Chile – Santiago is generally regarded as one of the safest capital cities in Latin America, so it comes as something of a shock to find out that it has been hit by around 200 bomb attacks over the past decade. The latest devices exploded in the early hours of 12 Aug 14 outside two police stations, shattering windows in nearby buildings. "In both cases these were home-made explosive devices made from gunpowder inside a fire extinguisher, just as we've seen in so many attacks in the past," said Raul Guzman, a state prosecutor investigating the bombings. In Jul 14, a similar bomb was planted on a metro train as it was standing in a station in a suburb of Santiago. No one has been charged in connection with these latest incidents and prosecutors remain baffled as to who is carrying out the bombings, although anarchists appear to be to blame. The bomb attacks started in 2005. Since then, around 200 devices have been planted across the capital. Two-thirds have gone off while bomb disposal experts have defused the rest. A handful of bombs have also exploded in provincial Chilean cities. About a third of the bombs have been placed outside banks but other targets have included police stations, army barracks, churches, embassies, the headquarters of political parties, company offices, courthouses and government buildings. Most have been timed to go off at night when the streets are largely empty, and only a handful of passers-by have been injured, none seriously. The only person killed in any of the blasts was a would-be bomber, Mauricio Morales, a young anarchist who died in May 09 when the device he was carrying exploded prematurely. Two years later, another anarchist, Luciano Pitronello, was severely injured when a bomb he was planting outside a bank exploded in his hands. Around 80 different groups have claimed responsibility for the attacks and prosecutors say they do not know if they are dealing with one group that continually changes its name or many separate cells. One group calls itself "The friends of gunpowder". Others are named after long-dead anarchists from Europe and the United States. A group named after Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist who assassinated US President William McKinley in 1901, has claimed responsibility for at least five of the Santiago attacks. Another group is named after Jean-Marc Rouillan, a jailed French left-wing militant. The only person jailed so far is Hans Niemeyer, a Chilean sociologist and anarchist who is serving a five-year term for planting a bomb in a bank in Nov 11. Investigators are looking into links between anarchist groups in Chile and Europe. Two Chilean anarchists who were tried and acquitted in connection with the Santiago bombings were later arrested in Spain where they were charged with planting a bomb in a church in Zaragoza last year. That attack was claimed by a group named after Mateo Morral, a Spanish anarchist responsible for a deadly bomb attack against the Spanish royal family in 1906. In December last year, the Chilean authorities barred a well-known Italian anarchist, Alfredo Maria Bonanno, from entering the country, while in 2010, Greek police defused a letter bomb addressed to the Chilean embassy in Athens. There have been nearly 30 attacks in Santiago this year (2014), and prosecutors say they want to bring the long series of bombings to an end before someone is seriously hurt or even killed. (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28850708) 361 COMMENT: There are some similarities with Greek anarchists. The make up of the devices seem similar but with out forensic evidence it is very difficult to assert. The Greek anarchists use gas bottles whereas the Chilean anarchists are using fire extinguishers. In the past the terrorist organisations that operated in the country were all left wing Marxist/Leninist ideological terrorist groups. COMMENT ENDS
Peru – Peru’s armed forces rescued nine captives from a column of Shining Path guerrillas in the central region of Junin, the defence ministry said. The prisoners included women in their 60s and three young children, the ministry said. The rescue operation was part of the government’s efforts to consolidate the pacification of the territory the military has designated as the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers, or VRAEM, where remnants of Shining Path remain active. The government aims to promote productive development in the VRAEM and the military campaign will continue until the guerrillas are eradicated. More than 100 personnel took part in the rescue mission, the military’s head of counter-terrorism, Jose Baella said. Several of the older captives spent 30 years in the hands of Shining Path, according to Baella, who said the prisoners had been snatched from villages and forced to tend farms that provided provisions for the rebels. The captives were rescued in the course of the pursuit of a Shining Path unit that was on the move, he said. The Maoist-inspired Shining Path insurgency erupted in 1980 and killed tens of thousands of people before its core elements were smashed in 1992. Authorities accuse the surviving Shining Path units of having joined forces with drug cartels.
United States/Gaza/West Bank – The US government today added the Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) to the foreign terrorist organization list and labelled the group a specially designated global terrorist entity it was reported on the 19 Aug 14. In its announcement, the State Department describes the MSC as "an umbrella group composed of several jihadist terrorist sub-groups based in Gaza" and notes that it "has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on Israel since the group's founding in 2012." One of the group's first high-profile attacks came on 18 Jun 12, when MSC fighters launched a cross-border attack on an Israeli construction site. One civilian was killed in the raid. The group dedicated the attack as a "gift" to Ayman al Zawahiri and its "brothers" in al Qaeda, adding that it was "retaliation" for the killing of Osama bin Laden. Addressing "Sheikh Zawahiri," the group said it was "continuing with our pledge of allegiance on the path of jihad." In Feb 13, the MSC released a video portraying one of the jihadists killed in the Jun 12 attack as an al Qaeda "martyr." An online banner advertisement for the video included a picture of the MSC jihadist, as well as photos of lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and Anwar al Awlaki, the AQAP ideologue who was killed in a US drone strike. On the 21 Mar 13, the MSC launched several rockets into Israel. The attacks coincided with a visit by President Barack Obama to the country. In advance of the president's trip, the MSC condemned the US and Israel on its social media pages, labelling Obama the new leader of the "Crusaders." During a joint press conference held with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shortly after the MSC's rocket strikes, President Obama mentioned the attacks. "We saw the continuing threat from Gaza again overnight, with the rockets that targeted Sderot," Israel, Obama said. "We condemn this violation of the important cease-fire that protects both Israelis and Palestinians – a violation that Hamas has a responsibility to prevent." While Obama said that Hamas should prohibit such violence, he did not outright accuse the group of launching the rockets. And indeed the MSC claimed responsibility, calling the president a "Roman dog." The MSC also claimed rocket attacks against Israel in Apr and Aug 13. "In addition to these physical attacks," the State Department notes, "the MSC released a statement in Feb 14 declaring support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," or ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham). The MSC's statement of support for the ISIS was dated 2 Feb 14 the same day that al Qaeda's general command disowned the ISIS. In its statement, the MSC blamed the ISIS' rivals in Syria for the infighting between jihadists. In a string of tweets that were also written on the 2 Feb 14 the MSC defended the ISIS after the group rejected an initiative by Sheikh Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, who had attempted to broker a peace deal between the ISIS and its jihadist foes. Although the MSC's statement of support for the ISIS shows that some of the group's members have been in the ISIS camp, the current status of the relationship between the two jihadist organizations is unclear. It does not appear that the MSC has sworn allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of ISIS, which was rebranded as simply the Islamic State in late June. At the time, Baghdadi's supporters declared that he ruled as "Caliph Ibrahim" over a caliphate that stretches across much of Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State has demanded the allegiance of all other jihadist groups as part of its caliphate claim. Interestingly, the same month that the MSC expressed its support for Baghdadi's organization, the group also issued statements mourning the deaths of al Qaeda "martyrs." One of them was Abu Khalid al Suri, who served as Ayman al Zawahiri's chief representative in Syria before he was killed in late Feb 14. It is widely suspected that the ISIS was responsible for al Suri's death, as the al Qaeda veteran was a prominent critic of Baghdadi and his followers. (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/08/us_government_adds_g.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournalSiteWide+%28The+Long+War+Journal+%28Site-Wide%29%29)
Peru – Peru’s armed forces rescued nine captives from a column of Shining Path guerrillas in the central region of Junin, the defence ministry said. The prisoners included women in their 60s and three young children, the ministry said. The rescue operation was part of the government’s efforts to consolidate the pacification of the territory the military has designated as the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro Rivers, or VRAEM, where remnants of Shining Path remain active. The government aims to promote productive development in the VRAEM and the military campaign will continue until the guerrillas are eradicated. More than 100 personnel took part in the rescue mission, the military’s head of counter-terrorism, Jose Baella said. Several of the older captives spent 30 years in the hands of Shining Path, according to Baella, who said the prisoners had been snatched from villages and forced to tend farms that provided provisions for the rebels. The captives were rescued in the course of the pursuit of a Shining Path unit that was on the move, he said. The Maoist-inspired Shining Path insurgency erupted in 1980 and killed tens of thousands of people before its core elements were smashed in 1992. Authorities accuse the surviving Shining Path units of having joined forces with drug cartels.
