Honda AP 851 ABJ Fails in Boko Haram Car Bombing

Nigeria: Massive Boko Haram suicide car bomb thwarted at state police headquarters
True to form, Boko Haram maintains its focus on institutions and practices that run contrary to its intentions to impose Sharia law as the only form of government. "Boko Haram: Suicide Bomber Killed In Maiduguri," from Leadership, August 16:

A 25-year-old suicide bomber was yesterday shot dead by the police when he rammed the vehicle he was driving into the gate of the state police headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State and headed straight for the main building in an attempt to bomb it.

The suicide bomber was suspected to be a member of the Boko Haram sect in the state.
Confirming the incident to journalists during a press briefing at the state police headquarters, Maiduguri, the commissioner of police, Borno State Command, Mr. Simeon Midenda, said that sometime last week, his command received a threat text message, that the police cadet officers screening exercise slated for yesterday would be disrupted by a faceless group.

He said the development prompted him to beef up security around the police headquarters and other formations.

Narrating the incident, Midenda explained that at about 12:15pm, the suicide bomber crashed through the gate of the police headquarters in a Honda Accord saloon car with registration number AP 851 ABJ, and headed for the main building with the intention of detonating bombs close to his office.

However, before the bomber could carry out his plan, armed policemen on guard within the premises opened fire on him. He further said, “On reaching the vehicle, our men discovered that the boot was loaded with gas cylinders containing explosives connected with wires ready for detonation.”

The commissioner said that the bomb disposal unit was promptly drafted to the scene, where, he claimed, they successfully incapacitated the improvised explosive devices (IED).

Our correspondent also gathered that items recovered from the car included

• six 13.6kg gas cylinders, each connected with wires;
• One air conditioner gas cylinder;
• two 25 litre jerry cans of fuel;
• One tin of Abro, five-litre volume and
• one Acid Orange drum of 28kg weight.

The CP said no written documents were recovered, saying that investigations had begun in earnest to unravel those behind the dastardly act.

The Rest @ Jihad Watch

Egyptian Christians Killed by Suicide Bomber

(Reuters) - A bomb killed at least 21 people outside a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria early on New Year's Day and the Interior Ministry said a foreign-backed suicide bomber may have been responsible.

Dozens of people were wounded by the blast, which scattered body parts, destroyed cars and smashed windows. The attack prompted Christians to protest on the streets, and some Christians and Muslims hurled stones at each other.

Egypt has stepped up security around churches, banning cars from parking outside them, since an al Qaeda-linked group in Iraq issued a threat against the Church in Egypt in November.
Egypt's leaders were quick to call for unity, wary of any upsurge in sectarian strife or other tension as the country approaches a presidential election due in September amid some uncertainty about whether President Hosni Mubarak, 82, will run.

Mubarak promised in a televised address that terrorists would not destabilize Egypt or divide Christians and Muslims. He said the attack "carries evidence of the involvement of foreign fingers" and vowed to pursue the perpetrators.

A statement on an Islamist website posted about two weeks before the blast called for attacks on Egypt's churches, listing among them the one hit. No group was named in the statement.
President Barack Obama described the bombing as a "barbaric and heinous act" and said the United States, a major ally, was ready to help Cairo in responding to it.

The Muslim Brotherhood, seen as Egypt's biggest opposition group and which decades ago renounced violence as means to power in Egypt, condemned the attack.

"There are people who want this country to be unstable, and all fingers point to outside hands being behind this incident," senior group member Mohamed el-Katatni said.

The circumstances of the attack, compared with other incidents abroad, "clearly indicates that foreign elements undertook planning and execution," the Interior Ministry said.

"It is likely that the device which exploded was carried by a suicide bomber who died among others," it said in a statement. State media had earlier blamed a car bomb.

The embassy of the United States, a close ally of Egypt, expressed condolences to victims of the "terrible event." Other Western and regional states also condemned the bombing.

An Iraqi deputy interior minister, Hussein Kamal, urged Arab states to cooperate in the fight against terrorism and to help stop Arab militants training in Iraq and then returning home.

COMMUNAL FRUSTRATIONS

Health Ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin said 21 people had been confirmed killed so far and 97 were wounded, the official Middle East News Agency reported.

The church said 20 people were confirmed killed and remains had been found indicating 4-5 others died in the blast, which struck as worshippers marking the New Year left the church.

"We condemn this unfortunate incident that threatens our nation, its security and safety of its citizens. What happened is a dangerous escalation of sectarian events that target the Copts," said a statement from the Alexandria Council of Priests.

