Wulfmar wrote:

Can't help but think of this video clip each time I see these idiots running around in their black pyjamas

 loki old fart wrote:

 Wulfmar wrote:

Can't help but think of this video clip each time I see these idiots running around in their black pyjamas

Nothing funny about these guys.

Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN)Attackers struck in the middle of the day Thursday, in the middle of a busy central Jakarta commercial hub -- killing at least two, wounding 19 and raising alarms about terrorism once more, this time in the world's most populous Muslim country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rattle of shots and explosions from at least five attackers. But police believe that they were linked to ISIS, and the Islamic State-affiliated Aamaq News Agency reported people from that terror group were behind the bloodshed.

The Jakarta carnage, in an area frequented by foreigners, came 6,000 miles from and two days after ISIS boasted about a suicide bombing in the heart of Istanbul. That attack in Sultanahmet Square, between the popular Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque tourist attractions, killed 10 German visitors.

CNN security analyst Bob Baer likened the Jakarta attack to the November 13 Paris massacre in which terrorists linked to ISIS struck several locations at the same time. Yet the number of dead was nowhere near the toll of 130 in France, with Clarke Jones, a counterterrorism expert at Australian National University, calling it "fairly amateurish ... with hand grenades and firearms."

Another expert, Sajjan Gohel of the Asia-Pacific Foundation think tank, said it was particularly worrisome that this happened in the capital of Indonesia.

It was the first major attack in Jakarta since the 2009 simultaneous attacks on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels, which left seven people dead. Since then, the secular government has made major inroads beating back terror groups in an Asian nation where about 87% of its roughly 255 million people are Muslim.

"It's concerning (to have) yet one more day and another attack in another part of the world," Gohel told CNN. "And one fears that this is potentially becoming the new normal where ISIS affiliates carry out attacks independently from the leadership based in Syria."

Who could be behind the Jakarta bombings?

'We were so scared'
It began around 10:55 a.m. Thursday (10:55 p.m. ET Wednesday) with a suicide explosion inside a Starbucks on Thamrin Street, an entertainment and shopping district with various Western chain restaurants and stores.

Video ledakan di parkiran starbucks Sarinah #BreakingNews #ledakansarinah pic.twitter.com/Q6nbIS2bTl

— Robert Harianto (@robetbet) January 14, 2016
That set in motion two others outside the coffee shop to seize two foreigners, eventually dragging them into a parking lot and shooting them, said Jakarta police spokesman Anton Charliyan. They also opened fire at people on the street.

Heavily armed police soon swarmed the scene, firing on the militants and looking for other attackers.

The attackers responded by firing back and tossing two grenades at the officers, according to Charliyan. Minutes later, two more rode a motorcycle toward a nearby police post and blew themselves up.

Christian Hubel told CNN that he and his colleagues heard five or six explosions, one after the other. And Handi Kurniawan, who watched everything unfold from his office 20 floors above, called the ordeal "horrible."

"We were so scared," Kurniawan told CNN. "We just could not believe that this kind of thing (could) happen again in Jakarta."

Dutch national among 19 wounded
The blasts and gunshots stopped by Thursday afternoon. And by nighttime, authorities were no longer hunting for attackers -- though they are looking for those who helped them in plotting, financing and getting weaponry, according to Charliyan, the police spokesman.

By then, police had already counted five assailants dead at the scene. There was conflicting information about the victims, with some officials putting the number of dead as high as six.

Charliyan said it's believed the attackers were affiliated with ISIS and were targeting police and foreigners -- the latter also being a presumed motive in the Istanbul attack and the 2009 Jakarta blast.

At least one foreign national is among the dead, authorities said. Charliyan said 19 people, including at least one more foreigner, were wounded.

Angele Samura, the security adviser for the Netherlands Embassy in Jakarta, said a Dutch national underwent surgery after being "severely injured." It's not known if this is the same Dutch citizen and U.N. Environment Programme worker who that agency reported was hurt.

A new explosion was heard around 9 p.m. from the top of a building near where the other attacks occurred 10 hours earlier. But details were not immediately clear -- including whether it was a controlled blast, if anyone was hurt or killed or how it was set off.

Worries about ISIS fighters returning home
Jeremy Douglas, who works in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in the area, said the location suggests if the terrorists "wanted to make an impact and get visibility ... this is the place to do it."

"You couldn't get much more central in Jakarta if you tried," Douglas said. "It's basically right smack dab in the central business area."

In recent weeks, Indonesian police have been on high alert, while military operations focus on hitting the East Indonesian Mujahadeen, helmed by Indonesia's most-wanted terrorist, Santoso, who has pledged support for ISIS.

One major worry is that Indonesians fighting in Syria and Iraq will return home, having gained training and combat experience.

Yet many in the country acted more defiant than anything in the aftermath of Thursday's attacks. Many went on Facebook and Twitter using #KamiTidakTakut -- which translates to "We are not afraid" -- to express their pride and conviction to stand up, rather than bow down, to terrorism.

