Assam train blast 2 december 2008

GUWAHATI: Three people were killed and more than 30 wounded Tuesday in a blast that ripped through a passenger train in the northeastern state of Assam, police officials said.

A police spokesman said the explosion went off as the train was stopped at a railway station about 300 kilometers (190 miles) east of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.

One person died on the spot and two succumbed to their injuries at a local hospital.

“There are a large number of women and children among the casualties,” the spokesman said.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the explosion, but the outlawed Karbi Longri National Liberation Front, fighting for an independent homeland for the majority Karbi tribe, is known to be active in the area.

Last 30 October blast claims 89 people and injured 200 people. 26 November terrorist attacked in Mumbai and killed at least 200 people injured 300 peole.

The Karbi Liongri National Liberation Front, enforcing an “indefinite economic blockade” on national highways and rail tracks in the state, allegedly planted the bomb in a general compartment of Tinsukia-Lumding passenger train which exploded around 8 am, police said.

Two passengers, including a child, were killed and 30 others injured, they said, adding that the injured have been rushed to hospitals.

District Superintendent of Police A K Sarma said that the police had beefed up security in the district in the wake of prior information about the militants’ plan to explode bombs in Diphu town, headquarters of Karbi Anglong district, besides Bokajan and Howraghat towns.

Due to intensified vigil, the militants failed to plant explosive devices in Diphu town and, instead detonated a bomb with a timer device inside the train as it was approaching Diphu railway station, he said.

The KLNLF has called the economic blockade of railway tracks and National Highways 37 and 39 in the district demanding responses from political parties to their 10-point demands, which include among others, exclusion of Karbi Anglong land from ‘Dimaraji’ as demanded by another militant outfit, Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), in neighbouring N C Hills.

Sarma said police has also recovered two bombs also suspected to have been planted by KLNLF militants at the Dokmoka area of the town.

 

Timeline: Mumbai under attack

The attacks in Mumbai began during the evening of 26 November. Reports say the militants arrived on dinghies, possibly launched from an outlying vessel. Here is a list of subsequent events with approximate timings.

WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER

2120 local time (1550 GMT): Gunfire starts at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station when at least two gunmen storm the crowded terminal, firing indiscriminately. Many of the deaths and injuries occurred in this attack.

2120-2200: Gunmen raid the Cama and Albless Hospital, shooting indiscriminately. One attacker is captured here.

2120-2200: Gunmen seize control of the Nariman House business and residential complex. Police surround the complex, which houses the Jewish Chabad Lubavitch outreach centre.

2120-2200: Gunmen storm the Cafe Leopold and open fire on diners, causing numerous causalities.

2120-0100: Gunmen storm the Oberoi-Trident hotel, where about 380 people are staying.

2120-0100: At least seven gunmen enter the lobby of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where about 450 people are staying, and begin firing. Large fire reported.

2250: Gunfire reported at Times of India offices.

THURSDAY 27 NOVEMBER

0100-0400: Indian army in running battles with militants at the two hotels. Small groups of guests manage to escape.

0245: A group calling itself the “Deccan Mujahedeen” claims responsibility for the attacks.

0400: Standoff continues at the Jewish outreach centre.

1030: Army says it is doing room-by-room searches of Taj but explosions still heard at both hotels.

1630: The Indian navy says its forces have boarded a cargo vessel they believe to be linked to the attacks.

1630: Indian PM delivers speech to the nation saying the militants will not escape and blaming “external” elements.

1640: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari speaks of the need for strong measures to eradicate terrorism.

FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER

0230: Gunfire and loud explosions still being heard from the Taj and the Jewish centre, Nariman House.

0730: Commandos are dropped from helicopters on to Nariman House and begin a sweep through the building.

1100: Indian commandos take full control of the Oberoi hotel and release hostages.

1300: Indian commandos report 30 bodies in one Taj hall.

1500: Mumbai police report that five hostages inside the Jewish centre have been found shot dead.

1800: Indian security forces say they have secured the Jewish centre. Eight Israeli or dual Israeli-US citizens have been killed and two gunmen.

1830: Security operations still continue at the Taj although there is much less gunfire.

SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER

04:30: Renewed explosions and gunfire are heard from inside the Taj.

