ARCHIVE
.
“We should be most alarmed by the fact that in their viewing the West as a common enemy, extremist groups around the world are continuing to embrace and unite beneath the umbrella of the Islamic State, – whose ever expanding military and business successes are inspiring affiliates to pledge their allegiance to the caliphate.” Wyndham-Lewis
.
“They, the extremists, could never be what we are. They are a bunch of damned cut-throats, intent on destruction and death, a scar upon history’s course and other than for being that, have no meaning whatsoever.” Wyndham-Lewis
.
Return to list page – terror manifestations
,
.
.
About the new Counter Terrorism and Security Bill 2014
Protecting the UK against terrorism – Policy Documents
Note that these documents are available to read in their entirety in Reconnoiter Section
.
27/11/14 Taliban suicide bomb attack: British embassy vehicle hit in Kabul – casualties reported
A suicide bomber on motorcycle detonated himself within a convoy of foreign troops in the east of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday 27/11.
“A British embassy vehicle was attacked. There are some serious injuries. We are working with Afghan authorities.”
At least four people were killed in the attack, two of them were foreigners.
Local media maintains the suicide bomber was specifically targeting vehicles from the British embassy making up a part of a larger convoy.
A wave of attacks has hit Afghanistan in anticipation of coalition troops’ withdrawal from the country after 13 years of military operations against the Taliban.
.
British holidaymakers have been warned they face a threat from the Islamic State, no matter where they are in the world. The Foreign Office issued a global terror warning, stating that tourists could be targeted in revenge for UK strikes in the Middle East.
The updated alert reflects an increase in the threat posed to UK nationals abroad, with the warning applying to every country in the world. It states that there is a generalized threat towards British citizens, rather than a specific risk based on intelligence gathered.
“There is considered to be a heightened threat of terrorist attack globally against UK interests and British nationals from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria,” the statement from the Foreign Office said. “You should be vigilant at this time.”
.
A 14 year-old boy has been suspended from school in the Netherlands after posting a video in which he said he belonged to Islamic State and wanted to decapitate Jews. The student is said to be of Balkan decent and was identified only as Ilhan M.
.
.
One British Jihadist dies fighting in Syria every three weeks, while at least 23 British citizens in total have been killed in action since the conflict began.
Sir Hogan-Howe also told MPs that the UK’s police forces had made 218 arrests for terrorist-related activity in 2014 alone, and warned that forces were being “stretched” due to a surge in arrests.
While the majority of British fighters are thought to have joined the Islamist militia group Islamic State, one of the few groups that is welcoming foreign fighters, others are known to have joined the Al-Qaeda offshoot Al-Nusra Front and the Katiba al-Muhajireen.
.
Above photograph. Suicide bombers
.
British Jihadists fighting in Syria have threatened to launch terror attacks in Britain in a mark of retribution against UK airstrikes in Iraq. They claim the attack would parallel the 7/7 London bombings and beheading of soldier Lee Rigby.
Reacting to Royal Air Force missions that have struck Islamic State militants, vehicles, and positions, a British Jihadist based in the Middle East delivered an in-depth interview via social media.
In response to the rise of IS in Iraq and Syria, the government raised the UK’s terror threat level from ‘substantial’ to ‘severe’ at the end of August this year.
MPs voted to join US, French, and Arab airstrikes against IS positions in Iraq, but not in Syria.
Royal Air Force Tornados have attacked an IS position in northern Iraq, and launched a targeted precision strike on an armed vehicle. The operation was carried out in support of Kurdish forces in the region, and was reported to be “successful” by the MoD.
.
M198 Howitzer
Recall the reports that the Islamic State have seized 55 American M198 Howitzers from a fleeing Iraqi army. The weapon is capable of firing 155mm shells with a kill radius of 50 meters.
Chinese HJ-8
Multiple reports have said that ISIS is using the HJ-8 anti-tank missile, a Chinese weapon first built in the early 1980s. While somewhat unwieldy, the weapon ostensibly has a hit probability rate of 90 percent.
IS captured many tanks from the Iraqi army, including the relatively modern Soviet T-72, of which it may have as many as 10. –
Type 59 Artillery
Also known by the slightly less succinct name “130 mm towed field gun M-46 M1954,” the Type 59 came out of the Soviet Union in the 1950’s. Medium reported in August that IS was using the artillery against Iraqi troops.
