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| Foreign Fighters In Syria (Source: statista.com) |
Two men who travelled to Syria to join rebel fighters have admitted preparing to carry out terrorist acts.
Childhood friends Mohammed Nahin Ahmed and Yusuf Zubair Sarwar, both 22, from Handsworth, Birmingham, spent eight months in the wartorn country last year after contacting Islamic extremists from the UK.
The men were arrested at Heathrow by West Midlands police's counter-terrorism unit on their return in January. They each admitted one count of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorism acts at Woolwich crown court in London on Tuesday.
More details soon...
Courtesy:
The Guardian
The most wanted man in the Maghreb is operating freely in Libya and planning new terrorist attacks against Tunisia and Algeria, top experts warn.
Notorious terrorist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, alias Laaouar, intends to unify fighters returning from the Syria front and use them to strike the Maghreb, retired Tunisian Brigadier General Mokhtar Ben Nasr recently revealed.
"Since declaring his allegiance to al-Qaeda, Mokhtar Belmokhtar has stayed in Libya where he has been recruiting Syria returnees," Ben Nasr told Algeria's Echourouk daily on June 27th.
"He is trying to impose his influence on other jihadist groups in the Arab Maghreb after Tunisia's Abou Iyadh disappeared from the scene because he was banned from making media statements by a Libyan militia," the Tunisian officer said.
Algeria's El Khabar daily cited unnamed security sources as saying that Belmokhtar met with Uqba Ibn Nafi Brigade chief Khaled Chaieb (aka Abu Sakhr) and told him to free Ansar al-Sharia fighters from Mornaguia prison near Tunis.
The newspaper, which did not specify the date or place of the meeting, said the instructions also included targeting a number of oil, tourist and security facilities and some political and security officials.
"The terrorist elements are incapable of confronting the internal security and national army forces," Tunisian Defence Minister Ghazi Jeribi said on Thursday (July 3rd) during the funeral of four national army soldiers killed on Wednesday when their vehicle hit a landmine planted by terrorists. "Their strategy is to plant landmines and not to confront the army forces."
He added: "Jebel Chaambi is under control, and a decision was made to storm the mountains between Jendouba and El Kef provinces."
Olfa Ayari, president of the Prisons and Correctional Institution Syndicate, dismissed Belmokhtar's call to his followers to attack Mornaguia prison.
"Let him come with all of his al-Qaeda elements and let them try," she told Magharebia. "They will be disappointed because this is Africa's most secured prison with its strong fortifications and highly-trained guards."
According to Ayari, Mornaguia prison is home to more than 500 terrorists.
"We're all accustomed to Belmokhtar's threats, which are basically propaganda after his status dropped among terrorist groups," security expert Sami Riahi said.
Tunisia's Al Maghreb daily also reported that Laaouar aimed to carry out terrorist operations in Tunisia, including bombings and assassinations of some officials.
Observers are not surprised by Belmokhtar's plan to target prisons, like what happened in Niger last year.
"Terrorist organisations are stepping up their efforts to free their jailed elements because this is the best way to maintain their loyalty," analyst Abdelhamid al-Ansari said.
Courtesy:
Magharebia
The government and media have blown the Islamist terrorism threat out of proportion, giving extremists publicity which is counter-productive, a former head of Britain's intelligence service has said.
Sir Richard Dearlove, chief of MI6 at the time of the Iraq invasion, said there had been a fundamental change in the nature of Islamist extremism since the Arab Spring. It had created a major political problem in the Middle East but the west, including Britain, was only marginally affected, he told an audience in London on Monday.
Richard Dearlove said Britons spreading 'blood-curdling' terrorism messages should be ignored.
Unlike the threat posed by al-Qaida before and after the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001, the west was not the main target of the radical fundamentalism that created the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), he said.
Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute, a security and defence thinktank, Dearlove made it clear that the way the government and the media were giving the extremists the "oxygen of publicity" was counter-productive.
More details soon …
Courtesy:
The Guardian
The US has declared that it will not allow mobile phones - especially iPhones and Samsung's Galaxy - onto US bound planes from some airports in Europe, the Middle East and Africa if the devices are not charged.
