Australia – Two men charged with planning a terror act in Sydney had made a video saying they would stab kidneys and strike at necks, Prime Minister Tony Abbott informed parliament on the 12 Feb 15. The men were arrested by police in the city's suburb of Fairfield on the 10 Feb 15. Police say a hunting knife, an Islamic State (IS) flag and the video were seized. Police allege Omar Al-Kutobi and Mohammad Kiad were about to kill or harm a member of the public with a knife when they were arrested. Mr Abbott said the video showed one of the suspects promising to "carry out the first operation for the soldiers of the (IS) caliphate in Australia". "He went on to say ... 'I swear to almighty Allah, blonde people, there is no room for blame between you and us. We only are you, stabbing the kidneys and striking the necks'," the prime minister said. The pair, who were not previously known to police, have been charged with undertaking acts in preparation for planning for a terrorist act. Police said their operation came after a tip-off. Local media say one of the men came to Australia from Iraq and the other is a nurse from Kuwait. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said one was suspected of coming to Australia with false documentation.
Bangladesh – At least seven people have been burned to death and 15 others injured, some seriously, in a petrol bomb attack on a bus in eastern Bangladesh it was reported on the 3 Feb 15. Police said the bus had been full of sleeping passengers when it was attacked near the town of Chauddagram. It is the latest in a spate of attacks on buses, lorries and cars since anti-government protests began in Jan 15. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist allies deny that they are behind the fire-bombings. Reports indicate that at least 50 people have been killed and 1,000 injured in violence since 5 Jan 15. More than 7,000 opposition activists have been arrested. 361 COMMENT: Could Bangladesh be seen as the weakest country in the region and al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent using an electoral dispute to gain a strong foothold in the region? America is strong allies with Pakistan and has recently stated how close the US and India are so it is possible that the AQSC is using Bangladesh to set up in the region. For logistics and funding Afghanistan is not that far and there will be a presence there. This will be a region to watch but there is difficulty following events there with open sources. COMMENT ENDS.
Thailand – Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has ordered security to be tightened in Bangkok after two pipe bombs rattled a luxury shopping mall and stoked tension in a city under martial law since a coup last May reports claimed on the 2 Feb 15. There was no claim of responsibility. A team of forensic police on the 2 Feb sifted through the debris created by the blasts, which struck at around 8pm local time (1300 hrs GMT) on the 1 Feb 15 on a walkway leading to the busy Paragon shopping centre in central Bangkok. "They were pipe bombs ... low pressure explosive devices," national police spokesman said. "They did not aim to cause major damage ... they were used to create trouble." Political tension has been high since last month when a national assembly hand-picked by the junta banned former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from politics for five years. The decision angered supporters of Yingluck and her self-exiled brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, although there has been little sign of a return to the protests that have dogged Thailand for years.
Turkey – On the 30 Jan 15 a Kalashnikov attack targeted a police checkpoint in Istanbul's Taksim Square. There were no casualties resulting from the attack, which was later claimed by the Marxist insurgent Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi: DHKP-C). The Istanbul Police Department has identified the female assailant as Elif Sultan Kalsen; previously claimed by the DHKP-C as the perpetrator of the 6 Jan 15 suicide bomb attack in Istanbul's Sultanahmet district, which had been later revealed to be related to the Islamic State and erroneously claimed by the DHKP-C. Police have launched efforts to arrest Kalsen, staging multiple raids in different locations around Istanbul.
Bangladesh – At least seven people have been burned to death and 15 others injured, some seriously, in a petrol bomb attack on a bus in eastern Bangladesh it was reported on the 3 Feb 15. Police said the bus had been full of sleeping passengers when it was attacked near the town of Chauddagram. It is the latest in a spate of attacks on buses, lorries and cars since anti-government protests began in Jan 15. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist allies deny that they are behind the fire-bombings. Reports indicate that at least 50 people have been killed and 1,000 injured in violence since 5 Jan 15. More than 7,000 opposition activists have been arrested. 361 COMMENT: Could Bangladesh be seen as the weakest country in the region and al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent using an electoral dispute to gain a strong foothold in the region? America is strong allies with Pakistan and has recently stated how close the US and India are so it is possible that the AQSC is using Bangladesh to set up in the region. For logistics and funding Afghanistan is not that far and there will be a presence there. This will be a region to watch but there is difficulty following events there with open sources. COMMENT ENDS.
Thailand – Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has ordered security to be tightened in Bangkok after two pipe bombs rattled a luxury shopping mall and stoked tension in a city under martial law since a coup last May reports claimed on the 2 Feb 15. There was no claim of responsibility. A team of forensic police on the 2 Feb sifted through the debris created by the blasts, which struck at around 8pm local time (1300 hrs GMT) on the 1 Feb 15 on a walkway leading to the busy Paragon shopping centre in central Bangkok. "They were pipe bombs ... low pressure explosive devices," national police spokesman said. "They did not aim to cause major damage ... they were used to create trouble." Political tension has been high since last month when a national assembly hand-picked by the junta banned former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from politics for five years. The decision angered supporters of Yingluck and her self-exiled brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, although there has been little sign of a return to the protests that have dogged Thailand for years.
Turkey – On the 30 Jan 15 a Kalashnikov attack targeted a police checkpoint in Istanbul's Taksim Square. There were no casualties resulting from the attack, which was later claimed by the Marxist insurgent Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi: DHKP-C). The Istanbul Police Department has identified the female assailant as Elif Sultan Kalsen; previously claimed by the DHKP-C as the perpetrator of the 6 Jan 15 suicide bomb attack in Istanbul's Sultanahmet district, which had been later revealed to be related to the Islamic State and erroneously claimed by the DHKP-C. Police have launched efforts to arrest Kalsen, staging multiple raids in different locations around Istanbul.
RSS Feed