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Tag: Al Qaeda

  • Skynet Is Real, and the NSA Uses It To Track Locations with Phone Metadata

    When a spy agency decides to call one of its various tracking programs Skynet, it’s just screwing with us, right?

    A troubling report about a journalist misidentified as a terrorist from The Intercept has revealed that the National Security Agency actually has a program called Skynet.

    If you’ve never seen the Terminator movies, here’s a crash course. If you have, you understand why this is so morbidly hilarious.

    The NSA’s Skynet is unlikely to become self-aware and wipe out humanity, but it is tracking people’s whereabouts using phone metadata. The reveal was provided by documents from none other than Edward Snowden.

    The Intercept calls Skynet “a program that analyzes location and communication data (or “metadata”) from bulk call records in order to detect suspicious patterns … the NSA uses its version of SKYNET to identify people that it believes move like couriers used by Al Qaeda’s senior leadership.”

    But Skynet doesn’t always get it right, as would be expected. You know who also “moves like couriers”? Journalists reporting on said activity.

    From The Intercept:

    The briefing singles out Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan, Al Jazeera’s longtime Islamabad bureau chief, as a member of the terrorist group. A Syrian national, Zaidan has focused his reporting throughout his career on the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and has conducted several high-profile interviews with senior Al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden.

    A slide dated June 2012 from a National Security Agency PowerPoint presentation bears his photo, name, and a terror watch list identification number, and labels him a “member of Al-Qa’ida” as well as the Muslim Brotherhood. It also notes that he “works for Al Jazeera.”

    Zaidan has denied being part of Al-Qaeda. He has, however, spent a lot of time in Pakistan and Afghanistan – conducting interviews and such.

    Earlier this week, a federal appeals court ruled that the NSA’s bulk metadata collection is illegal.

  • Osama bin Laden Expressed Fear of I.S. in 2011

    When the death of Osama bin Laden, former leader of Al-Qaeda, was announced in May 2011, the western world was assured that it had rid itself of the last great terror to plague the Earth for quite some time. After all, who or what would be able to cause more devastation than bin Laden when he orchestrated the attacks on the World Trade Centers, ultimately resulting in two wars and the loss of millions of people. Unbeknownst to the western world at the time, though, were bin Laden’s private fears. With the recent discovery of a 21-page article found in bin Laden’s final hiding place, those fears have been reified.

    First unveiled by the Daily Mail, a British news publication, Osama bin Laden’s fears in 2011 centered around the rising power of the Islamic State of Israel and Syria (ISIS) – now simply referred to as the Islamic State (IS).

    The letter, the exact details of which having not been released yet, was apparently written by one of bin Laden’s top officials, cites IS’s extreme violence as the reason why bin Laden feared the group so much – acts such as the use of chlorine gas, mosque bombings, and the brutal massacre of Christians. In fact, Osama bin Laden was so worried about the reputation of IS ruining the already-tarnished reputation of Al-Qaeda so much that he pushed for the two organizations to part ways and cease support of one another – a move which Al Qaeda finally made earlier this year.

    On June 29, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of IS, proclaimed a caliphate for the organization and was named its caliph. As it currently stands, IS holds a chunk of land in Iraq bigger than the nation of England and has some six million people under its control. The objective of IS is to bring as much land and people under its caliphate as possible, with Syria and northern Iraq being the group’s immediate targets.

    The United States has responded to the threat of ISIS by sending air strikes to northern Iraq in hopes of protecting the US embassy nearby. However, President Obama has stated that the bombing will not expand past the area of northern Iraq.

    If Osama bin Laden was worried about the evil, brutal nature of the IS, then perhaps the United States should be, too.

    Image via YouTube

  • Man Found with Knife Hidden in Shoe at Airport

    On the heels of the Transportation Security Agency’s announcement that uncharged electronic devices will be banned from certain international flights, security agents found a knife concealed inside of a passenger’s shoe Sunday morning.

    During a standard security check at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan, TSA agents found that a man had concealed a knife in the sole of his Rockport shoe. The TSA said that airport police took possession of the knife and arrested the unidentified man. The TSA points out that the knife should have been put in checked luggage.

    According to the TSA website, box cutters, ice axes/ice picks, knives, meat cleavers, sabers and swords all need to be in checked baggage. Likewise, axes, hatchets, cattle prods, crowbars, hammers, drills, billy clubs, brass knuckles, night sticks, nunchucks, stun guns/shocking devices and throwing stars must also be checked. Snow globes are allowed in the cabin.

    The knife find is perhaps indicative of a larger initiative of heightened security aligned with the aforementioned policy on uncharged electronic devices. The TSA announced Sunday that it will not allow cellphones or other electronics on U.S.-bound planes originating at some international airports if the devices are not charged up. The ban is part of tighter security measures surrounding Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamist Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, seeking to blow up a jetliner.

    Passengers will be required to power up their devices at certain security checkpoints, to assure that the encasement is not a hidden bomb. Laptops and tablets will be included in the checks, and U.S. officials have stated that security officers will be paying closer attention to passengers’ shoes, as they can be used as bombs as well.

