Terrorism Watch

Officials have hiked up a reward for details on "Islamic State" leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Reports suggest the elusive terror figurehead is most likely still in Iraq. The US State Department's Rewards for Justice program will award the $25 million (23.9 million euros) for information that will help locate, arrest or convict the head of the "Islamic State" (IS) jihadi group. "Under al-Baghdadi, IS has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in the Middle East, including the brutal murder of numerous civilian hostages," the department said in a statement on Friday, adding that the threat he poses has "increased significantly." The increase more than doubles the previous $10 million reward for the IS leader, which was first introduced in 2011. Details of the new bounty were immediately tweeted by Brett McGurk, S pecial US Presidential Envoy for Global Coalition to Counter IS. View image on Twitter

MAIDUGURI (NIGERIA) (AFP) -  At Hot Bites, the party is in full swing and there is beer, dancing and boy-meets-girl until curfew time hits Maiduguri, the cradle of the Boko Haram jihadist movement. "We need to move on," said 18-year-old Fatima, her almond-shaped eyes rimmed with eyeliner, teetering on high heels with a dress sporting a plunging neckline. "Maybe I can find my future husband here," she said with a laugh. Nightlife is slowly returning to the northern city, where the Boko Haram insurgency erupted in 2009 and has since spread havoc and destruction across Nigeria and its adjoining countries. At Hot Bites, the trendiest nightclub in the capital of Borno State, northern Nigeria's many cultures cavort, with dancers in veils next to writhing women in sexy glittering dresses. Beer flows as indulgent soldiers watch on, taking a welcome break from the rigours of the frontline. After years of being under siege, Maiduguri is attempting to

Palestine Liberation Organisation's secretary general says Trump's ambassador to Israel will destroy peace process A senior Palestinian official warned US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday that moving the American embassy to Jerusalem would destroy prospects of peace with Israel and push the region into turmoil. The remarks by the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Saeb Erekat, came as Israeli officials praised Trump's decision to nominate hardliner David Friedman as envoy to Israel. The Palestinians regard east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.  Moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv before a final agreement on the conflict "will be the destruction of the peace process," Erekat told journalists. He also warned of a change in the "longstanding position" of the US that considers "the settlements as illegal". "I look David Friedman and Trump in the eye and tell them - if you were to tak

Police have restored order after at least four wings of a jail in central England were taken over by inmates. Prisoners have told local media that prison conditions are worsening due to government cuts. Security officers were able to restore order late Friday after the city of Birmingham, England, saw the UK's worst prison rioting since 1990. Prison officials had called in a specialist "Tornado Team," which is trained to deal with prison riots, as the "disturbance" worsened on Friday afternoon. The trouble erupted at the privately run prison in Birmingham shortly after 09:00 UTC on Friday, forcing staff to withdraw. Security firm G4S, which runs the 1,450-inmate facility, said in a statement posted to social media that the incident had spread from two to four wings during the day. Riot teams placed the affected areas in lockdown, and G4S said that due to the severity of the incident, the Prison Service had taken charge of the operation. A spokesma

The women worked as security guards at a Kandahar airport searching luggage and female passengers. They had received death threats from people opposed to women in the workforce. Unknown gunmen killed five female Afghan guards working at an airport in southern Kandahar on Saturday, highlighting the continuing threat faced by women working outside of the home in Afghanistan. Gunmen on a motorbike fired on a vehicle carrying the women to Kandahar International Airport, where they were responsible for searching luggage and female passengers, officials said. The driver was also killed. Airport Director Ahmadullah Faizi said the women had received death threats from people opposed to their work. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban and other insurgents battling the internationally-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani oppose women working outside of traditional roles within the home. Over the past decade women have made gradual steps to gain righ