0730: Fire breaks out on the lower floors of the Taj. Shortly afterwards Indian television reports that the siege is over.

0850: Indian police declare the Taj Mahal siege over, with the deaths of three gunmen.

 

Terrorists came on boats: Deshmukh

The terrorists, who created havoc in Mumbai overnight, came by boats and struck at 10 places but their number is not known immediately, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said.

Addressing a press conference in the wee hours, he said two terrorists had been killed in encounters with police and security forces and nine suspects have been detained.

The terror attacks began between 9 pm and 9.15 pm with indiscriminate firing and bomb blasts, Deshmukh said.

The terrorists came by boats and started firing, he said but their number was not immediately known.

The attackers threw grenades and fired indiscriminately while storming the hotels across Mumbai, he added.

At least two sten guns have been recovered from the terrorists, the Chief Minister said.

To a question, he said it was not immediately known as to who was involved in the attacks as the entire police force is concentrating on saving lives.

He said around 200 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos had been dispatched from Delhi for the operation to flush out terrorists.

Asked whether foreigners were the target of the attacks, the Chief Minister disagreed, saying it could not be said.

——-

Almost all the locations attacked by suspected terrorists in south Mumbai Wednesday night were preferred hangouts of foreign tourists. Here is a list of the seven places under attack:

* Leopold Cafe in Colaba, a favourite hangout with the tourist crowd in south Mumbai (Firing)

* Hotel Taj Intercontinental, a five-star hotel in south Mumbai (Firing)

* Hotel Trident (formerly Hotel Oberoi), a five-star hotel in south Mumbai (Firing)

* Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Formerly Victoria Terminus), the headquarters of Central Railway and a World Heritage Building in south Mumbai (Firing)

* Bade Miyan Gali behind the Hotel Taj (Firing)

* Mazagaon (Explosion)

* Vile Parle suburb in north Mumbai (Explosion)

Four top police officials, including Mumbai Police Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, were among the 11 policemen killed, as security forces took on terrorists in Mumbai in the early hours of Thursday, authorities said.

Two Indian Police Service (IPS) officers – additional police commissioners Ashok Kamte and Sadanand Date – were killed in separate gun battles with terrorists following a series of attacks in India’s financial capital, the officials said.

Mumbai Police “encounter specialist” Vijay Salaskar were also shot dead in another gun battle.

Karkare was heading investigations into several recent cases of terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

There were six other police officials among the at least 80 killed in the coordinated terror attacks late on Wednesday night.

———-

The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad’s chief Hemant Karkare was gunned down when he was leading an operation at Mumbai’s Taj Hotel against terrorists on Wednesday. He was hit by three bullets in his chest.

Karkare (54) was gunned down when he was leading an operation at Hotel Taj against terrorists who had taken 15 people, including seven foreigners, as hostages. He was hit by three bullets in his chest.

Karkare was probing the September 29 Malegaon blast case. He was an IPS officer of the 1982 batch, who had served with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for nine years in Austria.

He was a man known for his discipline and fair investigation.

 

90 killed in Mumbai terror attack

November 26, 2008 22:40 IST
Last Updated: November 27, 2008 02:49 IST

02:50 AM: Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and Member of Parliament N N Krishnadas, who is staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel, reports that as late as 2:10 AM, explosions could be heard from within the premises.

Krishnadas told CNN that he is holed up in a room, and outside of the noise of explosions and gunfire has no real idea what is happening within the premises.

Meanwhile, the fire that broke out in one of the hotel’s middle floors has been spreading upwards, adding a fresh hazard both to the police and CRPF personnel engaged in the anti-terrorist operation and to the guests within the hotel.

Even as police sources upped the toll in today’s terrorist strikes in Mumbai at 80 and counting, police continue to lay siege to the Taj Mahal Hotel, where two terrorists are believed to be holding at least 15 guests hostage on one of the upper floors of the hotel.

The police are at this point in time unsure whether the two hostage takers are the only terrorists within the hotel.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army has moved into the Oberoi and the Trident, the two other South Mumbai hotels targeted in today’s terrorist strikes.

A battalion of the Indian army entered the Oberoi and began an operation against the terrorists holed up inside. The army was called in after the police took several casualties, including the deaths of some senior officers.