Christians make up about 10 percent of Muslim-majority Egypt's 79 million people. Tensions often flare between the two communities over issues such as building churches or close relationships between members of the two faiths.

Analysts said this attack was on a much bigger scale and appeared far more organized than the kind of violence that usually erupts when communal frustrations boil over.

After protests overnight, more than 100 Christians protested again on Saturday near the Coptic Orthodox church that was hit. "We sacrifice our souls and blood for the cross," they chanted.

Police used teargas to disperse protesters.

ISLAMIST THREAT

Egypt's Christians have been threatened by the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq, which attacked a church in Baghdad two months ago in what it called a response to the mistreatment of Muslim converts by Egyptian Copts.

A statement posted on an Islamist website called on Muslims to "bomb churches during the Christmas holiday when churches are crowded." It was not clear who was behind the statement
that listed churches in Egypt and elsewhere, including Alexandria's Church of the Two Saints that was targeted.

The Orthodox Coptic Christmas is on January 7.

Pope Benedict, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, denounced violence against Christians in his New Year address.

Analysts said they did not expect a return to the kind of Islamic militant insurgency crushed by Egypt's government in the 1990s. Nevertheless, the attack could add to sectarian tension and points to influence of foreign Islamist groups.

"The first and most likely possibility is that a sleeper cell of al Qaeda group carried out this operation and this would mean that al Qaeda has penetrated the Islamic political movement in Egypt," said analyst Nabil Abdel-Fattah.

Alexandria governor Adel Labib "accused al Qaeda of planning the bombing," state television reported.

Officials are swift to play down sectarian differences and have been keen to emphasize national harmony before the September presidential poll.

Mubarak, 82 and in power since 1981, is expected to run if he is able to. Gallbladder surgery in March revived questions about his health, but he has returned to a full schedule.

Sectarian tension is fueled in part by Christian grievances such as laws making it easier to build mosques than churches.

In November, hundreds of Christians clashed with police, and with some Muslims who joined in, in Cairo in a protest against a decision to halt construction of a church. Officials said the Christians had no license to build. Two Christians died, dozens were hurt and more than 150 detained.

Last January, a drive-by shooting of six Christians and a Muslim policeman at a church in southern Egypt sparked protests.

The Rest @ Reuters

al Qaeda Claims Umar Farouk Bomboing Attempt

Shimron Issachar

Shabaab and Hizbul Islam Aim at Kenya

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline al Shabaab rebels have prepared two suicide bombers disguised as military and police officers who are planning to strike Mogadishu's seaport and airport, the Somali police said on Monday.

A suicide bomber disguised as a woman in a veil blew up a medical graduation ceremony in the capital on Thursday and killed at least 22 people, including three government ministers, several doctors, students and their relatives.

Western security agencies say the failed Horn of Africa state is a safe haven for militants including foreign jihadists who use it to plot attacks across the region and beyond.

"Our intelligence reports say al Shabaab has prepared two suicide bombers in high-ranking police and military uniforms. They are going to target the airport and seaport," police spokesman Abdullahi Hassan Barise told reporters in Mogadishu.

"We have alerted all our forces. They should not be deceived by these al Shabaab suicide bombers."

The United States accuses the insurgent group of being al Qaeda's proxy in the impoverished, drought-ravaged country.

Somalia has lacked a functioning central government since 1991, and the Western-backed administration of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed controls just a few strategic sites in the capital, including the heavily guarded seaport and international airport.

Fighting has killed at least 19,000 Somali civilians since the start of 2007 and driven 1.5 million from their homes, triggering one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

At sea, Somali pirates gangs have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms.

On Sunday, Ahmed's government fired the head of the country's police force and its military chief in an effort to bolster security following Thursday's bombing.

Neighboring Kenya has arrested more than 300 people in recent days in Eastleigh, a Nairobi suburb that is predominantly populated by the Somali ethnic community, residents said.

"They are categorizing them as al Shabaab members," local councilor Abdifatah Ali told Reuters. "They are searching houses, hotels and businesses without court permission, and this is clearly a violation of our national laws."

Kenyan police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kenyan security forces are on high alert along their frontier with Somalia after al Shabaab gunmen seized several small towns on the Somali side of the border in recent weeks.

On Monday, nine suspected members of another Somali rebel group, Hizbul Islam, appeared in court in Mombasa charged with illegal firearms possession after they arrested on Thursday with 20 AK-47 rifles close to the A-list resort island of Lamu.

The men were also charged with being in Kenya illegally. A magistrate remanded them to prison until a hearing on January 8.

