Pakistan Raids Lashkar e Toiba Camp

Just breaking, Pakistan has raided a Lashkar e Toiba camp, who are believed by most world intelligence agencies to be responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks. This comes just in the wake of Secretary of State Rice stating unequivocably on Wolf Blitzer’s program that there was “No doubt that the attacks were planned in Pakistan.”

Story from Reuters:

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces on Sunday raided a camp used by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), two sources said, in a strike against the militant group blamed by India for last month’s deadly attacks on Mumbai.

Local man Nisar Ali told Reuters the operation began in the afternoon in Shawai on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistani side of disputed Kashmir region.

“I don’t know details as the entire area was sealed off, but I heard two loud blasts in the evening after a military helicopter landed there,” Ali said.

An official with the Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity, which is linked to LeT, said security forces had taken over the camp.

India has demanded Pakistan take swift action over what it says is the latest anti-India militant attack emanating from Pakistani soil. No comment on the raid was immediately available from Indian officials

Update: According to Syed at Asia Times other Let and JuD offices have been raided. A word of warn about Syed: he will put AQ / Taliban spin and agitprop out, so some of this is factual, some not. [e.g. when he implies that we might drive LeT into AQ arms, we know they are already there and have been allied since at least Sept. 2007.]

UPDATE:  Little Green Footballs has discussion.

US to UN Soon: Hamid Gul is a Terrorist

As a followup to yesterday’s story on Hamid Gul, Bill Roggio has made some queries and has a solid report up at The Long War Journal. Well worth your your time to read.

US asks UN to Declare Hamid Gul a Terrorist

The US is asking the UN to declare Hamid Gul and three other ex-ISI terrorists, this according to the International Times. Since Hamid Gul himself is a known liar, (see this interview two weeks after 9/11,) I wouldn’t put it beyond him to float this finely crafted newsbit on his own. So the 24 hour rule is in effect on this one, we will wait and see what the other papers say. The US Embassy is denying Hamid’s Tale:

The US has given four names of former ISI officials, including Lt-Gen (retd) Hameed Gul, to the UN Security Council to put them on the list of international terrorists.

Government of Pakistan is aware of this move, which is considered here by some as part of an international conspiracy to target the ISI, whose reformation has already been sought by Washington.

The US embassy in Islamabad claims to be completely unaware of this move while the foreign office spokesman also did not come up with any explanation on the matter despite being approached on Tuesday.

However, Lt-Gen (retd) Hameed Gul confirmed to this correspondent that he was included in the list of those four or five former ISI officials whose names had been provided to the UN secretary-general by the US government to be included in the list of international terrorists.

Gul admitted that he had already met the foreign affairs secretary to discuss the issue. A Foreign Office source also told this correspondent that the issue had already been referred to the prime minister’s office but despite the lapse of a few weeks, no decision had been taken by the government so far. It is not clear whether or not Islamabad wants to pursue intense lobbying to stop this thing to happen.

A diplomatic source in Washington, however, told this correspondent that it would not be easy for the United States to get all these names enlisted in the list of terrorists because it would require the consent of the all the five permanent members of the Security Council.

Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq was contacted on Tuesday to give its response on the matter but The News has not heard anything from his side till the filing of this report on Wednesday night. Off the cuff, Sadiq said he had heard or read about this but was not sure about the case.

The Pakistan embassy in Washington is not in the know of this move. Pak envoy to US Hussain Haqqani, when contacted, said he had no comment to offer as no such thing was routed through the Pakistani embassy.

This is coming from a behind the scenes puppet master who’s bridged terror groups and politics in Pakistan for decades. An old-guard ISI Lt General who some would also say was tied to Lal Masjid, the murders and kidnappings of Chinese nationals, and some of the targetted assassinations of Pakistan and US Government officials. Who knows, perhaps in the wake of the terror murders in Mumbai he’s feeling a bit vulnerable as old friends are on the run and of little aid at the moment.