With the army now in charge of this phase of the operation � the first time the Indian army is operating in the city since the 1992 riots � the police has fallen back and is focusing on cordoning off the area.

Vaihayasi Pande-Daniel, reporting for Rediff.com from outside the Oberoi Hotel, reports that with the cordon being drawn tight, people waiting outside are in a state of panic, and desperately searching for information. A group of senior bankers from Hyderabad are among those inside the hotel to attend a conference; their Mumbai-based colleagues are outside, awaiting word of their fate.

02: 25 AM: Mumbai’s Anti-Terrorist Squad chief Hemant Karkare died of bullet wounds in the ongoing battle against armed terrorists that is raging across several parts of South Mumbai.

Vijay Salaskar, an officer attached to the Mumbai police who has been famed as an ‘encounter specialist’, was seriously injured in the ongoing gun battle and has been rushed to hospital. In all, seven Mumbai policemen are believed killed thus far.

Meanwhile, Railway Police Chief Ashok Sharma told Rediff.com that at least 40 people were killed inside Mumbai’s nodal Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminus. “The attack started around 9.35 pm,” Sharma said. “Two terrorists were inside. We can confirm at least 40 people killed.”

It is yet unclear whether the terrorists are still on-site, have left, or been killed. Sharma said there had been no firing from within the terminus for the last two hours. “Despite this, we are not allowing people to go into the station as we are worried that the terrorists might have planted bombs or left live grenades in the station,” he said.

Sharma said the official belief is that the two terrorists had sneaked out of the station in the confusion following the original assault.

Sudhir Dalvi, a sub-inspector attached to the Mumbai cell of the Anti-Terrorist Squad, told Sheela Bhatt for Rediff.com that his boss, ATS chief Hemant Karkare, and senior police officers Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, were killed in an incident outside Mumbai’s Cama Hospital.

“Our chief Karkare, my senior officer Salaskar and ACP Kamte died while engaging terrorists outside the Cama hospital,” a sobbing Dalvi told Rediff.com. “All of a sudden, terrorists threw grenades at Karkare leading to chaos. We are unable to confirm whether they fell to terrorist fire or were killed by the grenades.”

Meanwhile, the army has moved into the Trident Hotel, the third five-star hotel in the South Mumbai region that had been targeted in tonight’s coordinated terrorist strikes.

02:10 AM: It is now believed that 15 people, at least seven of them foreigners, have been taken hostage by two terrorists and are being held on the roof of the Taj Mahal Hotel.

Rakesh Patel, a London-based businessman who managed to escape, told NDTV that the two terrorists, estimated to be in their early 20s, came to a restaurant on the ground floor of the Taj, rounded up the hostages and took them to the 18th floor. Patel, who was one among them, managed at that point to escape.

Patel said the terrorists asked if any of the hostages were carrying American or British passports, and said he got the clear impression that they wanted foreigners.

01:50 AM: Krishnakumar reports from the Juhu region that a bomb went off in a taxi that was speeding along the Western Express Highway from Vile Parle towards Andheri, killing two people and injuring two others.

“The taxi exploded and went up in flames as it sped past the traffic island under the flyover at the domestic airport,” an eyewitness said on phone. “The vehicle, which was up in flames soon after it crossed the traffic signal, was on the left
side. A bystander and a person in the taxi were killed.

Reports indicate that this was perhaps the night’s highest-intensity blast. Krishnakumar reports that the taxi’s doors were found a distance of 50 meters or more away, and body parts of the victims had been thrown even further.

01:43 AM: At least two suspected terroristswere shot dead minutes earlier at the corner of Mumbai’s Chowpatty. Rediff’s Vaihayasi Pande-Daniel, who is on the site, reports that the area has been cordoned off and is swarming with police officers; the Skoda is under guard and a cellphone, a jacket, and items of footwear are strewn around the vehicle.

Meanwhile at the Taj Mahal Hotel, the standoff between police, who have surrounded the hotel, and terrorists who are holed up inside, continues.

A short while ago, power went off in parts of the hotel, adding to the sense of panic and fear. Well known food critic Sabina Sahgal Saikia, who is inside the hotel, told NDTV on phone just now that the guests are terrified, and unaware of just what is happening around them. It is unclear at this point in time whether the power has been turned off by the police as they battle the terrorists.