    Image via Twitter

  • TSA Bans Uncharged Cellphones on Certain Flights

    TSA Bans Uncharged Cellphones on Certain Flights

    The U.S. Transportation Security Administration announced Sunday that it will not allow cellphones or other electronics on U.S.-bound planes originating at some international airports if the devices are not charged up. The ban is part of heightened security measures surrounding Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamist Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, seeking to blow up a jetliner.

    Passengers will be required to power up their devices at certain security checkpoints, to assure that the encasement is not a hidden bomb. Laptops and tablets will be included in the checks, and U.S. officials have stated that security officers will be paying closer attention to passengers’ shoes, as they can be used as bombs as well.

    The added security will apply primarily to U.S.-bound direct flights from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, though the TSA did not specify which airports will be affected, and said in a statement, “As the traveling 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 traveler may also undergo additional screening.”

    U.S. officials have feared that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) bomb makers have figured out how to fashion a difficult to detect explosive device into a smartphone. Interestingly, American authorities have singled out the Apple iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy series as the phones to keep an eye on as being potential bombs.

    Devices found to not be powered up will be confiscated, and the passenger carrying it might be taken into custody for questioning. The TSA adds, “[we] will continue to adjust security measures to ensure that travelers are guaranteed the highest levels of aviation security conducted as conveniently as possible.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Yemen Kidnapping Quickly Resolved, Captors Jailed

    Yemeni security forces freed two Westerners unharmed on Tuesday shortly after they were kidnapped by gunmen in the capital Sanaa, in an incident highlighting the growing security threat in the country, sources told CNN.

    Yemen seems to be a common place for kidnapping, as foreign nationals are used as bargaining chips in their dealings with the central government. Over the last few months, mainly militants who have turned to kidnapping for huge financial gains have kidnapped several foreigners.

    Presently, the government is struggling with Islamists directly tied to al Qaeda, who are fighting in the country’s north and create sporadic conflicts with armed tribes. The al Qaeda presence in the Arabian Peninsula is believed by many analysts to be the most dangerous affiliate of the terror network.

    Police said that the security officials tracked the two kidnappers to a house where they were holding the Westerners, and were able to free them without incident after they surrounded the home.

    They also said one of the Westerners was a diplomat for the United Nations and the other was a woman.

    Local residents said they heard gunshots in the area, but an initial exchange of fire was followed by negotiations, the police sources said, before the hostages were released.

    The two victims were grabbed earlier on Tuesday when the kidnappers stopped their car in the Hada district of Sanaa, an area where many diplomatic missions are located, and oddly enough, considered one of the safest and heavy guarded areas in Sanaa, police sources said.

    The senior Interior Ministry official spoke on condition of anonymity, and released a statement announcing the hostage incident in Sanaa “has ended after Yemeni forces freed an Italian national.”

    “The kidnappers were detained by the authorities,” it said in a statement.

    Image via YouTube

  • Hellfire Missiles: U.S. Government Sends Ammunition To Iraqi Forces

    To show its continued support to the Iraqi forces against their ongoing campaign against terrorism, the United States has sent 100 Hellfire missiles and other ammunition to Iraq, officials of the U.S. Embassy to Iraq announced on Sunday.

    According to the Embassy’s official statement, the shipment was sent earlier this month with the purpose of reinforcing the Iraqi Security Forces who are currently battling al-Qaeda splinter group ISIL or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

    The statement also expressed the U.S. government’s intention to send more weapons to Iraq within the next several weeks because of its belief in the importance of having “modern and effective weaponry” in facing the potential danger that the ISIL can bring to Iraq and the region. According to Embassy officials, the U.S. has already given the Iraqi security forces thousands of assault rifles, grenades, machine guns, sniper rifles, as well as more than 11 million rounds of ammunition since mid-January.

    The Associated Press reported that militant positions in the war-torn province of Al Anbar are frequently targeted by Iraqi warplanes, which use Hellfire missiles to eliminate the camps. For the past couple of months, Iraq’s western cities have experienced intense clashes between the combined forces of the Iraqi government and their allies from the Sunni militia, and militant groups associated with al-Qaeda along with other insurgents. The rebel groups hold the city of Fallujah and parts of Al Anbar capital of Ramadi.

    In a related story, two police officials – who spoke on condition of anonymity – reported that a suicide bomber allegedly crashed his explosive-filled car into a joint security area near Ramadi on Sunday. The explosion killed three police officers and two soldiers. Another casualty involved a car bomb that went off in the southeastern region of Baghdad. Four people were reported killed on the spot, and surrounding shops and vehicles were also damaged.

    The AGM-114 Hellfire Missile

    http://youtu.be/byIsaZ5WYyM

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • NSA Actions Ruled Legal by Federal Judge

    On Friday, New York federal judge William H. Pauley III ruled that the surveillance and collection activities overseen by the NSA are legal, dismissing a case brought against the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, by the ACLU.

    In his 53 page ruling, Pauley stated, “The question for this court is whether the government’s bulk telephony metadata program is lawful. This court finds it is. But the question of whether that program should be conducted is for the other two coordinate branches of government to decide.”

    In order to defend the lawfulness of the NSA surveillance program, Pauley pointed to the intent behind the program following its creation after the events of 9/11: “The government learned from its mistake and adapted to confront a new enemy: a terror network capable of orchestrating attacks across the world. It launched a number of counter-measures, including a bulk telephony metadata collection program — a wide net that could find and isolate gossamer contacts among suspected terrorists in an ocean of seemingly disconnected data.”

