Chibok Community Seeks United Nations’ Support, Implores FG To Negotiate With Sect

Members of the Chibok community have appealed for the support of the United Nations in tackling the spate of insecurity in their community.

Speaking at a news conference in Abuja, the National Chairman of Kibaku Area Development Association, Dr Pogu Bitrus, said that the appeal to the international organisation became necessary going by total neglect by the Federal Government in providing adequate security to the community after over 200 girls were abducted.

“The inability or unwillingness of the Federal Government to provide adequate security to the Chibok community following the abduction of the girls leaves us with no option than to call on the United Nations to use its apparatus to come to our aid and protect us from the imminent annihilation as a people”, he said

Dr Pogu said that 81 days after the abduction, seven parents of the abducted girls had died, while over 229 persons have been killed after the attack on Government Girls Secondary School Chibok.

To prevent further attacks on their community and the north eastern part of the country, the group has also called for a negotiation between the Federal Government and members of the Islamic sect.

Courtesy:
Channels TV

Boko Haram: 10 Safety Measures During and After Bomb Attacks - TIEMS

The Chairman of the International Emergency Management Society TIEMS) Nigeria/West Africa Chapter, retired Air Vice Marshall Muhammed Audu-Bida has advocated proactive approaches and basic knowledge on security and safety consciousness against bomb explosion.

His recommendations include:

While attack is on:

1. Be calm. You are the only one who can help yourself.
2. Lay flat. Most explosives used by suicide bombers are designed to burst in a flower bouquet pattern to throw the shrapnel horizontally between two and six feet above the ground. This pattern increases the chances of hitting the human torso and head by a shrapnel. Therefore, the best place to be in an event of an explosion is to lay flat on the ground.
3. Keep your mouth open and breathe in small intervals. The most lethal aspect in an explosion is not shrapnel or heat, it is the blast overpressure. The blast wave travels at supersonic velocity and severely affects the air-filled organs like lungs, kidneys, and bowels. We naturally tend to take a deep breath and hold it in emergencies. However, this proves lethal in a bombing situation, since our lungs become like a pressurised balloon to be ruptured by the blast wave. The majority of victims in a typical suicide bombing die from internal bleeding in the lungs. Only 6% on average die from shrapnel wounds. Your chances of injury with empty lungs are far smaller compared to holding your breath.
4. If things are falling around you, crawl under a sturdy table or a solid object, and remain there for at least one minute.
5. Be as far as possible from glass or fixtures, like windows, mirrors, cabinets, and electrical equipments.
6. Adhere to instructions from security and responders personnel. If an evacuation is ordered, leave the building as soon as you can.
7. Remember to assist the disabled around.
8. Do not move seriously injured persons unless they are in obvious, immediate danger, such as a building collapse or fire.
9. Once out, keep as far away from the building as possible.
10. Reduce your lateral profile – while laying on the ground, try to lay on one side and use your arms to protect the exposed eye.

Under the debris:

1. Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.
2. Tap over and over on a pipe or wall so that rescuers can hear where you are.
3. Preserve your energy. Shout only if there is no other choice. You inhale enormous amount of dust when yelling.
4. Stay calm and think of things that relax you and make you happy.
5. Avoid unnecessary movement so you don’t kick up dust.
6. If possible, use a whistle to signal rescuers.

After the attack:

1. One event can be followed by another, so do not rush towards the blast scene.
2. Duck and cover.
3. Leave the building as quickly as possible. Do not stop to retrieve personal possessions or make phone calls.
4. Open doors carefully; watch for falling objects.
5. Avoid using telephones, mobile phones and hand radios. Electrical sparks or signals could trigger other bombs.
6. Move away from side-walks or streets to be used by emergency officials or others still exiting the building.
7. If you or others have life-threatening injuries, such as severe bleeding, difficulty breathing, chest pain or burns, provide or seek first aid and get help from officials or others at the scene.
8. If you or someone else has minor injuries, seek first aid as a first step until those more severely injured can be cared for first. If possible, go to a hospital that is not in the immediate area of the blast. Hospitals closest to the blast(s) will quickly become crowded.
9. Listen to emergency officials at the scene. If no one is near you to give instructions and you are in the immediate area of the blast(s), leave as soon as you can.
10. To keep safe, move away from the area. Avoid crowds, unattended cars and trucks, public transportation, and damaged buildings.

