Homeland Security Network Blog

NBC CIA reveals model used to plan strike against Al-Qaeda leader Zawahiri The model is part of a newly refurbished museum at CIA headquarters that looks at the agency’s work over its 75-year history, including some of its failures and setbacks. By Dan De Luce The CIA on Saturday unveiled the model of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s safe house in Kabul used to plan the U.S. drone strike that killed the Al-Qaeda leader last month. The scale model of Zawahiri’s house was shown to reporters as part of a tour of a newly refurbished museum at the agency's headquarters. “This was the model that was used to brief President Biden on the Zawahiri mission,” said Janelle Neises, deputy director of the CIA museum. The model, about a foot long with precise detail, shows a miniature four-story white structure surrounded by a wall topped with concertina wire. Zawahiri was struck by a Hellfire missile...

  ISIS is threat to entire human race, Iraqi foreign minister says in exclusive interview CENTCOM's Gen. Kurilla warned the al-Hol camp was a 'breeding ground' for future ISIS members By Peter Aitken , David Trulio , Andrew Murray | Fox News UNITED NATIONS, New York – EXCLUSIVE: The Iraqi foreign minister urged Western countries to continue chasing the remnants of ISIS until the organization is completely eliminated because it presents a threat to humanity. "We must take it seriously because, when they started, they were also small. But once they became part of the problem, not only that they have got weapons in their hands, but this has to do with an ideology as ISIS has to do with their culture, with ideas," Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. "So we must fight ISIS...

  ABC News Failed Rocket Attack Targets US Military Base In Syria, CENTCOM Says Three 107mm rockets were launched, the U.S. Central Command said Sunday. By Luis Martinez There was a failed rocket attack on the U.S. military base known as Green Village in northeast Syria on Sunday, the U.S. Central Command said. Three 107mm rockets were launched but "failed to strike U.S. or Coalition forces or equipment," CENTCOM said in a statement. "A fourth rocket along with rocket tubes was found at the launch point, approximately 5 kilometers away," it added. This is the same base where a recent attack by Iran-backed militants resulted in retaliatory fire and airstrikes by Apache helicopter gunships on those militants. It's unclear who launched the attack Sunday. U.S. forces are investigating the incident. Full story https://abcnews.go.com/International/failed-rocket-attack-targets-us-military-base-syria/

Washington Examiner Republicans Slam Biden Over Plea Deal Negotiations With Al Qaeda 9/11 Plotters by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter Republicans are condemning the Biden administration’s decision to enter into plea deal negotiations with the al Qaeda mastermind and facilitators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks — which could take the death penalty off the table. Negotiations between prosecutors and defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay could reportedly result in guilty plea deals in which capital punishment would not be a possible punishment for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants. Top Republicans have criticized any such possibility. “Joe Biden’s allies are negotiating lesser sentences for 9/11 attackers,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted. “If they won’t punish terrorists, how can we trust them to lock up criminals in your neighborhood?” The House Armed Services Committee’s Republicans said: “The Biden admin is doing the...

  The Wall Street Journal 9/11 Ceremonies Honor Victims 21 Years After Terrorist Attacks President Biden spoke at the Pentagon; Vice President Harris attended a memorial event in New York By Ginger Adams Otis and Alex Leary Ceremonies commemorating the events of Sept. 11, 2001, were held in lower Manhattan, Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Sunday, the 21st anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. In New York, the families of victims gathered for a ceremony inside the 9/11 Memorial plaza in lower Manhattan. The annual reading of the victims’ names paused for a moment of silence at six points, marking when each aircraft crashed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, and when the World Trade Center towers fell. Full story https://www.wsj.com/articles/9-11-ceremonies-honor-victims-21-years-after-terrorist-attacks-11662888601

  The Times Of Israel Officers Nab Armed Palestinian Planning ‘Large-Scale’ Terror Attack In Tel Aviv Nablus man, 19, illegally in Israel, captured near Jaffa clock tower with makeshift submachine gun, 2 pipe bombs filled with nails; had served time for bringing knife to Temple Mt. By Emanuel Fabian A Palestinian man carrying a makeshift firearm and two bombs was arrested by officers in Jaffa on Thursday, and later admitted he sought to commit a major terror attack in Tel Aviv, police said. According to police, the 19-year-old resident of Nablus, with no permit to enter Israel, aroused the suspicion of officers of the elite police reconnaissance unit Yasam near Jaffa’s clock tower, a major landmark and tourist attraction. He was detained and found to be carrying a ‘Carlo’ submachine gun and two pipe bombs filled with nails. Police said he had been taken for further questioning by the Shin Bet...

Reuters Canadian manhunt for suspect in deadly stabbings stretches into 4th day By Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer OTTAWA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Canadian police searched into a fourth day on Wednesday for the remaining suspect in a stabbing spree in which 10 people were killed in and around an indigenous community, rattling a country unaccustomed to acts of mass violence. Myles Sanderson, 30, whose brother and accused accomplice was himself found killed a day after Sunday's attacks in Saskatchewan province, was briefly believed to have resurfaced on Tuesday in the vicinity of the rampage, about 320 km (200 miles) north of the provincial capital of Regina. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued an alert on Tuesday of a possible sighting of the surviving brother in the indigenous reserve of James Smith Cree Nation, urging residents to remain indoors and be vigilant. CBC News reported a heavy police presence on...

