Norway Police Warn of Possible Terror Attack Within Days

Norway has uncovered information pointing to a potential terror attack against the country within days from
individuals linked to the conflict in Syria.
“There is a concrete threat against Norway,” Justice and Public Security Minister Anders Anundsen told reporters in Oslo today. Security services have strengthened their presence at Norway’s borders, airports and train stations, acting police director Vidar Refvik said.
The news comes just two days after Norway marked the third anniversary of the massacre of 77 people, most of
them linked to the Labor Party that was in government at the time, by Anders Behring Breivik. The 35-year-old, who is serving a 21-year prison sentence, has said his acts were meant to prevent the spread of what he called “cultural Marxism” and the “Islamization” of Europe.
Police have “received information that people with links to an extreme Islamist group in Syria may intend to carry out a terrorist act in Norway,” security service chief Benedicte Bjoernland told reporters. “Preliminary
verifications in this instance strengthened the credibility
of this information.”
The intelligence gathered suggests that a “potential terrorist attack” against Norway is planned “within a short period, probably a few days,” Bjoernland said. The security service is working to clarify details about the
threat and where and when an attack could occur, she said.

Syrian Crisis
More than 170,000 people have died and over 10 million have fled their homes since civil war broke out in Syria in March 2011. The United Nations and aid agencies say the conflict is the worst humanitarian disaster since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, with 6.5 million people displaced inside Syria and 3 million more seeking refuge outside the country.

Norwegian police are concerned about individuals coming back to the country from Syria with increased knowledge of weapons, combat training and a lower threshold for violence, Bjoernland said. The greatest threat to Norway
is posed by extreme Islamists, she said. The suspect in the May 24 attack on the Brussels Jewish Museum is believed to be a former fighter in the Syrian conflict, Bjoernland said.

The threat to Norway, which is thought to be directed at the country rather than its interests abroad, is posed by a “limited, relatively small group,” she said in an interview.

50 People
Police estimate that about 50 people seen as posing a threat have left Norway to fight in Syria, spokesman Trond Hugubakken said in Oslo today. About half of those have since returned to Norway, he said.
In May, police arrested three Norwegian citizens on terror charges. The men, one of whom was born in Somalia and the other two in the former Yugoslavia, represented a threat to the country and its allies, police said at the time.
“Whether we’re talking about five days or seven days isn’t clear to us,” Bjoernland said today. “It’s a threat
limited in time, and this isn’t going to last until Christmas, to put it like that.”

Courtesy:
BusinessWeek

Terror Attacks Timed to Frustrate Jonathan's Administration — FG

The Federal Government of Nigeria has declared that there is a disturbing nexus between major terror attacks in the country and the development landmarks of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

A pattern, the government said, has emerged whereby almost always when there is need to collectively celebrate an important landmark recorded by it, appears to be the time when the insurgents find pleasure in attacking and making their statement of terror.
Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, made this claim in Lagos during an interview.
Maku lamented that what had been happening in the past two years was that terrorism had taken the front pages and deprived the country of news of development and social issues.
He said it was becoming very disturbing that “anytime the current administration had cause to celebrate an achievement, bombs explode to distract  Nigerians and portray the government in bad light.
“I can tell you”, he continued, “that almost every milestone recorded by this government is accompanied by bomb blasts,” pointing at the World Economic Forum which was preceded by bomb attacks in Abuja, and the widely acclaimed Ekiti State governorship election victory of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,” as examples.
The Minister said “immediately we announced the re-basing of our economy and it was now confirmed that Nigeria was the largest economy in Africa, there were bombs at Chibok.

Immediately they learnt we were going to hold the World Economic Forum, WEF, there were bombs in Abuja and its environs to make sure that Nigeria does not get the economic benefits of hosting the World Economic Forum and to discourage the world from coming here so as to make the attack the center point of international and local media…
“We also noticed that immediately after our victory in Ekiti, the bombs started raining again.”
He then concluded that, “there is a correlation between the exposure of development efforts in the media and the  insecurity in the northern part of the country.

Labaran Maku
“That is why most times I have continued to insist that the media should have a change of strategy , I wouldn’t say change of attitude. Because, as you know, with terrorism, once its takes hold, it takes very long for it to be dealt with. Because the terrorists themselves are looking for the opportunity to be exposed, to sell their ideology,  to use the media to frighten the society, to give themselves some invincible image, so they keep doing those strikes mainly because they want those headlines to be celebrated, they want the society to be afraid,” he said.
He again lamented that terrorism has exploited the liberal tendencies of democracy and  free press  to sell its own ideology to the world, and “I believe frankly that the media should, side by side, while reporting incidence of terror attacks, where they unfortunately occur, focus on development and deepening of our democracy. That is the only way we can defeat them.”

Courtesy:
Vanguard 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