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  • Britons training in Pakistan for UK terror attacks

    Britons training in Pakistan for UK terror attacks

    At least 20 Britons are undergoing terrorist training in Pakistan to launch Mumbai-style shootings and suicide attacks in Britain, intelligence sources have told The Daily Telegraph.

    By Rob Crilly in Islamabad, Duncan Gardham and Ben Farmer, in Kabul
    Published: 10:00PM BST 29 Sep 2010




    Militants based in Pakistan were planning simultaneous strikes in London, as well as cities in France and Germany Photo: REUTERS The young Muslims, who all hold British passports, are said to have travelled into the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan to join training camps run by al-Qaeda and their associated militant groups.

    They are being trained to use firearms as well as explosives so that they can launch random shooting sprees in the UK, Western intelligence sources said.



    The disclosure comes after the CIA launched drone strikes on Pakistan training camps in North and South Waziristan in an attempt to disrupt an al-Qaeda plot to launch an attack targeting Britain, France and Germany.

    The plans would have seen terrorists sent on to the streets, probably of the capital cities, to shoot random passersby before heading in to landmark buildings. Intelligence sources said that the attacks would have been coordinated for maximum impact and may have been aimed at financial institutions. However, the terror cells had not yet travelled to Europe and the targets were still unclear.

    A missile from one US unmanned drone killed several Britons in a training camp in Pakistan, sources said, and the security services are now trying to trace their links back to the UK.

    MI5 is thought to be uncomfortable that an ongoing operation has become public while they were still building up a picture of the terrorists' support network.

    "This is an ongoing operation with a constantly changing dynamic," one security source said. "There are local, national and international links, including Pakistan."

    Intelligence agencies in Britain and the US were in the early stages of establishing the full details of the plot but MI5 had traced it from Pakistan back to Britain, sources told The Daily Telegraph.

    A US intelligence source said the threat was "credible, but not specific" and could have included other European countries such as Spain and Italy, or even the US.

    Some of the intelligence is understood to have originated with the capture of a German national in Kabul, Afghanistan in July. Ahmed Sidiqi, 36, is said to have talked of training with explosives and weapons and of plans to launch attacks in Germany and Europe.

    Sidiqi attended the Masjid Taiba mosque, formerly known as the Al-Quds mosque, in Hamburg, which was also attended by the leaders of the September 11 attacks.

    German security sources said there were "increasing rumblings" about potential attacks and they were aware of intelligence pointing to al-Qaeda attacks in Europe and the United States.

    James Clapper, US intelligence chief, said in a statement: "As we have repeatedly said, we know al Qaeda wants to attack Europe and the United States. We continue to work closely with our European allies on the threat from international terrorism, including al Qaeda."

    The US has fired at least 21 missiles so far this month in Pakistan's tribal areas, the highest monthly total in the past six years.

    On Saturday, Sheikh Fateh al-Masri, a senior al-Qaeda commander, was thought to have been killed in North Waziristan, according to unconfirmed reports.

    Fateh, also known as Abdul Razzaq, is said to have taken over operational command of al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is thought to have been in command of the European plot.

    "It shouldn't surprise anyone that links between plots and those who are orchestrating them lead to decisive American action," a US official said. "The terrorists who are involved are, as everyone should expect, going to be targets. That's the whole point of all of this."

    The 10 Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai in India two years ago killed 166 people and injured more than 300. The attack marked a shift in tactics in the use of terrorist soldiers on the ground using guns and grenades, rather than suicide bombers targeting transport networks.

    In response police have reassessed the way they deal with attacks. Metropolitan Police tactical response teams have been training on a "shoot to kill" basis after briefings that most deaths in such an attack were likely to occur in the first 30 minutes of an attack.
    In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

    Leibniz

  • #2
    Does anyone know what's the source is for this information? Seems premature for the intelligence services to go public with it. Maybe it's a spur to drive Pakistan to step up its interdiction efforts in the NWT. The Paks would hardly relish another crisis brought on by terrorists trained and deployed from their backyard.

    The so-called "new" tactic isn't as surprising as the fact it hasn't been employed more up to now.
    To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

    Comment


    • #3
      JAD_333 Reply

      "The so-called "new" tactic isn't as surprising as the fact it hasn't been employed more up to now."

