Gunfire at Yemen hospital, clashes in south

SANAA (Reuters) – An al Qaeda suspect tried to shoot his way out of hospital in Yemen's capital on Sunday and killed a guard, while security forces and separatists clashed in the south of the country with five wounded.

The suspected al Qaeda militant snatched a gun from one of two intelligence agents guarding his room and opened fire, a hospital administrator said. One of the agents was killed and the other wounded, a security official said.

... More gunmen opened fire at the hospital gate as the al Qaeda suspect tried to escape, the administrator added.

Terrorists Could Use Explosives in Breast Implants to Crash Planes, Experts Warn

Female homicide bombers are being fitted with exploding breast implants which are almost impossible to detect, British spies have reportedly discovered.

The shocking new Al Qaeda tactic involves radical doctors inserting the explosives in women's breasts during plastic surgery — making them "virtually impossible to detect by the usual airport scanning machines."

[...]

MI5 has also discovered that extremists are inserting the explosives into the buttocks of some male bombers.

Bin Laden threatens to kill Americans if Khalid Sheik Mohammed is executed

(Washington Post) Osama bin Laden has threatened that al-Qaeda will kill American captives if the United States executes self-avowed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed or other members of the terrorist network in U.S. custody.

U.S. officials dismissed the threat, saying it has long been clear that Americans captured by al-Qaeda cannot expect to live.

"It's the height of absurdity for anyone associated with al-Qaeda to even suggest that -- now, at long last -- they're going to start treating captives badly," said a U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record. "They may have forgotten Danny Pearl and all the others they've slaughtered, but we haven't."

Moscow metro station blasts kill at least 34

(Times) Two explosions ripped through the busy Moscow metro on Monday morning during rush hour killing at least 34 people and wounding dozens more.

An explosion apparently tore through one of the carriages as the train was coming into the station killing commuters onboard as well as people standing on the platform. Up to 17 people were reported wounded.

A second explosion at the busy Park Kultyry metro station located close to Moscow’s famous Gorky Park followed soon afterwards. Smolskaya said at least 12 were dead there.

Nine Christian Militia Members Charged With Seditious Conspiracy, Attempted Use Of WMD

Nine members of the Christian militia group Hutaree have been indicted on multiple charges involving an alleged plot to attack police, including seditious conspiracy and attempted use of weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. Attorney in Michigan announced this morning.

[...]

The Hutaree members allegedly "planned to kill an unidentified member of local law enforcement and then attack the law enforcement officers who gather in Michigan for the funeral."

The indictment continues: "According to the plan, the Hutaree would attack law enforcement vehicles during the funeral procession with Improvised Explosive Devices with Explosively Formed Projectiles, which, according to the indictment, constitute weapons of mass destruction."

At least 12 killed in suicide blasts in Russia

(Washington Post) MOSCOW -- Two suicide bombers, including one wearing a police uniform, killed at least a dozen people Wednesday in a coordinated attack in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, authorities said, just two days after a pair of female bombers struck the Moscow subway system and raised fears of a fresh wave of terrorism in the country.

... Officials said the first blast occurred as traffic police approached the bomber's car in the town of Kizlyar, near the Chechen border. As investigators and onlookers gathered, a second bomber wearing a police uniform pushed through the crowd and set off another explosion. Nine police officers were among the dead, including the town's police chief, authorities said.

Moscow bomber was teen widow: report

(CBC) A 17-year-old from Dagestan was one of two female suicide bombers who attacked Moscow's subway, Russian investigators said Friday. A leading newspaper called her the widow of a slain Islamist rebel.

... Female suicide bombers from the North Caucasus are referred to in Russia as "black widows" because many of them are the wives, or other relatives, of militants killed by security forces.

U.S. Consulate in Pakistan Is Attacked by Militants

(NYT) PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Militants mounted an assault against the United States Consulate in this northern Pakistani city on Monday, using a powerful bomb and rocket launchers in a multipronged attack, said a senior Pakistani intelligence officer.

Six people were killed outside the consulate and at least 20 were wounded, according to a senior government official. None of those killed were Americans.

The United States Embassy in Islamabad said that at least two Pakistani security guards employed by the consulate were killed in the attack, and that a number of others were seriously wounded. The embassy confirmed that the attack was coordinated, and said it involved “a vehicle suicide bomb and terrorists who were attempting to enter building using grenades and weapons fire.”

Air Marshals Stop Alleged 'Shoe Bomb' Attempt On United Jet to Denver

(ABC) Federal air marshals subdued a man who authorities say attempted to "light his shoes on fire" on a United flight from Washington Reagan to Denver Wednesday night, federal law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The suspect was identified by authorities as a diplomat in the Qatar embassy in Washington, Mohammed al Modadi. The FBI said the man had full diplomat immunity as the 3rd secretary and vice-consul.