    Elaborating on the importance of the NSA surveillance program due to the one previous terrorist attack from al-Qaeda, Pauley stated that the mass phone metadata collection “significantly increases the NSA’s capability to detect the faintest patterns left behind by individuals affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations. Armed with all the metadata, NSA can draw connections it might otherwise never be able to find.”

    The decision by Pauley runs counter to the decision reached by fellow federal judge in D.C., Judge Richard Leon. On December 16th, Judge Leon ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, saying that the actions of the NSA were most likely unconstitutional, placing an injunction against the NSA from spying on his plaintiffs. The injunction allows the federal government to appeal Leon’s ruling.

    Pauley’s decision also runs counter to the findings of a recent White House panel which investigated the effectiveness of the NSA’s actions. Following the recent decision by Judge Leon and general unrest from the public concerning the NSA’s surveillance program, President Obama created a panel to determine what changes, if any, should be made to the NSA’s collection practices.

    In determining how effective the NSA had been in preventing terrorist attacks from occurring, the panel found no instances in which the NSA had thwarted a terrorist attempt through the collection of phone metadata.

    “It was, ‘Huh, hello? What are we doing here?’” opined Geoffrey Stone, a law professor at the University of Chicago.

    Following the results of the research, the panel suggested that the NSA surveillance program should be ended to protect the personal security and privacy of the American people.

    In his ruling, however, Judge Pauley also commented on the potential violation of the 4th Amendment, which protects against unlawful searches and seizures, stating that protection against searches and seizures “is fundamental, but not absolute.”

    “Every day, people voluntarily surrender personal and seemingly-private information to transnational corporations, which exploit that data for profit. Few think twice about it, even though it is far more intrusive than bulk telephony metadata collection,” ruled Pauley.

    This decision is a big step towards legality for the NSA, an organization that has been under increasing fire, lately, due to its perceived intrusiveness and ineffectiveness. However, the court case in D.C. is still awaiting an appeal from the federal government. Most likely, Judge Leon will still rule against the NSA program, leaving the agency dead in the water, especially following the results of the White House investigative panel. While the decision by Judge Pauley is positive for the NSA, it may have been only a temporary life preserver.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Hellfire Missiles Sent to Iraq, U.S. Plans to Send Drones Next Year

    By request, dozens of Hellfire missiles were sent from the United States to Iraq last week. The Iraqi government also requested the delivery of 10 Scan Eagles surveillance drones by March of next year; thus, the U.S. plans to also send along F-16s and helicopters.

    The war devices will be of assistance to governmental forces in combating the outburst of violence occurring in both western Iraq and Syria territory.

    The United Nations has reported that the Baghdad government has ran out of Hellfire missiles and is struggling to prevent the violence of an extremists group by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

    The Islamic fighters from Syria alone have already slaughtered nearly 8,000 civilians.

    According to The Seattle Times “…the group has intimidated towns, assassinated local officials and, in an episode last week, used suicide bombers and hidden explosives to kill the commander of the Iraqi army’s 7th Division” at a training camp.

    On Sunday, State Department official Jen Psaki issued a warning statement that the Islamic state, an al Qaeda affiliate, was in pursuit to gain “control of territory inside the borders of Iraq.”

    Just this past Wednesday on Christmas day, al-Qaeda committed three bombings in Christian areas of Baghdad killing dozens of people.

    The fiery conflict in Iraq has become contradictory to the Obama administration’s claims years ago that Iraq was on the right track.

    This present request mirrors a similar request from Iraq months ago.

    The U.S disbursed over 2.7 billion in Foreign Military Sales to Iraq last July, which comprised of infantry carriers, ground-to-air rockets and 681 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

    The Pentagon’s reasoning THEN was to “…provide Iraq with the ability to contribute to regional air defenses and reduce its vulnerability to air attacks and also enhance interoperability between the government of Iraq, the US, and other allies.”

    Evidently, the motive behind this recent assistance is still the same.

     

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Islamists Continue Worldwide Offensive

    As the news spread of coordinated U.S. Navy SEAL strikes against Islamist leaders on either side of the African mainland, Islamists elsewhere were launching attacks of their own.

    Iraq was rocked by a series of suicide bombings this weekend, Reuters reports. One bombing involved a truck loaded with explosives that was driven into a primary school playground in the northern region; in that attack, 14 children and the school headmaster perished.

    An additional Saturday bombing targeted a group of Shi’ite pilgrims visiting a Baghdad religious site, killing 14 and wounding over 30 others.

    No public claims of responsibility have been made for any of the recent attacks, although the tactics utilized cause local police to suspect Sunni-affiliated terrorists tied to al-Qaeda. The primary school bombing occurred mere minutes after a reported attack on a Tel Afar police station just 45 miles northwest of Mosul city, a known Islamist stronghold. In the police station attack, no injuries were reported. A Tel Afar city official who spoke on the condition of anonymity commented that “The fingerprints of al Qaeda are clear on both attacks.”

    Meanwhile, deep in the Nigeria’s Borno state, the Islamists of the Boko Haram rebel group killed at least 20 when they assaulted the town of Damboa early Saturday morning. Five were executed at a mosque as they said their morning prayers.

