Taliban faction claims French gunman trained in Pakistan.

[Harry Potter]

Taliban faction claims French gunman trained in Pakistan.

A member of the French judiciary police inspects the balcony of the appartment where special forces police staged the assault on the gunman Mohamed Merah, in Toulouse March 23, 2012. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

By Saud Mehsud

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan | Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:37pm IST

(Reuters) - The al Qaeda-inspired gunman who killed seven people in France trained with the a faction of the Pakistan Taliban at a camp near the border with Afghanistan, a spokesman for the militant group said on Sunday.

"Mohamed Merah trained with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in North Waziristan," Ahmed Marwat, who identified himself as a spokesman for the TTP's Jandola faction, told Reuters.

"However, we do not have any information on the attacks in France. That is not linked to us."

There was no independent confirmation of Marwat's claim.

Merah was killed on Thursday in a gun battle with police after he killed three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three soldiers in three separate attacks.

The head of the French domestic intelligence agency has said there is was no evidence Merah belonged to any radical Islamist network.

Investigators are still trying to establish whether Merah had any logistical or ideological support or if he acted alone.

Foreign militants have often found refuge with the TTP, formed in 2007 as an umbrella group of various Pakistani militant factions operating in Pakistan's unruly northwestern tribal areas along the porous border with Afghanistan.

Two senior TTP commanders told Reuters that over 80 French nationals are present in North Waziristan, and are members of a largely foreign group of militants called the Jihad-e-Islami. Pledging allegiance to al Qaeda, they work closely with the TTP.

The Pakistan Taliban have long struggled with their choice of targets. Some factions are at war with the Pakistani state while others concentrate on the fight against the United States and its allies in Afghanistan.

Several offensives by the Pakistani military in the tribal areas have failed to eliminate the TTP and its affiliates. Clashes between soldiers and militants are frequent.

In the town of Wana in South Waziristan, 15 militants were killed and 4 soldiers killed in a skirmish on Saturday between Taliban fighters and the military, intelligence officials said on Sunday.

(Additional reporting by Hafiz Wazir in WANA; Writing by Qasim Nauman; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

Taliban faction claims French gunman trained in Pakistan | Reuters

 

[RazPaK]

Two senior TTP commanders told Reuters that over 80 French nationals are present in North Waziristan, and are members of a largely foreign group of militants called the Jihad-e-Islami. Pledging allegiance to al Qaeda, they work closely with the TTP.

This should raise a red flag immediately. The TTP are an extension of Western spy agencies. I mean honestly, Reuters can find them while the PA cannot.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

Pakistan basically a pit stop for every wannabe terrorist and terrorist.

 

[nalandapride]

Pakistan need to control spread of extremism in their land.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

Actually government should start monitoring People who go to Pakistan and come back to the USA or Europe
Arabs, Chechens, Uighus, Uzbeks, turks go to pakistan for training and shelter.

 

[itsme]

Pakistan need to control spread of extremism in their land.

how would they? we r the ones who are actually sponcering bLA.

 

[Rusty]

You forgot people from USA. Pakistan is also a pit stop for cia operatives, we should be monitoring any white guy who enters pakistan.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

how would they? we r the ones who are actually sponcering bLA.

BLA doesn't need support from India when they get weapons off the black market but also Pakistan gun culture has played a factor in their weaponry.

You forgot people from USA. Pakistan is also a pit stop for cia operatives, we should be monitoring any white guy who enters pakistan.

That works well both sides should play their part.

The Indonesian Bomb Maker was found in Pakistan, including Uighur militants from pakistan coming into china but no one wants to talk about it.

 

[illusion8]

TERRORIST TOURISM A.K.A. TRAINING HOT SPOTS

Countries with large terrorist presence

Terrorists have long found refuge in countries and in many cases worked hand in hand with the local governments. Today several countries continue to attract terrorists for training and conspiring their attacks. The host countries do not try to disassociate themselves fully from their ties to terrorism and in some cases continue to provide tacit support and use terror to accomplish broader objectives. Some of the countries with significant terrorist operations include:


Afghanistan
Afghanistan became the hotbed of Islamic terror activities in the mid-1990s. With the radical Taliban government establishing control, several radical Islamic (mostly Sunni) terror organizations used Afghanistan as their training and operational base. Al Qaeda was the broad umbrella organization that recruited terrorists from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia and around the world, training them in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some of the terrosist groups still operating in the region include Al Qaeda, Al-Jihad, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Islamic Group, Armed Islamic Group, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Iran
Iran has long been an active sponsor of Islamic terrorism, including accusations of it supporting subversive activities in Iraq. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence and Security were involved in the planning of and support for terrorist acts and continued to exhort a variety of groups that use terrorism to pursue their goals. Several terrorist groups including Lebanese Hizballah, HAMAS, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and Ahmad Jibril's PFLP-GC have been provided funding, safehaven, training, and weapons in Iran.