Courtesy:
Daily Post

Toddler Killed in Hot Car: Police Tender Evidence of "Web Activity" of Suspect (Dad) in Court to Portray His State of Mind

"Among the details police have released is that Harris and his wife, Leanna, told them they conducted Internet searches on how hot a car needed to be to kill a child. Stoddard testified Thursday that Ross Harris had visited a Reddit page called "child-free" and read four articles. He also did an Internet search on how to survive in prison, Stoddard said.

"Also, five days before Cooper died, Ross Harris twice viewed a sort of homemade public service announcement in which a veterinarian demonstrates on video the dangers of leaving someone or something inside a hot car."

Stoddard is a police detective. It seems that they know about his web browsing because they seized and searched his computer:

...investigators confiscated Harris' work computer at Home Depot following his arrest and discovered an Internet search about how long it would take for an animal to die in a hot car.

Stoddard also testified that Harris was "sexting" -- is this a word we use in court now? -- with several women on the day of his son's death, and sent explicit pictures to one of them. I assume he knows that by looking at Harris's message history.

A bunch of this would not be admissible in trial, but this was a probable-cause hearing, and the rules are different for those. CNN writes: "a prosecutor insisted that the testimony helped portray the defendant's state of mind and spoke to the negligence angle and helped establish motive."

This case aside, is there anyone reading this whose e-mails, text messages, and web searches couldn't be cherry-picked to portray any state of mind a prosecutor might want to portray? (Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre. -- Cardinal Richelieu.)

Courtesy:
Schneier on Security

Nigerian Troops Arrest Three Suspected Female Terrorists in Adamawa

Soldiers have arrested three suspected female terrorists who have been secretly recruiting ladies into the female wing of the terrorists group, Boko Haram, the Defence Headquarters said in a statement. 

The statement, issued in Abuja on Friday, was signed by Col. Onyema Nwachukwu for the Director of Defence Information.

It said their arrest was an aftermath of a failed suicide bombing attempt on a military facility by a female terrorist, who blew herself up in Gombe recently.

It said the suspects, Hafsat  Bako, Zainab Idris and Aisha Abubakar, were intercepted  while traveling to Madagali  in Adamawa from where “they were to transit to the forest to reunite with their cohorts.

“Investigations revealed that the suspects, led by Hafsat, have the mission to recruit members into the female wing of the terrorist group as well as conduct espionage for the group.

“Hafsat’s link with the terrorists group had been a subject of investigation since 2012 when security agents on a man-hunt for one Usman Bako, her husband, who was identified as a terrorist, stormed their residence in Jimeta,” it said.

The statement said that the man-hunt resulted in the discovery of an AK- 47 rifle and two loaded magazines

It added that Bako later died in an encounter with troops in Sokoto where he had relocated to continue his terrorist activities.

The statement said that Hafsat continued with the terror group, specialising in surreptitious recruitment of members into their fold.

“The three female suspects were luring ladies, especially widows and young girls, by enticing them with male suitors who are mainly members of their terror group for marriage.

“Before their arrest, they were on a mission to take additional briefing from the leadership of the terror group.

“The trio have been operating together as members of the intelligence team of the group and their arrest has yielded information still being verified by security agencies,” the statement said.

Courtesy:
Punch Newspaper

Boko Haram: Nigerian Government Has Adopted Three-Pronged Approach to Tackle Sect - Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said that the federal government has adopted a three-pronged approach to ensure the safety and security of lives and property particularly in the North-east states where Boko Haram attacks have been prevalent.

Making this known in London when she briefed the British parliament on the Safe Schools Initiative, the minister said: “We are taking a three-pronged approach to dealing with the various dimensions of crisis, and this includes security, political and economic solutions.

