Naxalite Attack on Rajdhani express , passengers safe

In an audacious attack, Maoists on Tuesday took hostage the Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express with nearly 1200 passengers on board.
After nearly five hours of intense drama, the situation was brought under control with joint forces taking over the train and a relief train being deployed to bring the passengers to safety. Till 9 pm, the relief train had yet to reach Banshtala, in West Midnapore of West Bengal, where the attack had taken place.At around 3pm on Tuesday, the train, on its way to New Delhi, was stopped by hundreds of tribals who were supporters of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities. And while holding one of the most secure trains of India under ransom, they demanded the release of their leader Chattradhar Mahato, who was arrested in September and is under judicial custody till November 5.This incident comes close on the heels after the Maoists had abducted OC of Sankrail, Atindranath Dutta. Dutta was released after two days with the Maoists striking a deal with the West Bengal state government to release some tribal women who had been arrested on charges of having Maoist links.Today, the train was stopped and the driver was abducted and there were reports of alleged firing between the tribals and the state forces. This, however, was later refuted by Home minister P Chidambaram who said there was no exchange of fire.The villagers used the Rajdhani as a message board almost, with bold red letters on the walls of train demanding the release of Chattradhar.

The driver, K Anantha Rao, who was abducted and later released, said he saw red flags being waved and about 400 people running onto the tracks and so he had to stop the train. Assistant driver K J Rao was also taken hostage.The West Bengal Chief Minister said firmly that no way will the demands of the Maoists be accepted but he was worried about the safety of the passengers. It was time for the state government to come down heavily on the Maoists and the operations against them in Jhargram and Jangalmahal area needed to be intensified.Home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the train and passengers on board were safe and that the Centre has rushed a relief train to bring back the passengers."The train is safe. All passengers are safe... good news is the train is safe," he told reporters. "CRPF and state police have reached the spot and the area has been secured. There is no sign of any other adversary there," Chidambaram said.Railway minister Mamata Banerjee was monitoring the situation from her office in New Delhi and expressed her concern about getting the passengers to safety first and also stated that the state government must take responsibility and take a tougher stance against such incidents in the state.The Pro-Maoists group PCAPA had claimed responsibility for the attack stating that the train drivers had defied their bandh call.Some men then took him away along with assistant driver K J Rao, the sources said.

Jai Hind

http://www.stopterrorism.co.in/

Rahul Vallamber

80 killed, more then 150 hurt in Peshawar blast. (Pakistan) 28/10/2009

At least 80 people were killed and over 150 injured Wednesday when a powerful blast ripped through a crowded market in this Pakistani city.
The blast took place in Peepal Mandi in the old city of Peshawar, which is the capital of the restive North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
50 people were killed and more than 150 injured the bomb blast, Xinhua news agency reported.
Several shops were extensively damaged in the blast. The roofs were blown off and the walls collapsed, just five days after a bombing outside a restaurant in the city.
Panic-stricken shopkeepers rushed to help the injured.
The terror strike came soon after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began a three-day visit to Pakistan Wednesday morning.
Pakistan has been witnessing a string of terror attacks, even as the army continues to assault against the Taliban in South Waziristan.
The latest wave of militant violence started with a suicide bombing at the offices of the UN World Food Programme in Islamabad Oct 5. Five employees of the agency were killed.
The most audacious attack came on Oct 10 when 10 terrorists in military uniform laid siege to the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. At least 19 people, including nine raiders, died in the 22-hour standoff. One militant was arrested.
On Oct 15, gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed two police academies and the offices of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore. A car bomber struck at a police station in the northwestern town of Kohat. At least 38 people including 11 insurgents were killed in a single day.
A twin suicide bombing Oct 20 at the International Islamic University here killed seven people.
On Oct 22, Brigadier Moinuddin Ahmed, who was the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan, was gunned down in Islamabad along with another soldier.
A day later, 25 people were killed and 27 injured in a series of blasts across Pakistan. Eighteen people died in a landmine explosion in Mohmand Agency while seven were killed when a suicide bomber struck at an air force base in Attock district. Eight people were injured in the Peshawar bombing.