We are Indonesians & we never affraid to terrorist.We always fight anything that wanna take us down. #KamiTidakTakut pic.twitter.com/ZZTuKwLMBB

— Frandy W S Sahureka (@frandysahureka) January 14, 2016
"We are Indonesians & we never affraid to terrorist," one man wrote. "We always fight anything that wanna take us down."

This sentiment was echoed by President Joko Widodo.

"We should not be afraid and defeated by acts of terror like this," he said.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
=The terrorists in Jakarta seem really amateurish though. 7 people killed, 5 of them terrorists? Not really an effective attack, if you ask me.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the United States and Turkey were prepared for a military solution against Islamic State in Syria should the Syrian government and rebels fail to reach a political settlement.

Under a deal with Kurdish group, activists say US will use airfield to support fighters against ISIL in northern Syria.

 LordofHats wrote:
And to be fair, Iran and Hazbollah have more than played a role in the continued propping up of the Assad government. It's not a 'Thanks Putin' kind of situation

 LordofHats wrote:
Especially given the significance of Assad's continued rule, we can't very well ignore the other parties involved.

 BaronIveagh wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
Especially given the significance of Assad's continued rule, we can't very well ignore the other parties involved.

Personally, I'm highly surprised Assad himself hasn't suffered an 'accident' yet.

 Co'tor Shas wrote:
Eh, I'm not sure a bullet falling on you head would do that much damage. It would hurt like hell, but it wouldn't kill you.

bound for glory wrote:
When i was afghanistan(khunar prov.), 2 Latvian paras were grabbed one night while they were sitting at a listening post.God only knows how they let that happen, as the Lats are excellent soldiers.
Anyway, the poor bastards were found a few days later.In pieces. But some Afghany with a bit of humanity told our CO that the killers were "outsiders"(what the locals called foriegn fighters).
The Latvians go ape gak and after much hunting and not a little money changing hands(really), the found the house that these guys were holed up in.
They got them. turns out they were Chechen's.
The CO of the Lats told our CO that "we took care of them".

 Iron_Captain wrote:

Only good way to deal with Chechen extremist scum, they are a particularly nasty kind of terrorist.

Teenager Sevdet Besim allegedly planned to target police with explosive kangaroo



A Melbourne teenager allegedly discussed packing a kangaroo with explosives, painting it with an Islamic State symbol and setting it loose on police officers.

Sevdet Ramadan Besim, 19, of Hallam, is accused of plotting an Anzac Day terror attack in Melbourne that would have included a beheading.

He was committed to trial in the Supreme Court on Thursday after pleading not guilty to four charges.



They included conducting internet searches of Anzac Day in Melbourne and Dandenong, engaging in communications and creating an electronic memo on his phone - all in preparation for a terrorist act.

Mr Besim initially faced five charges, but Commonwealth prosecutor Andrew Doyle withdrew one when Mr Besim appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Mr Besim is accused of planning to run over, then behead, a police officer.

Federal police allege Mr Besim and a person overseas had been in a series of communications in the lead-up to the alleged plot for Anzac Day.

Mr Besim allegedly said he was "ready to fight these dogs on there [sic] doorstep" in online communications with the person overseas, according to court documents.

"I'd love to take out some cops," Mr Besim is alleged to have said.

"I was gonna meet with them then take some heads ahaha."



In a prosecution summary against Mr Besim tendered to court, police allege the pair spoke on March 16 last year, during which they discussed packing a kangaroo with explosives and letting it loose on police.

"The conversation continues with Besim detailing what he did that day and they have a general discussion around animals and wildlife in Australia, including a suggestion that a kangaroo could be packed with C4 explosive, painted with the IS symbol and let loose on police officers," the summary says.

While police did not go into details of the symbol, the image mostly closely linked to IS is the group's black flag. The reference to the kangaroo makes no mention of Anzac Day.
Mr Besim has been in custody since April 18 when 200 heavily armed officers swooped on the city's south-east, arresting five teenagers and seizing knives and swords.
Police say he is motivated by an extremist ideology and has expressed support for proscribed terrorist organisations, particularly IS, which adopt a radical interpretation of Islam.
The dropped charge was one count of conspiring to do an act in preparation for or planning a terror act, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Mr Besim is due to face a directions hearing next week.

(CNN)[Breaking news, published at 12:38 p.m ET]

French police have arrested a woman who was accompanying an armed man detained at a Disneyland Paris hotel, police said.

Police are handling the case as a criminal investigation, and the Paris prosecutor's counter-terrorism department so far is not involved, said Michel Le Prevost of police in the city of Meaux.

Bomb disposal experts are inspecting the man's car, Le Provost said.

[Original story, published at 12:13 p.m. ET]

A man with two firearms and ammunition was arrested Thursday at the entrance to a hotel near Disneyland Paris, police said.

The 28-year-old Paris resident was arrested as he tried to go through security at Disney's Hotel New York, said Michel Le Prevost, deputy chief of criminal police of the city of Meaux.

The man was also carrying a Quran, Le Prevost said. The man, who was being questioned by police after the arrest, was not known by police or intelligence services, Le Provost said.

Little is known about the suspect. One police source told the AFP agency the investigation did not point to terrorism, and that the man said he was carrying the weapons for self-protection.