“On the security front, our military men and women are confronting an unprecedented challenge that they were not really trained to confront and so we thank them for their courage and bravery. The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has increased the number of troops that are in the North-east from 15,000 to 20,000.

“Regional cooperation on security has gotten better following a decision by neighbouring countries: Chad, Cameroun, Benin, and Niger, to each contribute a battalion of soldiers, to fight Boko Haram alongside Nigeria.

“President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has accepted offers from the international community for more surveillance, aircraft cover, and equipment that enhances our ability to locate, fight and root out insurgents.”

These efforts, she assured the UK parliament, were beginning to make a difference, intimating them that Nigeria’s security forces busted a Boko Haram intelligence unit only two days ago.

“More of these counter-insurgency actions will be forthcoming. We are prepared to do whatever is necessary today, tomorrow and in the future to secure the country,” she added.

“On the political front, we are working with state governments, traditional and religious leaders within the most affected regions of the country, to encourage dialogue with the sect.

“The president set up a Dialogue Committee that is working behind the scenes and also a fact finding committee on the Chibok girls in particular.

“And finally on the economic front, given some linkages between the insurgency and high youth unemployment, we are trying various schemes to assist the youth in the region where possible.

“Using monies from our Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), we are implementing a Community Services Scheme that engages the youth in public works (we have so far recruited 11,500 youth into this programme – 4000 in Borno, 3500 in Adamawa and 4000 in Yobe State).

“We also have YouWin, which is supporting hundreds of young entrepreneurs with grants so they can start up a business or expand existing ones to create jobs for their fellow youth.

“Over the longer term, the government will vigorously pursue economic empowerment in the region through a Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE) which is currently being developed,” the minister said.

She, however, told the British legislators that the president had instructed her to work with the international community, led by former British Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, and the Nigerian business community, led by the Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and President of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY Newspapers, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, in an initiative to make our schools safer.

“Every child is special, every child precious, every child unique. While we will never give up on the effort to locate the Chibok girls, we must also assure parents, pupils and teachers that schools are safe. Children and teachers must be again free to go to school unharmed and unafraid.

“So the Safe Schools Initiative is designed as a nationwide intervention programmes that will prioritise schools in states under emergency rule like Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe.
“To this effect, the Nigerian private sector has set aside US$10 million for this initiative and the Nigerian government has immediately matched that with another US$10 million.

“We are aiming for a fund of US$100 million and we have received indications of support from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, DFID, and the Norwegian and German Governments towards the initiative,” she stated.

Okonjo-Iweala stressed that schools must never be instruments of war, nor battlefields for terror campaigns, noting: “While we do not aim to turn our schools into fortresses, the Safe Schools Initiative will rely on needs assessments to deploy measures that will either upgrade existing security systems in schools or put in place new systems where they currently do not exist.

“These measures could range from the basic, such as perimeter fences, toilet facilities for girls, use of fire retardant materials in reconstructing schools, housing for teachers, community policing and school guards, to more sophisticated measures like alarm systems, communication equipment, and solar power panels to ensure schools are well lit,
"Whatever needs to be done to make all our schools safer and more secure we will consider. We will work with state governors, community leaders, teachers and parents to achieve the objectives of this initiative.”

She thanked the former British prime minister for his support in setting up the Safe Schools Initiative, and for his leadership of the international community on education for children, and indeed his efforts to get all of Nigeria’s 10.6 million “out of school” children, into schools.

She informed the parliament that the Safe Schools Initiative is just one of a three-part effort the federal government recently launched to deal with the crisis in the short term.

The other two, she said, are the Emergency Relief Initiative that will step up support by our National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to over 3 million displaced persons and communities through the provision of emergency accommodation, food, basic healthcare and other relief items as needed; and the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Initiative, that will help rebuild public infrastructure that have been destroyed by the insurgents.

Courtesy:
ThisDay Newspaper

Fallout of BNP Paribas' Guilty Plea and Fine, United States Justice Dept May Probe Nigerian Banks over Terror Funding

THE United States (U.S.) Justice Department has put some Nigerian banks under the searchlight in the wake of growing terrorism in the country.