    In a statement given to Reuters, Nigerian military spokesman Captain Aliyu Danja said, “While they [the Islamists] were unleashing their mayhem, troops [with the Nigerian military] engaged the terrorists, killing 15 in the process while others fled.”

    The military’s casualty counts for engagements with militant Islamists are frequently exaggerated and often unverifiable. Nigerian military forces have been waging an offensive against the Boko Haram rebels since May, but it remains the biggest security threat to the country. Traditionally known for targeting security forces as well as Christian and Muslim opponents, Boko Haram has recently conducted roadside massacres, and threatened Western schools considered sacrilegious.

    [Image via an AFP news report on YouTube about the Boko Haram Islamist faction]

  • Navy SEALs Somalia Assault Raises Strategic Questions

    Yesterday, Navy SEAL Team Six raided an al-Shabaab HQ in Barawe, Somalia. Although none of the SEALs were killed in the assault, a series of conflicting reports about the raid’s target were released, some of which claiming the individual was captured while others were claiming he died in the firefight. The raid was aborted as a failure.

    Despite conflicting reports, the SEAL team leader decided that the fighting was too hot, and after 20 minutes of gunfire, the SEAL team swam away. Somali intelligence officials have claimed, according to CBS News, that the SEAL team was targeting the leader of the al-Shabaab Islamist faction in Somalia, Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr AKA Ahmed Godane; however, an al-Shabaab official by the name of Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab said via audio message that the raid had failed in its goal.

    The strike in Somalia by Navy SEAL Team Six was a part of a coordinated response to the Nairobi Westgate Mall attacks. The failed raid was part of a two-pronged response, with the second staged in Libya just hours after SEAL Team Six pulled out. The Libyan strike was targeting an al Qaeda leader associated with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

    The Libyan raid, unlike the Somali one, was considered a huge success. Navy SEAL teams surrounded a house in Tripoli containing Anu Abas al-Liby, the al-Qaeda leader who claimed responsibility for the Embassy bombings. Liby had previously been indicted for his role in the bombings.

    The CS Monitor noted an interesting dichotomy: until recently, the Obama administration’s primary method of fighting terror abroad was authorized drone strikes. Having conducted hundreds of drone strikes during his presidency, Obama sought to decrease their frequency. Whereas 2010 saw 117 drone strikes in Pakistan alone, this year has seen only 46 Pakistani strikes while Yemen only endured 10 strikes this year. With these recent Navy SEAL raids, is the Obama administration changing tactics in the War on Terror?

    Obama recently acknowledged the deep resentment felt by the international community with regard to U.S. drone policy: “To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance,” Obama said in a speech at the National Defense University. “For the same human progress that gives us the technology to strike half a world away also demands the discipline to constrain that power – or risk abusing it.”

    [Image via a KTN YouTube news report of the raids]

  • US Captures Al Qaeda Leader Responsible for ’98 Embassy Bombing

    According to CNN, U.S forces have captured Abu Anas al Libi, in Tripoli, Libya. Al Libi is said to be a key Al Qaeda operative and had been wanted for his role in the bombing of the U.S. embassies in  Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Nairobi, Kenya. The bombing in Nairobi killed more than 200 people and wounded another 5,000. The blast in Dar es Salaam went off synchronously , leaving 11 people dead.

    Its been well over a decade since U.S. officials have been searching for al Libi. The government even put out a $5 million reward leading to his capture,  on charges of murder, destruction of government property, destruction of U.S. defense utilities and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals.

    The 49-year-old fugitive, whose birth name is actually Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai,  is said to have also attempted to establish an al Qaeda presence in his native country of Libya, and according to western intelligence sources, al Libi appears to have been in the country in 2011, around the time Moammar Gadhafi was ousted.

    Al Libi is also known to be a key ally of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda’s most capable operative. In 2000, the police raided his home in Manchester, England, and found documents detailing plans to destroy various embassies. The documents became known as the “Manchester Manual”. He fled England and had since been at large till now.

    His capture marks the most significant victory against al Qaeda  since the killing of Osama bin Laden, two years ago.

     

    (source via CNN)

     

     

  • Black Hawk Down: 20 Years Since Military Disaster

    The twentieth anniversary of one of the U.S. military’s greatest botched missions, “Black Hawk Down,” was yesterday. In celebration, the US government recently released the classified footage of the operation. The video above contains some of that footage, and 60 Minutes will probably air even more.

    2001’s blockbuster film Black Hawk Down (dir. by Ridley Scott) famously dramatized the events of October 3-4, 1993, when a U.S. military force of combined arms flew into Mogadishu’s Bakara Market to take down militant leaders associated with tribal chief Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Aidid’s militias were hoarding hijacked food at the time and refusing to allow UN peacekeepers to render international aid.

    In the battle, referred to by military historians as the Battle of Mogadishu or by Somali locals as ‘The Day of the Rangers,’ Aidid’s civilian militias shot down two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters during the initial assault, and what was meant to be a sixty minute operation became a 12 hour running gun battle throughout Mogadishu between a couple hundred Rangers and several thousand armed civilians. When the team finally managed to exfiltrate the battle zone, 18 U.S. soldiers had been killed.

