CIA Declassifies Documents Retrieved From Osama Bin Laden Raid

US intelligence officials have released a collection of documents they said were recovered during the 2011 raid on the compound in Pakistan where US forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

US Commander Laments Loss of Counterterrorism Presence in Yemen Amid Al-Qaida Gains

WASHINGTON –  The top commander of U.S. special operations forces is expressing "very great concern" about losing a presence on the ground in Yemen, where his forces had been working with Yemeni forces against al-Qaida's affiliate there.

Pakistani Doctor Linked With CIA Who Helped Track Osama Bin Laden Under Threat

Dr. Shakil Afridi

A Pakistani doctor, who was sentenced to 33 years in jail for helping CIA track down former al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in 2011, may be rescued or killed in a "covert or overt operation", officials have warned.

Big Rethink For Counterterrorism

Like politics, terrorism is local, which is why extremists use local grievances as initial motivators to recruit.

United States Offers $45m Bounty For Information On 8 Terrorist Leaders

Washington – The United States has offered a reward of 45 million dollars for information on eight key leaders of
the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorist organisation.

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday in Washington that it’s Rewards for Justice Programme
was also offering rewards 10 million dollars for information leading to the location of Nasir al-Wahishi, AQAP’s top leader, and five million dollars each for the information on seven of the group’s leaders.

It said the Al-Wahishi was responsible for approving AQAP targets, recruiting new members, allocating resources, and directing the group’s operatives to conduct attacks.

It said AQAP had launched numerous high-profile terrorist attacks against the Yemeni government, U.S and other foreign interests.
It said the attack includes a May 2012 suicide bombing in Sanaa, that killed more than 100 people.

The State department said in 2013 more than 20 U.S embassies were temporarily closed in response to a threat associated with AQAP.

AQAP was formed in January 2009 by Yemeni and Saudi terrorists under the leadership of al-Wahishi, who had
headed AQAP’s predecessor group Al-Qaeda in Yemen.

On Jan. 19, 2010, the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated the group as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization.

Source:
Vanguard

How Europe Inadvertently Bankrolls Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabab

Al-Qaeda is increasingly funding terror
operations thanks to at least $125 million in ransom paid since 2008, largely by European governments to free western hostages, The New York Times reported.

The payments totaled $66 million in 2013 alone, according to an investigation by the newspaper
published Tuesday.
While Al-Qaeda's network was first funded by wealthy donors, "kidnapping for ransom has become today’s most significant source of terrorist financing," said David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a 2012 speech.

"Each transaction encourages another transaction." The organization has openly acknowledged the windfall, the paper reported.
"Kidnapping hostages is an easy spoil," wrote Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, "which I may describe as a profitable trade and a precious treasure."
Al-Wuhayshi said ransom money — reaching around $10 million per hostage in recent cases— accounts for up to half his operating budget.
The paper listed more than $90 million paid to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb since 2008 — by a Switzerland, Spain, Austria, and state-controlled French company and two payments from undetermined sources.

Somalia's Al-Shabab insurgents received $5.1 million from Spain, while Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula received nearly $30 million in two payments, one from Qatar and Oman, the other of undetermined origin.

Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and
Switzerland each denied ever paying ransoms for hostages. French nuclear company Areva also denied paying ransom.

However, last year a former senior French intelligence official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity: "Governments and companies pay in almost every case."
"There is always a ransom or an exchange of some sort: money, the release of prisoners, arms deliveries."

The Times article cited former hostages, negotiators, diplomats and government officials in 10 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and it said the payments were sometimes hidden as development aid.

The U.S. and Britain have notably refused to pay to free kidnapped nationals, the paper reported, with the result that just a few have been
rescued in military raids or escaped.

However, the U.S. has been willing to negotiate in some cases, including the recent trade of five senior Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo in
exchange for captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl.

"The Europeans have a lot to answer for," Vicki Huddleston, the former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, who was the ambassador to Mali in 2003 when Germany paid the first ransom, told The Times.
"They pay ransoms and then deny any was paid," arguing the policy "makes all of our citizens vulnerable."

G8 leaders last year signed a deal to
"unequivocally reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists" but did not impose a formal ban.

Business Insider

ECOWAS Step Up Cooperation To Tackle Terrorist Threat

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called on its members to step up their security co-operation in order to tackle terrorism.
In a statement released Thursday (July 3rd) in Abuja, Nigeria, ECOWAS members expressed deep concern at
the recent deterioration of the security situation in the Malian region of Kidal, as well as the bloody and recurring attacks carried out by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.

They vowed to strengthen the co-ordination between their security forces to fight against terrorism.
This statement echoed an appeal made a few days earlier by the ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Salamatou Suleiman, who spoke of "the need for synergy of action to eliminate crime across our shared area".
"Governance and security are central to the regional strategy, which aims to make security a regional public
good and an essential service for citizens, as well as a vital component of sustainable development," she said
on June 25th.
ECOWAS forces have been on alert since the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram nearly two
months ago.
The incident sparked an unprecedented level of international mobilisation against the terrorist organisation.

"Boko Haram fighters are taking advantage of the porous borders of the north-east to escape the army
and take refuge in neighbouring countries," Malian counterterrorism expert Modibo Diarra noted.
"The problem is being taken very seriously by ECOWAS, which has declared open war against terrorism," he told Magharebia.
"The fifteen member nations said they were willing to establish a high-level partnership with central African
states to combat terrorism effectively," he explained.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan confirmed that the problem was not Nigerian but regional.
ECOWAS has asked the UN Security Council to consider "targeted sanctions against the armed groups or individuals who impede the peace process". The council responded by officially declaring Boko Haram a terrorist organisation.

