12 near Kandahar. One of the F-15Es provided a show of force with flares to stop enemy fire in the area.
Algeria blast kills 15, wounds 74-state TV
ALGIERS, Sept 6 (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Thursday when he detonated explosives in the Algerian town of Batna shortly before a scheduled visit by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, residents said.
One of the residents said some of the dead and wounded were among a crowd of people waiting to see the president’s arrival in the town 430 km (270 miles) southeast of the capital Algiers. The official APS news agency said Bouteflika later visited some of the wounded in a local hospital.
Terrorist Website Promises “Special Gift” on 9-11
Federal counterterrorism officials are analyzing a posting on an Islamic forum Web site that warns of “a special gift” to be given on the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, FOX News has learned.
The warning was posted Sept. 2 on a site frequented by radical groups and said in part that “there will be a special gift coming on the day of the blessed invasion of Manhattan.”
Federal officials told FOX News they are trying to determine if it might be a specific warning or just part of broad chatter that has been heard during the last few months.
Postings talking about “gifts” have been seen before in the days leading up to the anniversary of Sept. 11.
Taliban attacks leave 4 dead
Taliban attacks killed two British soldiers and two Afghan police officers Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, while nearly 30 militants were killed elsewhere, authorities said.
The two British soldiers were killed in an explosion as they patrolled in southern Helmand province, the UK’s defense ministry said. Earlier Wednesday, insurgents detonated a remote-controlled bomb under a police vehicle in Helmand province, killing two police and wounding three, said Abdul Manan, a local official.
US alerts warns citizens to risk of terrorist attacks in Nigeria
Abuja (dpa) – The United States embassy Thursday in Lagos, south- west Nigeria, warned western business interests and its nationals of the risk of terrorist attacks in Nigeria.
“The US Mission in Nigeria has received information that US and other Western interests in Nigeria are currently at risk for terrorist attacks,” the embassy said in a statement sent via e-mail to US citizens in Nigeria.
“Potential targets include official and commercial installations in Abuja and Lagos,” it added.
German Police Hunt Terror Suspects After Bomb Plot
Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) — Police are searching for at least 10 further suspects in connection with a foiled plot to carry out terrorist attacks on bars, nightclubs and airports in Germany.
“Such terror attacks need logistics and preparations and we’re trying to identify everyone that helped prepare or planned to carry out the attacks,” German Deputy Interior Minister August Hanning, a former head of the Federal Intelligence Service, said today on ARD television.
“We don’t just have 10 people in our sights,” he said, adding that police are hunting suspects of German, Turkish and other nationalities in Germany and abroad.
TERROR TRIAL TOLD OF NET BOMB LINK
A TERROR suspect’s website had links to a DIY guide to bomb-making, a court heard yesterday.
The guide was in one of two online magazines aimed at young Muslim men which could be accessed through a site allegedly run by Mohammed Atif Siddique, 21.
One of the two, both in Arabic, was called The Voice of Jihad and the other Al Battar, the High Court in Glasgow was told.
The first contained information on what is needed to make deadly explosives, including one oil-based preparation said to be more powerful than TNT.
A MESSAGE FROM THE FAMILIES OF THE FIVE BRITISH NATIONALS BEING HELD IN IRAQ
‘The five British men that we love and care for very much have now been held against their will for over 100 days. They are sons, fathers and brothers who were working to support us – their families. We miss them so much and want them to come home to us so that our families can be complete again and our children no longer have to endure the pain of missing their fathers.
‘We appeal from our hearts to those who are holding our loved ones. These are not men with political views or any authority, they are ordinary family men who have parents, wives and children that love and cherish them – please send them home to us.’
Pipe Bomb Explodes Outside NYC Studio
NEW YORK (AP) — An explosive device detonated outside a studio owned by “The Sopranos” star Michael Imperioli early Tuesday, damaging a van but causing no serious injuries, police said.
Police said they did not know if the explosion was connected to Imperioli’s Studio Dante.
Several residents in apartments above the studio were evacuated after the device went off about 1 a.m., police said.
“Bin Laden” Driven Through Security Summit Checkpoints, Twice!
A man disguised as Osama Bin Laden, traveling in a fake motorcade set up by an Australian TV comedy show, was driven through two security checkpoints before the motorcade was stopped near the hotel where US President George Bush is staying in Sidney.
UK jets shadow Russian bombers
The UK’s Royal Air Force has launched fighter jets to intercept eight Russian military planes flying in airspace patrolled by Nato, UK officials say.
Four RAF F3 Tornado aircraft were scrambled in response to the Russian action, the UK’s defence ministry said.
The Russian planes – long-range bombers – had earlier been followed by Norwegian F16 jets.