    The AFP reported yesterday that, in honor of the recent anniversary, president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia gave a speech commemorating the dead on both sides of the conflict, and lauding the progress of the country. “Somalis have known nothing but conflict and suffering for two decades, today we have at last emerged from the ashes of war,” he said. “As we celebrate our recovery we also mark with sadness and respect the lives lost on both sides in the madness of that conflict and we say firmly, never again.”

    Since Mohamed Aidid usurped Somalia’s previous government in 1991, the UN refused to recognize Somalia as legitimately governed until the administration of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. “Many people around the world know Somalia only through the distorted lens of ‘Black Hawk Down.’ Yet, Somalia has moved on into a new chapter with a recognized government that is healing the wounds of war,” he said of his country’s efforts.

    Although the book and film adaptation made little attempt to study the tribal conflict or the civilian militia who participated, indictments charging Osama bin Laden in connection to the events of the Battle of Mogadishu have surfaced. Allegedly, al-Qaeda commanders traveled to Somalia under bin Laden’s orders to train soldiers. Some of those soldiers participated in the violence of October 3-4 and potentially had a hand in its disastrous outcome. Because of allegations regarding the involvement of al-Qaeda, the battle is now being called one of the first in America’s War on Terror.

    [Image via a brief YouTube 60 Minutes video of the footage]

  • Twitter Suspends Al Qaeda’s Account

    Al Qaeda launched a Twitter account earlier this week, and after only five days, has had their account suspended.

    The account, @shomokhalislam, made less than 50 tweets while it was running, and had over 1,800 followers. According to the Washington Free Beacon, the site was made to be “the Shamukh al-Islam website, [and was to be] used as an official clearing house for al Qaeda members to communicate and issue propaganda statements”.

    United States terrorism analyst, J.M. Berger told The Associated Press: “The person who runs their Twitter account has obviously invested a lot of energy in the process of grabbing headlines, and for Shabab, the account allows them to amplify the message that they wish to send with the attack itself.”

    One tweet read: “Dear Brothers, the Mujahideen today are going through a period of great scrutiny and trial Be them good Nassara, and certain after God.”

    The account had even started tweeting about current attacks. The latest tweet read: “Peshawar from New burn under the feet of the servants of worshipers of the cross, the explosive device was detonated now targeting Bus least the staff of the Ministry of Interior of Pakistan in Peshawar. The attack killed more than 17 people dead and inflicted 35 wounded in the initial toll expected to rise .. Source Brother Fadil Abu Maaz Kouhati.”

    Counterterrorism analyst Patrick Poole said: “We’ve seen terrorist groups make increasingly effective use of social media, particularly Twitter and Facebook, in recent years. Not only is this important for propaganda purposes but also recruitment.”

    So far, there has been no reason given as to why the account was suspended.

    Image via Twitter

  • Mali Explosion Caused by Suicide Bombers in Kidal

    The AP reported this morning that an explosion rocked a UN World Food Programme storage facility in the town of Kidal in northern Mali. Two civilians died in the attacks and seven others were wounded by shrapnel.

    The targeted building was blown apart, and Daouda Maiga, an official from Kidal, said that aid supplies were being stored in the building. French forces and UN peacekeepers stationed in northern Mali responded immediately and set up a defensive perimeter.

    The explosion comes in the wake of the Tuareg rebel group, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, withdrawing from a peace accord they signed with the Malian government. That agreement initially permitted government military forces to return to Kidal, but many of the native Tuaregs remain staunchly opposed to the government efforts.

    A second AP story, this one written out of Bamako, indicated several houses in Kidal collapsed as a result of the bomb.

    The president of the regional assembly around Kidal, Mohamid Ibrahim Cisse, said “In the town, the explosion caused several houses to collapse, which resulted in at least three civilians coming to the emergency room at Timbuktu’s hospital.”

    One witness who described the attacks, Timbuktu native Abdoulaye Cisse, said that “The force of the explosion was so strong that the wall and the gate of the camp were razed, and another house fell in the city because of the earthquake caused by the explosion.”

    The UN peacekeepers, meanwhile, remain undeterred. The UN’s head of the Malian peacekeeping mission, Bert Koenders, said that they will “continue to support the Malian people and their authorities so that peace and stability are restored across the entire region.”

    Unfortunately for peacekeepers, the town of Kidal has been turned into a Tuareg state of sorts. Today’s car bombing represents the second attack since the Tuareg rebels pulled out of peace accords, with the first being a grenade that was launched into a Kidal bank from a neighboring house on Friday. In that attack, two security guards were wounded, but investigators made a quick arrest of one individual who remained in the house that the grenade came from.

    If you’re interested in a concise history of the Mali-Tuareg conflict, which has a rich ethnic background similar to that of Czechoslovakia, you may find this YouTube video enlightening.

    [Image via a YouTube video of the Origins of the Malian conflict]

  • Al-Shabab Takes Credit for Mall Attack on Twitter

    Al-Shabab Takes Credit for Mall Attack on Twitter

    At least 39 people were killed when a Somali-based terror group opened fire at a mall in Kenya. The Al Qaeda-linked group Al-Shabab (also listed as “Al-Shabaab”) claimed responsibility for the shootings on Twitter. The group was reportedly live tweeting the shooting under the username @HSM_Press. The account has since been suspended.