  Reason The War on Terror Continues Apace in Africa U.S. counterterrorism action in Somalia hasn’t been approved by Congress, but it rages on anyway. by Eric Bazail-Eimil After a wave of U.S. airstrikes against jihadist groups in the Horn of Africa this summer, U.S. officials have made their way to Mogadishu to show their support for Somalia's embattled central government. Lt. Gen. Michael Langley, the newly appointed commander of U.S. Africa Command, the division of the U.S. military focused on operations in Africa, made a visit to Mogadishu earlier this week to meet with Somali defense and security officials. The visit comes as al-Shabab, a terrorist group affiliated with Al Qaeda, has resurged in strength and reach in the country by waging new and brazen attacks against civilians in Somalia, and as the Biden administration reverses a Trump-era withdrawal from the East African country. Back in May, the Biden administration...

Washington Times Pompeo warns U.S. less safe one year after Afghanistan withdrawal By Joseph Clark - The Washington Times Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is warning that the U.S. is more vulnerable to a 9/11-style terrorist attack following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. His grim assessment coincided with the first anniversary of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country after two decades of war. “We are more likely to be attacked like New York City was 20-some years ago, we’re more likely to be attacked from [Afghanistan] today than we were just one year ago,” Mr. Pompeo said during a Sunday appearance on the “Cats Roundtable” radio program. He piled on to the criticism of President Biden who many blame for Afghanistan‘s fall to the Taliban amid the calamitous U.S. pullout that left behind hundreds of American citizens and thousands of vulnerable Afghan refugees when U.S. troops scrambled to meet...

Baghdad, Iraq violence leaves at least 30 dead, cleric tells protesters to withdraw Influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr calls on supporters to stop violent protests: 'This is not a revolution'By Caitlin McFall | Fox News At least 30 were confirmed dead in Iraq Tuesday as fighting continues in Baghdad following the resignation of a top Shiite leader Monday. Gun fire has continued to ring out in the nation’s capital as leaders grapple with Iraq’s greatest political crisis since the U.S. invasion in 2003. Protests once again erupted in Iraq’s Green Zone – the center of Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies – after Muqtada al-Sadr said he had had enough of politics and stepped down from his cleric role. His resignation has sparked violent protests from his supporters who stormed the presidential palace Monday, just one month after they rushed the parliamentary building and held protests outside the Supreme Judicial Council demanding...

CNN Forty Years On, Hezbollah Is Isolated But More Powerful Than Ever By Adam Pourahmadi, CNN London (CNN) - Hezbollah capped off the 40th anniversary of its founding on Monday with large-scale celebrations on a stage in southern Beirut that featured holograms of fighters killed in battle, and videos showing off the group's historic confrontation with Israel. An interpretive dance, depicting how the group freed prisoners from ISIS in Syria, was a notable addition. Over the years, the Lebanese Shiite group has tried to rebrand itself from a paramilitary organization backed by Iran to a serious political and regional player. Forty years on, Hezbollah is militarily more powerful than ever, but also more globally isolated than it has ever been. Many countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Germany as well as Gulf Arab states and the Arab League, have labeled the entire group a terrorist organization, while the European...

1945 Ukraine Wants to Go on the Offensive Against Russia. It Could Be Risky What if Ukraine launches its own offensive against Putin and it fails? By Robert Farley Will Ukraine Go on the Offensive Or Not? Expert Analysis by Dr. Robert Farley: Observers of the Russia-Ukraine War have been aflutter for weeks about the prospect of a Ukrainian offensive to retake some of the territory seized by Russia in the first months of the war. To some extent, this reflects frustration with what has become a static struggle of attrition, with front lines moving only a few kilometers and (in recent weeks) slowing to a crawl. For a variety of reasons, however, onlookers have been disappointed. Despite some feints and some apparent early moves, Ukraine has not engaged in a serious effort to dislodge Russia from any of its conquests. There are good reasons why Ukraine would resist the call...

  BBC News Somalia And Al-Shabab: The Struggle To Defeat The Militants By Mary Harper Africa editor, BBC World Service News When Somalia's new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May he declared a top priority was bringing an end to the country's 15-year Islamist insurgency. Three months later al-Shabab staged one of its most spectacular ever attacks, storming a hotel a short drive away from the presidential palace in the capital, Mogadishu. They held it for 30 hours. Officials said more than 20 people died in the siege of the Hayat and 117 were injured. Less than a month earlier, the group mounted an unprecedented invasion of neighbouring Ethiopia. It was as if they were cocking a snook at the new president. International diplomats have described the complex, coordinated attack as a "game-changer" that took at least 18 months to plan and involved an estimated 1,200 fighters. The then-commander...