(Additional reporting by Abdiaziz Hassan in Nairobi and Celestine Achieng in Mombasa; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Michael Roddy)

The Rest @ AP and Inform.com








Shimron Issachar

Twelve (12 )Etritrian Soccer Players disappear into the Eastliegh Community of Nairobi, Kenya, known to be a frequent Shabaab transhipment for its recruits. It is possible this is simply a group of youths who have been enticed to stay in Kenya for economic reasons, but they may soon find that Shabaab requires a price for hiding them.

-Shimron Issachar

NAIROBI, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya police said Tuesday 12 Eritrean national soccer players who disappeared after their team was bundled out of the Orange Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup are hiding in Eastleigh, east Nairobi.

The police said they have already launched an elaborate search to track down these players, but it will be a long shot for police to trace down their target in a residential estate full of illegal immigrants especially from Somalia.

Cecafa secretary Nicholas Musonye said he has handed all the names to the police and is not to blame for their disappearance.

The Eritreans were knocked out of the Cecafa competition for East and Central African nations last week. But when the team's plane landed back home, it was reportedly only carrying 10 players, a coach and an official.

However, Eritrea's Ambassador to Kenya Salih Omar said the number was exaggerated for political reasons in a bid to portray Asmara as an unstable place.

"We know who are behind this scam. It is pointless to name them, but I will tell them they will not succeed," Omar told journalists in Nairobi.

The ambassador extended an arm to the players to report to his embassy so he may help them secure the right documents.

"Nobody will force them back home. Maybe they need to taste life outside home to realize home is best. My government is doing everything possible to see that the needed infrastructure is available to support the youths. There is no point running away from home," said the ambassador.

The Eritrean government, according to Omar, will dig to the root cause and tackle the problem.

"Last year, we had another four disappearing. But the numbers are always blown up. They are trooping back home after realizing their mistakes. Those involved take advantage of the adventure and their young mind to confuse them," said Omar.

Musonye, who is helping the police with the search, remained skeptic that most of the players are hiding in the populous Eastleigh Estate.

"I am certain they are hiding in Eastleigh. We have so many Eritreans there. It is unfortunate, and puts Cecafa and Eritrea Football in ambiguous situation," Musonye said. "Eritrean FA did work extra hard to get them take part in the competition, unfortunately these boys had other ideas."

Many Eritreans live in Nairobi and it will be hard for the police to pin point the culprits.

The Rest @ Xinhuanet


Shimron Issachar

Details on Attempted Airline Bombing

12/28/2009

WASHINGTON - A 23-year-old Nigerian man was charged in a federal criminal complaint today with attempting to destroy a Northwest Airlines aircraft on its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Christmas Day, and with placing a destructive device on the aircraft.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a Nigerian national, boarded Northwest Flight 253 in Amsterdam, Netherlands on December 24, 2009 and had a device attached to his body. As the flight was approaching Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab set off the device, which resulted in a fire and what appears to have been an explosion. Abdulmutallab was then subdued and restrained by the passengers and flight crew. The airplane landed shortly thereafter, and he was taken into custody by Customs and Border Patrol officers.

A preliminary FBI analysis found that the device contained PETN, also known as pentaerythritol, a high explosive. Further analysis is ongoing. In addition, FBI agents recovered what appear to be the remnants of the syringe from the vicinity of Abdulmutallab’s seat, believed to have been part of the device.

"This alleged attack on a U.S. airplane on Christmas Day shows that we must remain vigilant in the fight against terrorism at all times," Attorney General Eric Holder said. "Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured. We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously, and we will use all measures available to our government to ensure that anyone responsible for this attempted attack is brought to justice."

Abdulmutallab required medical treatment, and was transported to the University of Michigan Medical Center after the plane landed. He will make his initial court appearance later today.

Interviews of all of the passengers and crew of Flight 253 revealed that prior to the incident, Abdulmutallab went to the bathroom for approximately twenty minutes, according to the affidavit. Upon returning to his seat, Abdulmutallab stated that his stomach was upset, and he pulled a blanket over himself. Passengers then heard popping noises similar to firecrackers, smelled an odor, and some observed Abdulmutallab’s pants leg and the wall of the airplane on fire. Passengers and crew then subdued Abdulmutallab and used blankets and fire extinguishers to put out the flames. Passengers reported that Abdulmutallab was calm and lucid throughout. One flight attendant asked him what he had had in his pocket, and he replied "explosive device."

These prosecutions are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Customs and Border Protection, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The public is reminded that criminal complaints contain mere allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Source: The Justice Department by way of Apoistille

31 Killed in Hargeisa, Somali Suicide Bombing

A wave of synchronized suicide attacks on UN, diplomatic and government institutions in northern Somalia killed up to 31 people today.