Specifically, the banks are being investigated to establish their links, if any, with funding of the various terror cells across the continent, particularly Boko Haram.

The development was sequel to BNP Paribas’ guilty plea and agreement to pay nearly $9 billion for violating U.S. sanctions, which has now triggered fresh enthusiasm on the U.S. Justice Department to also extend its investigations to Africa, especially among big banks on the continent with strong international links.

  Two other major French banks- Credit Agricole and Societe Generale, Germany’s Deutsche Bank AG, and Citigroup Inc’s Banamex unit in Mexico are among those being investigated for possible money laundering or sanctions violations, according to reliable industry sources.

  The Justice Department and other U.S. authorities, including the Manhattan District Attorney, are probing Credit Agricole and Societe Generale for potentially violating U.S. economic sanctions imposed against Iran, Cuba and Sudan, one of the sources said.

  Specifically, in the case of Nigeria, there had been widespread suspicion that a few banks in the country may have compromised in helping to move funds for members of the Boko Haram sect.

  There were fears recently that Nigeria may be blacklisted by international anti-money laundering watchdogs based in the U.S., over its inability to track the source of funds of the Boko Haram sect and curb terrorism financing in general.

  Signals from Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard setter for measures to combat money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing, indicated that despite the earlier warnings to Nigeria on its non-compliance level, the country is yet to take any concrete step to stem the rising spate of financial crimes including terrorism financing, money laundering and corruption.

  In its recent report, dated February 11, 2014, the FATF listed Nigeria among the countries that have not made significant progress in addressing the lacunas in their Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing (AML/CFT) regimes. The agency advised the international financial community on the potential risks in the country.

  Recent events, especially the activities of Boko Haram and startling revelations from various probes by the National Assembly, are putting Nigeria under global focus and scrutiny.

  It will be recalled that on June 23, 2006, FATF decided to remove Nigeria from its list of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCTs).   Since July 2001, Nigeria has been on this shame list. The cost to the economy is incalculable: inflow/outflow of transactions to Nigeria has around it a cautionary flag to the rest of the world and numerous Nigerians operating outside the country have had their financial dealings cancelled/ monitored.

  Similarly, Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), in its 2011 yearly report, clearly showed that the sources of money laundering, corruption, tax fraud, narcotics, trafficking and capital market related crimes were identified as the major challenges facing Nigeria.

  The data from GIABA, an institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) responsible for facilitating the adoption and implementation of AML/CFT in West Africa, stated that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) seized 195, 283, 917 kilogrammes of various types of illicit drugs, mostly cannabis valued at over N140 million. The country also generated 8,725, 213 Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), 2,031 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and 83 confirmed cases of money laundering in the reviewed period.

Source, full article:
Guardian Newspaper

United States warns of 'Specific Terrorist Threat' to Uganda's Entebbe Airport

The United States warned its citizens in Uganda on Thursday about a "specific threat" of an attack within hours on Entebbe International Airport, which serves the capital Kampala.

A message posted on the U.S. Embassy website said information from Uganda's police indicated that the attack could take place between 9 p.m and 11 p.m. local time, adding that citizens planning to travel at that time might consider reviewing their arrangements.

As one of the countries that contributes forces to an African Union peacekeeping mission battling the radical group Al-Shabab in Somalia, Uganda has suffered attacks in recent years, with the feared armed group threatening more.

Ignie Ugundura, a spokesman for Uganda's Civil Aviation Authority, confirmed the authority had issued an alert on Wednesday that "informed the airport community,” but did not offer more details.

A Ugandan police spokeswoman said security had been stepped up at Entebbe, but that the police were not aware of a specific threat to Uganda.

The U.S. Embassy message said it had "received information from the Uganda Police Force (UPF) that according to intelligence sources there is a specific threat to attack Entebbe International Airport by an unknown terrorist group today, July 3, between the hours of 2100-2300.”

The warning came a day after American authorities said they would require increased security at overseas airports with nonstop flights to the United States. U.S. officials cited concerns that Al-Qaeda operatives in Syria and Yemen were developing bombs that could be smuggled onto planes.

