A suicide bomber killed up to 50 Afghans yesterday, including five MPs and several children, in one of the bloodiest incidents since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Reports of the total killed varied widely in the aftermath of the attack in Baghlan, 90 miles north of Kabul, when a bomber wearing explosives set them set off in the middle of a crowd gathered to welcome a parliamentary delegation to a sugar factory.
An interior ministry spokesman said that 28 people had died and 59 were injured. But the provincial security chief said a total of 50 bodies had been listed, and warned the figure could rise further.
– The Guardian
The EU unveiled a range of measures yesterday to combat terrorism, draft laws which would criminalise use of the internet to incite or recruit for acts of terrorism and compel airlines to supply information, to be stored for 13 years, on all air passengers flying into or out of the EU.
The proposals, likely to be in force across the EU within three years, could turn Europe into the most monitored space on the planet, according to civil rights campaigners.
– The Guardian
The YouTube website is facing calls to crack down on extremist videos promoting violence after it emerged it was being used to post footage of Islamic fighters with guns and rocket launchers.
Videos were available on the site which had been posted by the British group ASWJ, an off-shoot of al-Muhajiroun, an organisation once led by the radical preacher Omar Bakri and now banned in Britain.
The films are part of a growing wealth of extremist material being found on video-sharing sites and the internet which promote a radical agenda to young Muslim men.
– The Telegraph
The UK government has unveiled new security proposals but shied away from announcing any firm plans to extend the period terrorist suspects can be detained without charge.
Details of a new counter-terrorism law were given during the Queen’s Speech – the formal opening of the new legislative session – which came just a day after the head of the MI5 domestic intelligence agency warned of a growing number of Islamists in the country.
The proposed law would allow post-charge questioning of terrorism suspects, something currently only permissible in a criminal inquiry with the consent of the accused. The new rules would mean that negative inferences could be drawn in a trial from a refusal to answer questions. Other measures include setting up a counter-terrorism DNA database, making it easier for the police and intelligence services to share data, and tougher monitoring of terrorism offenders on their release from prison, with a possible ban on overseas travel.
– The Financial Times
