Taiwan has been in the sights of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist organization at least four times since August, the National Security Bureau (NSB) revealed yesterday.
"We have been notified of the possible threat through various channels. Loosely-guarded facilities like Taipei's Sungshan airport are likely targets," NSB deputy director Huang Lei (
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
Huang made the revelation at a meeting of the legislature's defense committee in response to a question from People First Party (PFP) lawmaker Lin Yu-fang (
Lin said he was happy that the NSB had confirmed the rumors about an al-Qaeda threat, but expressed concern about the military's ability to counter terrorist attacks.
Officials said the NSB had been notified of al-Qaeda's plans by countries that have intelligence exchange agreements with Taiwan. Israel is one of these countries, the officials said. The bureau did not comment on the military's ability to handle a possible threat.
Huang said the Sungshan airport was a likely target due to its lax security.
Although rumor has it that Taipei's new landmark, the Taipei 101 skyscraper, has been considered by al-Qaeda as a target for revenge attacks due to Taiwan's support for the US anti-terror campaign, Huang gave no hint whether this was the case.
Taiwan used to have several elite units dedicated to fighting terrorism, but these units have either been deactivated or greatly scaled down as part of the "Chingshih" personnel streamlining project between 1997 and 2000.
The units were small but highly combat-capable, and were attached to the army, military police and navy. Following the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the US more than two years ago, these once-forgotten special services units became useful once again in the eyes of military leaders.
Over the next few years these units will be restored to their original size, or even expanded.
The navy's special services unit is expected to be reinforced by a bomb disposal unit. The bomb disposal unit is an elite force modeled on a unit in the US navy.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS