Kurdish splinter group issues claim for Istanbul bombing

A splinter nationalist group from the Kurdistan Workers' Party has claimed responsibility for Sunday's suicide bombing in Istanbul, Turkey, according to the group's statement on its website. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, said the attack, which injured at least 32 people, was "an act of revenge" and carried out by Vedat Acar, who died in the strike.

"We as TAK claim responsibility for the action carried out against the police force of Turkish fascism at Istanbul's Taksim Square on Oct 31, 2010," the statement said. Acar is described a member of the group's command from Van, an eastern border province populated by ethnic Kurds who have signed up with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

The PKK has been battling the Turkish government since the early 1980s initially for a separate Kurdish homeland. Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, was labeled a terrorist group by the United States in 2008. It claimed responsibility for the bombing of a bus that carried Turkish military personnel and their families in Istanbul. The attack, which occurred in June, killed five people.

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Another Bomb In Greece. Blamed On "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei"

Greek authorities have destroyed another mail bomb. This one was returned to a delivery service by the French embassy according to the Associated Press. Police said the latest package contained a small amount of explosives and was destroyed by controlled explosion. They said an erroneous return address on the package was for the Greek Orthodox Church. A 48 hour ban on all international mail leaving Greece is still in effect. Two men have been arrested. Greek police say they are members of an anarchist group the "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei."

Police released pictures of five men they are seeking in connection with the attacks, who they say are also members of the shadowy group. From the WSJ: Little is known about the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, which first emerged in early 2008, six years after Greek police dismantled the country's notorious left-wing November 17 terror group. The Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei has been known for nonlethal bomb attacks around Athens despite the arrests of several of its members—most of them in their 20s—in the past two years. The group is seen as anti-authoritarian and the most recent targets may reflect their opposition to Greece's fiscal austerity program after a European Union sponsored €110 billion ($154 billion) bailout package this year.

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Two suspected Irish dissidents arrested in Ireland

Two suspected dissident republicans were arrested after authorities found a bomb in their car, Irish police said Saturday. Police stopped the men and searched the car in Waterford late Friday. A "viable improvised explosive device" was spotted and handled by a bomb squad. The suspects are being held under Ireland's anti-terrorism legislation. Irish law allows terror suspects to be held for up to three days without charge.

The Irish Republican Army fought a bloody campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland for decades before starting a process of decommissioning nine years ago. Those who refused to accept the Good Friday Agreement that led to the decommissioning are known as dissident republicans. Irish authorities this month have conducted an anti-terror sweep that has led to the arrests of several individuals in recent days. Last week, the country's top police officer said authorities are continuing to conduct operations meant to disrupt dissident IRA activity.

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Bomb deactivated at Mexican mall

Mexican soldiers deactivated a bomb at a mall in central Mexico Saturday, but it was not clear if the incident was tied to the country's drug war, Mexican newspaper Milenio reported. A message from a criminal group was left with the bomb in Leon, Milenio said. There was no information on the nature of the group. Authorities in Leon, a city of about a million people, were not immediately available for comment.

The newspaper said workers found an "explosive device" in the mall's parking lot and alerted authorities. Army troops deactivated it. Nobody was reported injured. Mexican drug gangs started using car bombs this year to target police, but have so far not used bombs against the general population. Four people were killed in July in Ciudad Juarez by a bomb planted in a car, the first such attack since President Felipe Calderon took office in December 2006.

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3 Arrested In Norway Al-Qaida Bomb Plot

Three people have been arrested in connection with a plot to bomb targets in Norway, police in Oslo have said. Two of the plotters were arrested in Norway and one in Germany, said the head of the Norwegian security police, Janne Kristiansen. The men - a Uighur from China, an Iraqi and an Uzbek - are said to have ties to al-Qaeda and to be linked to bomb plots in the US and UK, Ms Kristiansen said. The three, all Norwegian residents, had been under surveillance for a year. US prosecutors say the Norwegian case is linked to foiled bomb plots in New York and the English city of Manchester. "We believe this group has had links to people abroad who can be linked to al-Qaeda, and to people who are involved in investigations in other countries, among others the United States and Britain."

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Dissident bomb would have caused 'utter devastation'

Police admitted last night that a deadly van bomb, planted outside a PSNI station by dissident republicans, would have caused "utter devastation" if it had been detonated. The van, which contained an estimated 300 pounds of homemade explosive, was left outside the station in the border village of Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, on Thursday night. Some 350 people were evacuated from their homes as the bomb was being defused by British army ordnance experts, and residents had to spend the night in three local halls. A burnt-out car was later found abandoned near the border in Co Monaghan and gardai were last night working closely with the PSNI to establish if it was linked to the terror gang behind the failed bomb attempt.

