September 20, 2009
By Timothy R. Homan Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested three men from Afghanistan on charges of making false statements in connection with a terrorist investigation, according to the Department of Justice. Federal authorities in Colorado arrested Najibullah Zazi, 24, and his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53, the Justice Department said in an e-mailed statement. The third man, Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, was apprehended in New York. “The arrests are part of an ongoing and fast-paced investigation,” David Kris , assistant attorney general for national security, said in the statement. “It is important to note that we have no specific information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack.” All three men are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow and each faces as many as eight years in prison if convicted, the statement said. The FBI is investigating other individuals in the U.S., Pakistan and elsewhere relating to a plot “to detonate improvised explosive devices” in the U.S., the Justice Department said. The younger Zazi was found to have a cell phone video of Grand Central Terminal in New York City, according to the New York Daily News, citing unidentified sources. The city subway system and regional commuter trains go through the terminal, which is in midtown Manhattan at Park Avenue and East 42nd Street. Najibullah Zazi and his father are both residents of Aurora, Colorado, while Afzali resides in Flushing, New York, according to government documents. To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at thoman1@bloomberg.net
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August 7, 2009
By Gregory Viscusi Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) — Three British soldiers serving with NATO were killed in Afghanistan when their patrol was targeted by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire, bringing the alliance’s death toll so far this month to 18. The service members died yesterday in the south of the country, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said in a statement today. A spokeswoman at the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence said they were British. The alliance previously announced the killing of four U.S. service members yesterday in a roadside bombing in western Afghanistan. In July, 75 foreign troops died in Afghanistan, the deadliest month since they arrived in 2001. The violence is expected to continue as militants seek to disrupt the country’s Aug. 20 election. U.S. and British forces have suffered the heaviest casualties as a result of an offensive in the south of the country, though the Canadian, French, Italian and Australian contingents also have lost soldiers since the start of July. Yesterday’s deaths bring to 195 the number of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001, according to the Ministry of Defence. U.S. deaths in connection with operations in Afghanistan stood at 763 as of 10 a.m. Washington time yesterday, according to the Defense Department Web site. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen , who took office this month, said during a visit to Kabul this week that foreign troops will stay in the country “as long as it takes to finish our job.†To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Paris at gviscusi@bloomberg.net .
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