Three car bombs detonated in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway Somaliland region. Another two vehicles exploded in neighbouring Puntland, which, like Somaliland, has been relative peaceful compared to the rest of the country.

The careful coordination and nature of the attacks is unprecedented in Somalia and marks a serious deterioration in an already dire security situation.

Suspicion immediately fell on the radical Shabaab militia, which is part of much broader Islamist-led resistance fighting against the Somali government and occupying Ethiopian troops.

• In Hargeisa, the Ethiopian consulate suffered the greatest damage, with up to 20 people reported dead.
• An attack on the president's palace killed at three people, including the presidential secretary,
• Two workers died at the headquarters of the UN Development Programme (UNPD).
• In Bossaso, at separate interior ministry offices responsible for combating terrorism, several car bombs killed six people.

Dozens were injured in the five attacks.

"A vehicle forced its way into the compound and then exploded," said a UNPD spokesperson in Nairobi. "It appears that the driver of the car was still inside."

The suicide bombers, who were reported to have used driving four-wheel drive vehicles, struck within a few minutes of each other.

In Bossaso, Puntland's main city, explosive-laden cars detonated at separate interior ministry offices responsible for combating terrorism, killing six people. Dozens were injured in the five attacks.

"I fear that this is exactly what it looks like - the Shabaab," said a military expert on Somalia, who cannot be named because of his position. "We expected them to launch high-profile attacks, but this was extraordinary, requiring a large coordinated and concealed effort."

• Analysts believe the timing of the bombings was no accident. Regional heads of state, including Somalia's president, Abdullahi Yusuf, were meeting yesterday in Nairobi to discuss the country's future.
• Peace efforts had received a boost over the weekend when Yusuf's government and the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) signed a deal in Djibouti agreeing to a ceasefire, and a phased withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.
• But a breakaway wing of the ARS, as well as the Shabaab, rejected the deal. They refuse to enter negotiations before the complete withdrawal of the Ethiopian forces that invaded Somalia in December 2006 to oust an Islamist authority from power.

Previously during peace negotiations the Shabaab has launched large attacks, mainly in Mogadishu, to demonstrate that they have control on the ground.
"It's clear that the Shabaab, or jihadis or whatever you want to call them, are trying to make a statement that they target any place in Somalia, not just the south," said a Western diplomat in Nairobi. "But we cannot let this undermine the Djibouti agreement, and we have to expect and accept that these sort of attacks may continue in the short term."

Previously there have only been one or two small suicide attacks in Somalia.

Yesterday, in the Islamist-controlled port city of Kismayo, a 23-year woman accused of adultery was stoned to death in public - the first such execution in two years.

The Rest @ The Guardian

AQIM Recruiting Story

This an account form an excerpt of ar ecent Vanity Fair Article, which describes an al Qaeda in Maghrabeia. (AQIM ) recruiting visit, told in the words of a local Imam in Timbuku, Mali.

-Shimron

One night in January 2006, two four-wheel-drive Toyotas arrived at Alwoidu's mosque carrying seven men, most of them in their 40s. Two were Palestinians, two were Algerians, and three were Pakistanis. They'd begun their drive in Morocco, headed south along the Atlantic coast to Mauritania, and then turned east into the thick of the Sahara.

"They were recruiters, and came looking for people to integrate into their radical way," says Baba Darfa, a member of the Wahhabi mosque. "When they arrived, they gathered us together and told us that their mission was to fight against the enemies of Islam—the Americans and the British. They told us, 'Your brothers are dying in Iraq. Americans are killing them because they are Muslim.'"

The men spent 11 days in Timbuktu, moving from mosque to mosque, spreading their message. They gave Darfa more than $3,000 to change at a local bank, an amount equal to more than six years of income for the average Malian citizen. "And that was only to get around town and buy food," Darfa says. "They were very rich—they handed money out to people after prayers. They were careful not to use the words 'al-Qaeda,' but they encouraged everyone to join the jihad against the United States."

Then one morning they were gone. "They disappeared in the middle of the night," says Darfa. "It wasn't until three days later that we realized they had taken two boys with them. They were the kids who had run errands for them the whole time they were here."

The boys were 11 and 14 years old, students in the Koranic school at the Wahhabi mosque. Their parents said nothing to authorities for fear of being labeled as extremists themselves, but one of the fathers believes the boys were sent to Pakistan under fake passports arranged by the recruiters, Darfa says.

Bilal Traore, a 27-year-old high-school teacher in Timbuktu who has nearly 400 students, has been watching boys disappear from his classrooms in recent years.


Read the much more extensive Article by Austin Merrill.