Abd'rabbah Ghuma, 51, Abdulbaqi Mohammed Khaled, 51 and Mohammed Benhammedi, 42, appear on a United Nation's list of al-Qaeda and Taliban associates.
Khaled and Benhammedi are accused of being key terror financiers, while Ghuma is accused of being involved in transferring cash and travel documents to Middle East terror cells.
Last night, a spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said the force could not comment on ongoing investigations.
"We work closely with a range of national and international agencies including Interpol," she said.
"However, we cannot discuss individuals that may or may not be subject of an ongoing investigation or operation."
An Interpol spokeswoman urged anyone with information regarding the wherabouts of Khaled, Benhammedi or Ghuma to contact them immediately.
more info:
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2009/02/08/birmingham-is-home-to-al-qaida-linked-terror-suspects-66331-22879232/2
Posts tonen met het label Taliban. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Taliban. Alle posts tonen
zondag 8 februari 2009
maandag 2 februari 2009
Bomber In Police Uniform Kills 21 Afghan Policemen
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP)
A suicide bomber in a police uniform detonated his explosives inside a police training center in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 21 officers and wounding at least 20, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
http://www.pr-inside.com/bomber-in-police-uniform-kills-r1037255.htm
A suicide bomber in a police uniform detonated his explosives inside a police training center in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 21 officers and wounding at least 20, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
http://www.pr-inside.com/bomber-in-police-uniform-kills-r1037255.htm
donderdag 22 januari 2009
Taliban Demands End To Music On Pakistan Buses
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Bus drivers in northwest Pakistan have begun removing audio and video equipment from their vehicles after Taliban militants threatened suicide attacks against those who played music or movies for their passengers, an industry official said Tuesday.
Transport workers in Mardan town received letters this week from militants saying that buses offering such entertainment were guilty of spreading "vulgarity and obscenity", Walid Mir, general secretary of the town's transport union, told The Associated Press.
The militants said they would check the buses and that suicide attacks would be carried out against vehicles that still had audio and video equipment - prompting union members to act quickly, Mir said.
The Taliban letter complained that traveling in buses that provide audiovisual entertainment was a "source of mental agony for pious people," according to a text obtained by AP.
"It is obligatory on us to stop such violations. We request you to remove the vulgar systems...otherwise suicide bombers are ready," the letter said.
Mardan lies in the Northwest Frontier Province just outside Pakistan's volatile tribal belt where extremists among the Taliban, al-Qaeda and local groups are waging a violent campaign against authorities in a bid to impose their strict interpretation of Islam.
Elsewhere in northwest Pakistan, extremists have targeted girls'schools, police posts and other symbols of authority.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban regime that was forced from power in late 2001 banned art, secular music and television, vandalized the national museum and destroyed artwork or statues deemed idolatrous or anti-Muslim.
Local police said they had no knowledge of the threat.
"Certainly, we can look into it if we receive a complaint," Mardan police chief Syed Akhtar Ali Shah said.
Mir said the transport companies had no plans to make a report.
"W did not report it to police because it is a matter of human lives. What can the police do? It involves the lives of hundreds of passengers, and we do not want to put them in danger," Mir said.
Associated Press reporters Asif Shahzad and Christopher Bodeen contributed to this report from Islamabad.
Transport workers in Mardan town received letters this week from militants saying that buses offering such entertainment were guilty of spreading "vulgarity and obscenity", Walid Mir, general secretary of the town's transport union, told The Associated Press.
The militants said they would check the buses and that suicide attacks would be carried out against vehicles that still had audio and video equipment - prompting union members to act quickly, Mir said.
The Taliban letter complained that traveling in buses that provide audiovisual entertainment was a "source of mental agony for pious people," according to a text obtained by AP.
"It is obligatory on us to stop such violations. We request you to remove the vulgar systems...otherwise suicide bombers are ready," the letter said.
Mardan lies in the Northwest Frontier Province just outside Pakistan's volatile tribal belt where extremists among the Taliban, al-Qaeda and local groups are waging a violent campaign against authorities in a bid to impose their strict interpretation of Islam.
Elsewhere in northwest Pakistan, extremists have targeted girls'schools, police posts and other symbols of authority.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban regime that was forced from power in late 2001 banned art, secular music and television, vandalized the national museum and destroyed artwork or statues deemed idolatrous or anti-Muslim.
Local police said they had no knowledge of the threat.
"Certainly, we can look into it if we receive a complaint," Mardan police chief Syed Akhtar Ali Shah said.
Mir said the transport companies had no plans to make a report.
"W did not report it to police because it is a matter of human lives. What can the police do? It involves the lives of hundreds of passengers, and we do not want to put them in danger," Mir said.
Associated Press reporters Asif Shahzad and Christopher Bodeen contributed to this report from Islamabad.
maandag 19 januari 2009
Taliban Militants Destroyed Schools In Pakistan
Fresh attacks on Five Pakistan Schools by Taliban militants
Taliban restrict women's education in Pakistan
Thousands of young women living in a part of Pakistan once considered the country's most idyllic tourist destination have been prevented from going to school after an order from Taliban forces which have seized control of much of the area.
