Danish Embassy Bombing - Several Dead In Massive Explosion - Islamabad
Posted: 02 Jun 2008 02:58 AM CDT
UPDATE: A suicide bomber in a car was responsible for the blast outside the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital on Monday in which several people were killed, a security official said.
“It was a suicide attack carried out in a vehicle, apparently targeting the Denmark embassy,” the senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
State television said eight people were killed in the attack.
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Several people have been killed in a massive explosion outside the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
The huge blast has left a large crater in the city and two nearby buildings were damaged, as well as dozens of cars.
Witnesses said people were being carried off on stretchers after the blast which took place at around midday local time.
Rescue workers dragged away at least one bloodied person, covering his torso with an orange blanket
Residents also reported windows being broken from the impact of the blast.
There was also a huge dark cloud of smoke in the sky above the buildings.
Dawn News TV reported the explosion this morning.
Witness, Arjmund Azhar said at least three people were dead or wounded.
Interior Ministry secretary Kamal Shah confirmed there had been a blast outside the embassy but had no further details.
Denmark has faced threats at its embassies following the reprinting in Danish newspapers of a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims generally consider depicting the prophet to be sacrilegious.
“It was a bomb blast. We have three dead and three wounded,” said a city official at the scene, Rana Akbar.
Reuters correspondent Kamran Haider said one body was just inside the gate of the embassy and two were outside.
The blast, apparently caused by a car bomb, left a crater about three feet (one metre) deep on the road, Haider said.
Television pictures showed considerable damage to the mission and nearby buildings and vehicles. One of the dead appeared to be a Pakistani guard.
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7 Months Later Palo Verde Bomb Case Still Unsolved
Posted: 02 Jun 2008 02:12 AM CDT
After seven months, it’s still a mystery how a pipe bomb made it into a contract worker’s truck at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.
The bomb was discovered Nov. 2, triggering a lockdown and trapping employees at the plant for hours. Investigators soon ruled out the pickup’s driver, but have been unable identify a suspect.
“They’re basically at a standstill,” said Deputy Lindsey Smith, a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.
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The investigation was expected to close by the end of last week.
The Sheriff’s Office report, released before the investigation was completed, shows there were no fingerprints on the pipe bomb discovered in Roger W. Hurd’s truck.
The investigation focused on relationships in Hurd’s work group, according to the report.
One employee had been fired for sexual harassment a couple of weeks before the incident, while there had been some complaints about management and pay.
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Women Extremists Want The Right To Join Jihad
Posted: 02 Jun 2008 02:01 AM CDT
Muslim extremist women are challenging al-Qaida’s refusal to include or at least acknowledge women in its ranks, in an emotional debate that gives rare insight into the gender conflicts lurking beneath one of the strictest strains of Islam.
In response to a female questioner, al-Qaida No. 2 leader Ayman Al-Zawahri said in April that the terrorist group does not have women. A woman’s role, he said on the Internet audio recording, is limited to caring for the homes and children of al-Qaida fighters.
His remarks have since prompted an outcry from fundamentalist women, who are fighting or pleading for the right to be terrorists. The statements have created confusion, because suicide bombings by women seem to be on the rise, at least within the Iraq branch of al-Qaida.
A’eeda Dahsheh is a Palestinian mother of four in Lebanon who said she supports al-Zawahri and has chosen to raise children at home as her form of jihad. However, she said, she supports any woman who chooses instead to take part in terror attacks.
Another woman signed a more than 2,000-word essay of protest online as Rabeebat al-Silah, Arabic for “Companion of Weapons.”
“How many times have I wished I were a man … When Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri said there are no women in al-Qaida, he saddened and hurt me,” wrote “Companion of Weapons,” who said she listened to the speech 10 times. “I felt that my heart was about to explode in my chest … I am powerless.”
Such postings have appeared anonymously on discussion forums of Web sites that host videos from top al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. While the most popular site requires names and passwords, many people use only nicknames, making their identities and locations impossible to verify.
Groups that monitor such sites say the postings appear credible because of the knowledge and passion they betray. Many appear to represent computer-literate women arguing in the most modern of venues — the Internet — for rights within a feudal version of Islam.
“Women were very disappointed because what al-Zawahri said is not what’s happening today in the Middle East, especially in Iraq or in Palestinian groups,” said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, an organization that monitors militant Web sites. “Suicide operations are being carried out by women, who play an important role in jihad.”
It is not clear how far women play a role in al-Qaida because of the group’s amorphous nature.
Terrorism experts believe there are no women in the core leadership ranks around bin Laden and al-Zawahri. But beyond that core, al-Qaida is really a movement with loosely linked offshoots in various countries and sympathizers who may not play a direct role. Women are clearly among the sympathizers, and some are part of the offshoot groups.
In the Iraq branch, women have carried out or attempted at least 20 suicide bombings since 2003. Al-Qaida members suspected of training women to use suicide belts were captured in Iraq at least three times last year, the U.S. military has said.
Hamas, another militant group, is open about using women fighters and disagrees with al-Qaida’s stated stance. At least 11 Palestinian women have launched suicide attacks in recent years.
“A lot of the girls I speak to … want to carry weapons. They live with this great frustration and oppression,” said Huda Naim, a prominent women’s leader, Hamas member and Palestinian lawmaker in Gaza. “We don’t have a special militant wing for women … but that doesn’t mean that we strip women of the right to go to jihad.”
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Chertoff: No al-Qaida Negotiations
Posted: 02 Jun 2008 02:01 AM CDT
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in an interview broadcast Sunday that negotiations with al-Qaida would be futile.
In a television interview with Britain’s Sky News, Chertoff said al-Qaida’s ideology was one of total antagonism toward democracy and toward other religions.
“Nobody wants to negotiate their own demise or their own surrender so it strikes me as a kind of academic exercise,” he said.
Chertoff was responding to a question about Northern Ireland police chief Hugh Orde, who said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper published Friday that officials should consider negotiating with al-Qaida.
Chertoff said he did not believe such talks were possible.
“Their (al-Qaida’s) interest is in the destruction of the West, and unless you are prepared to negotiate about how you want to be destroyed, it strikes me as a totally speculative and unrealistic exercise,” he said.
He added that al-Qaida has grown stronger in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the past year but has weakened in Iraq.
Chertoff said he’s not aware of any specific terror plots, but said people should be vigilant during the summer months, as terrorists tend to operate during periods of high travel.
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Bomb Squad Called to St. Cloud Residence after Explosion
Posted: 02 Jun 2008 02:01 AM CDT
Bomb squads removed two pipe bomb type explosives from a St. Cloud duplex Sunday after a similar device blew up in a man’s hand in the same residence.
Police said a large amount of bomb-making material was removed from the two-story duplex.
The victim was taken to St. Cloud Hospital with substantial injuries to his left hand and arm. His name has not yet been released and he has not yet been able to provide a statement to St. Cloud Police.
Police were called to the residence early Sunday afternoon. Houses on each side were evacuated and there were no other injuries.
The victim is not the owner of the property.
Two additional devices were taken away by the Bloomington Bomb Squad to be safely detonated.
Neighbors reported hearing the blast as far as a block away.
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High School Hazmat Culprits Caught
Posted: 02 Jun 2008 02:00 AM CDT
Two students admitted to causing the HAZMAT scare at East Lee County High School, according to school leaders. Those students now face expulsion and possible criminal charges.
Richard Shafer, Principal of East Lee County High, says two freshman boys, whose names have not been released, confessed to spraying some sort of chemical into a bathroom air vent - the bathroom right next to one of the classrooms.
“The students that confessed showed us how they sprayed into the air vent,” said Shafer. “Mace, pepper spray, tear gas - there are several possible chemicals. I can’t tell you what it was.”
The reaction to the chemical sent every student inside the class, as well as all the students next door, to the hospital. Two teachers, a nurse, the assistant principal and 38 others had to be decontaminated.
Principal Shafer immediately suspended the two freshmen. They now face possible criminal charges as well.
“After my investigation, I turned it over to law enforcement and they are continuing to investigate,” said Shafer.
But with only a week left in the school year, the students may not be returning. Shafer did say the students face up to two years expulsion.
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Several Injured After Being Doused With Unknown Acid Chemical - Louisville Kentucky
Posted: 01 Jun 2008 08:43 PM CDT
Several people were injured Saturday night after they were splashed with a caustic substance believed to be some type of acid during a fight. It happened just after 9 p.m. on Oak Street near 17th Street.
Metro fire, police, and HazMat crews responded to the scene, where at least six to seven people had chemical burns. One victim had second degree burns.
“The reports are that someone stopped, got out of the car, and slung from some kind of a squirt bottle some type of liquid on the crowd,” said Major Richard Albers with Louisville Fire & Rescue.
One person received second degree burns.
Police are investigating, but so far there have been no arrests.
Anyone with information is asked to call the crime tipline at 574-LMPD (574-5673).
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Universal Studios - Large Fire Breaks Out
Posted: 01 Jun 2008 09:47 AM CDT
More than 100 Los Angeles-area firefighters are battling a large fire on a back lot at Universal Studios, fire authorities said.
Filming may have been going on at the time the fire broke out early Sunday on the Universal Studios back lot.
There were also reports of an explosion in the studio’s adjacent amusement park, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Frank Reynoso.
The three-alarm blaze began about 4:45 a.m. PT (7:45 a.m. ET) Sunday and reportedly damaged two “prop” buildings, including a chapel, and a popular ride called the “Cyclone,” Reynoso said.
“It will be awhile before we have it under control,” he said.
Television footage showed the blaze burning through the roofs of structures at the park and large plumes of smoke.
Firefighters were dropping water on the blaze from helicopters. Video Watch footage of copters trying to douse the huge fire.
“We don’t know what the cause of this is,” Reynoso said.
There is nothing to indicate that any type of criminal or terrorist activity is involved.
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