FIM-92 Stinger MANPADs
IS fighters acquired a host of American Stinger missiles from ravaged Iraqi basis. The Stinger is lightweight and easy to use, and can be operated from the shoulder of a single soldier, making it a massive threat.
ZU-23-2 “Sergey” Anti-Aircraft Cannon
Medium reported in August that IS was using these Soviet anti-aircraft mounted guns with “brutal effectiveness against Iraq’s dwindling helicopter gunship force.”
Iraqi Chemical Weapons
Reports in July indicated that IS had seized an old Iraqi chemical weapons facility just north of Baghdad. More recent reports claim that chemical weapons are being used by IS against Kurdish troops.
9K32 Strela-2/SA-7 Grail
The Washington Post reported that multiple IS propaganda videos have surfaced showing fighters using the SA-7 Strela, a shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missile.
Along with tanks and weapons, IS fighters have also picked up a host of Humvees from raided Iraqi bases. This ability of Humvees to easily negotiate treacherous desert conditions has led to their widespread use in the region. The vehicles are also capable of playing host to multiple weapon emplacements.
.
video removed
.
Please note:
Section: The Suicide Bomber – A View From Here’ – is currently in preparation
and which includes the following:
Section: The Suicide Bomber I: An extract from a discussion/seminar (CI), (CIII) and (CV) (GO TO PAGE)
Section: The Suicide Bomber II: In pictures (GO TO PAGE)
.
.
Above: A child suicide bomber
.
Article: Salafism as an ideology of authoritarianism – (read)
.
In Germany there are about 1,000 supporters of Islamic terrorism
About one thousand people in Germany are supporters of Islamic terrorism, and several hundred of them in the future may commit a terrorist attack in the country. In parallel, the government demanded to allocate more funds for the program to combat right-wing radicals, fearing that their dissatisfaction with the Islamists could lead to riots.
As stated in the published today in the German newspaper “Die Welt” interview, President of the Federal Office of Criminal Cases of Germany (BKA) Joerg Circus, currently under close supervision of special services are 230 Islamists who “may commit illegal acts significant scale.” Thus in 2010, those in Germany, there were two times less – 120 people. Another 300 Islamists represent a “substantial interest” for the GCE. This group of potential terrorists “may have logistical assistance in the preparation of a terrorist attack,” said the circus.
“Today, the greatest threat comes from the fanatics who act alone, as well as small groups,” said the President of BCA. However, the German security services, he said, are on the alert. “Panic is inappropriate,” he said.
The security situation began to deteriorate in Germany against the background of actions of the terrorist group “Islamic state” in Iraq and Syria.
Firstly, on the side of the Islamists are fighting the natives of Islamic families residing in the territory of the Federal Republic. Many of them will sooner or later be returned to the country and are, in fact, a time bomb. According counterintelligence, of whom there are more than a hundred. Nobody knows for sure whether they are prepared terrorist attack, providing financial assistance to terrorists or “limited” that contribute to the radicalization of their loved ones.
Secondly, according to the country in October demonstrations swept the Kurds, who have expressed their dissatisfaction with insufficient, in their opinion, the efforts of the international community to counter the IG. As a result of these demonstrations escalated into clashes with residents in Germany Salafis – adherents extremely conservative Islam, as well as with the police. In counterintelligence assumed that in case of an escalation of the situation in Syria Kobanov such collisions can overwhelm many German cities.
Thirdly, more headache deliver local security football hooligans and right-wing extremists. Last Sunday in Cologne was a demonstration against the Salafis. Per share came about 4 thousand people. At some point, the situation began to get out of control, and as a result of collisions with the radicals suffered 44 guards.
October 15, such an action is planned in Berlin. Already an application to participate in it served more than 10 thousand people. Given that in Berlin traditionally popular leftist sentiments, we can expect that the anti-fascists stated at that date its own demonstration. This can lead to serious clashes with police in both groups.
Against this background, the Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Manuela Schwesig need to increase funding for the program to counter the neo-Nazis. “Underestimate the right-wing radicals in Germany we can not,” she said.
.
22/11/2014 The Islamic State intensifies its onslaught on Iraq’s Ramadi
The Islamic State has launched an attack on Ramadi Friday in an attempt to seize control of a key Iraqi city under government control in Anbar province, according to sources on the ground. The attack has been launched from all four directions on Ramadi. Mortar attacks are aimed at government buildings continue. The attacks killed at least six people, while 12 militants are believed to have died in the fighting. Most of Ramadi and the surrounding Sunni Muslim province of Anbar is already held by the Islamic State.