      Ain't that the truth?
      "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
      "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

      Comment


      • #4
        Even the Germans are getting in to it. I cant see why someone would want to give up the good life in a western country to go get terror training from some geezer that lives in a cave. Beer tastes good. Pork chops taste good.


        Drone strike kills 5 Germans in Pakistan - thestar.com

        Asif Shahzad
        Associated Press
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        ISLAMABAD—A U.S. missile killed five German militants taking shelter in a house in northwest Pakistan on Monday, intelligence officials said.

        The attack hit a house in North Waziristan, a region named as the source of a European terror plot that has prompted U.S. and some European authorities to issue a travel advisory. One or more German citizens are reported to be linked to the plot.

        The missile strike took place in the town of Mir Ali, a known hub for foreign militants with links to Al Qaeda.

        Two intelligence officers said the five victims were believed to be German citizens in the region for terrorist training. A third said they were believed to be foreigners, but gave no details.

        The officials spoke anonymously because their agency does not permit operatives to be named in the media.

        They said the house, located near a mosque and a hospital, was owned by a local resident, Sher Mullah.

        A resident, Azmatullah Dawar, said Mullah was in the custody of intelligence agencies after he was arrested with a German national some months ago in northwestern Bannu district.

        “He had given shelter to all these Germans,” he said.

        Two more residents, Hakimullah Khan and Nasrullah Wazir, said they saw some of the bodies after the strike and they all appeared to be foreigners.

        A German Foreign Ministry spokesman, who declined to be named, said Monday his office was checking the reports.

        Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office has said that there is “concrete evidence” that 70 of some 220 people who have travelled from Germany to Pakistan and Afghanistan for paramilitary training have received it. It is believed that about a third of those 70 have returned to Germany.

        A senior Pakistani intelligence official said last week that some 60 Germans were believed to be in the region where the latest missile strike occurred. He said eight of them — as well as two Britons, one of whom was killed in a Sept. 8 missile strike — were at the heart of the Europe terror plot.

        U.S. officials rarely confirm the identities of those who are being targeted by the CIA-led missile campaign.

        Sometimes information given by intelligence officials turns out to be false. More often than not it is never confirmed or denied. Sometimes militant organizations announce the names of those killed, but typically not for weeks or months.

        Last month, American spy planes carried out 21 missile attacks in northwest Pakistan, more than twice the highest number in any previous month over the last six years.

        Comment


        • #5
          Britons BRITONS , them piles of shite dont deserve to be called Britons , they take the name along with the benefits , hide behind face fungus , pillar box their women , and bite the hand that feeds them , well you fkin cowardly pieces of camel shit , piss off back to wherever your loyalties lay and friggin well stay there , and take your families and friends with you , Mr Cameron , i just reduced the deficit for ya without you cutting child benefits and the NHS , get fkin rid of em .

          :maddest::maddest::maddest:

          Comment


          • #6
            Sorry to say this bluntly here, but the West, led by the US, has still not woken up even after 9/11 and the decade that followed.

            You are still hanging on to the notional straw that Pakistan is an ally in the WOT.

            BS.

            Pakistan is the enemy. Not just of India, but of you guys in the Westerm world.

            What will it take to open your eyes once and for all? A more intelligent Shahzad with a dirty bomb on your soil?

            Wake up guys. Take them out. Get over Iran. You are looking in the wrong place, while the snake you have been feeding is spawning liittle baby snakes, now armed with Texan drawls and Cockney slang.

            I have seen firsthand for the past two years how they loathe you. Including the so called liberal educated elite amongst them. There is nothing you can hope to gain from them. And there is absolutely no gratitude for what you have done for them, as you held us off.

            The road to Afghanistan may or may not lead through the staging area of Pakistan. But that staging area should not be allowed to become the nest from where hatch the serpents that permeate your society, insidiously and inexorably, as you look on helplessly flying the false flag of Non-NATO ally in WOT.

            Time to smell the virginal juices of the 72 nubile nymphets calling out to you.

            Cheers, Doc
            Last edited by vsdoc; 06 Oct 10,, 11:47.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
              Sorry to say this bluntly here, but the West, led by the US, has still not woken up even after 9/11 and the decade that followed.