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Car bomb explodes at Ulster army barrack

A car bomb exploded early this morning on the outskirts of Belfast, timed to coincide with the transfer of power as the Stormont parliament took over judicial and policing powers at midnight. Northern Ireland now has its first justice minister in nearly four decades. A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: "A device has exploded in a vehicle at the rear of Palace Barracks, Holywood. The explosion occurred at approximately 12.24am. The investigation in ongoing, and there are no further details at this stage." It was reported that one person was injured in the blast. Police sources said the bomb was taken to the barracks in a hijacked taxi after the cab driver's family was held hostage.

It is understood that homes around the army base, north east of Belfast, were being evacuated as the bomb went off, and that some families are staying overnight in a nearby community centre. Alliance Party deputy leader Naomi Long said: "I would utterly condemn any such attack and am sure that the vast majority of people from across our community are sickened by the actions of people who seem intent on dragging Northern Ireland back into the past. "It is vital that all local politicians unite to condemn this attack and redouble our efforts to create stable political structures and a peaceful society.

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U.S. Courthouses now under threat

At a time of heightened concerns over threats to government officials, federal authorities in Spokane kept quiet about the discovery of a bomb found alongside the Thomas S. Foley U.S. Courthouse last week. They acknowledged the investigation Wednesday, however, after the latest edition of Newsweek magazine disclosed the March 28 discovery as part of an article examining increasing anti-government threats and violence spreading across the nation. U.S. Attorney Jim McDevitt defended the decision to try keeping the case under wraps. “It’s an ongoing criminal investigation,” McDevitt said. “Basically, that’s all we can say.” The device was located late in the evening on a Sunday, said Tom Rice, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington. Rice wouldn’t describe the device, where it was found or whether federal agents have identified any suspects.

Meanwhile, a Kansas City man, believed to be homeless, has been charged in connection with a bomb threat at the federal courthouse there earlier this week. Manuel Garcia, 66, was charged with placing a fake bomb outside the courthouse and making a false bomb threat over the telephone. A soft cooler was found near the east entrance to the federal courthouse on Monday morning. The cooler had a note attached, threatening that there would be an explosion. The bomb squad later determined that the cooler contained two small Kansas City telephone books. While authorities were investigating, a 911 call was received at 10:01 a.m. indicating that there were three additional explosive devices in the federal courthouse. According to court documents, a supervisor recognized Garcia’s voice from an earlier investigation, and Garcia was interviewed the same day.

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India says investigating blast, Pakistan talks on

Security officials were investigating the possible involvement of Pakistan - based militants in a bomb blast in western India that killed nine people, but New Delhi said talks with Islamabad later this month would go ahead. The bomb, left in a backpack at the popular German Bakery in the city of Pune on Saturday, wounded 60 and appeared to target Indian and foreign tourists. Senior internal security sources, who declined to be named, said the focus had fallen on Pakistan-based separatist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which has been blamed for the Mumbai attacks, and a local militant group called Indian Mujahideen (IM) because both had been behind bombings in India in the past. "As of now our line of investigation is toward the possible involvement of LeT, a sleeper module of the Indian Mujahideen could also be involved," a senior interior security official overseeing the investigation told Reuters. Both groups are fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region. "Nothing is ruled out, nothing is ruled in. The investigation is in progress," Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said.

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Shi'ites targeted by bombs in Iraq and Pakistan

18 killed in dual bomb attack in Karachi

A blast targeting a bus filled with Shiite religious observers in Karachi killed at least 12 people and another explosion in front of a hospital where attack victims were being treated killed six more Friday, a government official said. Motorcycles were used in both assaults, police said, and they came during the Shiite observance of Arbaeen, a commemoration that takes place 40 days after the anniversary of Iman Hussein's death, which is also known as Ashura. Sindh provincial health minister, Dr. Saghir Ahmed said that along with the 12 dead, 30 people were injured in the first blast. The second blast happened in front of the emergency room at Jinnah Hospital, where doctors treated people from the first attack and people on stretchers were waiting to be taken in to the crowded facility. Along with the six slain, five people were wounded. The last deadly blast in Karachi took place late December during Ashura, when more than 40 people were killed. A twin car bombing Friday tore through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims packing a highway as they walked to a holy city south of Baghdad for a major religious observance, killing at least 35 people and wounding 151 others, Iraqi officials said.