  Real Clear Defense Would Putin Dare Use Nuclear Weapons? Managing His Ukraine Fears Are the Key By Robyn Hutchins & Adam Lowther Two top national security experts explain that the key to success in Ukraine is effectively managing Vladimir Putin’s perception of gains and losses. As we approach the six-month mark of Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine, there is an opportunity to reflect on a conflict that offers the world unprecedented access into the mind of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. While the daily images of death and destruction are heart-wrenching, it is important to take some time to understand the psychology that led Putin to invade Ukraine and threaten the use of nuclear weapons. The free world needs that understanding as it attempts to counter Putin’s actions and ensure he does not follow through on his nuclear threat. Indeed, deterring Putin’s nuclear threats is one of NATO’s top priorities. To...

  Washington Post Do armed drones reduce terrorism? Here’s the data. This research analyzes patterns of terrorism in the 18 countries that utilize drones Analysis by Joshua A. Schwartz and Matthew Fuhrmann At 6:18 a.m. on July 31, a CIA drone fired the two Hellfire missiles that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, a former deputy to Osama bin Laden. Since 9/11, the United States has conducted over 14,000 drone strikes like this against suspected terrorist targets. Countries such as Iran, Turkey, Nigeria and Egypt­ have also acquired armed drones and conduct their own strikes. But do armed drone operations reduce terrorism, or do they actually make countries more vulnerable to it? To find out, we analyzed patterns of terrorism in 18 countries — every country that has fielded armed drones to date. The evidence reveals that obtaining armed drones reduces the amount of terrorism a country experiences. Armed drones may raise...

NBC News Iran Blames Salman Rushdie And His Supporters For Stabbing Attack By Amin Hossein Khodadadi and Rhoda Kwan TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Monday that Salman Rushdie and his supporters are to blame for the stabbing attack that left the famed author hospitalized with serious injuries. In its first public comments since the assault, Tehran denied any involvement but sought to justify the attack, which has been celebrated on front pages and in coverage across the country's media. “We do not consider anyone other than him and his supporters worthy of blame or even condemnation,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said. “No one has the right to accuse Iran,” he added. “The insult that was done and the support that was given was an insult to all religions.” Rushdie, 75, is now “on the road to recovery,” his agent said Sunday. He was removed from a ventilator a day...

LAWFARE Rethinking How the United States Trains Foreign Militaries By Renanah Miles Joyce In May, President Biden quietly signed an order authorizing a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia. U.S. troops are not engaging in direct combat operations there; instead, they are primarily training and advising Somali and African Union partner forces to fight the terrorist group al-Shabaab. These training efforts are part of a global web of U.S. military training and advising that aims both to build partner militaries’ warfighting capabilities and to influence when and how they fight. The United States has different tools at its disposal to influence security partners: It can provide material goods such as arms and equipment to incentivize good behavior, or it can make support conditional on partners doing what it wants. Both approaches have problems. Generous flows of assistance rarely motivate partners to change, particularly when they get what they want without having...

  KRDO 13 An armed man tried to enter the FBI’s Cincinnati office and was fatally shot after a standoff with police. Here’s what we know By Elizabeth Wolfe, Josh Campbell, Brynn Gingras and Paul P. Murphy, CNN An armed man suspected of trying to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati field office Thursday was killed after an hours-long standoff with law enforcement, authorities say. The suspect was believed to be armed with an AR-15 rifle and a nail gun, a federal law enforcement source told CNN, and was wearing body armor, according to officials in an Ohio county. He was Ricky W. Shiffer, 42, of Columbus, the state highway patrol said Friday. After attempting to enter the FBI facility, he fled and his vehicle was followed by state police, authorities said. When the vehicle pursuit ended in southwestern Ohio, a lengthy standoff followed, ending with law enforcement shooting and killing the suspect,...

Iran International FBI Accuses Iran Of Attempted Terrorist Attacks, Kidnappings, Cyberattacks The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the Iranian regime and “its terrorist partners” aren’t just a threat to the Middle East, but also a critical risk for the United States. In a number of tweets on Monday, the FBI said Iran and its proxy groups “don't just endanger the Middle East -- they also put Americans, US national security, and our country's critical infrastructure at risk.” Sharing a link to a page on its website about how it is fighting back against the Iranian threat, the bureau added that the risk by the Islamic Republic is not theoretical. “Through intel and law enforcement partnerships, the FBI has countered an array of threats from Iran's government -- such as attempted terrorist attacks and kidnappings, espionage and foreign influence ops, and cyberattacks.” Reiterating its commitment to identifying and disrupting all Iranian intelligence...

  Asharq Al-Awsat ISIS Network Of Tunnels Found In Syria's Al-Hol Camp Hasakah - Kamal Sheikho The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) has found a network of trenches and tunnels under al-Hol camp, east of al-Hasakah. The security sources said these trenches and tunnels were used by sleeper cells loyal to the ISIS terrorist organization to smuggle persons and carry out murders and assassination attempts. The ongoing investigations revealed that the tunnel connects one of the camp sectors to the outer wall and from there to the surrounding areas. A day earlier, the Rojava security forces thwarted a mass escape through a truck designated for transporting construction materials. The truck was transporting 39 children and 17 women from 56 ISIS families. The camp witnessed 728 escape attempts since March 2020. A video recording inside the camp showed how tunnels were dug with primitive tools, covered with metal and...