01:27 AM: Rediff’s Vaihayasi Pande Daniel calls in from the Marine Drive region to report that the approaches to the South Mumbai area have been shut down, and that sounds of firing are audible as far away as Mumbai’s famed Queen’s Necklace stretch, though the source of the firing is unclear.

Meanwhile, a foreign national who managed to escape from the Taj Mahal Hotel, where a state of seige currently exists, told NDTV that armed and masked gunmen were wandering around inside the hotel, looking for people with American or British passports.

The eyewitness account appears to confirm the growing belief among law enforcement circles that this latest attack is aimed directly at foreign nationals — hence the choice of star hotels as prime targets. They further theorize that automatic weapons are being used rather than bombs in order to orchestrate such targeted mayhem.

Meanwhile, the real dangers of the situation are being exaggerated by a proliferation of rumors. One such that has been aired on a few channels including CNN suggested that firing was taking place at the JW Marriott, another five star hotel in the Juhu region of suburban Mumbai. A source in the hotel however confirmed to Rediff just now that there was no alarm at the hotel, and no incident of any kind had taken place.

12:44 AM: A gun battle is ongoing in the Taj Hotel in Colaba. Within the last ten minutes, a guest at the hotel got word out to CNN via email that a grenade had exploded within the hotel premises just then.

Additional Commissioner of Police AN Roy and other officials confirmed that some armed terrorists are holed up in the iconic hotel.

Police officials said they have no information of a hostage situation; they say guests have been sequestered in safe areas of the hotel, and the police are now engaged in flushing out the terrorists from their hiding place.

 

Mumbai Blast

10.20: We hear 3 loud voice of crackers. I guess India won the 5th ODI against England, so people celebrating the winning of TEAM INDIA and burnning the fire crackers.

10.30: No No I was wrong! There is something wrong around us. There is terrorist attack in Mumbai.

11.00: Some people returnd from CST railway station, they alert me don’t leave the office till situation is going cool.

11.30: I am again unable to communicate with my friend who goes to CST to pick a train for thane. We hear more blast and firing behind our office (Hotel oberai side).

Its now 12:20. I hear a loud voice of blast near my office and within 2-3 min we hear firing, we dont know these firing is done by police or terrorist. hundred of peoples (Raheja Center Nariman point) fears. My one friend traped in CST Railway station. He hears 3 blast and firing in CST.

12.45: Terrorist hijacked police vahicle and left that vahicle near Mantralaya (Free Press Journal Road). within 5 min we hear another blast. We are not permitted to leave our campus. (Terrorist uses the cop vehicle to fire near Raheja center). They also killed HEMAN KARKARE, VIJAY SALASKAL and ASHOK KAMATE.

12.58: Prashant Vengurlekar return to the office. He is fine but he is very affred, he show two peorsons were hited by bullet (one in back side neck and another in right thigh).

Actually Mumbai police was busy with only malegaon blast case and they ignored the safty of innocent people. Congress supports the terrorist and we are killed by terrorist. Why Congress not hanged the Afjal Guru, Why MUMBAI ATS is only investigate Malegaon Blast.

Mumbai police blocked various root and they counter attack on terrorist.

Death toll rises up to 110, 300 injured.

But still I am happy because I am live.

Don’t know where he is when you need him. We want him to go and save amchi Mumbai. Army, NSG commandoes are not marathi manoos….why should they fight and lay down their life for Mumbaikars.

Where is Raj Thackeray and his “brave Sena”? Tell him that 200 NSG commandoes from Delhi (no marathi manoos, all south and north indians) have been sent to Mumbai to fight the terrorists so that he can sleep peacefully tonight in Shivaji Park. Please forward this so it finally reaches the coward bully.

 

Shootout in Mumbai

MUMBAI:
Mumbai was rocked by several incidents of firing at four different public places on Wednesday night. All incidents were within a radius of three kms in the posh South Mumbai.

At the time of the filing this report, 15 people were injured but no deaths were reported.

The first incident of firing was reported at Leopold Cafe, a well-known watering hole for tourists and foreigners in Colaba.

The second incident was near Taj Mahal [Images] hotel, the third was near Oberoi hotel in Nariman Point and the fourth one was at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station.