Blasts kill 35 at height of Iraq Shiite pilgrimage

It was the third deadly bombing this week hitting the ceremony in which hundreds of thousands of Shiites have been converging on the city of Karbala. Friday's attack struck during the culmination of the pilgrimage. This week's violence took place as Iraqi politicians argued over an effort to bar hundreds of candidates from running in the March parliamentary elections because of suspected ties to Saddam Hussein's former regime. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday he would not allow the US ambassador to meddle in the dispute, which Washington fears could hamper Sunni-Shiite reconciliation. Friday's attack began shortly after noon when a parked car bomb exploded just east of one of three main entrances to Karbala, two Health Ministry officials said. The explosion sent throngs of pilgrims running down the highway and straight into the path of a suicide car bomber who detonated the vehicle, they said.

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Female Homicide Bomber Kills 54 in Baghdad

A female homicide bomber walking among Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad detonated an explosives belt on Monday, killing at least 54 people and wounding more than 122, officials said. The bombing was the first major strike this year against pilgrims making their way to the southern city of Karbala to mark a Shiite holy day. It came as security official warned of a possible increase in attacks by insurgents using new tactics to bypass bomb-detection methods.

The bombing raises fears of an escalation of attacks as hundreds of thousands of Shiites head by Friday to the southern holy city of Karbala to mark the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the death Imam Hussein, a revered Shiite figure.

The bomber hid the explosives underneath an abaya — a black cloak worn from head to toe by women — as she joined a group of pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad's Shiite-dominated neighborhood of Shaab, said Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Baghdad's top military spokesman.
The bomber set off the blast as she lined up with other women to be searched by female security guards at a security checkpoint just inside a rest tent, al-Moussawi said.

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Russia says bomb caused deadly train crash

A bomb caused a Russian train crash that killed dozens of people and injured 100 more, officials said on Saturday, stoking fears of an upsurge in attacks in Russia's heartland. The 14-carriage Nevsky Express, with around 700 people on board, was jolted off the rails on Friday night on the main line between Moscow and Russia's second city, St Petersburg.

Three carriages of the luxury train, which is popular with officials and business executives, lay battered beside the rails after the blast. It was the worst Russian bomb attack outside the mainly Muslim North Caucasus since a spate of suicide attacks in 2004.

"A bomb equivalent to 7 kg (15.4 lb) of TNT was detonated," the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) domestic intelligence agency, Alexander Bortnikov, told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, citing the results of a preliminary investigation.

• "Chechen Terrorism", Council on Foreign Relations, 8/5/08.
• "Russian Train Derailed by bomb", BBC News 8/14/07.
  
• "The Chechen Separatist Movement", Council on Foreign Relations, 7/18/06.

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Plot to bomb Colombo revealed

Sri Lankan police have uncovered a fresh plot by the Tamil Diaspora to carry out a massive bomb attack in the city. The recent arrest of Ananda Varnan, a hardcore LTTE terrorist, in Vavuniya by a special police team has revealed the planned attack.

The police had recovered a powerful bomb which was to be used in the attack, a senior police official told The Island adding that Varnan had received Rs. 30,000 from his masters based in Malaysia to carry out the operation.

According to him, the police had swooped down on the suspect after receiving information regarding a person looking for several detonators. Under interrogation, the suspect had led investigators to a 7 kg claymore mine and a remote controller in an LTTE hideout. The police said that the suspect had planned to trigger a claymore attack in the city in the next few days.

The suspect had admitted that he had obtained the remote controller from a shop in Vavuniya.suspect had escaped from an IDP facility in the Vavuniya area after he was brought to the Vavuniya Hospital to receive medical treatment. Investigators said that Varnan had been involved in a series of bomb attacks in the city and its suburbs over a period of time.

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Bomb Explodes Outside Athens Stock Exchange

A bomb damaged the Stock Exchange in Athens overnight, injuring one person slightly. The device, placed in a parked van, exploded at 5:35 a.m. local time today. Windows of nearby buildings were smashed and one woman was hurt by flying glass.

A phone call warning of the attack was made to the Eleftherotypia newspaper about 40 minutes before. Greece’s anti- terrorist unit is handling the investigation, police said. The stock markets of Greece and Cyprus will operate normally today despite the damage to the building.

“The investigation up until now points to Revolutionary Struggle,” police spokesman Panagiotis Stathis said by telephone, though no one has so far claimed responsibility. The group said it carried out a January 2007 rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy.

Another explosive device went off at 4:55 a.m. behind the Macedonia-Thrace Ministry in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second- biggest city, a police spokesman, who could not be identified by regulation, said. Damage was minor and there were no injuries, he said. The two incidents were probably not connected, Stathis said.

• "November 17, Revolutionary People’s Struggle", Council on Foreign Relations, 1/12/07.
• "Overview – Revolutionary Struggle", WordPress, 1/18/09.

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