4 Suspects on Trial in Denmark on Terrorism Charges
Four men have gone on trial in Denmark on charges of making bombs for a planned terrorist attack.
The four were arrested a year ago in central Denmark. They are accused of buying chemicals and lab equipment to produce explosives.
Jakob Scharf, head of the Danish intelligence service, known as PET, speaks during a press conference in Copenhagen, Tuesday, 04 Sept 2007
Tuesday, authorities in Denmark said they prevented a terrorist attack with the arrest of eight people around the capital, Copenhagen.
A Danish intelligence service official told reporters the suspects are linked to a senior al-Qaida figure and are suspected of planning a bomb attack.
Judge refuses terror suspect bail
A judge has accused authorities of punishing a terrorism suspect before he was convicted of any offence and questioned why he needed to be segregated and shackled while in custody.
Although Victorian Supreme Court judge Justice Bernard Bongiorno rejected Ezzit Raad’s application for bail, he said he was troubled by the conditions the suspect was forced to endure in Barwon Prison.
Raad, 25, has pleaded not guilty to being a member of a terrorist organisation and funding a terrorist organisation.
Germany searching for 10 terror suspects
The elite GSG-9 anti-terror force swept down on three suspects’ rented cottage in the central German town of Oberschledorn Wednesday after months of police surveillance, discovering what prosecutors described as military-style detonators and enough material to make bombs more powerful than those that killed 191 people in Madrid in 2004 and 52 commuters in London two years ago.
Conservative officials seized on the case to argue for a proposal to let police search terror suspects’ computers using clandestine methods such as “Trojan horse” software delivered by fake e-mails. Members of the left-wing half of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government said the case showed law enforcement could be successful using existing means.
Why Did NSA Announce Arrest of Foreign Spies?
There has been a hubbub regarding North Korean National Security Agency for their arrest of foreign spies and North Korean citizens accused of contacting foreign spies.
Li Su Gil, the spokesperson for National Security Agency, held a press conference on the 5th and exposed the arrest of foreign spies to foreign press.
The Xinhua, a Chinese news agency, reported that, “a number of foreigners who retained information on the important military facilities in North Korea have been arrested.”
Finnish police top brass unmoved by Koivisto’s Stasi initiative
Finland’s supreme police command continue to be of the opinion that the so-called Tiitinen list should be kept secret, tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reported Monday.
The list, named after Seppo Tiitinen, a former head of the Security Police (Supo), contains the names of 18 Finns considered by West German intelligence to have maintained contacts with the Stasi, East Germany’s state security organ.
Air Force fires commander in nuke error
WASHINGTON — The Air Force fired a commander after a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.
It was originally reported that five nuclear warheads were transported, but officers who revealed the incident to the Military Times newspaper group, which first reported it, have since updated the number to six.
The mistake was so serious that President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed, and Gates has asked for daily briefings on the Air Force investigation that was ordered, said Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell.
Algeria town bombed before president visit-residents
ALGIERS, Sept 6 (Reuters) – A bomb exploded in the Algerian town of Batna on Thursday shortly before a scheduled visit by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, wounding several people, residents said.
One of the residents said some of the wounded were among a crowd of people waiting to witness the president’s arrival in the town 430 km (270 miles) southeast of the capital Algiers. By late afternoon, the president’s visit had not taken place, the residents said.
Raids foil plot to bring 7/7 terror to Germany
An alleged Islamist terrorist plan to blow up US targets in Germany, which bore similarities to recent British terror plots and could have proven deadlier than the London or Madrid attacks, was foiled as the suspects began assembling bombs, German officials said yesterday.
Three men were in custody last night, two of them German nationals who had converted to Islam, after security services swooped on a rented house in Sauerland, 60 miles east of Düsseldorf. The trio had amassed more than 700kg (1,500lbs) of hydrogen peroxide and had been scouting out US bases, discos, pubs and Frankfurt’s international airport as potential targets, officials said.
Algeria: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb tightens the noose on new terrorists
The command of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has taken its new members to strongholds in eastern Algeria and rural places where they were divided into small groups, according to security sources.
The terrorist organisation tries to face its members’ attempts to escape after five of them have recently surrendered to security forces, said the same sources.
Terrorist Threat Greater Than Before 9/11, Says Expert
CNSNews.com) – In a new report released Wednesday afternoon, a security expert said jihadist terrorism currently poses a larger threat than it did before 9/11.
“Measured by the number of terrorist incidents, the jihadist threat is more significant now than it was prior to September 11, 2001,” said Bernard Finel, a senior fellow with the liberal-leaning American Security Project. “It is, most notably, significantly worse even than in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks when the American response focused on al Qaeda’s infrastructure in Afghanistan.”
