Homeland Security Network Blog

France 24 Suspected Jihadists Kill More Than 130 Civilians In Central Mali, Officials Say Suspected jihadists massacred more than 130 civilians over the weekend in neighbouring central Mali towns, the latest mass killings in the troubled Sahel region. Local officials reported scenes of systematic killings by armed men in Diallassagou and two surrounding towns in the Bankass circle, a longtime hotbed of Sahelian violence. "They have also been burning huts, houses, and stealing cattle -- it's really a free-for-all," said a local official who for security reasons spoke on the condition of anonymity. He and another official, who like him had fled his village, said the death toll was still being counted on Monday. Nouhoum Togo, a local official from Bankass, the main town in the area, said it was even higher than the 132 announced by the government, who have blamed al-Qaeda affiliated jihadists for the killings. The national authorities...

  Chicago-area officer fatally shoots suspect who ran at him with a hatchet, shocking video shows The suspect pulled up to where the officer was conducting a traffic stop before charging at him with the weapon, the video shows. By Brie Stimson | Fox News Police released video of a fatal officer-involved shooting Tuesday from earlier this month when an officer in a Chicago suburb fired several shots at a man who allegedly charged at him with a hatchet while he was conducting a traffic stop. The Naperville, Illinois police officer was conducting a traffic stop for a minor infraction for around 11 minutes at 11 a.m. on June 3 with a driver who was pulled to the side of the road. That's when the suspect’s car suddenly pulled up in the middle of the road, the body camera video released by the Naperville Police Department shows.       "Who...

The Wall Street Journal Senior ISIS Leader Captured In Syria, U.S. Military Officials Say U.S.-led coalition forces detained Islamic State bomb maker in a raid By Gordon Lubold and Nancy A. Youssef DUSHANBE, Tajikistan—U.S.-led coalition forces seized a man described by officials as a senior leader of Islamic State in an operation in northeast Syria late Wednesday. Military forces detained Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi, assessed to be a bomb maker and facilitator who had become one of Islamic State’s senior leaders in Syria, U.S. military officials said. They didn’t disclose more details about the raid that led to Mr. al-Kurdi’s arrest. “The mission was meticulously planned to minimize the risk of collateral damage, particularly any potential harm to civilians,” Operation Inherent Resolve, the command that oversees operations against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, said in a statement. “There were no civilians harmed during the operation nor any damage to coalition aircraft...

  SOFREP Utah Paramedic ‘Baby Dog’ Left Dayjob, Flew To Ukraine To Fight Russians Journalists were surprised to find an American fighter and medic amidst the ruins of the front lines in Ukraine. Known in her detachment as “Baby Dog,” the Utah native stood under the hot Eastern European sun donning her full military fatigue with a yellow tape attached to her left arm and shoulder, a color that represents allegiance to Ukraine. “I wasn’t doing much at home. It was just working two jobs, pretty boring,” the 21-year-old said. Baby Dog shared she was a paramedic working two jobs back in Utah when news of the Russian assault on Ukraine broke out. “This is a human thing. You can’t sit back and watch. It’s like sitting and watching someone kicking a dog for no reason, kicking a dog in the head. It’s crying. You don’t stop it,” she said, explaining...

  Associated Press NATO Chief: Turkey Has “Legitimate Concerns” Over Terrorism HELSINKI (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday that Turkey has “legitimate concerns” over terrorism and other issues that need to be taken seriously. Turkey has accused Finland and Sweden of supporting Kurdish militants and says it will not back the two Nordic nations joining NATO until they change their policies. Speaking at a joint news conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Stoltenberg stressed that “no other NATO ally has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey” and pointed to its strategic geographic location with neighbors like Iraq and Syria. “These are legitimate concerns. This is about terrorism, it’s about weapons exports,” Stoltenberg said. “We have to address the security concerns of all allies, including Turkish concerns about the terrorist group PKK.” He spoke at Finland’s presidential summer residence Kultaranta in western Finland. After decades of military non-alignment, Russia’s war...

  NBC News Homeland Security Warns Of Heightened Extremist Threats, Uvalde Copycats By David K. Li and Austin Mullen The Department of Homeland Security warned Tuesday of potential domestic violence in the coming months due to "several high-profile events." The bulletin was issued as the Supreme Court appears poised to end constitutional protection for women's rights to abortion and as a highly charged midterm election unfolds less than two years after violent protesters tried to overturn legitimate election results. "The United States remains in a heightened threat environment, as noted in the previous Bulletin, and several recent attacks have highlighted the dynamic and complex nature of the threat environment," Homeland Security said in a statement. "In the coming months, we expect the threat environment to become more dynamic as several high-profile events could be exploited to justify acts of violence against a range of possible targets." Clint Watts, a national security...

