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(CNN) -- A predawn, hourlong gun battle -- the latest volley in an escalating series of attacks on Mexican federal police by drug cartel hitmen -- left three cartel gunmen dead Sunday in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a federal police spokesman told CNN. Local reports said some of the suspected traffickers were carrying grenades. The gunfire could be heard by residents across the border in El Paso, Texas, local observers said. "We believe these attacks are in direct response to recent seizures by the federal police force," federal police spokesman Ramon Salinas told CNN. The gun battle Sunday pitted Ciudad Juarez...

Mutliple shootouts and grenade explosions throughout Reynosa left some residents trapped inside stores and prompted authorities to ask others to stay indoors. It all started around 8 p.m. Sunday but Reynosa city officials reported that the incidents ended around 9:30 p.m. Sunday. City officials were urging caution late Sunday night and had asked area residents to stay indoors because the violence was so widespread. Reynosa officials specifically asked residents avoid Bulevar Hidalgo between the Broncos Baseball Stadium to Avenida Mil Cumbres. Authorities also warned residents to avoid the area on the highway to Matamoros and Bulevar Colosio. Many residents reported...

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2010 – The Transportation Security Administration is reminding military members that explosives are not allowed on commercial flights. TSA spokesman Lauren Gaches said agency workers occasionally encounter servicemembers who have packed inert grenades or other prohibited items in their luggage, often as a keepsake from the battlefield. “The problem is, when you’re looking at that through an X-ray machine, you can’t tell the difference” as to whether it could explode, she said. Servicemembers traveling with prohibited items is not a common problem, but it can be disruptive, Gaches said. “From time to time, we see folks traveling...

A large cache of assault rifles, guns, grenades, ammunition and fake uniforms are off the streets south of the border in Matamoros. The Mexican Army reported seizing weapons, uniforms and police insignias at a home in the Colonia Solidaridad. Soldiers allegedly spotted an armed man outside the building prompting an investigation. The man fled out the backdoor but authorities found the following: 92 Assault rifles (mostly AK-47 and AR-15) 12 Handguns 151 Grenades 18 Fragmentation grenades 23 Gas grenades 5 Grenade launchers 8 Grenades for grenade launchers 2 Smoke grenades 580 rounds of ammunition 264 Artillery primers Ammunition cartridges 66...

REYNOSA — At least six people were killed amid a barrage of grenade blasts and gunfire in a residential neighborhood on the city’s southwest fringe early Monday morning, officials said. The bloody confrontation between Mexican army soldiers and an unidentified criminal group broke out about midnight Sunday, local officials confirmed. Three army soldiers and three civilians involved in the attack died during the shootout. Four soldiers suffered injuries, as well. Authorities detained about 10 people after the attack. A van loaded with marijuana was also reportedly seized by authorities. Officials said the attack involved a well-armed group that sprayed gunfire...

SAN ANTONIO – A man’s stated wish to protect others from three unexploded grenades caused tense moments at SAPD’s Northwest Police Substation. Around 7 a.m. Wednesday, a man came into the Prue Road substation saying he had a box of grenades in his vehicle he wished to get rid of. He said he had them for about ten years after getting them from his grandparents. Now he was concerned children could get access to them. Not taking any chances, officers called ordinance disposal experts and cordoned off the area. SAPD Sgt. Michael Oliva says the “bomb squad came out, decided,...

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - A Soldier successfully shoulder-fired a "smart" High Explosive Airburst, or HEAB round for the first time Aug. 11 from the XM-25 weapon system at Aberdeen Test Center, Md. The Army plans on purchasing more than 12,500 XM-25 systems starting in 2012, which will be enough to put one in each Infantry squad and Special Forces team, according to officials at Program Executive Office-Soldier. At first glance, the XM-25 looks like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. It features an array of sights, sensors and lasers housed in a Target Acquisition Fire Control unit on top, an...

Special Navy forces discovered weapons and ammunition on a cargo ship overnight Tuesday, after boarding the Francop some 100 nautical miles west of Israel flying an Antiguan flag. Defense officials said the 140-meter long Francop, captured near Cyprus, was carrying arms sent by Iran and destined for Syria and Hizbullah. More than 60 tons of weaponry were on board, in dozens of containers. The Francop carried hundreds of containers. A significant amount of 122 mm. Katyusha rockets, likely made in Iran, assault rifles, mortar shells and grenades were found on board. Israel Radio reported that advanced anti-aircraft platforms not before...

SAN JUAN — Federal authorities arrested a 38-year-old man on felony weapons charges at a house where investigators said he manufactured scores of grenades and performed occult ceremonies with human bones. Ruben Ambrosio Fonseca Jr. had his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Thursday after undercover agents posing as drug cartel members purchased 183 grenades from him that he allegedly manufactured at a San Juan house, law enforcement officials said. Federal agents and the San Juan police SWAT team raided the property Wednesday morning, finding weapons, firearms and a blood-stained altar alongside human and animal bones in the backyard....

