Green Energy
Newsmax:
Report: Al-Qaida in Pakistan Gravest Threat to US
Thursday, 05 Aug 2010
The Obama administration said Thursday that al-Qaida's core membership in Pakistan, along with affiliates in Africa and Yemen, poses the most dangerous terrorist threat to the United States and its interests abroad.
In its annual report on global terrorism, the State Department said that although al-Qaida suffered some setbacks in Pakistan last year, it is "adaptable and resilient" and has expanded its reach through proxy groups.
The 2009 report, released Thursday, also said the terrorist network remains "actively engaged in operational plotting" of attacks against U.S. and Western targets around the world.
As in previous years, the report identified Iran as the most active "state sponsor of terrorism" and said its backing of militant groups in the Middle East and Central Asia played a highly destabilizing role in those regions. The report also left unchanged "state sponsor" designations for Cuba, Sudan and Syria.
It also found that an increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan triggered a spike in the number of civilians killed or wounded there last year, pushing South Asia past the Middle East as the top terror region in the world. Those statistics are contained in an annex to the report first published in late April.
On al-Qaida in Pakistan, the report said the group is "the most formidable terrorist organization" targeting the U.S. homeland and "has proven to be an adaptable and resilient terrorist group whose desire to attack the United States and U.S. interests abroad remains strong."
It said the organization was "was actively engaged in operational plotting against the United States and continued recruiting, training, and deploying operatives, including individuals from Western Europe and North America."
Although the Pakistani government has taken some steps to rein in the group, al-Qaida's losses have been at least "partially offset" by partnerships, shared connections and objectives with groups such as the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa-based al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Somalia-based al-Shabab, the report said.
The State Department noted with concern that al-Qaida, particularly in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, appeared to be attracting growing numbers of radicalized Americans to its cause. Underscoring that concern, the Justice Department on Thursday announced indictments against a number of U.S. citizens for supporting al-Shabab.
In 2009, five Americans were arrested on terrorism charges in Pakistan while the Yemeni group was held responsible for the attempted Dec. 25 attack on U.S. jetliner as it landed in Detroit.
U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a spiritual leader believed to be in Yemen, had links with both the failed bomber and Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan.
- Commander Of Al-qaida Killed In Yemen-u.s. Airstrike
From Jawa CRI The Yemen-based al-Qaida regional wing said Thursday one of its filed commanders, a former Guantanamo detainee, was killed in a Yemeni-U.S. air raid early this year. "Hani Abdu Mosleh Shalan, a filed commander in the al-Qaida in...
- Meanwhile, Elsewhere In The Mid East
Not that this was ever in doubt. . . Newsmax: Al-Qaida: We Would Use Pakistani Nukes On America Monday, June 22, 2009 9:08 AM DUBAI — If al-Qaida were in a position to do so, it would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons in its fight against the United...
- Assessing Progress Against The Global Jihadist Threat
Washington Institute h/t Counterterrorism Blog: Assessing Progress against the Global Jihadist Threat By Michael JacobsonMay 11, 2009 In April 2009, the U.S. State Department and the European Union released their annual terrorism reports, which paint...
- Just Paranoid, Right?
Report: Al Qaida network planning UK plot of 'Hiroshima' caliber A British intelligence report stated that recent planned terrorist attacks in Britain, including the July 2005 suicide attacks in London, were linked to “core Al Qaida leaders.”...
- Are We Having Fun Yet With Pakistan?
Al Qaida rallies with new funding, recruits and safe havens in Pakistan and Somalia The bad news is that Al Qaida is staging a comeback. The worse news is that the comeback is taking place in the most sensitive of U.S. allies — nuclear Pakistan. Western...
Green Energy
Newsmax:
Report: Al-Qaida in Pakistan Gravest Threat to US
Thursday, 05 Aug 2010
The Obama administration said Thursday that al-Qaida's core membership in Pakistan, along with affiliates in Africa and Yemen, poses the most dangerous terrorist threat to the United States and its interests abroad.
In its annual report on global terrorism, the State Department said that although al-Qaida suffered some setbacks in Pakistan last year, it is "adaptable and resilient" and has expanded its reach through proxy groups.
The 2009 report, released Thursday, also said the terrorist network remains "actively engaged in operational plotting" of attacks against U.S. and Western targets around the world.
As in previous years, the report identified Iran as the most active "state sponsor of terrorism" and said its backing of militant groups in the Middle East and Central Asia played a highly destabilizing role in those regions. The report also left unchanged "state sponsor" designations for Cuba, Sudan and Syria.
It also found that an increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan triggered a spike in the number of civilians killed or wounded there last year, pushing South Asia past the Middle East as the top terror region in the world. Those statistics are contained in an annex to the report first published in late April.
On al-Qaida in Pakistan, the report said the group is "the most formidable terrorist organization" targeting the U.S. homeland and "has proven to be an adaptable and resilient terrorist group whose desire to attack the United States and U.S. interests abroad remains strong."
It said the organization was "was actively engaged in operational plotting against the United States and continued recruiting, training, and deploying operatives, including individuals from Western Europe and North America."
Although the Pakistani government has taken some steps to rein in the group, al-Qaida's losses have been at least "partially offset" by partnerships, shared connections and objectives with groups such as the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa-based al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Somalia-based al-Shabab, the report said.
The State Department noted with concern that al-Qaida, particularly in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, appeared to be attracting growing numbers of radicalized Americans to its cause. Underscoring that concern, the Justice Department on Thursday announced indictments against a number of U.S. citizens for supporting al-Shabab.
In 2009, five Americans were arrested on terrorism charges in Pakistan while the Yemeni group was held responsible for the attempted Dec. 25 attack on U.S. jetliner as it landed in Detroit.
U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a spiritual leader believed to be in Yemen, had links with both the failed bomber and Fort Hood shooting suspect Nidal Hasan.
- Commander Of Al-qaida Killed In Yemen-u.s. Airstrike
From Jawa CRI The Yemen-based al-Qaida regional wing said Thursday one of its filed commanders, a former Guantanamo detainee, was killed in a Yemeni-U.S. air raid early this year. "Hani Abdu Mosleh Shalan, a filed commander in the al-Qaida in...
- Meanwhile, Elsewhere In The Mid East
Not that this was ever in doubt. . . Newsmax: Al-Qaida: We Would Use Pakistani Nukes On America Monday, June 22, 2009 9:08 AM DUBAI — If al-Qaida were in a position to do so, it would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons in its fight against the United...
- Assessing Progress Against The Global Jihadist Threat
Washington Institute h/t Counterterrorism Blog: Assessing Progress against the Global Jihadist Threat By Michael JacobsonMay 11, 2009 In April 2009, the U.S. State Department and the European Union released their annual terrorism reports, which paint...
- Just Paranoid, Right?
Report: Al Qaida network planning UK plot of 'Hiroshima' caliber A British intelligence report stated that recent planned terrorist attacks in Britain, including the July 2005 suicide attacks in London, were linked to “core Al Qaida leaders.”...
- Are We Having Fun Yet With Pakistan?
Al Qaida rallies with new funding, recruits and safe havens in Pakistan and Somalia The bad news is that Al Qaida is staging a comeback. The worse news is that the comeback is taking place in the most sensitive of U.S. allies — nuclear Pakistan. Western...