    The terror group claims that the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya was a revenge attack that targeted non-Muslims. The following statements were copied from the Twitter account before it was suspended:

    HSM has on numerous occasions warned the #Kenyan government that failure to remove its forces from Somalia would have severe consequences.

    The Mujahideen entered #Westgate Mall today at around noon and are still inside the mall, fighting the #Kenyan Kuffar (infidels) inside their own turf.

    What Kenyans are witnessing at #Westgate is retributive justice for crimes committed by their military.

    The attack at #WestGateMall just a very tiny fraction of what Muslims in Somalia experience at the hands of Kenyan invaders.

    After enough users reported the Twitter account, it was eventually suspended for violating the terms of service. Some Twitter users claimed to see the live tweets posted by Al-Shabab:

    Al-Shabab shooters entered the Kenya mall around noon, throwing hand grenades and firing rifles. According to the BBC, a children’s event was being held at the mall at that time. The Kenyan police and military responded to the shootings, but the gunmen still have hostages at the time of this posting.

    Witness Manish Turohit, 18, was able to avoid injury and gave his account of what happened. “They just came in and threw a grenade,” he said. “We were running and they opened fire. They were shouting and firing.” Turohit also said that the shooters were carrying AK-47s and had on vests with hand grenades attached.

    The Somali terror group Al-Shabab also took responsibility for an attack in Somali earlier this month that left 15 people dead. After detonating a car bomb near a restaurant, the bomber then blew himself up as people gathered around.

    Image via YouTube

  • Shooting in Kenya Mall Work of Terrorists, 39 dead

    At least 39 people were killed and more than 150 wounded by Islamic extremist gunmen in an assault inside Nairobi’s top mall early today. Kenya’s president announced the attack on national TV, while disclosing that his close family members were among the dead. AP reports that terrified shoppers huddled in back hallways and prayed they would not be found by the terrorists lobbing grenades and firing assault rifles inside the mall.

    When the coast was thought clear, crying mothers clutching small children and blood-splattered men sprinted out of the mall. As of early Sunday morning, about 12 hours after the attack began, gunmen remained holed up inside the mall with an unknown number of hostages. President Uhuru Kenyatta called the security operation under way “delicate”. Kenyatta said the top priority was to safeguard hostages.

    As the attack unfolded shortly after noon Saturday, the al-Qaida-linked gunmen asked the victims they had cornered if they were Muslim. If the hostages answered yes, several witnesses said, those people were free to go. The non-Muslims were held. Police and military surrounded the huge shopping complex as helicopters buzzed overhead. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a wounded Kenyan soldier put into an ambulance at nightfall. Perhaps an indication of a continuing shoot-out inside.

    The attack began shortly after noon with bursts of gunfire and grenades. Shoppers, mostly expatriates and rich Kenyans, fled to anywhere that might be safe, like into back corners of stores, back service hallways and bank vaults. Over the next several hours, pockets of terrified people poured out of the mall as undercover police moved in and some of the wounded mall goers were moved out in shopping carts.

    “We started by hearing gunshots downstairs and outside. Later we heard them come inside. We took cover. Then we saw two gunmen wearing black turbans. I saw them shoot.” said Patrick Kuria, an employee at Artcaffe, the restaurant with shady outdoor seating.

    Frank Mugungu, an off-duty army sergeant major, said he saw four male attackers and one female attacker. “One was Somali,” he said, but the others were black, suggesting that they could have been Kenyan or another nationality.

    Somalia’s Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility and said the attack was retribution for Kenyan forces’ 2011 push into Somalia. The rebels then threatened more attacks. Al-Shabab said on its Twitter feed that Kenyan security officials were trying to open negotiations. “There will be no negotiations whatsoever,” al-Shabab tweeted. They also said that it has many times warned Kenya’s government that failure to remove its forces from Somalia “would have severe consequences.” Al-Shabab claimed that its gunmen had killed 100 people, but its assertions are often exaggerated.

    Al-Shabab reportedly threatened in late 2011 to unleash a large-scale attack in Nairobi. Kenya has seen a regular spate of grenade attacks since then. However, they have never such a large terrorist assault. Anti-terror Police Unit boss Boniface Mwaniki said vests found were similar to those used in attacks that killed 76 people in Uganda. Those people had gathered to watch the soccer World Cup finals on TV in July 2010. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for those bombings, saying the attack was in retaliation for Uganda’s participation in the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

    “The attack at #WestgateMall is just a very tiny fraction of what Muslims in Somalia experience at the hands of Kenyan invaders,” al-Shabab said. Another tweet said: “For long we have waged war against the Kenyans in our land, now it’s time to shift the battleground and take the war to their land #Westgate.”

    The U.S. embassy said it was in contact with local authorities and offered assistance and some British security personnel assisted in the response.The U.S. State Department condemned “this senseless act of violence that has resulted in death and injury for many innocent men, women, and children.”

    The local hospital was overwhelmed with the number of wounded being brought in hours after the attack, so much so, that they had to divert them to a second facility. Dozens of people were seriously wounded. Officials said Kenyans turned out in droves to donate blood.

    Foreigners were among the casualties. France’s president said that two French women were killed, and there were reports of American citizens injured, but the U.S. State Department said it had no further details.