              You are still hanging on to the notional straw that Pakistan is an ally in the WOT.

              BS.

              Pakistan is the enemy. Not just of India, but of you guys in the Westerm world.
              Doc,
              The West knows it. But they can do nothing about it. They need Pakistan desperately to sort out the Afghan quagmire.And they cannot afford another war in the region.
              Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...till you can find a rock. ;)

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by hammer View Post
                Doc,
                The West knows it. But they can do nothing about it. They need Pakistan desperately to sort out the Afghan quagmire.And they cannot afford another war in the region.
                My friend Hammer, yes that is the popularly held notion. But better informed americans like S-2 have long since seen through the BS and realised that they need Pakistan like one needs a malignant tumor.

                All the body's nutrients get channelled to it, fuelling its growth, ensuring its survival from natural defences, as it mimics healthy normal cells, while it slowly kills the host body off.

                Of course it would then die too, but that's where the virgins come in handy.

                Cheers, Doc
                Last edited by vsdoc; 06 Oct 10,, 12:17.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
                  But better informed americans like S-2 have long since seen through the BS and realised that they need Pakistan like one needs a malignant tumor.
                  The military wants to go in but they're held back by the civilians in charge.

                  Happens often in many conflicts doesn't it ?

                  What else could possibly have frustrated Gen Stan McChrystal into resigning

                  Whether we like it or not Pakistan still manages to offer more 'benefits' than not. They excel at being survivors no matter the odds.

                  I kinda wonder which pisses them off more, getting backstabbed by their 'ally' or us reminding them incessantly about it
                  Last edited by Double Edge; 06 Oct 10,, 13:30.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
                    The military wants to go in but they're held back by the civilians in charge.

                    Happens often in many conflicts doesn't it ?
                    That's why I asked ..... when will America see the light? All the warnings are there. There is a disaster waiting to happen. By "non-state actors" of course.

                    What is the use of de-fanging a snake after it has bitten you?

                    Whether we like it or not Pakistan still manages to offer more 'benefits' than not. They excel at being survivors no matter the odds.
                    Pakistan today is paying the price of its past survival. And pakistanis are finding it hard to stomach to what's left of their collective national ego. So no one is buying into their tears of indignant outrage at the West.

                    I am only certain that the USA became a superpower not by being stupid. So one can only wait and hope that now that the honeymoon is over, there is a plan in place and all actions moving forward have the only possible goal as the final objective.

                    There is nothing that a nuclear hostile Pakistan offers the US vis-a-vis Afghanistan that cannot be equally if not better achieved with a non-nuclear Pakistan providing conduit and logistics, not because they "want" to as today, but because they "have" to.

                    You cannot corner an enemy and apply pressure, if the corner you have cornered him into leaks like a sieve, with pressure valves opening into de-pressurized sanctuary.

                    The US led NATO forces are fighting a ghost ....... with one hand, and a leg, tied behind their backs. I am surprised as to how this has not raised a greater storm amongst the army-political leadership think tank than what we have seen or heard of to date.

                    India is anyways not going to nuke Pakistan, and now that pakistan is a non-nuclear power, we concentrate our nukes solely for China. Which should serve US interests too.

                    The Kashmir problem is solved once and for all, and India signs a treaty with the US not to invade Pakistan, with a punitive reprisal rider clause in case now-conventional Pakistan ever became frisky again. Of course, the reprisal would be conventional on conventional, and would not in any way endanger their national integrity or territory. And it would be done keeping the US in the loop ..... not as a permitting agency, but as a common friend with common interests.

                    Now, with no natural foe, Pakistan would not even need a standing army of the size it currently maintains, and could pump all that money and manpower into first re-paying their mountain of debt to the rest of the world (for probably the next two decades), and then begining the slow and arduous trek towards recovery and growth.

                    Cheers, Doc
                    Last edited by vsdoc; 06 Oct 10,, 13:55.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Get Gen. Kayani on American payroll. Topple the existing impotent government...and let the PA do the dirty work for $$$.

                      Pakistan can never progress unless they get rid of this cancer. We know it, they know it, but the present democratic government can't do $hit about it. The PA on the other hand wouldn't give a damn about these stupid jihadist and the people who support them and would be happy to clean them out.