Fearful of violent attacks that haave already seen the torching of over 180 schools in the Swat Valley, school administrators have announced that more than 900 private schools will remain closed until the security situation improves. Government officials, struggling to organise adequate protection, have appealed to schools to extend their winter holidays until at least March. The future education of around 125,000 young women is uncertain as a result of the order, said to come into effect on January 15.
In an echo of Afghanistan under the Taliban, the campaign against female education es the latest phase of brutal and swift advance across the valley led by local Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah that has included the beheading of opponents, the closure of barber shops, political assassinations, kidnappings and the destruction of homes belonging to the wealthy.
Earlier this month, militants were believed to be behind attacks on the homes of the Wali of Swat, the benign autocrat who ruled the valley and who has now fled to Islamabad, and Hameedullah Khan, a reporter for the respected Dawn newspaper.
The Taliban have also introduced a parallel legal system where makeshift Sharia courts order lashes and death sentences for those seen to be violating their brand of Islamic law, said Shoukat Saleem, a lawyer.
"Yesterday there was a bombing of a school in Mingora, the main city," he added. "No one is giving any education. Girls preparing for their matriculation exams in March have had to abandon their education. Unless the government or the Taliban announce that the situation will be ok, no one will take the risk."
Shoukat Ali Yousafzai, the top civil administrator, said most of the schools were currently closed for winter holidays. "Once they are over, we will give security with the help of the army," he said.
But in a sign of worsening security in even Mingora, which until recently been beyond the reach of the Taliban, Mr Yousafzai said around 50 corpses had been discovered dumped this month. Some have been found beheaded, other carried a note warning readers not to remove the body before an appointed time.
Ziauddin Yousafzai, a spokesman for the Private Schools Management Association, said: "It will be very difficult to reopen the schools as long as there is no political solution of the problem. The Taliban are now the de facto rulers of Swat."
The Swat Valley in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) was once widely known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan" and famed as a destination for honeymooners and other tourists. In the past months the area has increasingly fallen under militant control. Senior army officers claim their remit remains extensive - particularly during the day - but local people say that more than three-quarters of the valley is effectively outside of government control.
The military says the tactics of Taliban fighters have become increasingly brutal in recent months. The number of troops has been boosted in recent months to counter the militants. Maj General Athar Abbas, a senior army spokesman, said: "In Swat the militants have become very ruthless - there are executions and beheadings. This is the fear and terror they want to create on the part of the public," he said.
But Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman, said they would not allow any girls' schools to operate until the army withdrew from the valley and Sharia Law was imposed. He told the Associated Press: "These schools are being run under a system introduced by the British and promote obscenity and vulgarity in society."
Fearful of violent attacks that haave already seen the torching of over 180 schools in the Swat Valley, school administrators have announced that more than 900 private schools will remain closed until the security situation improves. Government officials, struggling to organise adequate protection, have appealed to schools to extend their winter holidays until at least March. The future education of around 125,000 young women is uncertain as a result of the order, said to come into effect on January 15.
In an echo of Afghanistan under the Taliban, the campaign against female education es the latest phase of brutal and swift advance across the valley led by local Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah that has included the beheading of opponents, the closure of barber shops, political assassinations, kidnappings and the destruction of homes belonging to the wealthy.
Earlier this month, militants were believed to be behind attacks on the homes of the Wali of Swat, the benign autocrat who ruled the valley and who has now fled to Islamabad, and Hameedullah Khan, a reporter for the respected Dawn newspaper.
The Taliban have also introduced a parallel legal system where makeshift Sharia courts order lashes and death sentences for those seen to be violating their brand of Islamic law, said Shoukat Saleem, a lawyer.
"Yesterday there was a bombing of a school in Mingora, the main city," he added. "No one is giving any education. Girls preparing for their matriculation exams in March have had to abandon their education. Unless the government or the Taliban announce that the situation will be ok, no one will take the risk."
Shoukat Ali Yousafzai, the top civil administrator, said most of the schools were currently closed for winter holidays. "Once they are over, we will give security with the help of the army," he said.
But in a sign of worsening security in even Mingora, which until recently been beyond the reach of the Taliban, Mr Yousafzai said around 50 corpses had been discovered dumped this month. Some have been found beheaded, other carried a note warning readers not to remove the body before an appointed time.
Ziauddin Yousafzai, a spokesman for the Private Schools Management Association, said: "It will be very difficult to reopen the schools as long as there is no political solution of the problem. The Taliban are now the de facto rulers of Swat."
The Swat Valley in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) was once widely known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan" and famed as a destination for honeymooners and other tourists. In the past months the area has increasingly fallen under militant control. Senior army officers claim their remit remains extensive - particularly during the day - but local people say that more than three-quarters of the valley is effectively outside of government control.
The military says the tactics of Taliban fighters have become increasingly brutal in recent months. The number of troops has been boosted in recent months to counter the militants. Maj General Athar Abbas, a senior army spokesman, said: "In Swat the militants have become very ruthless - there are executions and beheadings. This is the fear and terror they want to create on the part of the public," he said.
But Muslim Khan, a Taliban spokesman, said they would not allow any girls' schools to operate until the army withdrew from the valley and Sharia Law was imposed. He told the Associated Press: "These schools are being run under a system introduced by the British and promote obscenity and vulgarity in society."
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