    The gunmen told hostages that non-Muslims would be targeted, said Elijah Kamau, who was at the mall at the time of the midday attack. “The gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave. They were safe, and non-Muslims would be targeted,” he said.

    Jay Patel sought cover on an upper floor in the mall when shooting began. He said that when he looked out of a window onto the upper parking deck of the mall he saw the shooters with a group of people. Patel said that as the attackers were talking, some of the people stood up and left and the others were shot.

    The gunmen carried AK-47s and they wore vests with hand grenades on them, said Manish Turohit. He stayed alive by hiding in a parking garage for two hours. “They just came in and threw a grenade. We were running and they opened fire. They were shouting and firing,” he said after marching out of the mall in a line of 15 people who all held their hands in the air.

    “These heartless acts against defenseless civilians, including innocent children, are beyond the pale and cannot be tolerated. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Kenya in its time of grief for these lives lost and the many injured,” President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. Somalia’s president, obviously familiar with terrorist attacks, said his country knows “only too well the human costs of violence like this” as he extended his prayers to those in Kenya.

    The United Nations Secretary General’s office said that Ban Ki-moon has spoken with President Uhuru Kenyatta and expressed his concern and British Prime Minister David Cameron also called Kenyatta and offered his assistance.

    The attack was carried out by terrorists, said Kenyan police chief Benson Kibue. He did not specify a group. He said it was likely that no more than 10 attackers were involved.

  • Nairobi Westgate Mall: Islamists Kill 25

    Islamists around the world are staging coordinated attacks with increasing regularity. Yesterday saw a series of coordinated attacks on the Arabian peninsula, and today sees al-Qaeda affiliated militants seizing a shopping mall, killing dozens and injuring 40.

    Witnesses say that terrorists were responsible for the attack, which happened earlier this morning. Gunmen burst into the mall and indiscriminately killed some while taking others hostage. The police took those escaping civilians to a secured location to verify they were not gunmen trying to sneak away; reports indicate they were streaming away from the mall, arms raised as a police escort accompanied them.

    The Kenyan Interior Ministry released a press statement urging “Kenyans to keep off Westgate mall, adjacent roads and its environs until further notice… We’re doing our job to ensure that everyone is evacuated to safety. This is a scene of crime, let police do their job.”

    CNN reports Joseph Ole Lenku, a Kenyan government official, confirming 11 dead while Reuters has the number solidly at 25. Lenku said of their conservative estimate that the number “may go up, but for now, that’s the number we have.”

    Reuters notes this latest attack is the largest instance of terrorism to occur in Nairobi since the 1998 al-Qaeda bombing of the U.S. embassy. Although at first hesitant to report any one group as responsible for the attack, (Kenya’s president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud believes they “don’t have any proof that the people who did this are Somali”) Kenyan officials are blaming Somali militant group al Shabaab, which is affiliated with al Qaeda.

    The attack is believed to be an al-Qaeda response to coordinated efforts by Kenyan military forces that target al Shabaab. No public claim of responsibility has been made, but one witness did report that the attackers told all Muslims to clear the area.

    If you want to read the Reuters version, you can find it here, but be warned that the details are graphic and it should be viewed with discretion.

    [Image via a brief YouTube report of the shooting]

  • AQAP Stages Suicide Car Bombing, Kills 38 Yemenis

    The AP via USA Today reported earlier today that al-Qaeda militants in Yemen launched a coordinated attack on a military barracks in the southern part of the country called Shabwa province. 38 soldiers were killed in the attacks and dozens of others were wounded.

    Yemeni defense official Maj. Mohammed Nasser, speaking about the attacks, said that the soldiers were caught unprepared, and that Shabwa Province is widely known to be an al-Qaeda stronghold. The attacks began as militants tried to storm three military encampments in Maysaa, Kamp, and al-Ain. At Kamp, the guards outside the barracks were overpowered and a suicide car bomb was driven inside; most of the casualties occurred when this first bomb detonated.

    At al-Ain, ground-based infantry fighting was continuing to occur throughout the morning, and a second car bomb was detonated outside the barracks.

    The attack seems to have had a dual purpose: Nasser reported that although the militants lost eight jihadists in the assault, they gained six hostages in the form of seized soldiers and five unspecified military vehicles.

    Yemeni authorities have been waging war against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, because officials in Washington consider it to be the deadliest and most dangerous offshoot of the al-Qaeda brand. AQAP has recently been orchestrating a series of attacks on the military and has claimed responsibility for the assassinations of a variety of officials.

    These latest attacks are the largest yet made against the Yemeni military, and they come in the wake of warnings from Sanaa that more al-Qaeda attacks are on the way. In response to the continued attacks on Yemeni security forces, the United States stepped up the drone war efforts.

    The AP also reported that the AQAP franchise had claimed responsibility for several foiled bomb plots against US citizens, including one involving an underwear bomb on an airline and another plot to hide mail bombs in toner printer cartridges.

    [Image via a brief YouTube video of an Al-Jazeera report on AQAP]

  • Al-Qaeda, Free Syrian Army Stop Fighting in Azaz

    The BBC reported this morning that fighting between some of the rebel groups has come to a grinding halt in the town of Azaz.

    Militants linked to al-Qaeda and fighting under the banner of “The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) attacked the town earlier this week, wresting the town from Free Syrian Rebels backed by the western world.

    Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, is continuing to try diplomatic mediation between the clashing factions in Damascus. Russian and U.S. officials have completely different opinions regarding the handling of chemical weapons evidence; where John Kerry is convinced by a UN report that the Syrian government forces backed by Assad are responsible for the weapons, Moscow is backing Damascus when it claims that Syrian rebels were responsible.

    The US has insisted on an addition to a UN resolution that would threaten military force in the event the Syrian government refused to comply with demands to turn over the weapons, but Russia objects to the mention of it, let alone adding it to the resolution.

    Paul Wood, the BBC’s foreign reporter on the Turkey-Syria border, said of the Azaz truce that “In the short term, if the rebels are fighting each other, they are not fighting the regime. But in the long term, the US and other Western governments might be more willing to support the FSA if they see real distance between it and the jihadis.”

    Meanwhile, the Guardian reported yesterday that Bashar al-Assad’s government will be seeking a ceasefire in Geneva regarding the future of his state’s existence.

    Qadri Jamil, Syria’s deputy prime minister, told the Guardian in an interview that “Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side… This zero balance of forces will not change for a while.” He added that over 100,000 have perished in the fighting, and that the Syrian economy had lost $100 billion due to loss of production during wartime.

    Syrian rebels are hardly interested in any kind of ceasefire or truce that does not involve dethroning Assad, as evidenced by their repeated refusal to go to peace talks in Geneva unless Assad resigns first.

    If you want to see an interview about the civil war with some Syrian Christians who were interviewed by the AFP, you can watch this video:

    [Image via this YouTube footage of Syrian rebels fighting, posted this month]

  • Omar Hammami, American Jihadi, Reported Dead

    Omar Hammami, better known as Abu Monsoor Al-Almriki (“the American”), has reportedly been shot dead in the southern bay area of Somalia. Hammami has been reported dead on numerous occasions, but close contact and terrorism expert J.M. Berger believes that reports of Hammami’s death this time are accurate.

    Hammami left his hometown of Daphne, Alabama in 2006 to pursue a life as a self-proclaimed terrorist in Somalia in 2006. There, Hammami joined the al-Qaeda linked terrorist group al-Shabab. While Hammami did help organize military operations and actively fought for the rebels, he served mainly as a recruiting tool to pull foreigners into al-Shabab, mainly through his use of rap and social media. Hammami’s online presence gave him the nickname the “Rapping Jihadist”:

    Hammami had been fearing for his life for months now, after falling out with the leaders of al-Shabab. In April of 2012, Hammami tweeted that he had been shot in the neck by assassins sent by Godane, al-Shabab’s leader. Leaders of al-Shabab were upset with Hammami due to his criticism concerning their use of tax money collected from Somalis and Hammami’s criticism that Godane was oppressing Muslims in order to simply win control of Somalia . Those factors, coupled with growing antagonism toward foreign militants, are perhaps what led to al-Shabab hunting Hammami down and killing him.

    Hammami has been on America’s Most Wanted Terrorists list since March and had a $5 million reward for information leading to his whereabouts. Along with Adam Gadahn, a former bin Laden spokesman in Pakistan, Hammami is considered the most dangerous Americans in a jihad group due to his wide sphere of influence and connections.

    Earlier this month, Hammami appeared to make positive steps by denouncing his ties with al-Shabab and al-Qaeda. However, when asked if he would be willing to talk to US officials, Hammami said the following: “I’m openly not from Shabab, I’m openly not from al-Qaida, but I’m definitely a terrorist, so they’re just going to end up changing my sentence from being affiliated with al-Qaida to being affiliated with terrorism, so it doesn’t really matter whether I speak or not.”

    In an interview with Voice of America, Hammami was also asked whether or not he would ever return to the US. Hammami replied “that is not an option unless it’s in a body bag.” It looks like he is going to get his wish.

    Image via YouTube

  • Ayman al-Zawahiri Calls for US-Based Attacks

    Al-Qa’ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri issued his latest audio speech online marking 12 years and a day since the 11 September attacks of 2001. Zawahiri’s speech is issued with the missive of calling for small-scale attacks inside the United States to “bleed America economically.”

    Zawahiri says specifically, “the weak point of America is its economy, which has already begun to stagger due to the military and security expenditure.”

    The concern of lone wolf attacks has been a high priority among intelligence agencies and insiders as these are infinitely easier to pull off, requiring fewer resources, and as a result are harder for authorities to identify ahead of time. Zawahiri references these as viable options, “disparate strikes can be done by one brother or a few of the brothers.”

    He does not leave out however, the call for large attacks in the US, “even if it takes years of patience for this.”

    Al-Qa’ida operatives have had long-standing goals of harming the US and other Western economies. Zawahiri further targets the economy, urging Muslims to refuse to buy products from the US and allies since money from those purchases helps fund US military action in Muslim lands.

    “The Boston incident confirms to the Americans… that they are not facing individuals, organizations or groups, but they are facing an uprising Ummah, that rose in jihad to defend its soul, dignity and capabilities,” Zawahiri says in praise of the April Boston Marathon bombing which took the lives of three and injured 264 victims. Ummah in this case refers to an uprising Muslim nation or community.

    [Image of an old Ayman al-Zawahiri speech.]