Factors: urban terrorism in Pakistan

The number of incidents of ‘violence and terrorism’ in Pakistan fell by 11 percent in 2010 when compared to the previous year’s, says a report prepared by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies.

It further states that Pakistan needs to come up with an inclusive, sound and long-term strategy to tackle militancy.

According to a noted writer: “No civilised society can give to stand by and allow urban guerrilla warfare to be waged in its streets. The problem increased from the level of response that is considered enough to contain the terrorism.”

In countering urban terrorism, it is vital to launch psychological warfare so that population can be neutralized and alienated from terrorists. The problem is that this strategy may backfire if not accompanied by
socio-economic actions.

There are multiple factors of urban terrorism in Pakistan: cross-border terrorism, religious militancy, socio-economic decadence, bad governance, poverty, injustice, etc. The pace with which urban terrorism is increasing may lead to full-scale urban-guerrilla warfare, giving birth to anarchy.

In today’s world, a problem affecting a specific region can spread like wildfire in other directions. Criminal organizations have developed the ability to suddenly adopt their modus operandi and areas of intervention.

In order to combat the new trends of urban terrorism in Pakistan, government, intelligence agencies, civil society and media
should adopt an effective, well-coordinated, long-term and comprehensive strategy.

Bin Laden’s death was not an end to terrorism

President Barack Obama televises confirmation of Osama bin Laden’s death in his May 1, speech, at the White House. "Justice has been done," he said to viewers.
The death of Bin Laden brought crowds outside of the White House, in Times Square and at West Point which celebrates this victory.

“His death was a symbolic victory in the world. Bringing him to justice in some format required to happen” said Social Studies teacher Mr. Daniel Vinat.

President Obama has met with the National Security Council to discuss the quest of bin Laden, and on early April 29, he gave orders to plan an assault on his suspected position. The President issued last orders the next morning.

Bin Laden’s life was not the only one taken by United States armed forces. Three male adults, one being a son of bin Laden and are also said to have been killed. Also, one woman, who was used as a protect by a male combatant, was killed and two other women were injured (cbsnews.com).

Moments after Obama’s speech, the U.S. was put on aware by the State Department and warned of the heightened possibility for anti-American violence.

Sri Lanka seek new global laws to fight terrorism

Sri Lanka pressed ahead Tuesday with a global seminar aimed at sharing its practice of defeating terrorism despite a boycott campaign and new claims that its troops committed war crimes.

The seminar entitled “Defeating Terrorism, Sri Lankan Experience” is co-sponsored by China, but rights groups have called for a boycott and main nations such as the United States and Japan have stayed away.

A massive military offensive crushed the country’s Tamil Tiger separatists two years ago, bringing an end to ethnic violence for the first time in decades but also luminous allegations of war crimes.

On Monday, a UN envoy confirmed that a video allegedly depicting Sri Lankan troops executing Tamil Tiger rebels was authentic and that the actions constituted “definitive war crimes” that should be investigated.

A panel of experts advising UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon concluded last month that there were “credible allegations” of government forces shelling civilians and hospital and killing surrendering rebels. Sri Lanka has denied that any civilians were killed and believes it is being unfairly targeted after successfully ending a war that claimed an estimated 100,000 lives amid normal suicide bombings of government targets.

Roots of terrorism

THE assault by terrorists on a naval aviation base in Karachi has once again demonstrated the amount of the roots of terrorism in the country.
Even if the attackers did not have sympathizers and informants inside, the way they carried out the assault shows they had an active network in neighboring areas and an operational cell through which they managed to procure heavy weapons and carry them into the naval base. The same can be said of other high-profile terrorist attacks targeting safety forces throughout the country, including the October 2009 attack on GHQ in Rawalpindi.

The spread and reach of terrorists in Pakistan has become a critical challenge for the state. The attacks that they have launches have shown that they are capable of striking anywhere in the country. And yet ambiguity remains pervasive in society on the issue of terrorism. The group mindset reflects a state of out-and-out denial.
Almost every religious organization, whether its ambitions are political, sectarian or militant, maintains wings with a specific focus on women, lawyers, traders, doctors and teachers, among others.

International terrorist organizations, such as Al Qaeda, have also benefited from this level of radicalization, by generates financial and human resources as well as cultivating favorable perceptions among the populace in some parts of the country. According to an Asia Online report, numerous hundred students from Karachi affiliated with the student wing of an offshoot of a religious political party have joined Al Qaeda training camps in North Waziristan Agency in Fata. The report described that as a more hazardous development for Pakistan than any previous Al Qaeda alliance, as student wings can boast Al Qaeda’s recruitment drive and enhance its political power. In mainland Pakistan, however, terrorism has its roots in the ideological, political and sectarian narratives developed by the religious parties, aggressive groups and, at times, by the state itself.

Terrorism live on after Osama bin Laden

Nine and a half years ago, District Chronicles printed our first version. Our goal: tell compelling stories about people and events the big newspapers unnoticed. The first day of our first version was Sept. 11, 2001-9/11. All the enthusiastic joy and excitement of creating and producing the area's newest publication, quickly faded as haunting images of the World Trade Center dominated the airwaves; thick, black smoke billowed from the western wall of the Pentagon, and a anxious city scrambled, searching the skies, as another hijacked plane headed to Washington. As our title read back then, it was a 'Terrible Tuesday.'

The announcement by President Obama that Navy SEALs carried out a death-defying mission in Pakistan last week that ends with the death of Osama bin Laden brought back memories of how our world has changed since Sept. 11, and how so much of that change was in response to one man.

While many people took to the streets with American flags here and in cities across the country to rejoice bin Laden's demise, the sad truth is that the trillions of dollars spent on the wars have not done much to? stomp out terrorism against our state, even with bin Laden dead. In fact, officials say members of worldwide terror groups may want to avenge his death by attacking here or someplace abroad.?

The killing of the world's most elusive terrorist won't bring back the 3000 souls lost on that "Terrible Tuesday' here, in New York City and in Pennsylvania nor the courageous soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice pursuing him.

New terrorism alert system goes into outcome Wednesday

The federal government Wednesday is implements a new terrorism alert system that replaces the color-coded alerts put in position after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The new system only has two levels of alerts - compare to the previous system's five levels.

"The National Terrorism Advisory System, which was urbanized in close collaboration with our federal, state, local, tribal and private sector partners, will provide the American public with information about credible threats so that they can better protect themselves, their families, and their communities," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement ahead of the official statement at 11:30 a.m.

She'll make the announcement in New York, where more than 2,700 people were killing when two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center's twin towers.
The two alert levels of the new system will be "elevated threat," which "warns of a believable terrorist threat" to the United States; and "imminent threat," which "warns of a credible, exact and impending terrorist threat," according to a Department of Homeland Security statement.

Any alert will routinely expire after a specific time, although they could be extended if new information shows a threat persists, DHS said.

United States is backing terrorism: IRGC commander

TEHRAN- Iranian Brigadier General Hossein Salami has criticize the United States’s response to the Iraqi government’s crackdown on the MKO terrorists based in Camp Ashraf.

“The Westerners indicated their obvious support for a veteran terrorist group by the recent stance they adopted,” Salami, who is a senior commander of the Islamic Revolution guard Corps, told reporters on Sunday.

The Mojahedin Khalq Organization, listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, began a campaign of assassinations and bombings in Iran shortly after the conquest of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The group moved to Iraq in the early 1980s and fight Iran from there until the United States invaded the country in March 2003.