The new measure, which is bound to cause chaotic scenes at airports around the globe, is part of the US Transportation Security Administration's effort to boost surveillance amid concerns that terrorists are plotting to blow up an airliner.
As part of the increased scrutiny at certain airports, security agents may ask travelers to turn on their electronic devices at checkpoints and if they do not have power, the devices will not be allowed on planes, the TSA said.
Increased vigilance:
US intelligence officials are concerned that al-Qaida is trying to develop a new and improved bomb that could go undetected through airport security. No doubt the new measures have the potential to create frantic searches for chargers at airports and one US source familiar with the matter said laptop computers are also among the devices security screeners may also require passengers to turn on.
US officials are concerned that a cellphone, tablet, laptop or other electronic device could be used as a bomb by Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamist Nusra Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.
In 2009 a Yemen-linked bomb-maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, built an underwear bomb used in the failed effort to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner, and his devices were implicated in other plots.
The Islamist Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s affiliate involved in fighting with Syrian rebels to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, is also thought to be plotting an airliner attack, according to intelligence reports.
The TSA did not disclose which airports would be conducting the additional screening, however it was reported last week that passengers at British airports traveling to the US are facing extra checks on phones.
An official told the BBC that London's Heathrow was among the airports.
US officials singled out smartphones including iPhones made by Apple Inc and Galaxy phones made by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd for extra security checks on U.S.-bound direct flights from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Special attention:
The TSA in the US has announced that iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones will come under strict scrutiny. US security officials said they fear bombmakers from the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have figured out how to turn the phones into explosive devices that can avoid detection.
They also are concerned that hard-to-detect bombs could be built into shoes, said the officials, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
A US official said that other electronic devices carried by passengers also are likely to receive more intense scrutiny and travellers may be asked to power up laptops, iPads, tablets and Kindles.
A TSA statement said: ‘As the travelling public knows, all electronic devices are screened by security officers.
‘During the security examination, officers may also ask that owners power up some devices, including cell phones.
‘Powerless devices will not be permitted onboard the aircraft. The traveller may also undergo additional screening.’
Airlines or airport operators that fail to strengthen security could face bans on flights entering the United States, the officials said.
The US Homeland Security Department announced on Wednesday plans to step up security checks, but they offered few details on how airlines and airports will implement them.
US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said at the time: ‘We will work to ensure these necessary steps pose as few disruptions to travellers as possible.’
An official familiar with the matter said the United States believes that while it is possible there may be some additional delays at security checkpoints, at most major airports passengers will not be seriously inconvenienced.
The official said most passengers taking long-distance flights arrive well in advance of scheduled departures, leaving time for extra screening.
But he said the United States could not rule out disruptions in countries where airport infrastructure and security procedures are less sophisticated.
In his weekly radio phone-in programme, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg warned last week that travellers may have to get used to the extra checks.
‘I don’t think we should expect this to be a one-off temporary thing,’ he said. ‘We have to make sure the checks are there to meet the nature of the new kinds of threats.’
‘Whether it is for ever – I can’t make any predictions. But I don’t want people to think that this is just a sort of a blip for a week. This is part of an evolving and constant review about whether the checks keep up with the nature of the threats.’
US-based airlines had little to say about the enhanced security. American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said the Department of Homeland Security had been in contact with American on the issue, but declined to comment further.
Luke Punzenberger, a spokesman for United Airlines said: 'We work closely with federal officials on security matters, but we are not able to discuss the details of those efforts.'
US security agencies fear bombmakers from AQAP and the Islamist Nusra Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, are collaborating on plots to attack U.S.- or Europe-bound planes with bombs concealed on foreign fighters carrying Western passports, the officials said.
AQAP has a track record of plotting such attacks. Its innovative bombmaker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, built an underwear bomb used in a failed 2009 effort to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner, and his devices were implicated in other plots.
There was no immediate indication U.S. intelligence had detected a specific plot or timeframe for any attack.
US officials say the United States has acquired evidence that Nusra and AQAP operatives have tested new bomb designs in Syria, where Nusra is one of the main Islamist groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Courtesy:
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