.
Above image uploaded on 14/06/ 2014 onto the Jihadist website, Welayat Salahuddin, shows militants of the Islamic State executing dozens of captured Iraqi security forces members at an unknown location in the Salaheddin province
.
Above. Victim of a suicide bomb attack
The head of administration of Iraqi Kurdistan leader Fuad Hussein in an exclusive interview with the British newspaper Independent said that the real number of militants group Islamic State exceeds the estimate by the CIA in seven or eight times, and can be up to 200 thousand people.
Previously, the CIA estimated the number of militants as being 20 to 31 thousand fighters.
“I’m talking about hundreds of thousands of militants because they are able to mobilize the Arab young men in areas that capture” – said Fuad Hussein. According to his estimates, under the control of the “Islamic State” is currently one-third and one-third of Iraq to Syria, the population living in these areas, up to 12 million people, which gives the militants an excessively huge and unprecedented opportunity for recruits from local youth.
.
.
The African Continent
21/11/2014 The victims of the attacks in the city of Beni in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on the border with Uganda – Massacres have been committed, according to eyewitnesses, armed with axes and machetes unknown in uniform. Earlier, the authorities of the Congo suggested that the killings are the Ugandan rebels of the group “United Democratic Forces”.
The UN has sent peacekeepers to troubled areas, but warned that it can not protect the civilian population, as it does not know who is guilty of mass slaughter.
.
Armed members of the militant group al-Shabab attend a rally on the outskirts of Mogadishu. Somalia
Police insisted on anonymity because Kenya’s police chief ordered that officers should not speak to the press.
Some of the dead were public servants who were heading to Nairobi for the Christmas vacation, the officers said.
A shortage of personnel and lack of equipment led to a slow response by police when the information was received, the officers said. They said the attackers have more sophisticated weaponry than the police who waited for military reinforcements before responding.
Kenya has been hit by a series of gun and bomb attacks blamed on al-Shabab, who are linked to al-Qaida, since it sent troops into Somalia in October 2011. Authorities say there have been at least 135 attacks by al-Shabab since then, including the assault on Nairobi’s upscale Westgate Mall in September 2013 in which 67 people were killed. Al-Shabab said it was responsible for other attacks on Kenya’s coast earlier this year which killed at least 90 people.
Kenyan troops are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia which is bolstering Somalia’s weak U.N.-backed government against the al-Shabab insurgency. Al-Shabab has continued to carry out attacks in Somalia’s capital despite being pushed out of Mogadishu in August 2011. Somali government troops backed by AU forces are making progress in seizing the remaining al-Shabab strongholds. Recently, they captured the port town of Barawe.
Al-Shabab was also dealt a heavy blow when their leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed in early September by a U.S. airstrike. Godane has been replaced by Ahmed Omar, also known as Abu Ubeid.
Kenya has been struggling to contain growing extremism in the country. Earlier this week the authorities shut down four mosques at the Kenyan coast after police alleged they found explosives and a gun when they raided the places of worship.
Some Muslims believe the police planted the weapons to justify closing the mosques, Kheled Khalifa, a human rights official said Friday warning that methods being used to tackle extremism by government will increase support for radicals.
One person was killed during the raid on two of the mosques on Monday. Police said they shot dead a young man trying to hurl a grenade at them.
The government had previously said the four mosques were recruitment centers for al-Shabab.
.
Islamic State militants are acquiring gold, silver and other precious metals in a bid to further solidify their control over large swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory by issuing their own currency.
.
.
Earlier this month, the militants’ Beit al Mal, an ancient Islamic term which translates as “Treasury Department,” issued a statement announcing the plan. The coins, which they plan to fashion from gold, silver and copper, will be modeled on the 8th century currency of the Umayyad Caliphate.
At the time, experts expressed doubts the militant group had the technological capability and overall know-how to produce their own modern currency for the territory under their control; roughly one third of Iraq and Syria.
A recent report however, which draws on interviews with precious metal dealers in northern and western Iraq, indicates the group is in fact quickly moving ahead to obtain sufficient material necessary to carry out the plan.
.
.
United Kingdom – A Briton who claims to be a bomb expert claims that he has joined the Islamic State after having fought for the Taliban for several years.
Hamayun Tariq, 37, a West Midlands car mechanic turned Jihadist, told representatives of the press that he had volunteered to fight for the militant group.
He said he hitchhiked from Pakistan’s tribal belt during the summer to the ‘caliphate.’ ISIS has seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq and established a self-proclaimed caliphate where Sharia law rules.