The Wall Street Journal How the War Against ISIS Was Won Fighting ‘by, with and through’ local allies may be the U.S. military strategy of the future. In Mosul, it survived its toughest test. By Michael R. Gordon In mid-April 2017, I was a fly on the wall for a top-level meeting that helped cement the defeat of Islamic State. Nearly three years earlier, Islamic State militants had taken the city of Mosul, rocking the Middle East and spurring the U.S. to send its military forces back to Iraq. The American mission this time wasn’t to do the fighting on the ground but to back up Iraqi forces with U.S. firepower and advise them as they battled their way forward. The name of the military campaign was “Operation Inherent Resolve,” and in the spring of 2017, that resolve was being put to the test. Full story https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-war-against-isis-was-won-11654271174

  KOCO News 5 - ABC Police release names, motivation behind Tulsa medical center shooting TULSA, Okla. — Four victims were shot and killed during an active shooter situation Wednesday afternoon at a medical facility in Tulsa. ulsa police said a gunman charged into the second floor of the Natalie Building at St. Francis Hospital at 4:52 p.m. Wednesday, opening fire and killing four victims. Police also said the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Tulsa Police Department identified the victims as Dr. Preston Phillips, Dr. Stephanie Husen, Amanda Glenn and William Love. They also identified the suspect as Michael Louis. Tulsa police Chief Wendell Franklin said during a news conference Thursday that Louis underwent back surgery performed by Phillips on May 19 and complained of pain after being released from the hospital. Louis contacted Phillips’ office several times over the coming weeks and met with Phillips for additional...

Pakistan Sponsored Terror Next Door. Now, It’s Back to Roost Afghans rue the return of the Taliban. So does Pakistan, as al Qaeda-linked militants run rampant. by Lynne O’Donnell The United Nations Security Council has confirmed the resurgence of al Qaeda, the terrorist group behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that is closely tied to the Taliban and is using their return to power in Afghanistan to find safe haven, attract recruits, and boost fundraising for their never-ending jihad. Al Qaeda’s leader, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden in 2011, and other core members of the group’s leadership are living in eastern Afghanistan as the Taliban’s guests, a report by the U.N. Security Council notes. The U.N. report says Zawahiri is churning out propaganda videos, apparently comfortable that he can “lead more effectively” than was possible before last year’s Taliban victory over the United States. The biggest loser of...

  Foreign Policy Al Qaeda Isn’t Dead Yet The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has put 9/11’s planners back in the terror cockpit.By Lynne O’Donnell, a columnist at Foreign Policy and an Australian journalist and author. The United States, under then-President Donald Trump, made a peace pact in 2020 with the Taliban under the pretense that they would break ties with al Qaeda. It didn’t happen then, it hasn’t happened since, and now the group that blew up the twin towers is enjoying Taliban hospitality while remaining the dominant ideological and operational influence for jihadis from South Asia to North Africa. U.S. officials, in both the Trump and Biden administrations, saw the Islamic State rather than al Qaeda as the biggest threat to the American homeland. Al Qaeda, it was argued, was a spent force, especially after the forehead-tap elimination of leader Osama bin Laden in a raid by U.S. special forces...

The New York Times Texas shooting is the deadliest at an elementary school since Newtown. By Sarah Mervosh The shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday jolted a nation numbed by a drumbeat of mass shootings and evoked painful memories of another time a gunman crossed the sacred threshold of an elementary school and opened fire in Newtown, Conn., 10 years ago. The shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday “horrifically, incomprehensibly” killed 14 students and a teacher, Gov. Greg Abbott announced. Within hours, the death toll rose to 19 students and two adults. It was the deadliest shooting at an elementary school since Newtown, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy group. The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012 killed 20 first graders and six adults and plunged the nation into a stunned grief. The image of 6-year-old and...

Associated Press US removes 5 groups from terror blacklist, retains al-Qaida By MATTHEW LEE WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has removed five extremist groups, all believed to be defunct, from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. In notices published in the Federal Register on Friday, the State Department said it had removed the groups after a mandatory five-year review of their designations. Al-Qaida, which was also up for review, was kept on the list, which was created under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA. “Our review of these five FTO designations determined that, as defined by the INA the five organizations are no longer engaged in terrorism or terrorist activity and do not retain the capability and intent to do so,” the State Department said in a statement. “Therefore, as required by the INA, these FTO designations are being revoked.” Several of the removed groups once posed significant...

  The Jerusalem Post IDF, Shin Bet, Border Police Arrest 13 Terrorism Suspects In The West Bank Israeli security forces were active in several areas throughout the West Bank, including the villages of al-'Arub, 'Abidia, Rifida, Bidu and the Qalandiya refugee camp. By JERUSALEM POST STAFF Thirteen individuals suspected of terrorist activity were arrested on Wednesday night by the IDF, Shin Bet and Border Police in the West Bank, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced. Israeli security forces were active in several areas throughout the West Bank, including the villages of al-'Arub, 'Abidia, Rifida, Bidu and the Qalandiya refugee camp. Five suspects were arrested in Hebron for alleged involvement in terrorist activities and possession of weapons. Two wanted persons were arrested in Beit Rima, where Israeli forces also found M-16 rifles and ammunition. Clashes broke out during this operation; dozens of Palestinians threw stones and fired fireworks at IDF soldiers who ultimately...

