Thread: Pakistani Taliban Taliban Chief Vows 'Amazing' Attack on Washington 'Soon'

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — The commander of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and said the group was planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. capital.

Baitullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million bounty on his head from the U.S., said Monday's attack outside the eastern city of Lahore was in retaliation for U.S. missile strikes against militants along the Afghan border.

"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world," Mehsud told The Associated Press by phone. He provided no details.

Mehsud and other Pakistani Taliban militants are believed to be based in the country's lawless areas near the border with Afghanistan, where they have stepped up their attacks throughout Pakistan.

The Taliban leader also claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed four soldiers Monday in Bannu district and a suicide attack targeting a police station in Islamabad last week that killed one officer.

Such attacks pose a major test for the weak, year-old civilian administration of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari that has been gripped with political turmoil in recent weeks.

The gunmen who attacked the police academy in Lahore on Monday killed seven police and two civilians, holding security forces at bay for about eight hours before being overpowered by Pakistani commandos. Some of the attackers wore police uniforms, and they took hostages and tossed grenades during the assault.

Earlier Tuesday, a spokesman from a little-known militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban also claimed credit for the attack and a similar ambush-style attack against the Sri Lankan cricket team earlier this month in Lahore. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the two claims.

Omar Farooq, who said he is the spokesman for Fedayeen al-Islam, said the group would carry out more attacks unless Pakistani troops withdraw from tribal areas near the Afghan border and the U.S. stops its drone strikes. The group previously said it was behind the deadly September bombing of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad that killed 54 people.

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Mehsud declined to comment on Fedayeen al-Islam's claim that it carried out the attack or to say whether the group is linked to his own.

"At this time, I will not give any detail," Mehsud said.

The Pakistani Taliban leader also said he was not deterred by the U.S. bounty on his head.

"I wish to die and embrace martyrdom," he said.

The AP has spoken to Mehsud several times in the past and recognized his voice, and a request for an interview with Mehsud was submitted through his aide. The militant leader also granted phone interviews to other media organizations.

The Pakistani Taliban has links with Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban militants who have launched attacks against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan from a base in the border region between the two countries.

Pakistan faces tremendous U.S. pressure to eradicate militants from its soil and has launched several military operations in the Afghan border region.

The U.S. has stepped up drone attacks against militants in the area, causing tension with Pakistani officials who protest they are a violation of the country's sovereignty and kill innocent civilians.

Monday's highly coordinated attack highlighted that militants in the country pose a threat far outside the border region. It prompted Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik, Pakistan's top civilian security official, to say that militant groups were "destabilizing the country."

The gunmen killed six police during the assault, and one died late Monday from his injuries, said Lahore's commissioner, Major Azam Khan. He said Tuesday that the initial investigation revealed that two civilians were also shot and killed, but he did not reveal their identities.

More than 90 officers were wounded in the assault, according to officials.

After gunmen stormed the academy, masses of security forces surrounded the compound, exchanging fire in televised scenes reminiscent of the militant siege in the Indian city of Mumbai in November and the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team.

Khan said three of the attackers blew themselves up when commandos retook the police academy to avoid arrest. Authorities arrested four others at the scene.

Wasim Ahmad Sial, a senior Lahore police official, said authorities have obtained fingerprints of the attackers who blew themselves up and have determined one of their identities. He did not provide further details.

Punjab police chief, Khawaja Khalid Farooq, told reporters Tuesday that a suspected militant who was captured at the scene of the attack had provided "genuine and actual leads that are beneficial for interrogation."

He said about 50 other people in Lahore were detained overnight for questioning.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511740,00.html

Lovely, just what I wanted to hear....:

US drone kills Pakistani Taliban leader
A U.S. drone strike reportedly killed Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban.
3 hr ago | By Rasool Dawara of Associated Press


PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A U.S. drone strike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban Friday, U.S. and Pakistani officials said, in a report that if confirmed would be a major blow to the group that comes just a day after the government said it started peace talks with the militants.

Hakimullah Mehsud, who is also believed to be behind a failed car bombing in New York's Times Square in 2010 as well as brazen attacks inside Pakistan, was widely reported to have been killed in 2010, but later resurfaced. The tribal areas where the drone attacks occur are dangerous, making it difficult for journalists to independently confirm information.

The strike also killed four other suspected militants, according to two Pakistani intelligence officials.

A senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed the strike overnight, saying the U.S. received positive confirmation Friday morning that he had been killed.