                      Mushy did it in POK, Kayani can do it in FATA.

                      War with Pakistan is not the answer. After Pakistan, India would be the one that would loose the most.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
                        That's why I asked ..... when will America see the light? All the warnings are there. There is a disaster waiting to happen. By "non-state actors" of course.
                        I'm not entirely sure i buy that, if you look at the case of the Manhattan bomber they plucked him off a plane on the tarmac two days after the fact. That's pretty good going.

                        Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
                        What is the use of de-fanging a snake after it has bitten you?
                        So you are talking about preemption. What would the arguments justifying it look like ?


                        Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
                        I am only certain that the USA became a superpower not by being stupid. So one can only wait and hope that now that the honeymoon is over, there is a plan in place and all actions moving forward have the only possible goal as the final objective.
                        You do realise it would take a suicidal tendency on the part of Pakistan to do this right. I mean they won't cross OUR redlines let alone that of the US.


                        Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
                        There is nothing that a nuclear hostile Pakistan offers the US vis-a-vis Afghanistan that cannot be equally if not better achieved with a non-nuclear Pakistan providing conduit and logistics, not because they "want" to as today, but because they "have" to.
                        There is nothing that any other NWS offers the US either by being a NWS except to deter an attack by the US (or others) upon them.


                        Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
                        The US led NATO forces are fighting a ghost ....... with one hand, and a leg, tied behind their backs. I am surprised as to how this has not raised a greater storm amongst the army-political leadership think tank than what we have seen or heard of to date.
                        Maybe what Pakistan does NOT do gets a lot more play in this conflict that what it DOES do. Given our bias towards them it naturally seems like deja vu. And perhaps that's the problem here. You are looking at this with Indian eyes instead of American ones.

                        Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
                        India is anyways not going to nuke Pakistan, and now that pakistan is a non-nuclear power, we concentrate our nukes solely for China. Which should serve US interests too.
                        Then i think its pretty certain that the US will not do so either. Get used to it and use it as opportunity to think up other approaches to skin the cat.

                        Originally posted by vsdoc View Post
                        The Kashmir problem is solved once and for all, and India signs a treaty with the US not to invade Pakistan, with a punitive reprisal rider clause in case now-conventional Pakistan ever became frisky again. Of course, the reprisal would be conventional on conventional, and would not in any way endanger their national integrity or territory. And it would be done keeping the US in the loop ..... not as a permitting agency, but as a common friend with common interests.

                        Now, with no natural foe, Pakistan would not even need a standing army of the size it currently maintains, and could pump all that money and manpower into first re-paying their mountain of debt to the rest of the world (for probably the next two decades), and then begining the slow and arduous trek towards recovery and growth.
                        I do not understand this bit at all

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          9/11 changed the whole game.

                          Pakistan served a purpose for america and still does. Though the costs of keeping south asia busy has increased the possibility of serious blow-backs more than ever before.

                          I think america is still undecided about what it wants to do with pakistan. Reason why it still keeps it afloat.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
                            I'm not entirely sure i buy that, if you look at the case of the Manhattan bomber they plucked him off a plane on the tarmac two days after the fact. That's pretty good going.
                            Two days after an act that could have potentially left a large part of downtown Manhattan as smouldering radioactive rubble is by no means "good going" my friend. The US dodged a bullet this time around, and they are scared shitless at that knowledge and the very real impending threat from such lone wolf "non-state actors". As they should be. As should we.

                            So you are talking about preemption. What would the arguments justifying it look like ?
                            National security. And the young american soldiers coming home in body bags.

                            You do realise it would take a suicidal tendency on the part of Pakistan to do this right. I mean they won't cross OUR redlines let alone that of the US.
                            The Pakistani state would not. But the Pakistani state counts for only so much in Pakistan. In fact, push comes to shove, the idea of Pakistan itself means only so much in large swathes of what is puportedly (and very loosely) "Pakistan".

                            There are many interests within Pakistan, both internal and external, that see the US as the enemy, and they the holy warriors in this final Jihad against the evil godless army of the Crusaders (with the Jews and Hindus clubbed alongside by proxy). You cannot reason with such forces. They see themselves ruling the earth one day as a divinely pre-ordained right.