United States/Gaza/West Bank – The US government today added the Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC) to the foreign terrorist organization list and labelled the group a specially designated global terrorist entity it was reported on the 19 Aug 14. In its announcement, the State Department describes the MSC as "an umbrella group composed of several jihadist terrorist sub-groups based in Gaza" and notes that it "has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on Israel since the group's founding in 2012." One of the group's first high-profile attacks came on 18 Jun 12, when MSC fighters launched a cross-border attack on an Israeli construction site. One civilian was killed in the raid. The group dedicated the attack as a "gift" to Ayman al Zawahiri and its "brothers" in al Qaeda, adding that it was "retaliation" for the killing of Osama bin Laden. Addressing "Sheikh Zawahiri," the group said it was "continuing with our pledge of allegiance on the path of jihad." In Feb 13, the MSC released a video portraying one of the jihadists killed in the Jun 12 attack as an al Qaeda "martyr." An online banner advertisement for the video included a picture of the MSC jihadist, as well as photos of lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and Anwar al Awlaki, the AQAP ideologue who was killed in a US drone strike. On the 21 Mar 13, the MSC launched several rockets into Israel. The attacks coincided with a visit by President Barack Obama to the country. In advance of the president's trip, the MSC condemned the US and Israel on its social media pages, labelling Obama the new leader of the "Crusaders." During a joint press conference held with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shortly after the MSC's rocket strikes, President Obama mentioned the attacks. "We saw the continuing threat from Gaza again overnight, with the rockets that targeted Sderot," Israel, Obama said. "We condemn this violation of the important cease-fire that protects both Israelis and Palestinians – a violation that Hamas has a responsibility to prevent." While Obama said that Hamas should prohibit such violence, he did not outright accuse the group of launching the rockets. And indeed the MSC claimed responsibility, calling the president a "Roman dog." The MSC also claimed rocket attacks against Israel in Apr and Aug 13. "In addition to these physical attacks," the State Department notes, "the MSC released a statement in Feb 14 declaring support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," or ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham). The MSC's statement of support for the ISIS was dated 2 Feb 14 the same day that al Qaeda's general command disowned the ISIS. In its statement, the MSC blamed the ISIS' rivals in Syria for the infighting between jihadists. In a string of tweets that were also written on the 2 Feb 14 the MSC defended the ISIS after the group rejected an initiative by Sheikh Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, who had attempted to broker a peace deal between the ISIS and its jihadist foes. Although the MSC's statement of support for the ISIS shows that some of the group's members have been in the ISIS camp, the current status of the relationship between the two jihadist organizations is unclear. It does not appear that the MSC has sworn allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of ISIS, which was rebranded as simply the Islamic State in late June. At the time, Baghdadi's supporters declared that he ruled as "Caliph Ibrahim" over a caliphate that stretches across much of Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State has demanded the allegiance of all other jihadist groups as part of its caliphate claim. Interestingly, the same month that the MSC expressed its support for Baghdadi's organization, the group also issued statements mourning the deaths of al Qaeda "martyrs." One of them was Abu Khalid al Suri, who served as Ayman al Zawahiri's chief representative in Syria before he was killed in late Feb 14. It is widely suspected that the ISIS was responsible for al Suri's death, as the al Qaeda veteran was a prominent critic of Baghdadi and his followers. (http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/08/us_government_adds_g.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LongWarJournalSiteWide+%28The+Long+War+Journal+%28Site-Wide%29%29)
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