Tag Archives: Terrorism

London Update II

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Der Spiegel is reporting that a group of radical islamists is claiming responsibility:

A group calling itself “Secret Organization ? al-Qaida in Europe” has posted a claim of responsibility for the series of blasts in London, a German magazine reported Thursday.

Der Spiegel magazine reported that the group posted its message on a Web site popular with Islamic militants, which it did not name. It said the group claimed the explosions were in retaliation for Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Update (by Nick at 1pm): Just to let folks know that myself and Matt Turner are fine, and it seems so far that various London bloggers have avoided being caught up in it. Until last week, I had to travel through Liverpool Street station on a regular basis, and Matt normally passes through Edgware Road station every day.

Update 14:15 UK time.

Associated Press Cairo office continue the story, elaborating a bit more. The caim contains details worthy of note insofar as it mentions Iraq *and* Afghanistan (Qaeda and Taliban activity seems to have been increasing of late) and secondly it directly threatens Denmark and Italy. The second source citing this may be more significant than Der Spiegel since it is Elaph, a secular Arab-language news website. Elaph suggests that the site were the claim was posted is one typically used by islamic militants. Of course this confirms nothing. It is simply one possible lead, the only one we have to date.

London Update

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Just following on from David, there is in fact a lot of blog activity. Tim Worstall is live blogging. John – shot from both sides – had to walk to work, Alex, the Yorskshire ranter can see things from his office window, Perfect.co.uk is also following things closely etc, etc.

As I said in comments, there seem to have been six bombs, five in tube stations and one on a bus. The Police are saying that incidents were reported at the Aldgate station near the Liverpool Street railway terminal, Edgware Road and King’s Cross in north London, Old Street in the financial district, Tavistock Square, and the bus in Russell Square in central London, near the British Museum.

Blair has said he is going down to London in the afternoon, but that the Gleneagles meeting will continue. The atmosphere will obviously be one of solidarity. This is aimed at the UK, but it is also a symbolic message to the entire G8.

There is no serious speculation yet about who this might be. This piece by Reuter’s security correspondant Mark Trevelyan is a reasonable rundown on the things which immediately appear to stand out.

Financial markets have, understandably, taken it badly, although I don’t imagine this will prove to be long lasting.

The UK authorities are understandably being very careful about handling information about casualties. They don’t want panic, and they don’t want useless speculation.

They also want to be able to inform as many next of kin as possible before releasing data, which I think is admirable.

The total number of dead, mercifully, may not be very large. There are though a considerable number of very seriously wounded.

Updated 13:00 UK time

Neil Mackintosh at the Guardian Blog reports that:

“A packed House of Commons is hearing a statement from Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary. He expresses sympathy to friends and family of those who had died, and says four explosions are confirmed. One on a tube train between Aldgate and Liverpool Street, one on a bus, one in the tube at King?s Cross. Tube.

The underground will remain closed for today at least. There are no buses operating in central London, with decision to reopen to be made later today. People are strongly advised not to travel into central London, with many mainline train companies cancelling services or terminating before the capital.”

Updated 13:30 UK Time
The number of actual explosions seems to have been confirmed at 4. This does not mean there were no more devices which did not go off.

Britain’s Home Secretary Charles Clarke said there were three explosions in the subway and one on a bus. “We do not know who or what organizations are responsible for these terrible criminal acts,” Clarke said.

A summary of the impact of the explosions can be found here.

Explosions in London, suspected terror attacks

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Many people were hurt today in a “major incident” on London transport as suspected terrorist attacks caused multiple explosions on tube trains and buses and plunged London’s transport network into chaos.

There’s still a lot of confusion, and little information.
The Guardian Newsblog and Europhobia are liveblogging.

British Transport police initially said power surges had caused explosions, but now people say it’s likely terrorism.

Officials shut down the whole of the London Underground system and cancelled all central London bus services as they tried to comprehend the scale of the disaster. All London hospitals are on major incident alert.

