British Intelligence ‘Mind Reading Division’ Foil Several Potential Terrorist Attacks

About seven possible terror attacks across the United Kingdom have been reportedly discovered and stopped over the past year by a special department of the UK intelligence agency – the MI5 which reads the minds of would-be attackers, the agency says.

The Cheerleaders And The Freelancers: The New Actors In International Terrorism

They are the freelancers of terrorism: young men -- and some women -- who feel alienated from the Western societies in which they live, hold extremist religious views and embrace violence. They become immersed in social media, searching out opinions that echo their own.

The Radicalization of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, The Boston Marathon Bomber

Tamerlan Tsarnaev

In interviews with the FBI, two Russian-born friends of Tamerlan Tsarnaev detailed his radicalization in the years leading up to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Special Report: How Denmark's 'Lone Wolf Terrorist' Became Radicalized, Slipped Through The Net

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - On Valentine's Day, two weeks after his release from prison, Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein walked up to a Copenhagen cafe hosting a debate on freedom of speech and sprayed it with bullets.

Fight Terrorism by Partnering With Muslims

Saturday's police raids in Melbourne provide further proof that terrorism is inside Australia's house, not at its doorstep.

Is ‘Lone Wolf, Freelance Terrorism or Open-Source Jihad' The Trend?

Lone wolf terrorism refers to the regular deployment of terrorist tactics such as violence usually against civilian targets  by an individual or individuals who may or may not be directly affiliated to a mainstream terrorist organization.

Charlie Hebdo Shooting: Homegrown, 'Lone Wolf' Terrorism Raises Security Concerns In Europe

European nations are tightening security at borders and vulnerable areas this week after purported Islamic extremists carried out a shooting Wednesday that left 12 people dead outside French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s headquarters in Paris. Leaders stressed the enhanced measures were precautionary attempts at due diligence, given the fact that two of three suspects in the attack remained at large Thursday.

Sydney Siege And The Global Rise Of 'Lone Wolf Terrorism'

The Sydney siege seems to be the latest in a series of attacks this year by jihadists responding to call for “lone wolf” attackers to strike back at the West. An increasing number of "lone wolf" terrorists are responding to the West's battle against the Islamic State by launching attacks at home.

Big Rethink For Counterterrorism

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

Why Umar Abdulmutallab Failed To Blow Up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 – United States TSA

The United States Has Said That The
Nigerian Terrorist, Umar Abdulmutallab, failed to successfully
carry out a bomb attack in 2009 because the explosives he was wired with became ‘degraded’ after he wore the same pair of underpants for two weeks.

Abdulmutallab had, at the age of 23, confessed to and convicted of attempting to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while aboard a Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Michigan, US on December 25, 2009.

However, United States officials explained that the bomb failed to detonate aboard the flight, which was
carrying nearly 300 people, but caused a brief fire that caused burns to his groin.
He was sentenced to life without parole in February 2012 after he pleaded guilty to all charges on the second day of his trial the previous October.

The U.S. Head of the Transportation Security Administration, John Pistole, said during the week that the bomb failed to detonate because of how long Abdulmutallab had been wearing his underwear.
Pistole said, “The bomber had had the device with him for over two weeks.”
When he was then asked whether the bomb had become ‘damp’ Pistole replied that the explosive had become damp due to the length of days Abdulmutallab carried the device in his underwear.

During his trial, Abdulmutallab said the bomb in his underwear was a ‘blessed weapon’ to avenge poorly treated Muslims around the world.

However, after the bomb failed to detonate, passengers pounced on Abdulmutallab and forced him to the front of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 where he was held until the plane landed minutes later.

Punch

President Obama sends CIA to UK to probe terrorist 'breeding ground' and growing 'lone wolf' terrorism

President Obama has sent  a special unit of CIA officers to the UK to investigate British Muslim extremists amid growing fears in Washington that we are becoming a ‘breeding ground’ for terrorism.

In a pointed snub to MI5, the agents arrived on a ‘lone wolf’ mission to interrogate senior security experts about the radicalisation of UK Muslims.

The mission has been revealed as UK security services have been forced to admit they are struggling to keep track of the estimated 500 Britons who have travelled to the Middle East to fight alongside the Islamic  Isis forces in Syria and Iraq.

It is unusual for the CIA to send a team to the UK: the agency usually relies on information passed to it by  MI5 or MI6 or by its agents stationed at the American Embassy in London.

Sources have told The Mail on Sunday that the agents were keen to establish the ‘stability’ of the relationship between the Sunni and Shia branches of Muslims in the UK. The fighters going out to join Isis have been British-based Sunnis, causing deepening tensions within the community.

Professor Anthony Glees, of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at Buckingham University, said the mission, which took place earlier this year, showed the level of concern in Washington over the issue, which he claimed was rooted in the UK’s ‘lax’ immigration policies.

‘The US is worried about the British situation. They fear there might be a knock-on effect for them,’ Prof Glees said.

‘The throat-cutting between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq and Syria has not yet spread to the UK, but it is a real threat. It is conceivable you could see Shia “hit squads” in Britain targeting Sunnis preparing to go out to the conflict zones to fight.’

He said: ‘The Americans regard the UK as a disaster because of our lax stance on immigration which has allowed this militancy to take hold.

‘Frankly, they would not be doing their jobs properly if it did not do this – forming an objective view of the situation outside of the reports they get from MI5 and their officers at the US Embassy in London.’

Last night a source at the CIA insisted British intelligence had been informed of ‘all outside contacts’ the agents made in  the UK.

However, the sources also admitted that the move revealed a growing lack of trust in Washington over MI5 and MI6’s ability to provide a reliable assessment of the security threat presented by young Muslims under the sway of imams who are radicalised and then recruited to fight in religious wars around the globe.

The Obama administration has become increasingly anxious that young American Muslims could follow the same pattern. There are strong links between British and American radicals and the sources say the CIA feels British efforts to identify and unmask them have been inadequate.

A CIA and a Home Office spokesman declined to comment.

Courtesy:
Daily Mail