No one including the police will confirm the reason behind the firing except the fact that some unknown people started firing indiscriminately.

Eyewitness also said that some grenades were thrown at a police van and also of two bomb blasts near the Oberoi hotel but it was not confirmed by officials.

The Mumbai police have cordoned off all the areas.

A blast was also reported in Vile Parle in suburban Mumbai

Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti confirmed the shootout at Colaba but did not give out details.
Two persons armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades are reportedly holed up inside CST station.

Sounds of gunshots are still being heard. Hundreds of onlookers gathered outside the station. The station and premises have been evacuated

Sources in the Cuffe Parade police station said that the police was still looking for the miscreants behind the firing at Colaba Causeway.

Eyewitnesses said that they heard at least 20 shots in CST station. Policemen and ambulances have rushed to the affected areas, they said.
A resident of Colaba and an eyewitness to some of the incidents said, “The police got news that there were explosions at the BMC headquarters in Lion Gate in South Mumbai. When the police arrived, the gangsters/terrorists fired at the police. As the police started chasing them towards the CST station, they opened indiscriminate fire.”

There were reports of explosions from the BMC headquarter, Oberoi Hotel and Colaba Market.

——————–

A man was killed and his friend injured in a shootout in a restaurant-cum-bar in a north west suburb tonight, police said but were not sure whether it was a case of gang rivalry.

Sukesh Shetty was having drinks with two of his friends in ‘Bharati Lunch Home’ in Bandra’s Nirmal Nagar locality at around 10 pm when two armed men entered the place and fired at the trio, they said.

Shetty died on the spot while his friend Sushant Shinde was injured in the shooting and rushed to nearby Cooper hospital, they said.

“The attack seems to be the result of some animosity and was carried out in a professional way,” they said adding that the gunmen fled soon after the shootout.

Police were uncetrain of the background of Shetty and Shinde and refused to comment on whether the incident was a flare-up of an inter-gang rivalry.

————–

Firing was reported in various places across South Mumbai on Wednesday night. At least 15 people were injured in the firing, which took place near Caf� Leopold on Colaba Causeway, inside CST station and near Taj Hotel and Hotel Oberoi.

Additional Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti confirmed the shootout at Colaba but did not give out details.
Two persons armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades are reportedly holed up inside CST station.

Sounds of gunshots are still being heard. Hundreds of onlookers gathered outside the station. The station and premises have been evacuated

The firing reportedly took place between two gangs and the gang members used hand grenades.

Sources in the Cuffe Parade police station said that the police was still looking for the miscreants behind the firing at Colaba Causeway.

Eyewitnesses said that they heard at least 20 shots in CST station. Policemen and ambulances have rushed to the affected areas, they said.

There were reports of explosions from the BMC headquarter and Oberoi Hotel.

 

Malegaon blast: ATS gets transit remand of Dayanand Pandey

LUCKNOW: Maharashtra ATS on Thursday got the transit remand of Dayanand Pandey, a seer arrested in connection with the Malegaon blast case, till November 16 to take him to the state. ( Watch )

Pandey alias Sudhakar Dwivedi, who was arrested on Wednesday, was produced before magistrate Mukesh Kumar at his residence by the ATS as the court was closed due to Guru Nanak Jayanti.

The court gave the three-day transit remand to the ATS so that he could be produced before a Nashik court.

Dwivedi was picked up on Wednesday from Kanpur by the ATS team and arrested after questioning.

ATS in Jammu for investigations

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), which is probing the September 29 Malegaon Blasts, has sent a team to Jammu and Kashmir to interrogate the detained persons there, a senior ATS official said on Thursday. ( Watch )

The ATS, along with the Uttar Pradesh police, had on Wednesday arrested Dayanand Pandey alias Sudhakar Dwivedi believed to be a ‘seer’, who allegedly played a major role in the blast conspiracy.

Pandey’s Chartered Accountant (CA) V K Kapoor and his son Pawan were also detained in Jammu for questioning. The duo was however let off as “nothing adverse” was found against them, the official said.

Pandey heads the Sharda Sarvagya Peeth in Jammu, the finance of which was managed by Kapoor and his son.

The ATS chief Hemant Karkare on Wednesday said that Pandey had attended several meetings prior to the blast alongwith Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Prasad Purohit and other accused in Nashik and Madhya Pradesh.