Tariq is a divorced father of two who grew up in Dudley, and who has served three and a half years in prison..
He reportedly left the UK in July 2012 to fight for Islamists in Waziristan, Pakistan, where he said his fellow Jihadis were killed in US drone strikes.
Tariq also claims his passport was cancelled last year by the Home Secretary.
.
United Kingdom – the growth of and attraction to Jihadist propaganda
A German rap ‘singer’ who joined the Islamic State in Syria is overseeing the extremist group’s effort to recruit Britons. Denis Cuspert, from Berlin, has become the Jihadist group’s main propagandist, managing its sophisticated media operation.
Cuspert is reportedly responsible for recruiting Britons by using English-speaking Jihadists as poster children.
He is said to be the mastermind of a campaign to attract foreigners, including German Salafists and other impressionable, radicalized youths.
Cuspert is now fighting under the name Abu Talha al-Almani. The former rapper is also reportedly the leader of a combat unit of German-speaking Islamic State Jihadists called the German Brigade of Millatu Ibrahim.
The 39-year-old was born in Berlin to a German mother and a Ghanaian father. He became a rapper under the artist name Deso Dogg.
The would-be propagandist converted to Islam in 2007 following nine years imprisonment for manslaughter.
He is thought to have traveled to Syria in early 2013, swearing his allegiance to the self-proclaimed IS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
.
A Belgian fugitive suspected of having links to radical British preacher Anjem Choudary features in the most recent Islamic State video, which depicts a group of Jihadists brutally beheading 18 Syrian soldiers.
Abdelmajid Gharmaoui, 28, from Belgium, is currently being tried in absentia in Antwerp as one of a slew of radicals associated with a group called Sharia4Belgium. The group faces allegations of having channeled fighters into the Middle East for Islamic State and other Islamist militias.
The splinter organization was founded with the help of London-based self-proclaimed Imam Anjem Choudary while he ran an Islamist group in Britain called Islam4UK.
Launched by Choudary and a Syrian national who was banned from setting foot on UK soil following the 7/7 bombings, Islam4UK was outlawed in 2010.
Following its official banning, the group resurfaced under various incarnations that were also proscribed. A total of 10 of Choudary’s organizations have reportedly been banned by the Home Office under counter-terrorism laws.
‘My memory is not that good’
In the most recent Islamic State video, Gharmaoui appears on-screen as one of approximately 20 militants. The men stand alongside Jihadi John – a British man who has brutally murdered five Western captives in recent months and sparked cross-border intelligence investigations into his identity and whereabouts.
In the chilling film, each IS militant decapitates a kneeling Syrian soldier.
.
Al-Nusra Front
Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front has issued a new threatening audio message featuring its leader, warning the West “will pay the heaviest price” for its actions. The Syrian group is reportedly now joining up with the estranged Islamic State militants.
The leader of Syria’s most prominent terrorist group, Abu Mohamad al-Golani, in denouncing the US-led air strike campaign, has urged Westerners everywhere to do the same “by standing against the decisions of your rulers,” otherwise bloodshed would be brought to their soil.
“Muslims will not watch while their sons are bombed. Your leaders will not be the only ones who would pay the price of the war. You will pay the heaviest price,” Reuters cited him as saying. He threatened viewers that the fight would be brought “to the hearts of your homes
The US-led air campaign against terrorists in Syria amounts to a war against Islam, Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front group has claimed, promising retaliation against those states involved in the bombing of the ‘caliphate’ instead of targeting Assad forces.
“We are in a long war. This war will not end in months nor years,” group spokesman Abu Firas al-Suri said as cited by Reuters. “It’s not a war against Nusra Front, it’s a war against Islam.”
Dozens of Al-Nusra Front fighters were reportedly killed after the anti-ISIS coalition launched the first round of its airstrikes on Tuesday, and the audio message released on Saturday is the group’s first reaction to attacks.
“These countries have done a despicable act that will put them on the list of those targeted by Jihadist forces all over the world,” the spokesman added.
.
.
Islamic State fighters have threatened to execute 30 Lebanese soldiers captured during early August unless Lebanon releases hundreds of IS prisoners. The jihadists had a telephone conversation with a brother of a kidnapped soldier during which they vowed to behead all the servicemen.
About 30 Lebanese soldiers and security personnel were seized by the IS and al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front in August, when the Jihadists attacked the Lebanese town of Arsal near the Syrian border.