The CIA and the White House declined to comment on the reported death.

The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center describes Mehsud as "the self-proclaimed emir of the Pakistani Taliban." Mehsud is on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list, with a $5 million dollar reward for information leading to his capture, and has been near the top of the CIA Counterterrorism Center's most wanted list for his role in the December 2009 suicide bombing that killed seven Americans — CIA officers and their security detail — at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan. The suicide bomber, a Jordanian double agent, was ushered into the military base to brief CIA officers on al-Qaida, and detonated his explosive vest once he'd reached the inside of the base.

Mehsud was indicted on charges of "conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens abroad and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives) against US citizens abroad," the NCTC site says.

Friday's strike in the North Waziristan tribal area comes at such a sensitive time. The government has been trying to cut a peace deal with the militants to end years of fighting that has killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and security forces.

Two senior intelligence officials in North Waziristan said agents sent to the site of the attack in a village outside of the main city of the province confirmed his identity.

Two senior Taliban commanders said they had gone to the area and had seen the remains of the militant commander's body.

All the officials and the militant commanders spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The Taliban commanders said at least four missiles struck just after a vehicle in which Mehsud was driving entered the compound.

The drone strikes are extremely controversial in Pakistan where many people view them as an infringement on Pakistani sovereignty and say innocent civilians are killed in the process.

The newly elected government of Nawaz Sharif was elected in May in part on promises to end the years of fighting in the country's northwest through negotiations instead of continued military operations.

http://news.msn.com/world/officials-...ocid=ansnews11

'Mythbusters' stars inside LAX shooting: 'It was like my worst nightmare'
By James Hibberd on Nov 1, 2013 at 5:41PM

Mythbusters co-stars Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara were inside Terminal 3 when a gunman opened fired Friday at Los Angeles International Airport. Their live tweets represented some of the first reporting from the scene. Held separately by law enforcement in two different areas of LAX, Entertainment Weekly spoke to each by phone while they were huddled with other travelers waiting to be released. The Discovery Channel co-stars were on their way to Science Channel’s annual “Pumpkin Chunkin” event in Delaware when the shooting took place.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you doing at this point and where are you?

TORY BELLECI: I’m a little shaken up. We’re held up in a neighboring terminal. They’re keeping us here. They’re asking for eyewitnesses to talk to the police. They won’t let us out until everything is secured.

What was the very first thing that happened when you knew something was wrong?

BELLECI: We were sitting at Gate 33, right around corner of gate 36. All of a sudden we heard gunshot. We were trapped at Gate 33. The doors were locked. Everybody was freaking out. People were running, hiding, jumping over other people. It was complete panic. Somebody finally opened up the door [to outside] and everybody jammed out the door onto the tarmac and everybody took cover.

From your experiences on the show, you presumably recognized that you were hearing gunshots pretty quickly.

BELLECI: The last thing you expect to hear in an airport is a gunshot. It was like, “Oh my God, there’s a shooter!”

So at Gate 33 there was basically no where to run?

BELLECI: Yes. Everybody was running from where he was to where we were. We were trapped, there was no where to go.

You said people freaked out. What were some of the reactions you saw?

BELLECI: It was like my worst nightmare. You hear about these situations on the news, but to actually see it — to see people running, leaving stuff behind, crawling over each other, crying. You always wonder how you’ll respond. There was this one woman who was bawling on the tarmac, she was separated from her mom who was in a wheelchair and we tried to calm her down.

How long was it from the time the shooting started until they opened the doors?

BELLECI: It probably was a lot shorter than it felt. It felt like an eternity, but was probably just matter of minutes.

How long were you on the tarmac?

BELLECI: We stayed out on tarmac for like 10 minutes before the shuttle buses came. Now we’ve been in the holding area the last four hours. It sounds like they’re letting us out now.

Anything else about what happened you can tell us?

BELLECI: I’m just trying to figure out how he was able to get that weapon that far into the airport. That’s what boggles my mind. You spend so much time going through security. It boggles the mind that somebody could get a rifle through the airport. And also, my thoughts and prayers are with the people affected by this whole incident.

Grant, are you with Tory right now?

GRANT IMAHARA: No I was upstairs in the Virgin Lounge when this all happened. So I didn’t really see anything. I was waiting for my flight which was delayed, sitting there listening to music. Then bunch of people started getting up and going to the window. I saw people streaming down the jet bridge and streaming out from other places. Then I saw like half a dozen uniformed TSA people running down the tarmac and there were police everywhere. Shortly after that I heard multiple shots fired from what sounded like was inside the terminal. So, wow.