  ABC News Biden Approves Return Of US Troops For Somalia Counterterrorism Fight, Reversing Trump The move is meant to aid Somalia against al-Shabab, an al-Qaida affiliate. By Luis Martinez Reversing a decision by predecessor Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has approved a Pentagon request to redeploy several hundred American troops to Somalia for what the National Security Council calls "a persistent U.S. military presence" there as part of counterterrorism efforts. The move will reestablish an open-ended mission in Somalia assisting the country in its fight against al-Shabab, a local al-Qaida affiliate. The group once ruled Somalia and has been seeking to regain territorial control over parts of the country. It has carried out overseas terror attacks in Kenya, including in January 2020 when three Americans died in an assault targeting a U.S. base. The Biden administration believes the move will "enable our partners to conduct a more effective fight against...

Buffalo's worst mass shooting takes 10 lives, leaves 3 wounded; attack called 'a racially motivated hate crime' The Buffalo News by Lou Michel , Ben Tsujimoto , Maki Becker  Ten people were gunned down at a Buffalo supermarket Saturday in a horrifying mass shooting that officials were quick to label as "pure evil" and racially motivated. The shooting stunned a community basking in a warm May afternoon, with shoppers filling the Tops in a predominantly Black neighborhood at 1275 Jefferson Ave.  "It’s the weekend, so it was packed," Shonnell Harris, an operation manager working at the Tops during the shooting, told The Buffalo News. Harris said that when she heard gunshots, she ran frantically through the store, falling several times before exiting out the back. She saw the shooter, whom she described as a white man wearing camouflage. “He looked like he was in the Army,” she said. She thought she...

The Washington Post ISIS in Africa behind a surge in terrorist attacks, officials say by Souad Mekhennet MARRAKESH, Morocco — The Islamic State’s regional affiliates in Africa are carrying out lethal attacks at a tempo far surpassing that of the parent organization that once ruled large swaths of Iraq and Syria, Morocco’s chief diplomat said Wednesday at a meeting of the global alliance battling the militant group. Sub-Saharan Africa, home to several branches of the Islamic State, now accounts for nearly half of all deaths worldwide attributed to the terrorist group, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita said. “We remain lucid on the state of the ISIS threat, which has not diminished,” said Bourita, whose country is hosting a conference of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. He said that sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 48 percent, or 3,461, of the deaths worldwide attributed to ISIS in 2021. “Today, 27 terrorist...

  Associated Press US Sanctions Alleged IS Child Trafficking Financiers By FATIMA HUSSEIN WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. announced Monday that it is sanctioning five people accused of fundraising for the Islamic State group and using the funds to help traffic children to serve as fighters for the organization. U.S. Treasury says the actors are pivotal to helping extremists travel to Syria and other regions where IS operates. Dwi Dahlia Susanti and her accomplices are accused of facilitating money transfers from Indonesia, Turkey, and Syria, where the Treasury Department says Sustani used the funds to help “smuggle teenage children out of the camps to the desert, where they were received by (IS) foreign fighters, likely as child recruits” for IS. The sanctions, imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, block any property or other assets the individuals have in the U.S. and those who engage in business with...

  The Wall Street Journal Suspected Terrorist Attack in Israel Kills at Least Three on Independence Day Israeli police were searching for the two unidentified assailants who fled the scene of the attack, which occurred in Elad, a largely ultra-Orthodox town adjacent to the occupied West Bank By Adam Rasgon and David S. Cloud TEL AVIV—A suspected terrorist attack in central Israel killed at least three people and injured several others late on Thursday, shaking the country as it celebrated Independence Day. Two unidentified assailants were involved in the attack, including one who was armed with an ax, according to Deputy Superintendent Mirit Ben Mayor, an Israeli police spokeswoman. It occurred in Elad, a largely ultra-Orthodox town adjacent to the occupied West Bank, and came in the wake of increased tensions at one of Jerusalem’s most contested holy sites, where Israeli police and Palestinians clashed in the morning. Full story https://www.wsj.com/articles/suspected-terror-attack-in-israel-kills-at-least-three-on-independence-day-11651786798

ISIS attacks in Syria have declined 'while new fighters join terror cells' Counter Extremism Project says recruits from Hassakeh jail break could be bolstering terrorist group's ranks. By Nicky Harley A significant drop in ISIS attacks in Syria is due to new fighters being integrated into the group, a terrorism monitor has said. The Counter Extremism Project (CEP), which keeps a monthly record of attacks by ISIS, suggests fighters freed in the Hassakeh prison break in January are joining new cells and being trained. Thousands of ISIS prisoners were believed to have initially escaped the Ghwayran jail in Hassakeh, Syria, when attackers detonated a car bomb near the prison gates. It led to a week of clashes inside and around the jail, which is run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Hundreds died before US-led Kurdish forces recaptured the site. Full story https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/05/04/isis-attacks-in-syria-have-declined-while-new-fighters-join-terror-cells/