The ATS chief had also clarified that except Purohit no other serving army officer has been questioned or detained in connection with the blast.

He had also said that the ATS is not “after any political leader from Uttar Pradesh and none of its official has been sent to Gorakhpur.”

Till now, the ATS has arrested nine persons and have been booked them in cases for conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and under the Indian Explosives Act.

Regarding media reports of Purohit and other arrested accused’s role in other blasts, Karakare said only Rakesh Dhawde’s role in the Nanded blast had been established. ( Watch )

“Dhawde, who was arrested from Pune, had given training in weapons and explosives to the accused in the Nanded blast and hence he would soon be booked in that case also,” Karkare said.

 

Huge cache of explosives seized in Gaya

GAYA: Police seized 70 kg of ammonium nitrate, an explosive, 52 detonators and 15 pieces of gelatin sticks during a raid at a village in Bihar’s Naxalite-affected Gaya district on Thursday.

Acting on specific information that explosives were kept at Bodhchak village under Wazirganj police station limits, police raided the house of Ashok Singh early this morning, Superintendent of Police R Mallar Vizi said.

Led by Wazirganj Deputy Superintendent of Police Saurabh Kumar, police seized the explosives allegedly meant for supply to the Naxalites from the house.

The police also seized six drums of diesel and one motorcycle, the SP said.

 

Somalis grow fearful of Islamists

By Mohamed Mohamed BBC Somali Service

Public anger at the recent stoning of a 13-year-old girl in Somalia shows the growing resentment towards radical Islamists who have gained control of much of the south and centre of the country. Insurgents from the militant group al-Shabab are seen as authoritarian and unaccountable – unlike the Islamists who were in control of the capital, Mogadishu, in 2006. Asha Ibrahim Dhuhulow was stoned to death for adultery in the southern port city of Kismayo, which was taken control by al-Shabab and its allies in August.

I don’t know what crime she committed other than being raped – and I was not even allowed to see her body Asha Ibrahim Dhuhulow’s aunt

Her 62-year-old aunt told the BBC that the teenager had in fact been raped by three armed men – and she took Asha to the police station to report it. Several days later, after two suspects had been arrested, she was asked to return to the station with her niece. To her surprise the girl was taken into custody too. “I tried to speak to the police but they said they were not talking,” she said. Three days later, after Asha had been tried in an Islamist court, she was stoned to death. “They said that the girl had chatted up these men and had confessed to adultery,” she said. But the aunt said the authorities clearly failed to notice her age, how mentally disturbed she was by her experience, or her history of mental illness. “She was only 13 years old. I have got her card from Hagarder refugee camp which has her age on it. She might have looked a bit older, but you could tell her age by talking to her,” she said. Law and order Other critics point to the lack of lawyers, witnesses or appeal process. The Islamists were reported to have announced their verdict the day before the stoning from cars with loudspeakers. But Asha’s aunt was not informed of the court’s decision – despite repeated visits to the police station.

A public flogging in Mogadishu Enlarge Image

“I was not even told that she was to be killed, I just heard it from people after it happened. “I don’t know what crime she committed other than being raped; and I was not even allowed to see her body,” she said. Al-Shabab in Kismayo has refused attempts by the BBC to discuss the stoning. It is almost two years since the Ethiopian-backed interim government ousted the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which had ruled much of Somalia for nearly six months. In 2006, the UIC was generally welcomed for the law and order it brought to a country bedevilled by more than a decade of civil war and clan fighting. UIC fighters launched an insurgency following what many Somalis regarded as an Ethiopian invasion. Its youth and military wing, al-Shabab, gained notoriety for its determination, despite its much smaller numbers. Fear The group, which is on the US terror list and is said to have links with al-Qaeda, has since split from the UIC, angered by its current peace negotiations with the government. It does not work against the UIC, but it favours co-operating with other groups including: • The Kaanboni, led by Hassan Turki, who is also on the US terror list • The Islamic Front, a new group about which very little is known. For example, since mid-August, when they captured the Lower Jubba, Middle Jubba and Gedo regions from local clan militia, they now share the administration with existing officials.