There are no nonstop flights from Uganda's Entebbe airport to the United States.

Courtesy:
Aljazeera

Boko Haram Takes Toll on Nigerian GDP, Investors Resilient - Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

BERLIN, (Reuters) - Boko Haram's insurgency will slow Nigeria's economy again this year, knocking half a percentage point off growth like last year, the finance minister said on Tuesday, adding that her 6.75 percent 2014 growth forecast took this into account.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters that while the violence in the northeast might put off some potential foreign investors, those who were in Nigeria for the long term seemed to be holding their nerve, as did portfolio investors in its government debt.

"We are expecting about 6.75 (percent growth in 2014) and we have accounted for the impact of the insurgency which we will think will take half a percentage point off GDP growth," she said in an interview during a visit to Berlin.

Nigeria overtook South Africa as the continent's biggest economy this year, following a rebasing calculation that almost doubled its gross domestic product. The economy grew about 6.4 percent last year, the minister said, with the Islamist rebels having most economic impact on agriculture in the northeast.

The economist and former World Bank vice-president said her talks with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble emphasised "our strong fundamentals despite the challenges that we face".

She sought his support for the creation of a new Nigerian development bank to improve financing to small and medium-sized private enterprises which could become an "engine for growth" as the country seeks to diversify its economy away from oil.

Rebasing GDP had revealed hidden strength in sectors such as services and telecoms, which had "gone to 0.7 percent of GDP to 7 percent" and was seeing strong growth, said the minister.

She said the creation of a secondary mortgage market could help kick off growth in housing, another sector that she hoped could "help to make up for some of the lost growth".

The minister cited government bonds yields of 4-5 percent as evidence financial investors were not panicking: "The prices are quite reasonable which is an objective assessment that investors may be looking at the long-term underlying fundamentals of the economy, which are strong."

Some potential foreign direct investment might be affected negatively by the Islamist insurgency, she said, but existing investors - especially those from emerging powers such as South Africa, China and Brazil - were proving resilient.

"Part of our turbulence may also be linked to the upcoming election (in 2015)," she said. "Whenever we have elections there is always some increase in violence and disturbance."

Boosting the regional economy is part of President Goodluck Jonathan's response alongside counter-insurgency efforts and attempts at dialogue with Boko Haram, which was hampered by the fact that "they have not articulated any political demands".

Courtesy:
Reuters

"Credible Threat" Prompt Tighter Security for Inbound Flights to The United States

Security is being tightened at airports with direct flights into the US - including some in the UK - in response to US warnings of a "credible threat".

The UK transport department confirmed airport security was being stepped up.

Neither UK nor US authorities specified what new measures would be involved but the UK said most passengers should not experience "significant disruption".

It comes amid US media reports that al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria and Yemen are developing bombs to smuggle on planes.

A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said the changes were a response to a "real time" and "credible" threat but it could not comment on specific intelligence matters.

"Aviation remains an attractive target to global terrorists, who are consistently looking for ways to circumvent our aviation security measures.

"As always, DHS continues to adjust security measures to fit an ever evolving threat environment.

"Information about specific enhancements and locations are sensitive as we do not wish to divulge information about specific layers of security to those who would do us harm."

What changes will we see?

Longer queues are a possibility
The UK government isn't giving any details about what these security changes actually are, but they haven't ruled out longer queues at security.

The statement from the department for transport merely says that the majority of passengers should not experience significant disruption.

What we do know is that all of the old rules remain in place. So you will still have to put liquids into separate, see-through bags, take your laptop out of your bag, take off your belt and maybe your shoes before going through security.

It's also not clear whether these changes will affect every airport, and whether they are limited to flights to and from the United States, which has prompted this move.

The actual terrorism threat level remains the same, at substantial. That's the middle of the five threat levels and means that an attack is a strong possibility.

Necessary steps

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement: "We will work to ensure these necessary steps pose as few disruptions to travellers as possible,"

"We are sharing recent and relevant information with our foreign allies and are consulting the aviation industry."

The changes will be made in the "upcoming days", the department added.

