Taliban kill three US spies in Pak: Security official

Pakistan -PeSHAWAR: Taliban militants shot dead three men in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal belt after filming them confessing to spying for the
United States, officials said on Monday.

"This is the first time in South Waziristan that militants have made confession videos. Before they just used to put notes on the bodies of alleged spies," Allahbagh Khan, a local administration official, said.

The bullet-ridden body of local tribesman Tahir Khan was found dumped on Monday in a bazaar in Wana, the main town in the semi-autonomous South Waziristan tribal region, a notorious hub of Taliban and al-Qaida militants.

"Khan, who was kidnapped 10 days ago, had multiple bullet wounds on his body," a security official said.

A DVD found with the body showed Khan confessing to spying and passing on information that led to a series of US missile attacks in the region.

A note found on the body said, "All those spying for the US will suffer the same fate," according to the official.

Two more bodies of alleged US spies were found an hour later with similar notes and DVDs. One was a brother of Khan and the third man was identified as Shabbir Khan, residents and officials said.

Al-Qaida Behind Suicide Bomb - Iraq

IRAQ -BAGHDAD | A suicide bomber struck Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders touring an outdoor market after a reconciliation meeting in a Baghdad suburb Tuesday, killing up to 33 people in the second major attack in the capital area in three days.

The bombings are raising fears that Sunni insurgents may be escalating operations as the U.S. phases out its combat role in Iraq and prepares to withdraw troops from cities by the end of June.

The attacks also suggest that insurgents are capable of exploiting weaknesses in Iraqi security procedures. The Iraqis have been relatively successful in curbing huge truck bombings that were common years ago - but less so against other tactics.

More than 40 people were wounded Tuesday when the bomber detonated an explosives belt as tribal leaders, security officials and journalists strolled through the market in the town of Abu Ghraib, site of the infamous prison at the center of the 2004 detainee abuse scandal.

The leaders had just left a meeting called as part of a government campaign to reconcile local Sunni tribes and Shiites who fled the mostly Sunni town on Baghdad's western outskirts two years ago but have been trickling back to their homes. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but U.S. and Iraqi officials blamed al-Qaida, suspecting the extremists want to sabotage government overtures to the Sunnis - the terror group's support base.

Al Qaeda's Afghanistan presence increasing, U.S. official says

Al Qaeda has expanded its presence in Afghanistan, taking advantage of the sinking security situation to resurface in the Afghanistan it was forced to flee seven years ago, the top U.S. military intelligence official testified Tuesday.

Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, described Al Qaeda's efforts as one of the reasons for the Obama administration's decision last month to order additional troops to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is no longer the haven for Al Qaeda that it was before the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. But in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Maples said, "I believe Al Qaeda's presence in Afghanistan is more significant, although still at a relatively minor scale, than we have seen in the past."

Maples also cited intelligence indicating that Iran is playing a more active role in supporting a militant group based in Pakistan that is launching attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces.

"We are seeing some increased activity between Iran and the Haqqani network," Maples said, referring to a militant group that has carried out a series of brazen strikes against targets in and around Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Maples testified alongside Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair in a hearing that covered an array of national security threats.

Blair sought to clarify the intelligence community's views about Iran's nuclear ambitions, after recent comments from senior military officials created confusion about whether Tehran has already acquired enough nuclear material to make a bomb.

"We assess now that Iran does not have any highly enriched uranium," Blair said.

Iran has stockpiled low- enriched uranium that could fuel a nuclear power plant or be refined for a bomb. Asked whether Tehran intends to take that step, Blair said, "We assess that Iran has not yet made that decision."

Iran's ambitions in Afghanistan are also uncertain. The Islamic Republic's Shiite Muslim leaders "don't want to see a Taliban-dominated Afghanistan," Maples said, referring to the Sunni regime that protected Al Qaeda.

But U.S. intelligence officials believe that Iran has provided weapons and other support to elements of the Taliban insurgency as part of an effort to destabilize Afghanistan and threaten U.S. forces.

Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan to hold talks

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- The presidents of Pakistan and neighboring Iran and Afghanistan have agreed that their foreign ministers will hold monthly meetings to discuss regional issues, according to a spokesman for Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

Zardari, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also decided Tuesday to hold quarterly meetings among themselves to discuss topics including terrorism, trade and development, Zardari spokesman Sarfraz Hussain told CNN.

The three leaders met in Tehran, where they plan to attend a summit Wednesday of the Economic Cooperation Organization -- a group of 10 nations, including Turkey and Kazakhstan, established in 1985.

The agenda and venue for the first foreign ministerial meeting would be announced Wednesday, Hussain said. There was no immediate comment from Iranian or Afghan officials.

Al Qaeda threatens India with "humiliation" if Pakistan attacked

Mustafa Abu Yazid
Al Qaeda's military commander in Afghanistan has threatened India with further attacks if the country attacks Pakistan.

"India should know that it will have to pay a heavy price if it attacks Pakistan," Mustafa Abu Yazid said in a recently released videotape. "The Mujahideen will sunder your armies into the ground, like they did to the Russians in Afghanistan."

In the videotape, Yazid referred to the November 2008 terror assault in Mumbai, saying the Indians suffered "humiliation" in the attack and more was in store if India decides to retaliate against Pakistan, the BBC reported.

Yazid is al Qaeda's military commander in Afghanistan and is a senior leader in the organization. He has claimed credit for the December 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as she campaigned in Rawalpindi, as well as a suicide attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad in June 2008.

The Pakistani military claimed Yazid was killed during a battle in the Bajaur tribal agency August 2008, but never provided confirmation. The Pakistanis repeated the claim of Yazid's death at the end of September 2008.

The BBC report that Yazid has not appeared since the report of his death last summer is incorrect. Yazid has appeared in at least four other al Qaeda propaganda tapes prior to the latest threat against India.

On Sept. 2, 2008, Yazid lionized Abu Gharib al Makki, a senior al Qaeda field commander from Saudi Arabia who was killed during fighting with US forces in in Farah province in southwestern Afghanistan.

On Sept. 5, 2008, Yazid appeared on a videotape that lionized the suicide bomber who attacked the Danish embassy in Islamabad.

On Sept. 8, 2008, Yazid appeared on al Qaeda's propaganda tape that was released three days prior to the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack. Abdulmalik Droukedel, the leader of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's second in command also appeared on the video.

On Oct. 4, Yazid appeared on a videotape that featured Adam Gadahn, al Qaeda's American-born spokesman. Pakistani officials also claimed Gadahn was killed in a January 2008 airstrike that killed al Qaeda military commander Abu Laith al Libi.

On Nov. 13, 2008, al Qaeda took a shot at the Pakistani military for claiming Yazid was killed. “It was a cheap publicity shot on behalf of the Pakistani security forces to boast their military successes in Bajaur," a jihadi told Adnkronos International.

Two months later, and seven months after the military began fighting in Bajaur, Pakistan's adviser to the prime minister on internal Pakistani security issues claimed security forces "succeeded to retake about 98 percent control" of Bajaur. But fighting is still ongoing and the Taliban have begun bombing schools in the region, as they have been doing in Swat, a district that has been under Taliban control for almost two years.


For more information on the poor reliability of Pakistani government, military, and intelligence sources' claims on the death of senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, see Pakistan has poor track record reporting deaths of senior terrorist leaders.

Taliban Killed A Polish Hostage

Taliban release videotape of engineer’s beheading



Taliban militants on Sunday released a videotape showing the beheading of Polish geologist Poitr Stancza and Taliban warned other kidnapped foreigners would meet the same fate if their demands were not met.

Before he was killed, the seven-minute video shows the blindfolded geologist making an appeal to the Polish government not send troops to Afghanistan. He asked the Polish government to sever diplomatic relations with Pakistan if it did not try to seek his release.

The video includes a statement by the Taliban, claiming they had other foreign nationals in their custody, including a Chinese, who would be beheaded if the government of Pakistan did not accept their demands.

The Taliban said on Saturday they had killed Stancza because the government had refused to free 60 detained militants.

Earlier, a spokesman for the militants in Darra Adamkhel refused to hand over the body of the slain engineer unless the government accepted their demands.

A Taliban spokesman told Dawn by phone the Taliban would swap the body of the engineer with “our men in government’s custody”.

Stancza was kidnapped in September last year when he was on a visit to his company’s site in Attock.

The spokesman, who identified himself only as Mohammad, said the government had underestimated their strength and offered Rs100 million for unconditional release of Stancza, but accepting money woud be tantamount to betraying ‘our fighters’

The spokesman also claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack on a security checkpost in Mianwali and said: “Our leaders have formally allowed our volunteers to carry out attacks in Punjab, which they have been planning for two years.”

He also claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a procession of Shia mourners in Dera Ghazi Khan and warned of more such attacks in Punjab in near future. He warned the government against arming people against Taliban in Mattani area of Peshawar and said that such action would force the militants to go to war.

“We also warn tribesmen and the people living in settled areas of fatal consequences if they cooperate with the government.”