According to well-informed sources in the regions who requested anonymity, these groups instil fear among the local population. “You keep quiet and follow the commands of the Islamists, or emigrate to neighbouring countries, or simply die and leave this world,” one of them said. In Mogadishu, al-Shabab insurgents are said to move around the city freely – often in vehicles captured from the government. The government forces and troops from Ethiopia and the African Union are limited to the airport, port, presidential palace and a few military camps. Besides the central city of Baidoa, these are the only areas government forces now hold. When they attempt to move between these points, they are often ambushed by the Islamists. A few weeks ago, al-Shabab held a military parade in a former military camp in the capital, where they carried out a public flogging of two men sentenced by an Islamic court over a family dispute. The flogging took place in front of crowds of local residents, and was orchestrated to show just who is running the show. Death threats Al-Shabab insurgents have a countrywide organisation, threatening anyone they perceive to be supporting the government with text messages.

They are wrong if they committed a kidnap. They will have to be punished under Sharia law Hiiran’s al-Shabab Chairman Sheikh Ali Dheere

One human rights activist outside the capital told the BBC that he was ordered to close down his offices. He said he began receiving quite frequent threatening messages on his mobile. So he stopped using his phone. Eventually a relative brought him a stern message from al-Shabab. It said if he did not stop his work, he would be killed. As the government has lost ground over the last five months, the number of attacks on civil society activists, local non-governmental workers and international aid workers has increased. Some have been shot dead point-blank; others have been kidnapped and are still missing. Most suspect that those behind the attacks are al-Shabab insurgents, even if no-one dares say so publicly. In the central Hiiran region, where most towns have seen a presence of al-Shabab and the more moderate UIC since July, people have been more vocal in their complaints. ‘Not Islamic’ A former army engineer and political activist detailed examples of those targeted because of their association with Ethiopia or the West. “They have killed 17 civilians without reason or due process including two teachers and a well-known traditional elder, Da’ar Hirsi Hooshow,” the man, whose name is being withheld for his own safety, told the BBC. The teachers worked at a school that taught English and employed foreign staff. The shooting of Mr Hooshow, who was known to be holding talks with Ethiopian troops before he was shot dead on 10 October, prompted angry scenes in Beled Weyne. Town residents stoned al-Shabab centres believing them to be behind the killing. And while the UIC may share al-Shabab’s aim to see the Ethiopians leave the country, it has distanced itself from its former allies. On Monday, UIC authorities in Beled Weyne arrested nine al-Shabab members for allegedly kidnapping an official over the weekend “We didn’t ask them to do any operation at all,” Hiiran’s al-Shabab Chairman Sheikh Ali Dheere told the BBC. “They are wrong if they committed a kidnap. They will have to be punished under Sharia law,” he said. But many fear that law and order is not al-Shabab’s priority. “They are holding this region with the barrel of the gun, and it has nothing to do with Islam,” the Hiiran political activist said.

 

16-yr-old beaten to death in Vile Parle

Vile Parle: The Nadar family was still to come to term with the loss of one of their sons, Premkumar, who died in a bike accident only 27 days ago, when they received the news that their 16-year-old son was beaten to death by three men.

On Sunday night, Prabhukumar Nadar was sitting in his father’s garage in Vile Parle when he saw his elder brother Udaykumar, 21, fighting with three people.

As Prabhukumar tried to intervene, the trio allegedly started to rain blows at him and then fled from the spot.

He was rushed to VN Desai Hospital but was declared dead before admission, the police said.

The police arrested Dyaneshwar Nidankavi, 23, Shiveraj Aaleti, 26, and Venkatesh Kadmanshi, 24, on charges of murder and voluntarily causing hurt.

According to the police, Udaykumar, a mechanic, was on his way home after meeting a friend.

Around 10.30 pm, the three men, who were crossing the road, began to argue with him saying that he was not riding the vehicle properly and that was about to hit them.
When Prabhukumar spotted his elder brother involved in the argument, he immediately intervened.

“Though he was trying to stop the argument, the three men began hitting him hard. As he collapsed on the ground, the trio fled from the spot,” said S Kane, sub inspector at the Vile Parle police station.

According to the post mortem report, the victim died of several internal injuries in the abdomen and chest.

Police said that Prabhukumar was to appear for his SSC exams privately next year.