Mumbai Terror Attack Roundup

There are several foci within Mumbai for this attack. Right now it appears that a number of terrorists (at least 20, [the number of actual attackers was later found to be 10, but with some reports of escapees) with varying numbers reported at some locations) attacked several locations killing more than 100 and wounding upwards of 187. Some of the terrorists appear to have arrived in rubber dinghys from offshore, and there’s a hunt on for the ship that deposited them since they appear to have come from out of country. They were armed with heavy military weapons and protective gear, and have large quantities of RDX explosives. At present two five star hotels, the Trident and the Taj, as well as Chabad House, also labeled Nariman house are hostage situations. The rest of this report is going to be a round up of links:

Nariman/Chabad house reporting:

Carl in Jerusalem

The Yeshiva World News

Israellycool

Military Summary:

The Long War Journal

FNN

LIve News feed from India:

NDTV

At this point my speculation would be groups from the Lashkar-e-taibr constellation like Harkat ul Mujahideen al Islami, Harkat ul Mujahideen, SIMI, and others from the Karachi / Kashmir / India nexus groups. This is a well coordinated, well equipped, and long planned operation. While Indian authorities are pointing at foreigners it’s highly unlikely that some locals are not involved. I would wager that the leaders and weapons came in on the dinghy(s) and joined some local terrorists to carry this out.

Iran Receives Praise For Terror Aid to Al Qaeda: Zawahiri Letter

In an intercepted letter to Iran, Ayman Al Zawahiri praises Iran for their aid in setting up the terror cells in Yemen responsible for the recent US Embassy attacks there. In the past both Al Qaeda and the Taliban have sheltered in Iran, and without Iran’s logistics and weapons aid it’s doubtful that they can be effective in Pakistan and Afghanistan now that AQ is shut off from their ISI sugardaddies by the new Pakistan government. Story at The UK Telegraph:

Delivery of the letter exposed the rising role of Saad bin Laden, son of the al-Qaeda leader, Osama as an intermediary between the organisation and Iran. Saad bin Laden has been living in Iran since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, apparently under house arrest.

The letter, which was signed by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s second in command, was written after the American embassy in Yemen was attacked by simultaneous suicide car bombs in September.

Western security officials said the missive thanked the leadership of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for providing assistance to al-Qaeda to set up its terrorist network in Yemen, which has suffered ten al-Qaeda-related terror attacks in the past year, including two bomb attacks against the American embassy.

In the letter al-Qaeda’s leadership pays tribute to Iran’s generosity, stating that without its “monetary and infrastructure assistance” it would have not been possible for the group to carry out the terror attacks. It also thanked Iran for having the “vision” to help the terror organisation establish new bases in Yemen after al-Qaeda was forced to abandon much of its terrorist infrastructure in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

There has been intense speculation about the level of Iranian support for al-Qaeda since the 9/11 Commission report into al-Qaeda’s terror attacks against the U.S. in 2001 concluded that Iran had provided safe passage for many of the 9/11 hijackers travelling between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia prior to the attacks.

Senior Al Qaeda Leader Targetted in Bannu Missile Strike

Reports from Bill Roggio and AFP both say we might have gotten another member of Al Qaeda’s Shura council. A good way to go into the Thanksgiving holidays.

Reports from Bill Roggio and AFP both say we might have gotten another member of Al Qaeda’s Shura council, Abdullah Azam al-Saudi. A good way to go into the Thanksgiving holidays.

UPDATE From The News:

BANNU/PESHAWAR: Four people were killed and five others sustained injuries when the US drones targeted a house in Janikhel area of Bannu district in the wee hours of Wednesday. The attack marked the first-ever US missile strike in the settled areas of the country.

Of those killed in the attack on the house of a local, Paran, in Zindi Alikhel area of Janikhel Union Council, is stated to be Abdullah Azam al-Saudi, a senior member of the al-Qaeda network. The report, however, could not be confirmed from official sources.

If the reports of the death of Abdullah Azam al-Saudi in the missile attack prove to be correct, he would be the second high-profile al-Qaeda operative killed in the US missile strikes inside the Pakistani territory.

Bannu District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Alam Shinwari told The News from his office in the southern district that the missile hit the house of a local in Janikhel around 3:45 am, killing four persons and injuring five others.

The owner of the house, he added, was among those wounded in the attack. Janikhel had become a de facto tribal area for the past several months after militants spilled over there from the North and South Waziristan agencies as well as from the Bannu Frontier Region. The area had almost become a ‘no-go area’ for the police.

According to some reports, three among those killed in the attack were foreigners, including two Uzbeks and a Saudi national. Some of those wounded were also said to be foreigners but their names could not be ascertained.

Reacting strongly to the US attack in Bannu, the MPA hailing from Janikhel, Adnan Wazir, announced to submit an adjournment motion in the legislature against the air strike. “No one among those killed in the attack was a foreigner nor were they terrorists. Innocent locals were killed in the attack, which is a violation of the borders of the country,” Adnan Wazir said

JaniKhel is about 12-15 miles S by SW of Bannu proper as a crow flies, the google earth pics are low res for that area, not much to see. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge. The strike likely occurred in the vicinty of the three markers A, B, C, and the white line designates the direction to Bannu.