Diplomat taken into custody after airliner disturbance

(CNN) ... The passenger was in a lavatory for a long time and may have been smoking, a U.S. official said. He also may have made an "unfortunate comment" referring to a shoe bomb when questioned on the plane, the official said.

Fran Townsend, a former homeland security official in President George W. Bush's administration, said that the person involved was a Qatar diplomat and that her sources said the incident may in fact have been a misunderstanding. She said law enforcement officials examined the man's shoes and were satisfied there were no explosives.

‘Very Lucky,’ Mayor Says, After Bomb

(NYT) A crude car bomb of propane, gasoline and fireworks was discovered in a smoking Nissan Pathfinder in the heart of Times Square on Saturday evening, prompting the evacuation of thousands of tourists and theatergoers on a warm and busy night. Although the device had apparently started to detonate, there was no explosion, and early on Sunday the authorities were still seeking a suspect and motive.

... Inside, they discovered three canisters of propane like those used for barbecue grills, two five-gallon cans of gasoline, consumer-grade fireworks — the apparent source of the “pops” — and two clocks with batteries, the mayor said. He said the device “looked amateurish.”

Who could be behind failed Times Square attack?

WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are investigating a thwarted car bombing in New York's famed Times Square where thousands of people gather each day and night to eat, drink and shop. As yet authorities have only described it as a potential act of terrorism and have not identified a suspect or motive.

 

Times Square bomb plot suspect arrested 'at last second'

New York (CNN) -- Authorities hunting for the suspect in the botched Times Square bombing dramatically beat the clock overnight, seizing a Pakistani-American citizen moments before he was set to begin a long trip to his strife-torn homeland.

Faisal Shahzad, 30, was arrested around 11:45 p.m. ET Monday at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, said Attorney General Eric Holder.

...Authorities focused on Shahzad when they traced evidence to him from the sale of the Nissan Pathfinder used in the failed attack -- information considered the linchpin of the case.

The Nissan Pathfinder had its vehicle identification number removed from the dashboard. Police climbed under the SUV and retrieved the VIN from the bottom of its engine block.

Maoists trigger train crash, 100 die

(Times of India) JHARGRAM: A gruesome act of sabotage, suspected to be the handiwork of Maoists, left more than 100 train passengers dead and 160 severely injured near Jhargram, West Midnapore, 150 km from Kolkata early on Friday. The 2102 up Mumbai-bound Jnaneswari Express derailed between Khemashuli and Sardiha stations at 1.15am and was rammed by a goods train racing down the next track, barely five minutes after its compartments had been hurled on to the other track.

... Maoists are said to have removed about 50 feet of pandrol clips - that fasten fishplates to the sleepers - from both tracks. One-and-half feet of the up-line track is missing at the point where compartment S3 had come to rest. While the railways alleged sabotage, the CRPF found a PCPA poster from the accident site which claimed responsibility for the act. DGP Bhupinder Singh said at the accident site that it was a Maoist act and that preliminary inquiries strongly support the suspicion. The state government will take stern action against the culprits, he said.

Cops look for buyer of enough fertilizer to make bomb

(Toronto Sun) TORONTO - Police sources confirm a man purchased 65 of the 25-kilo bags of ammonium nitrate on May 26 from the Vineland Growers shop in Lincoln, in southern Ontario.

... The man is missing two fingers on the right hand, police said.

A source said the loss of fingers could be from an industrial accident, it’s also common among people who experiment with explosives and had botched a blast.

Hunt continues for ammonium nitrate buyer

(CBC) Police in southern Ontario were asking for the public's help Wednesday as they continued to search for a man who bought 1,625 kilograms of ammonium nitrate, a chemical fertilizer that can be used as a key ingredient in bomb-making.

Investigators say the man may be a local farmer, and the United Farmers' Union says the amount of ammonium nitrate he purchased would not even fill a fertilizer spreader.

... The man is described as having a short, stocky build and is about 50 to 60 years old, possibly of European descent. He is missing fingers on his right hand and walks with a slight limp.

G20 security scare turns out to be a crock of fertilizer

(Toronto Life) Canada was on the brink of having its very own supervillain yesterday, as police appealed to the public in their search for an unidentified man who purchased a massive quantity of ammonium nitrate. The chemical is traditionally used as fertilizer but can also be used in the production of bombs, and in light of the impending G20, police weren’t taking any chances. The mystery man even had all the markings of a James Bond–worthy mastermind: missing fingers, limp, accent.

... By late Wednesday, the man had contacted police after his sketch appeared on news Web sites and on TV. It was concluded, in appropriate police lingo, that the fertilizer wasn’t purchased in relation to G20, but in relation to “a gardening incident,” as one officer told the Star, and that charges probably won’t be laid.