In a statement, the UK Department for Transport said the country had "taken the decision to step up some of our aviation security measures".

He added: "For obvious reasons we will not be commenting in detail on those changes. The majority of passengers should not experience significant disruption."

An anonymous US official told Reuters news agency that European airports would be taking the extra precautions.

Law enforcement and security officials sources told the news agency that Western authorities were discussing security measures that included extra scrutiny of US-bound passengers' electronics and footwear, among other measures.

Al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are believed to be working together to try to develop explosives that could avoid detection by current airport scanners, US media report.

Courtesy:
BBC

ISPs Take Legal Action Against British Spy Agency - GCHQ for 'Attacking International Infrastructure'

A coalition of international internet service providers (ISPs) and European hackers have filed a legal complaint against GCHQ for their “attacking and exploitation of network infrastructure”.

The complaint, lodged with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, claims that the British spy agency’s actions are “not only illegal, but are destructive [and] undermine the goodwill the organisations rely on.”
The complaint has been filed by Riseup (US), GreenNet (UK), Greenhost (Netherlands), Mango (Zimbabwe), Jinbonet (Korea), May First/People Link (US), the Chaos Computer Club (Europe’s largest association of hackers) and Privacy International.

Citing a number of articles from Der Spiegel and the Intercept, the companies accuse GCHQ of a number of damaging activites, including:
Targeting employees of Belgian telecommunications company Belgacom with malware through a highly developed attack named “Quantum Insert”
Using a number of “man on the side” attacks in collaboration with GCHQ to covertly inject data into existing connections to infect users
Creating an automated system named Turbine to control “millions of implants” by groups instead of as individuals Targeting three German internet exchange points with the NSA to spy on “all internet traffic coming through the nodes, and identify ‘important’ customers”
While the claimants were not named as direct targets in the Snowden leaks, they claim that “given the interconnectedness of the internet, the surveillance being carried out by GCHQ and NSA detailed in the articles could be carried out against any internet and communications providers."

Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International, said: "These widespread attacks on providers and collectives undermine the trust we all place on the internet and greatly endangers the world's most powerful tool for democracy and free expression."
Privacy International has previously filed two other cases against GCHQ, with the most recent forcing the government to issue a 48-page statement defending its mass surveillance practices.

The Independent

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Calls for Reconciliation Between Jihadist Groups

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), one of al Qaeda's official branches, posted a statement on jihadist forums on Jul. 1 praising the Islamic State's recent military gains in Iraq. AQIM also calls for reconciliation between the ISIS and rival jihadist groups in Syria. The message was first obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The statement was authored on June 22, one week before the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) rebranded itself as the Islamic State and declared that it now ruled over a caliphate. The Islamic State's controversial caliphate announcement is not, therefore, addressed in AQIM's statement.

AQIM's message is addressed to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), which is how the group will be referred to here.

AQIM begins by praising "the victories of our people the Sunnis in Iraq under the command of their mujahideen sons, and on top of them the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham" (ISIS). Interestingly, AQIM argues that ISIS' advances in Iraq have "alleviated our calamity in" Syria and "mended the rift and directed arrows of the mujahideen to the necks of the enemies of the Ummah and the religion: the Crusaders, the [Shiites], and the apostates."

Therefore, AQIM sees ISIS' advances in Iraq as aiming the jihadists' "arrows" at their appropriate common enemies, instead of one another. However, the gains made by the ISIS in Iraq have not put an end to the infighting in Syria, where the ISIS and its rivals have battled for months.

After calling for broad support for the jihad in Iraq, AQIM's statement then says the jihadist factions should reconcile their differences. AQIM first addresses the ISIS. "We call upon our mujahideen brothers in Iraq and on top of them, our brothers in the Islamic State in Iraq and Sham [ISIS], to take advantage of these conquests and winds of victory to gather and meet, and forget the past of dispute and conflict, and open a new page with their brothers," the group's statement reads, according to SITE's translation.