A recent international summit in Paris aimed to adopt a "battle plan" against Boko Haram, which it described as
a "terrorist sect" and a "major threat" to the region. The president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, summed it up by saying: "We are here to declare war on Boko Haram."
The leaders agreed on a number of measures, including "co-ordination of intelligence, information-sharing,
centralised management of resources, border surveillance, military presence around Lake Chad and a capacity to intervene in the event of danger", French President Francois Hollande said.
Boko Haram "is equipped with heavy weapons, a capacity to use them thanks to training provided when Mali was under terrorist occupation, and also financing", Hollande explained.
Jidou Ould Sidi, a journalist who specialises in security matters, said: "The threat is real and the region's
governments appear to have measured its scale."

Heads of state in the region are determined to strengthen their defence and security systems, and "diligently implement the United Nations and ECOWAS strategies for the Sahel", he noted.
It will take time, he cautioned.
"The security, intelligence and legal capacities of these countries are still weak," Ould Sidi said.

Courtesy:
Magharebia

Islamist Terror Threat to West Blown Out of Proportion - Former MI6 Chief

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

United States Bans UNCHARGED Mobiles or Laptops From US-bound flights over Bomb Fears - iPhones and Galaxies Top of the Hit List

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:

MailOnline

"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

Dick Cheney Predicts Attack This Decade ‘Far Deadlier’ Than 9/11

Former vice president Dick Cheney predicted Tuesday that the U.S. will face a catastrophic attack before the end of the decade that will be worse than the Sept. 11, 2001 bombings.

"I think there will be another attack," Cheney said on Hugh Hewitt's radio show. "And next time, I think it’s likely to be far deadlier than the last one. You can just imagine what would happen if somebody could smuggle a nuclear device, put it in a shipping container, and drive it down the Beltway outside of Washington, D.C."

Cheney, a hawkish Republican, has been an outspoken critic of President Obama's national security and foreign policy. He recently started a new group with his daughter Liz Cheney that aims to educate the public about their positions.

The Washington Post

ISIS Militants Kidnap 150 Kurdish Students in Syria

Al Qaeda-inspired extremists kidnapped at least 150 children as they went home after exams in northern Syria, Kurdish leaders told NBC News on Friday. Aged between 10 and 15, the students were traveling from the city of Aleppo to their hometown Kobani when they were abducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) at the end of May, Kurdish rebel commander Ali Muslim said. Among them were dozens of schoolgirls who were released within hours, said a Kurdish political activist who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"We thought at first the students were abducted because they go to regime areas or because they are Kurds or because the majority of the Kurds are with PYD [Democratic Union Party] who are fighting against ISIS,” the activist said. “But now, we are afraid that the students are trained to fight with them or using them as human shields.” Six students had managed to escape, according to Muslim. Kurds in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey have been fighting for a separate homeland for decades.

NBCNews

UN Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Adds Abubakar Mohammed Shekau, Ansaru To It's Sanctions List

On 26 June 2014, the Security Council’s Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee approved the addition of Ansaru and Abubakar Mohammed Shekau to its list of individuals and entities subject to the targeted financial sanctions and the arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2161 (2014), adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

The Committee stresses the need for robust implementation of the Al-Qaida Sanctions Regime as a significant tool in combating terrorist activity, and urges all Member States to participate actively by nominating for listing additional individuals, groups, undertakings and entities which should be subject to the sanctions measures.

As a result of the new listings, any individual or entity that provides financial or material support to Ansaru and Abubakar Mohammed Shekau, including the provision of arms or recruits, is eligible to be added to the Al-Qaida Sanctions List and subject to the sanctions measures.

The details of the new listings for both names are listed below:

A. Individuals associated with Al-Qaida

QI.S.322.14 Name: 1: ABUBAKAR 2: MOHAMMED 3: SHEKAU 4: na
Name (original script): أبو بكر محمد الشكوى
Title: Imam  Designation: na DOB: 1969  POB: Shekau Village, Yobe State, Nigeria  Good quality a.k.a.: Abubakar Shekau  Low quality a.k.a.: a) Abu Mohammed Abubakar bin Mohammed b) Abu Muhammed Abubakar bi Mohammed c) Shekau d) Shehu e) Shayku f) Imam Darul Tauhid g) Imam Darul Tawheed  Nationality: Nigerian  Passport no.: na  National identification no.: na  Address: Nigeria  Listed on: 26 Jun. 2014   Other information: Member of the Kanuri tribe. Physical description: eye colour: black; hair colour: black. Photo available for inclusion in the INTERPOL-UN Security Council Special Notice. Leader of Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad (Boko Haram) (QE.B.138.14). Under Shekau’s leadership, Boko Haram has been responsible for a series of major terrorist attacks.

B. Entities associated with Al-Qaida

QE.A.142.14. Name: ANSARUL MUSLIMINA FI BILADIS SUDAN
Name (original script): أنصار المسلمین في بلاد السودان
A.k.a.: a) Ansaru b) Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan c) Jama'atu Ansaril Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan (JAMBS) d) Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis-Sudan (JAMBS) e) Jamma’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis-Sudan (JAMBS) f) Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa g) Vanguard for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa  F.k.a.: na  Address: Nigeria  Listed on: 26 Jun. 2014   Other information:Terrorist and paramilitary group established in 2012 and operating in Nigeria. Associated with the Organization of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) (QE.T.14.01), Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad (Boko Haram) (QE.B.138.14) and Abubakar Mohammed Shekau (QI.S.322.14).

For further details relating to the listings, please refer to the narrative summaries of reasons for listing of the above-mentioned names annexed to this release.  In accordance with paragraph 17 of resolution 2161 (2014), the narrative summaries of reasons for listing the above-mentioned names are also available on the Al-Qaida Committee’s website at: http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/NSQI32214E.shtml; http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/NSQE14214E.shtml.

Courtesy:
United Nations Security Council