.
Recall, the Islamic State struck a deal with the Al-Nusra Front. The two groups agreed to stop fighting each other and instead join efforts against their opponents.
The two groups met on 02/11/2014 at a farmhouse in northern Syria.
The meeting – which took place in the town of Atareb, west of Aleppo – started at around midnight and lasted until 4 a.m. About seven top militant leaders attended and insisted that an agreement was reached.
The Slamic State and Al-Nusra agreed to fight and eliminate the Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF) – an anti-government battalion that has reportedly received support from the United States and other Western nations opposed to the Assad regime.
At the end of September, the Al-Nusra Front – which is linked to Al-Qaeda – issued an audio message featuring its leader, who warned that the West “will pay the heaviest price” for its actions.
.
As part of the latest additions of the support for the Islamic State, Jundallah, a Pakistani Islamist militant group associated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), vowed allegiance to ISIS after a meeting with a three-man delegation from the group.
“They (Islamic State) are our brothers, whatever plan they have we will support them,” Jundullah spokesman Fahad Marwat made public.
Last month five Pakistani Taliban commanders pledged their support for ISIS cause. Reuters reports citing security officials on the ground that IS is also seeking the support of Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).
“The top leadership of LeJ visited Saudi Arabia and met Islamic State leaders at an undisclosed location at the Saudi-Iraq border,” one militant told Reuters, clarifying that the meeting took place more than a year ago.
At the same time, Pakistan’s extremist supporters are split on whether or not to back Afghan Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked leader Mullah Omar or ISIS that has broken away from al-Qaeda in February.
“All anti-Shi’ite groups in Pakistan will welcome and support IS in Pakistan, though most of them will not announce it openly due to their allegiance to Mullah Omar,” one official told the agency.
Hundreds of Pakistani militants are believed to have joined the ranks of IS in Iraq and Syria, after in June the Islamic State proclaimed a caliphate under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In July 2014, Nigeria’s Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declared support for the new caliphate and al-Baghdadi. From there, the support for IS’s cause began to grow, even Muslim militant guerrillas, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Philippines have pledged their support to the Islamic State organization.
And as their support grows, so is IS’ territorial ambitions. Last week, al-Baghdadi released an audio-recording in which he announced “the expansion of the Islamic State to new countries, to the countries of the Haramayn [Saudi Arabia], Yemen, Egypt, Libya [and] Algeria.”
.
Russia – other viewpoints
On October 14, officials at the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Tatarstan Republic reported the arrest of eight leaders of local structures of Hizb ut-Tahrir – the organization that is banned in Russia.
Does the Islamic State have any support in Russia? This is a complex issue and according to political scientists there are several thousands of immigrants from the CIS and Russia fighting on the side of the Islamic State. “There and natives of the Caucasus there, of the Volga region, there are Uzbek groups and even such exotic fighters as Azerbaijani Sunnis,” it was said recently.
According to experts, there is a very real threat of the militant invasion. “This person, Umar al-Shishani, the military leader of the Islamic State in Syria, openly said that they would come to the North Caucasus. The threat definitely exists,” said one expert.
As a preventive measure, it is being said, Russia should strengthen its policy in Syria. “The only primitive way is to fight on foreign land – not directly, as we can help Syria much more actively than we did in the past. By now, unfortunately, we do not have that,” said this analyst.
The question is about motivating people. Answering the question of whether the Islamic State has support in Russia, one should note that “supporters of radical Islamic organizations certainly do manifest themselves in Russia from time to time.”
“They manifest themselves in the North Caucasus too, by conducting terrorist acts. They manifest themselves in the Volga region, where they go on car races in the streets of Kazan, holding black banners with Arabic inscriptions on them that show their affiliation to Hizb-ut-Tahrir,” said the expert.
“We must strive to ensure that the people should not try to move from Russia to the countries of the Muslim world, where they can receive education at the institutions teaching extremist versions of Islam. To achieve this, one needs to strengthen our own system of theological education, we have all necessary opportunities for that. Yet, this may not be always possible due to internal conflicts in the administration of our Muslim organizations. We probably need to establish stricter control over the flow of literature that comes to our country from abroad through various charities and may well be published in our country too.”
.
Foreign : A perspective from the FSB (read)
.
.
.
.
.
.
On the Capture and Torture by an Enemy
.
.
Return to list page – terror manifestations
.
ARCHIVE
.
Secret Intelligence Service
.
ADVERSITATE. CUSTODI. PER VERUM