An explosion ripped apart a double-decker bus near Russell Square. Union officials said they had received reports of two more bus explosions, but details were not immediately available.

Laura Matthews, a press officer at Universities UK, which has offices in Tavistock Square, said there were bodies lying around the bus explosion, some of them without arms or legs. “Get people down here quickly,” she sobbed. She thought a bomb had gone off and was trying to evacuate her office.

There were unconfirmed reports that a number of people on the bus had died

London explosions ‘mirror Madrid bombings’ says terror experts, but at this early stage, I’m sceptical anyone really knows what they’re talking about.

16 Al Qaeda Arrests in Spain

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This news needs careful watching:

Spanish police arrested 16 suspected Islamist militants on Wednesday, including followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and men preparing to become suicide bombers in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said. t was the second European swoop in two days against suspected backers of the Iraqi insurgency, following Germany’s arrest of three Iraqis on Tuesday.

Eleven of the suspects in Spain were followers of Zarqawi, al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said.

“Many of them expressed their will to become martyrs for Islam, demonstrating they are extremely radical and dangerous,” the ministry said in a statement.

Assuming that this information is well founded (that they are followers of Zarqawi , and they are potential suicide terrorists – we do in the end need a judge to confirm this) the situation is preoccupying. This article doesn’t have the story entirely straight, according to the TV news the people arrested are mainly logistical in the sense that they are fund-raisers and recruiters who send potential suicide bombers to Zarqawi in Iraq. In addition some of the people seem to have been part of the 11 March network.

This news will suit the propaganda angle of neither of the main political parties here in Spain (PP and PSOE). PP are still in denial over the importance of 11 March, and principally occupy themselves with trying to find an Eta connection, whilst the PSOE had placed some hope on the idea that a withdrawal of the troops from Iraq would get Spain out of the middle of something. For geographical and historic reasons this is likely to prove impossible.

Car Bomb In Madrid

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“A car bomb exploded in the Spanish capital on Wednesday, injuring three people, 45 minutes after a Basque newspaper received a warning in the name of Basque separatist group ETA, police said.”
Reuters One Hour Ago

Thankfully no-one was killed. On this occassion there seems little doubt who was responsible. This bombing follows recent controversial moves by Spanish president Zapatero to open a peace process. At the time of writing the linked post I was optimistic. Despite what has happened today I remain so. Eta is not to be trusted, and it is important to keep this in mind all the time. My ‘off the top of my head’ analysis: negotiations about the conditions for holding negotiations are in process, both sides are trying to exert pressure, the Spanish government is demanding a permanent truce from Eta, Eta is demanding a concentration of prisoners in the Basque region, and so things continue.

Spain: Is An End To Eta Imminent?

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“The insurgents in Iraq are very violent, but you defeat them not just through military effort,” Ms. Rice told reporters traveling with her on Sunday. “You defeat them by having a political alternative that is strong.” Now, she added, Iraqi leaders are “going to have to intensify their efforts to demonstrate that in fact the political process is the answer for the Iraqi people.”

These words from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, which are extremely welcome as the daily death toll in Iraq only continues to emphasise the need to break the spiral, also has a resonance somewhere nearer home: in Spain, where tomorrow the Spanish parliament are to debate a motion which may be a major step in bring the epoch of ETA inspired violence to an end.

But not everyone is happy.
Continue reading →

Whew

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Earlier this month, we noted that the end of the Orthodox mourning period for the victims in Beslan might bring rapid reprisals for the attack. Hasn’t happened.

This is not to say that there won’t ever be reprisals, just that the worst fears have proved unfounded. And frankly, the North Caucasus can use all the good news it can get.

Keep an Eye on the North Caucasus

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The forty-day period of mourning traditionally observed there is coming to an end for the families of people killed in Beslan. When I was in Russia (far, far from the scene of the crime, I hasten to add), I heard numerous predictions that revenge would be taken shortly after the mourning period ended. That’d be soon.

Peter Baker’s story in the Washington Post is very good.