http://www.stopterrorism.co.in/
Rahul Vallamber

6 killed, Militants attack UN guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Kabul has been shaken by intense machinegun fire and explosions as Afghan forces battled a group of militants holed up inside a UN guest house in the centre of the capital.
A UN security officer at the scene said about 10 UN employees, all believed to be foreign nationals, were inside the building. The United Nations said it was "possible" that UN staff were inside the building..
Sporadic gunfire was heard and plumes of black smoke rose above buildings in the Afghan capital.
Early reports said five people had been killed.
"There are five or six terrorists inside," said Waheed Sadiqi, a policeman at the scene.
Automatic weapons fire began around 6:30am, witnesses said.
An Afghan security source said one militant had been killed and three Afghan police officers were wounded.
One policeman on the ground, who did not give his name, said the Bachter Guesthouse had come under attack and that there had been a huge blast inside.
The area around the guesthouse, which appeared to be on fire, has been cordoned off by police.
Police jeeps with mounted machine-guns and fire engines were seen racing through the streets of the capital An increasingly resurgent Taliban have vowed to stage attacks ahead of a second-round run-off in Afghanistan's presidential election on Nov 7.

http://www.stopterrorism.co.in/
Rahul Vallamber

Blast in Baghdad, Iraq - 132 killed and 520 injured.

At least 132 people have been killed and 520 injured in two car bomb attacks in Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.
The blasts hit the ministry of justice and a provincial government office near the heavily fortified Green Zone.
They came in quick succession at 1030 (0730 GMT) as people headed to work during the morning rush hour.
This is the deadliest attack in Iraq since August 2007 and comes three months after the US handed security control of cities to local forces
The attacks have drawn comparison with those of 19 August, when truck bombs hit two ministry buildings and killed at least 100 people.
Iraq then blamed foreign fighters and accused Syria of involvement, demanding a UN investigation.
The US condemned the latest attacks as "hateful".
'Destructive agenda'
Prime Minister Nouri Maliki visited the site of Sunday's provincial government office attack near Haifa Street and later issued a statement blaming al-Qaeda and supporters of former president Saddam Hussein.
"These cowardly terrorist attacks must not affect the determination of the Iraqi people to continue their struggle against the remnants of the dismantled regime and al-Qaeda terrorists, who committed a brutal crime against civilians," he said.
"They want to cause chaos in the nation, hinder the political process and prevent the parliamentary election."
President Jalal Talabani said: "The perpetrators of these treacherous and despicable acts are no longer hiding their objective... they publicly declare that they are targeting the state."
The White House said President Barack Obama had spoken to Mr Maliki and Mr Talabani to pledge his support.
Mr Obama said the attacks were an attempt to derail the peace process.
"These bombings serve no purpose other than the murder of innocent men, women and children, and they only reveal the hateful and destructive agenda of those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that they deserve," Mr Obama said in a statement.
The UK's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said "such acts of terrorism can have no justification, and must be condemned without reservation".
Plumes of smoke were seen rising in Baghdad on Sunday morning after two vehicles packed with explosives blew up just outside the International Zone, or Green Zone, the administrative heart of the capital.
The Iraqi authorities said the attackers were suicide bombers.
Their vehicles were driven into parking bays and detonated, officials said.
A number of workers for Baghdad's provincial council, which runs the city, were thought to be among the dead.
"I don't know how I'm still alive," local shop owner, Hamid Saadi, told Reuters by telephone from near the justice ministry.
"The explosion destroyed everything... it's like it was an earthquake, nothing is still in its place."
A number of bystanders blamed the security forces and politicians for failing to keep order.
Ambulance driver Adil Sami told Agence France-Presse: "We don't want the parliament any more - let them leave us alone, we can live in peace and solve problems ourselves."
Baghdad provincial council member Mohammed al-Rubaiey said: "This is a political struggle... Every politician is responsible and the government is responsible, as well as security leaders."
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad said he felt the force of the explosions, even though he was several miles away.
He says the finger of blame is likely to point to insurgents or foreign fighters trying to destabilise the security situation ahead of Iraqi elections in mid-January.
Overall, violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq compared to a year ago, but sporadic attacks still continue in several parts of the country.

Source: BBC NEWS
http://www.stopterrorism.co.in/
Rahul Vallamber