November « 2008 « The Irate Nation

'Pakistan Link' To Mumbai Attacks

Indian media reported that the sole survivor of the group of gunmen has been identified as Mohammad Ajmal Qasam.
Officials believe he was one of 10 men who carried out the attacks.
The gunman, who is believed to be a Pakistani national, was captured alive.
He reportedly told interrogation officials that he and his group wanted to carry out "India's 9/11".
Pakistan has warned it would move troops to the Indian border if tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals spilled over.

The Mumbai terror attack's first prototype: Mike's Place, Tel Aviv, 2003

Five years ago, al Qaeda enlisted two Pakistani British Muslims to land by sea in Tel Aviv, seize a large beachside hotel and the nearby US embassy, take hostages and shoot as many as possible. Recruited at London's radical Finsbury Park mosque (like Shoe-bomber Richard Reid, Asif Muhammed Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif were trained for their mission in neighboring Syria and Gaza Strip.

But they missed their main objectives. Instead, they hit Mike's Place, a bar, killing three Israelis and injuring 60. Those directives, however, recurred strikingly - albeit on a mega-scale - in the Islamist terrorists' method of operation in Mumbai, on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Taliban Commander Killed in Afghanistan

U.S.-led coalition troops killed a Taliban commander dressed as a women during a raid in southern Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

Soldiers killed four Taliban fighters in Friday's operation, including the Taliban commander named Haji Yakub who was dressed as a woman to evade capture, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Somali pirates hijack ship, British guards escape

Somali pirates hijacked a chemical tanker with dozens of Indian crew members Friday and a helicopter rescued three British security guards who had jumped into the sea, officials said.

A warship on patrol nearby sent helicopters to intervene in the attack, but they arrived after pirates had taken control of the Liberian-flagged ship, according to Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.