                            There is nothing that any other NWS offers the US either by being a NWS except to deter an attack by the US (or others) upon them.
                            A NWS without the ability to land a nuclear warhead accurately and effectively on to the US mainland has in effect zero nuclear deterrence against a US pre-emptive attack. There are many NWS's that in spite of not having that capability, continue to offer the US leverage and counter-leverage as a superpower projecting its economic, military and political footprint across the globe. Pakistan had its uses to such an effect in the past. Currently its just a millstone around the American neck.

                            Maybe what Pakistan does NOT do gets a lot more play in this conflict that what it DOES do. Given our bias towards them it naturally seems like deja vu. And perhaps that's the problem here. You are looking at this with Indian eyes instead of American ones.
                            That is exactly what I was saying earlier. Pakistan does more harm to the WOT effort by what it steadfastly fails to do, than is offset by what it does. In fact, the fact that the western forces are forced to keep propping up the now crumbling edifice of "ally in WOT" further ties their hands as opposed to their response were pakistan to be openly acknowledged as the enemy aggressor. Ask any military man here ..... he would concur.

                            Then i think its pretty certain that the US will not do so either. Get used to it and use it as opportunity to think up other approaches to skin the cat.
                            You probably misunderstand. We are not talking about a pre-emptive US nuclear strike on pakistan. We are instead talking about the US securing Pakistan's nuclear assets as the Israelis and Indians look on as very visibly hands-off bystanders. NATO plans to get in supplies now via Russia. But still, Pakistani safe havens have got to be neutralised if any headway in this decade long war has to be made.

                            I do not understand this bit at all
                            What's not to understand? Pakistan is nuclear disarmed. Indian forces move into and take over POK. A bi- or tripartite non-aggressor treaty is signed between India and the US vis-a-vis Pakistan with regard to their national integrity, sovereignty, and territory ..... barring overt or covert future misadventure.

                            Pakistan now has nothing to fear from India provided they behave. And they need just a fraction of their current standing forces for homeland security. Concentrating for the first time in their 63 year troubled existence on building Pakistan, rather than destroying India.

                            So can now India, who now needs to just concentrate on a much more rational and mature neighbour in China, with whom we have the prospect of increasing economic cooperation as a buffer against any warlike moves. In addition of course to a mutual NFU in place.

                            In effect, give legitimacy to what the world has always known - Pakistan as a de facto protectorate of the US.

                            Even the huge US defence equipment/arms lobby is not miffed or disappointed as India still needs to keep steady if not close the gap with Chinese defense muscle. And the US now has a much more potent counter-balance to China in the region with India not having to guard two fronts.

                            A win-win situation all around.

                            Cheers, Doc
                            Last edited by vsdoc; 07 Oct 10,, 08:03.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              vsdoc Reply

                              "We are instead talking about the US securing Pakistan's nuclear assets ..."

                              I hope not. A pointless exercise likely to fail.

                              This is correct-

                              "...Currently its just a millstone around the American neck..."

                              -and sums the American conumdrum perfectly. As currently configured Pakistan shall remain a millstone indefinitely. There is no compelling force to invoke change. I've a Pakistani friend here, IHM, who's working hard with his friends to shift the paradigm of political thought inside his country. In my view he is very, very brave. However, like the Green movement in Iran, those efforts will likely prove too little, too late.

                              Afghanistan is gone. We should be too in the face of that reality. It is, in fact, small potatoes in a much larger scenario calling for the removal of the facade now covering the GoP and, more importantly, the PA and ISI.

                              I've been prepared since 2007 to take one step back in Afghanistan to move two steps forward WRT Pakistan. Doing so, IMV, will highlight Pakistan's strategic objectives as diametrically opposed to the globe's good order. This is imperative.

                              Worse, the Pakistanis appear to have little appreciation for the blowback awaiting them should the afghan taliban be fully unleashed, as is their current bent. What they're now experiencing is but a small harbinger concerning the shape of things to come. In turn, such a reversal of fortune in Pakistan will likely provide America with the rationale for a more overt and onerous intervention.
                              "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
                              "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

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