Without naming any specific groups in Syria, AQIM addresses jihadists there, arguing that they should support the ISIS' efforts in Iraq. "We call upon our mujahideen brothers in Sham to strongly support the conquests of their brothers in Iraq and protect their backs and provide them with what they need to continue their march and complete their victory, as recommended by our Sheikh and Emir Sheikh Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, may Allah preserve and protect him, because Iraq is a debt upon the entire Ummah."

Courtesy, full article:
Long War Journal

Anti-terrorist Police Arrest 18-Year-old in Cardiff (UK), on Suspicion of Having Links With Jihadi Men Fighting in Syria

The man was arrested in the capital on suspicion of assisting in the preparation of an act of terrorism

Police have made the arrest in Cardiff
An 18-year-old man from Cardiff has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences today.

The teenager, from the Grangetown area, has been arrested under the Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 for assisting in the preparation of an act of terrorism. It is understood he has been taken to Cardiff Bay Police station.

A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "On Wednesday 2nd July, officers from North West Counter Terrorism Unit (NWCTU) assisted by Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit (WECTU) arrested an 18-year-old man from the Grangetown area of Cardiff. This arrest is part of an ongoing investigation.

"He has been arrested under the Section 5, Terrorism Act 2006 for assisting in the preparation of an act of terrorism."

The spokesman said it was too early to rule out links with the three Cardiff Jihadists who appeared in an apparent recruitment video in Syria.

Grangetown area of Cardiff where the teen is from

The Welsh Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit (WECTU) is a collaboration of the four Welsh Police Forces.

WalesOnline

Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Condemns Boko Haram Attack on Nigerian Churches

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned the killing of at least fifty-six people and the destruction of Churches reportedly by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria.
The secretary-general of the OIC, Iyad Ameen Madani, made the statement last week following attacks on at least four villages near Chibok in northeastern Nigeria, allegedly by Boko Haram members.

The official restated the solidarity of the organization with Nigeria.
Meanwhile, foreign minister of Nigeria has said that authorities are working to curb the extremist group.
In an interview with the OIC Journal on the sidelines of the 41 Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah on 18-19 June 2014, Bashir Aminu Wali, the foreign minister of Nigeria, said his government was trying to tackle the extremists.

He commented on Boko Haram’s kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls this year who have still not been found.
““I appeal to the international community to think in terms of the lives and safety of those girls rather than getting them quick, that is not as important as getting those girls back alive and well,” he said.
Commenting on the Islamist group’s motivations, Wali said: “they are nothing more than misguided and what they are, is just criminals.”

Courtesy:
Arabiya News

Boko Haram Writes Girls School in Nasarawa State, Threaten to Abduct School Girls

The Nasarawa State government yesterday confirmed reports of a letter purportedly written by Boko Haram insurgents threatening to abduct girls from a school in the state.
The Commissioner for Education, Barrister Yakubu Na’Hauwa, confirmed that there was a letter from Boko Haram to the principal of GSSS, Lafia, threatening to abduct his female students. He said the letter sought the principal’s cooperation with the insurgents to avoid bloodshed during the operation. He could not confirm receipt of such letters by the other schools which were also said to have been written.
“I was not in the state, but I returned to receive a complaint from the principal of GSSS Lafia about the purported threat letter Boko Haram to abduct female students from the school,” he said, adding that he had to urgently instruct the ministry’s permanent secretary to do a formal complaint to the state government, drawing attention to the letter on the need to quickly act on it.

The letters were said to have been received yesterday from dispatch riders who stopped at the gates of three schools in the state.  State police spokesman ASP Ismaila Umaru said his office had no information on the incident and did not confirm the threat letters.

Courtesy:
Daily Trust

BREAKING News: Bomb Blast Rocks Kaduna

Barely 24 hours after bomb blast rocked a market in Maiduguri, another explosion just hit a location in Kaduna town.

According to Sahara Reporters, the explosion occurred around the Asikolaye/Bakin Ruwa area, along the Kaduna western bypass.

Details of fatalities, casualties and other damage in the area are sketchy at the time of filing this report, but sources said the late night explosion shattered many of the glass windows of some of the business premises around the area where the explosion occurred.

Courtesy:
Sahara Reporters