Pentagon upgrading bomb to target Iran's underground facilities: report

Πηγή: Trend
Jan 29 2012

The Pentagon is seeking to upgrade its bunker-buster bomb to enable it to destroy Iran's most heavily fortified underground facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

The report, citing U.S. officials briefed on the plan, said Pentagon war planners have concluded that their largest conventional bomb, the 30,000-pound "bunker-buster" bomb, is not yet capable of accomplishing such a mission, Xinhua reported.

The bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), was specifically designed to take out the hardened fortifications built by Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to cloak their nuclear programs, the report said.

It said initial tests indicated that the bomb, as currently configured, would not be capable of destroying some of Iran's facilities, either because of their depth or because Tehran has added new fortifications to protect them.

"Doubts about the MOP's effectiveness prompted the Pentagon this month to secretly submit a request to Congress for funding to enhance the bomb's ability to penetrate deeper into rock, concrete and steel before exploding," the report said.

"The push to boost the power of the MOP is part of stepped-up contingency planning for a possible strike against Iran's nuclear program," the report noted.

It said the Pentagon, which has spent about 330 million U.S. dollars so far to develop about 20 of the bombs, is seeking about 82 million dollars more to make the bomb more effective.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was quoted as saying that more development work would be done and that he expected the bomb to be ready to take on the deepest bunkers soon.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Barack Obama vowed to use all options possible in stopping Iran's bid for a nuclear weapon, but did not rule out a peaceful resolution.

While seeking to curb Iran's nuclear program through crippling sanctions, the president has asked the Pentagon to come up with military options.

The United States has sought in recent weeks to tamp down tensions with Iran, which arose due to moves by the United States and the European Union to target Iran's oil exports, but the Pentagon is pushing ahead with its contingency planning, the Wall Street Journal report said.

Army Experts Defuse Bomb In Center Of Belfast

Πηγή: Officialwire
By AP
Oct. 1 2011

Police in Northern Ireland say a live bomb has been found in a busy part of Belfast.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland says the bomb was "capable of causing death or serious injury."

Homes and businesses were evacuated after the bomb was discovered late Friday in an area full of bars and restaurants.

Police said Saturday that the device was made safe by army bomb-disposal experts in a controlled explosion.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Irish Republican Army dissidents opposed to the province's peace process have attempted a number of recent bombings and shootings, though few have killed anyone. In April, dissidents killed a Catholic policeman with a booby-trap bomb under his car.

India high court blast in Delhi kills nine

Πηγή: BBC
7 September 2011

At least nine people have been killed and 45 injured in an explosion outside the high court in the Indian capital, Delhi, officials say.

The blast took place outside one of the main gates leading to the reception of the busy high court.

The explosion was caused by "at least a medium-intensity bomb", home ministry official UK Bansal said.

A minor blast happened outside the same court in June when a bomb exploded inside a car. There were no casualties.

The latest explosion occurred around 10:17 local time (04:47 GMT).

"The bomb was apparently placed in a briefcase next to the reception at one of the main gates of the court," Special Police Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar told reporters.

News channels showed ambulances taking away a number of people who appeared to be severely injured.

Kirti Uppal, an eyewitness, told the CNN-IBN news channel that the blast happened in front of a reception area which issues passes for entry into the court.

"It sounded like a very powerful explosion. There is panic everywhere. We have taken a lot of injured to the hospital," he said.

An unnamed lawyer outside the court said he heard a "deafening sound and saw a lot of smoke" when he was parking his car.

"There were a lot of people in a queue for passes at the gate. I saw blood on the road, I saw body parts," he said.

There is no word on who the authorities suspect may have been behind the bomb attack, but suspects may include home-grown militant outfits like the Indian Mujahideen (IM), who have been blamed for a number of blasts in the past.

In July, 26 people died in three explosions in the country's financial capital, Mumbai.

Hotel bomb kills 12 people in Pakistan

Authorities in Pakistan said dozens were killed when a suicide bomber attac...

Πηγή: Sifynews
2011-08-14 17:10:00



Quetta: A bomb attached to a timer ripped through a two-story hotel in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province Sunday, reducing the building to rubble and killing 12 people, police said.

The attack in the town of Dera Allah Yar also wounded 23 people, said Jawed Iqbal Gharshin, the police chief in surrounding Jafferabad district. Police have taken two people into custody who had tea in the hotel's restaurant and left just before the bomb went off, he said.

Dera Allah Yar is located some 220 miles (350 kilometers) east of the provincial capital of Quetta.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Baluchistan has experienced a decades-long insurgency by nationalists who want a greater share of the region's natural resources. The province, which is located next to Afghanistan, is also believed to be home to many Taliban militants.

Elsewhere in Baluchistan, two gunmen riding a motorcycle killed a local journalist in the city of Khuzdar, located some 170 miles (270 kilometers) from Quetta, said area police chief Qadir Shaikh. Munir Shakir was walking to his office in the main bazaar when he was attacked, he said.

Also Sunday, suspected militants fired rockets at a paramilitary base in northwestern Pakistan during an independence day ceremony, killing three soldiers and wounding 23 others, intelligence officials said.

Soldiers had just finished raising the Pakistani flag and were gathering for speeches when the rockets hit the base in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

North Waziristan is the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border. The militants often launch attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan.

The U.S. has repeatedly demanded that Pakistan launch an offensive against the militants in North Waziristan, but the government has refused, saying its forces are stretched too thin by operations in other parts of the tribal area.

Many analysts believe Pakistan is reluctant to target Afghan Taliban militants with whom it has historic ties and who could be useful allies in Afghanistan after foreign troops withdraw.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area is filled with Pakistani Taliban militants who have declared war against the state. In contrast, the Afghan Taliban have concentrated on fighting in Afghanistan.