U.S. air strike in Baghdad kills 14 – police
BAGHDAD, Sept 6 (Reuters) – A U.S. air strike on a Baghdad neighbourhood overnight killed 14 people and demolished several houses, the police said on Thursday.
U.S. military spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment.
Two police sources said the air strike took place at about 3 a.m. (2300 GMT Wednesday) in the Washash neighbourhood, a stronghold of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia, in western Baghdad’s Mansour district.
Paratroopers Take Fight to Taliban
WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service, Sept. 5, 2007) – The tense paratroopers and Afghan National Army soldiers sat in silence surrounded by darkness.
The previous hours were spent huddled together rehearsing the mission, “Destined Strike,” which was to be an air-assault into the Taliban’s backyard.
The whoop, whoop, whoop sound of the CH-47 “Chinook” helicopter’s rotary wings reverberated in the Soldiers’ ears drowning out all chance of another sound. Some of the Soldiers said last minute prayers while others day dreamed of loved ones back home. Squad leaders made last minute checks in the dark.
Taliban Says S.Korea Has Broken Promise
The Taliban vow to attack South Korean facilities in Afghanistan if Seoul does not keep a promise it made to secure the release of hostages, Yonhap reported.
The Islamic fundamentalist group claimed South Korea has not withdrawn all its citizens from Afghanistan as promised in the recent hostage release talks, the Yonhap report said Monday.
The Taliban abducted 23 South Korean church volunteers in July. Two of the hostages were later killed. Of the remaining 21, two women were subsequently released and the remaining 19 were freed last week.
SRI LANKA PRIME MINISTER TELLS PARLIAMENT THAT TAMIL TIGERS ARE BRACING FOR A CHEMICAL WAR
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam contravening all international laws is bracing for a chemical war.
“We have evidence the Tamil Tigers have plans to use chemical weapons against the Sri Lankan security forces,” said the Prime Minister addressing the country’s parliament seeking its permission to extend the emergency regulations that gives extra powers above regular laws to the government to quell the insurgency of the group.
Chinook shipment a joint effort by Army, Air Force
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/web/070830-F-8636B-242.jpg
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFPN) — Members of Peterson Air Force Base helped load 12 Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters onto Air Force C-17 Globemaster IIIs during the last two weeks of August to send the choppers to support Operation Enduring Freedom.
Airmen, Soldiers, contractors and civilian members disassembled and inspected the choppers before loading each one onto a separate C-17, the aircraft transporting the CH-47s to their new stations in Southwest Asia.
While up to four UH-60 Blackhawks can fit into a C-17, only one of the 50-foot long Chinook CH-47 helicopters can be squeezed into the C-17’s 98-foot long cargo bay, a fact that made the whole project labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Russian border guards kill 2 gunmen crossing from Georgia
MOSCOW: Russian border guards on Wednesday shot and killed two gunmen who crossed into southern Russia from neighboring Georgia, officials said.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor agency, said in a statement that border guards tried to detain the two men after they crossed into the province of Karachayevo-Cherkessia in the Caucasus Mountains, but the intruders offered resistance and were killed in a clash.
MI5 chief in security line-up
WE ALL get fed up standing in airport security queues – but it’s nice to know that we are not alone. Apparently, even the director-general of MI5, the man who masterminds the fight against terrorism, has to stand in line.
Jonathan Evans spent an hour in a queue at Gatwick Airport after a European holiday…
Ex-spy chief called to Senate probe of wiretapping scandal
MANILA, Philippines — Vice Admiral Tirso Danga, former Western Command chief, has been asked to appear before the Senate investigation into the “Hello Garci” wiretapping scandal, which begins on Friday.
However, Danga will have to seek approval from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to appear at the hearing, as required by Executive Order No. 464 and Memorandum Circular 108, said Armed Forces spokesperson Col. Bartolome Bacarro.
Radical books in London libraries
Public libraries serving the densest population of Muslims in London have been inundated with extremist literature, according to a report.
Multiple copies of books were found in Tower Hamlets that would feature on any jihadist reading list, the report obtained by the BBC said.
Tower Hamlets Council said their Islamic collections had been imbalanced, but they were improving.
Public libraries serving the densest population of Muslims in London have been inundated with extremist literature, according to a report.
Multiple copies of books were found in Tower Hamlets that would feature on any jihadist reading list, the report obtained by the BBC said.
Tower Hamlets Council said their Islamic collections had been imbalanced, but they were improving.
Public libraries serving the densest population of Muslims in London have been inundated with extremist literature, according to a report.
Multiple copies of books were found in Tower Hamlets that would feature on any jihadist reading list, the report obtained by the BBC said.
Tower Hamlets Council said their Islamic collections had been imbalanced, but they were improving.