Iraq
Since the US led invasion of Iraq, the country has fallen into a violent spiral. The presence of US troops has attracted Islamic terrorists from the Middle-East and around the world. Al-Qaeda is believed to have established a toe-hold in the country along with various splinter groups. Some of the other terror organizations active in Iraq include Ansar al-Islam, Al-Faruq Brigades, Al-Mahdi Army, Iraqi Resistance Islamic Front (JAMI), Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad, Jaysh Muhammad and Kurdistan People’s Congress (KHK).

Pakistan
Pakistan has long been a staging ground and planning centre for Islamic terrorists operating in South Asia. After the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom, thousands of terrorists were either killed or driven out of Afghansistan, mostly finding refuge in Pakistan. Pakistan and its secret service (ISI) have also been accused of training and funding several terrorist groups operating in Indian Kashmir. The links have long been clear, since the the terrorist groups based in Pakistan operate in plain sight and have a distinct Afghan and Indian focus. The massive leak of U.S. Intelligence data on the Wikileaks website further showed the complicity of the Pakistani state with terrorist groups, used to establish a (false) state of deniability.

Groups aligned with Al Qaeda and based in Pakistan have been responsbile for numerous terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and have expanded their sights to Europe and North America. Some of these terror groups include Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Al Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Jaferia, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Al Badr, Harkat ul-Ansar, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, Jamaat ul-Fuqra and Muslim United Army.

Syria
Even as Syria continues to reduce its presence in Lebanaon, it also continues to fund and host Palestinian and possibly Iraqi terrorist organizations. HAMAS, the PIJ, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine continue to operate from Syria.

Sudan
The African country of Sudan been a training hub and safe haven for members of several of the more violent international terrorist and radical Islamic groups of the last decade. Among the terror groups known to have operated from Sudan are Hezbollah (Party of God), Palestine Islamic Jihad, Abu Nidal Organization, HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) and several smaller Islamic insurgent groups operating regionally in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, and Tunisia.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

Uzbeks trained in Pakistan then return to fight Uzbekistan
Uighurs trained in pakistan then return to fight China
Chechens trained in pakistan then return to fight Russia
Jundallah trained in pakistan then return to fight Iran
I can keep going on and on however, Arabs, Chechens, Uighus, Uzbeks, turks.
regional solution needs to be found otherwise pakistan is literally going to spread it around the region. Or at least Electric Fences and Land Mines.

 

[itsme]

Uzbeks trained in Pakistan then return to fight Uzbekistan
Uighurs trained in pakistan then return to fight China
Chechens trained in pakistan then return to fight Russia
Jundallah trained in pakistan then return to fight Iran
I can keep going on and on however, regional solution needs to be found.

i wonder of terrorists are given some scholorships by gop based on their past activities. they r like the harward of world terrorism

 

[RazPaK]

i wonder of terrorists are given some scholorships by gop based on their past activities. they r like the harward of world terrorism

Don't make stupid remarks.

@ topic
Too bad the Afghans can't make up their minds and let us fence the border. It would solve 99% of the problem.

 

[NeutralCitizen]

i wonder of terrorists are given some scholorships by gop based on their past activities. they r like the harward of world terrorism

China, Iran, need to start building Electric Fences and Mine the border, even Drones. it could get to the level where every country around pakistan starts to seal it borders and leaves pakistan sealed off.

 

[RazPaK]

^ the troller is back to get banned again. lulz

 

[nalandapride]

how would they? we r the ones who are actually sponcering bLA.

Extremism in Pakistan comes with four things closely entangled together:- "Hate India, Hate America, Hate Israel and Hate Shias".

And it is impossible to find an extremist in Pakistan missing any one of the four ingredients of hatred. I was watching a video which was showing relations of Difa-e-Pakistan/JUD with anti-Shia terrorist group.