What happened next?

IMAHARA: At that point they locked up the Virgin Lounge. We didn’t really know what happened. About 10 minutes later officers — either LAPD or airport police — carrying automatic weapons came in, saying everybody get out your IDs. Another 15-20 minutes they said everybody has to get out. They took us down the back stairs, down toward the area where everything happened. There were seas of police officers around. I’m fairly certainly i saw what the weapon was on the ground.

An isolated weapon on the ground? What kind of weapon?

IMAHARA: It appeared to be a rifle. They were standing around it. It might have been nothing, but I’m pretty sure that’s what it was. I tweeted a picture of it [below]. They moved us in groups with armed officers all around us. There’s a large FBI and Homeland presence and I’ve seen uniforms from every local police force — Newport, Hermosa, Hawthorne, Torrance — everybody’s here.

Grant Imahara ✔ @grantimahara

Look at this picture a little closer. Something on the ground.

1:04 PM - 1 Nov 2013

Were you in communication with Tory during all this?

IMAHARA No. We were just reading each others’ tweets. I wasn’t in direct contact. A lot of people saying we were beating the local news. One of the creepiest things was how quiet the airport was. It was like the whole airport held its breath for what seemed like an hour. Then it seemed to exhale. They had us go through a security line. It was the most orderly security line ever.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/11/01/my...-lax-shooting/

LOS ANGELES* If you're placing bets on how long it will take the left to use the incident at LAX airport today to fuel their anti-constitutional agenda, wait no more...

Click here--> http://www.kprcradio.com/pages/walto...ticle=11791171

1) Its illegal to kill people
2) Its a gun free zone, no guns allowed at airport
3) maximum allowable magazine in California is 10 rounds

So, how is passing another law gonna stop this?

..

HOW did this guy get a gun into a terminal? This is fishy to me.

..

It was about an hour when they were using the term "assault rifle".

Its too Ironic that its happening more often than before and when the administration is getting alot of fire.

..

An armed society is a polite society......

Gunmen Kill 20 Workers At Dam Construction Site In Pakistan
By ABDUL SATTER - April 11, 2015

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen in restive southwestern Pakistan shot and killed at least 20 workers early Saturday at a dam construction site, the deadliest recent attack targeting civilians in a region facing a low-level insurgency, authorities said.

The violence targeted the Gobdan area of the Turbat district in southwestern Baluchistan province, a region where nationalist and separatist Baluch groups have fought against the Islamabad-based government for years. However, no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Pakistan, a country that faces a deadly Taliban insurgency and threats from other Islamic extremists.

A large group of gunmen attacked a labor camp near the dam construction site, overpowering eight security guards on the site and shooting dead sleeping laborers before fleeing, government commissioner Pasand Khan Buledi of the Makran division said. Buledi gave the casualty figure and said the attack wounded three people.

Buledi said 16 of the dead were from Pakistan's Punjab province and four were from Sindh province. He said the eight guards, all from Baluchistan, were unharmed in the attack.

Previous separatist attacks saw gunmen kill people from Punjab province, Pakistan's most populous province, over what they describe as its exploitation of their region. Those from Baluchistan often are let go.

Baluchistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told private satellite news channel Geo TV that Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps was searching in the nearby mountains for the attackers.

"We will chase them down and brought them to justice," Bugti said. "We need help in this war against terrorists. Alone, we cannot fight."

Baluchistan government spokesman Jan Mohammad Buledi said the government would offer the families of the deceased 1 million rupees (nearly $10,000) each.

Baluchistan is the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by separatists who want substantial share of revenue from gas and mineral resources and complete autonomy from Islamabad. Islamic militants also operate in the area.

Baluch and human rights activists say Pakistani forces detained their people for years without bringing them to court, sometimes killing them and dumping their bodies in the desert. Three years ago, the Voice for Baluch Missing Persons organization handed the United Nations a list of 12,000 names they said belonged to people missing in the conflict.

The disappearances in southwestern Baluchistan province began swelling in the mid-2000s, when Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government cracked down on insurgents there. The government repeatedly has denied the allegations, with some saying many of the missing were criminals in hiding, had joined militant groups or had been abducted by others.

Saturday's violence was the deadliest recent attack to target civilians in the region. In September 2012, 10 laborers and five tribesmen in a labor camp were gunned down in the province's Khuzdar district.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_7045864.html