"Somali jihadists forcing civilians to watch executions" SNIPPET: "Movies and television? No way. Executions? Bring the whole family -- or else! "Somalis 'made to view executions'," by Mary Harper for BBC News, October 25:" SNIPPET: "Hundreds of people in Somalia have been forced to watch Islamist militants executing two people accused of spying. People in Merca said al-Shabaab militia patrolled the town with loudspeakers, demanding they attend the executions. The militants also ordered schools to close for the day as they were keen for children to watch the two men being shot dead by a firing squad. Most of those...

REYNOSA — A clash between the Mexican army and about 60 assailants turned some this city’s streets into a battle zone for about an hour early Tuesday morning. The group fired shots at soldiers patrolling the Reynosa-Matamoros highway near Motel Dalí about 1:20 a.m., the Mexican Defense Ministry said in a news release issued Wednesday evening. The attackers rode inside about 20 newer-model trucks as they fired guns and hurled grenades at the military convoy. No injuries were reported by neighbors and passersby, though one soldier suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. It remains unknown whether any of the...

KISMAYO, Somalia (AFP) – No luxury cruise but a ticket to jihad was the prize for the winners of a team quiz organised by Somalia's insurgent Shebab group during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. "The reason the young men were rewarded with weapons is to encourage them to participate in the ongoing holy war against the enemies of Allah in Somalia," Sheikh Abdullahi Alhaq said at a ceremony late Friday. The radio-broadcast quiz organised by the Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab organisation in the southern Somali city of Kismayo lasted throughout Ramadan, which ended last month. Five neighbourhoods of the port city...

REYNOSA — Four men were killed during a confrontation between the Mexican military and a convoy of men armed with grenades and bazookas, according to Mexican media reports. The four killed apparently fought the military with grenades and bazookas, according to the Reforma news agency. Several people, including three federal police officers and a bystander, were reportedly injured. The standoff occurred about 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Aldama and Luis Echeverría, about four blocks south of the Rio Grande and west of Reynosa's downtown square, according to the Reforma report. The standoff occurred near the city's infamous Zona...

REYNOSA, Mexico - New details on a shooting in Reynosa we first told you about. The shooting happened at the Aquiles Serdan colonia in Reynosa. CHANNEL 5 NEWS has learned that shots rang out between a clash of civilians and the military. Main areas of the city were blocked off and bridges heading into the U.S. were blocked with mini buses completely paralyzing traffic. Reports say that 4 suspects were arrested in connection to the shooting, but during the arrests, a second truck arrived, opening fire on civilians and the military. Several grenades were also located in different streets around...

There has been suprisingly little reportage of the actual details of would-be shopping mall terrorist, Mr. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef's mindset and intentions. So as a public service, here the FBI agent's affidavit (pdf file) in easy to read format. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef STATE OF ILLINOIS)) COUNTY OF COOK)AFFIDAVIT1. I, Jared Ruddy, Federal Bureau of Investigation, being duly sworn, state as follows: I am a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) and have been so employed for more than two years. I am currently assigned to an FBI Counterterrorism squad as well as the...

March 7, 2007 — A former U.S. Navy sailor has been charged with allegedly passing military secrets about U.S. Navy movements through waters in the Middle East to al Qaeda-related Web sites during the spring of 2001, just months after the USS Cole was attacked in Yemen. Hassan Abujihaad, formerly known as Paul R. Hall, allegedly passed information about U.S. Navy warship movements in the Straits of Hormuz in April 2001 while he was a member of the Navy. The information passed along contained details about vulnerabilites of U.S. vessels — including susceptibility to small boat attacks by terrorists. Abujihaad...

PACHUCA, Mexico — A running battle between police and gunmen has left 12 people dead in this central Mexican city, officials said Friday. The dead included three police officers and nine gunmen, said Hidalgo state Attorney General Jose Alberto Rodriguez. Two state police officers and one city officer remained hospitalized Friday after suffering gunshot wounds in the attacks late Thursday on the outskirts of Pachuca. A state officer, who was also wounded, died Friday at the hospital. Hidalgo state police director Donanciano Millan said officers were acting on a tip that gunmen were in the area when they stopped four...

So it seems Mexican cartel weapons are making their way north to the U.S. From the AP via MSNBC: It was a scenario U.S. law enforcement had long feared: A fragmentation grenade from Mexico's bloody drug war tossed into a public place. The "public place"? A bar in south Texas. Where did the grenade come from? South Korea. How did the Mexicans get them? The United States and South Korea rank as the top two producers of the grenades seized in Mexico, according to the ATF. Here's the thing: The U.S. government adheres to very strict ITAR regulations for munitions...

REYNOSA — Soldiers seized 20 grenades and arrested one man as they patrolled the Mexican side of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge on Monday. The Mexican army encountered a Chevrolet Suburban registered in Tamaulipas on Monday. Inside the vehicle, soldiers foundh 20 hand grenades concealed within a roll of foam sponge, according to a statement from Mexico's secretary of national security. Soldiers arrested 21-year-old Roberto Gaspar Caballero of Reynosa. The military turned over Gaspar, the grenades and vehicle to the local police in Reynosa, according to the statement.

A military official says 15 gunmen and a soldier were killed in a two-hour shootout in the heart of Acapulco’s hotel zone. The army colonel ... says the gunmen opened fire with assault rifles and about 50 grenades on soldiers who arrived at the house. The soldiers found four Guerrero state police officers inside the house who said they were being held captive by the gunmen.