Barack Obama’s Terrorist Friend

The new McCain ad details some but not all of the connections to Bill Ayers, you can read more on them here. Below is the ad:

So the basic bullet points:

  1. Ayers and Obama Worked together on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge
  2. Ayers Chose Obama to disperse millions and millions to radical “community groups”
  3. Ayers and Obama drafted the bylaws together
  4. Obama wrote a glowing book blurb for the cover of one of Ayer’s books
  5. Michelle invited Ayers to participate in a Panel that Obama was speaking on
  6. Obama’s political coming out party in Chicago was in Bill Ayers Living room
  7. Ayers and Obama served on the Woods foundation together as board members
  8. Obama and Ayers dispersed some of the foundation’s money to Reverend Wright’s Black LIberation Theology Church
  9. While they were still serving on the Woods Foundation together Ayers was pictured in Chicago Magazine standing on a US Flag in an article titled “No Regrets.”

Obama’s Bill Ayers Connection Ties it all Together

Bill Ayers is an avowed revolutionary communist, heavily tied to World Can’t Wait and Hugo Chavez. Bill got the Annenberg Charitable foundation to grant millions to his projects in radicalism and he chose Barack Obama as chairman to disperse those funds  — very little of the money went to any schools directly. So Barack had a working relationship with Bill Ayers that covered seven years at CAC, and more at Woods Fund. Here’s the truth made plain in a CNN report.

Bill Ayers and friends are admitted revolutionarys bent on overturn of our government and our constitution. If anyone cares to challenge that, I’ll just point you to his blog and other places. You can read for yourself. Here’s more on the facts:

Another Haqqani Madrassah Hit

Another predator missile attack occurred at the main Haqqani madrassa in Pakistan today, the previous is detailed here.

This appears to be a new strategy, with strikes coming non stop and that should keep the leaders moving. Since Pakistan suspended the FRC’s perhaps Nato intends to apply them as needed in the frontiers. The old code made sure that leaders in the frontiers took sometimes draconian responsibility for crimes committed in their tribal lands. Sometimes they called for houses to be destroyed. In this case Haqqani is waging war against fellow Pashtun muslims at the bidding of Arab interlopers. Many thousands of innocents have died at Taliban hands this year both North in Afghanistan, and right in Pakistan.

There have been statements in the Pakistan press that Ayman al Zawahiri and Osama Bin Laden, as well as the Haqqanis are all in Afghanistan, however those statements come quite frequently. My money says they are still in or near Quetta, Peshawar, and/or Lahore. They always seem to gravitate back there.

More on Today’s strike at The Long War Journal

Two Jihadis Dead in Philippines Terrorist Attack

In the Philippines 17 soldiers were wounded and two terrorists died in fighting after Moro Islamic Liberation Front (affiliated with Al Qaeda) attacked two outposts in the town of Tipo Tipo on Basilan Island. The military states that Abu Sayyaf fighters were involved as well, and the attack on the outpost was sophisticated, including IED’s planted on the retreat route.

This is just another front in the global war on terror and the attack breaks a ceasefire just a week after the Islamists demanded that troops be removed from the island with the threat of attacks if they were not.

Capsule analysis:

The Southern Philippines Islamist Jihadis can bluster, but as elsewhere they can’t mount effective attacks against prepared military forces. Expect one to two more  abortive attacks on military forces before they revert to form. They prefer soft, unprepared targets and will likely revert to terror bombings, kidnappings, and IED attacks in the months ahead if the truce is not re-established.

More at Breitbart:

At least 17 marines were wounded and two Muslim separatist rebels killed as fierce prolonged fighting broke out in the southern Philippines Sunday, the army said. The violence erupted after Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels attacked two military outposts in the town of Tipo Tipo in Basilan island, the military said, causing civilians to flee the area in fear.

Ten marines were wounded in the initial clash, while another was hurt when an armoured personnel carrier ran over a landmine, the military said.

Six other soldiers were wounded in running gunbattles that raged throughout the day, while two MILF rebels were killed, the military said.

In a statement, the military said MILF rebels were backed by fighters from the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which also operates in the area.

“We condemn the treacherous attack by some MILF members with the aid of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf in Basilan this morning,” the statement said.

It said air support has also been dispatched to evacuate the wounded and help ground forces.

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal blamed the troops for the hostilities and denied knowledge of casualties on either side.