December 16, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese leaders bear the primary responsibility of betraying the people’s trust and bringing the country to ruins and more misery, Ban Ki Moon, the outgoing United Nations Secretary General said on Friday. Ban Ki-moon (Photo UN) “President Salva Kiir has pursued an ethnically-based strategy to suppress dissent, muzzle the media, exclude significant South Sudanese actors in the peace process and unilaterally implement an agreement to reach elections,” Ki moon wrote in an op-ed article. He added, “Fighting has now spread across the country”. Ki moon said actions by South Sudanese leaders, including rebel leader Riek Machar and other armed opposition actors were intensifying the conflict and manipulating ethnicity for political gain. Since the conflict broke out in December 2013, tens of thousands of people have been killed and over two million displaced in the country’s worst-ever outbreak of violence since its independence. “The social f

Report: 12-year-old planned two bomb attacks in German city of Ludwigshafen German media reported on Friday that a 12-year-old boy was suspected of planning two different bomb attacks in the western German city of Ludwigshafen. The German magazine "Focus" said he had first tried to target a Christmas market at the end of November, before placing a backpack with explosives near a high-rise building containing both city hall and a shopping center. Hubert Ströber, a state prosecutor for nearby Frankenthal, confirmed reports that jars containing flammable material had been found in two locations in Ludwigshafen. However, he told DW that his office is "not investigating further" because the German criminal code exempts him from prosecution as a juvenile under 14 years of age. He added, however, that he had informed the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the case.   Watch video 02:54 No prosecution, but police will look into case Ludwi

Thirteen Turkish troops were killed and 48 others wounded in a car bomb attack in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri on Saturday morning, the Turkish military reported. In a statement, the Turkish armed forces said the car bomb went off at 8.45 am and targeted on-leave military personnel from the Kayseri Commando Brigade. The wounded were rushed to hospitals in the region. The army said civilians may have also been casualties of the “treacherous attack.” State-run Anadolu Agency said the car bomb went off at an entrance gate of Erciyes University, hitting a public transportation bus that included on-leave soldiers among its passengers. Speaking about the Kayseri explosion, Vice Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said in remarks broadcast on NTV that “treacherous factions” had taken aim at commandos from the Kayseri Airforce Brigade, who had been “training exclusively for the safety of our people.” Turkey’s prime ministry office imposed a temporary blackout on coverage of the e

National Action, which praised killer of MP Jo Cox and runs a Miss Hitler pageant, added to list of banned groups. Shafik Mandhai 12 Dec 2016 17:12 GMT 12 December 2016 The government has banned National Action under the Terrorism Act [EPA] The British government has announced plans to ban a Neo-Nazi group that praised the killer of MP Jo Cox and calls for a "White Jihad". An order to proscribe National Action as a terrorist group was confirmed by Amber Rudd, the  UK home secretary,  on Monday. "I am taking action to proscribe the neo-Nazi group National Action," Rudd said, adding that involvement in the group would now be a criminal offence. "National Action is a racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology, and I will not stand for it," she said. The self-declared National Socialist group posted several messages on Twitter backing Thomas Mair, the white sup

The file photo shows Burkina Faso security forces on patrol on a street in the capital Ouagadougou, November 28, 2015. (Photo by AFP) Twelve Burkina Faso soldiers have been killed in an attack by dozens of unidentified assailants on a military post in Nassoumbou commune of the northwestern province of Soum. The province's high commissioner, Mohamed Dah, claimed extremist militants were behind the Friday attack. The army said the attack was carried out at about 5:00 a.m. local time on the military post, located about 30 kilometers from Mali's border. "About 40 heavily armed individuals who have not yet been identified" carried out the attack, the army said in a statement. Reports said those killed in the attack were mostly army soldiers but gendarme soldiers were also among them. It was not stated whether any assailants were killed or injured in the attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault. The attackers had also s

Polish fascists give the Nazi "sieg heil" salute The decisive rejection last week in the referendum for reform by 41-yearold Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has once again plunged Italy and the European Union into a crisis. It underlined the inherent danger in calling for popular endorsement through referendum of any agenda for political or economic change. EU future at stake Rising tide of extreme right wing populist politicians across Europe Italian PM Matteo loses referendum on reforms Germany’s Merkel looks vulnerable for 2017 poll French President Hollande not seeking second term This was clear after Brexit in UK and now in Italy. Such strategic blunders unfortunately cannot be reversed. They often result in an abrupt end of the political careers of the respective Prime Ministers who gambled and lost. Political analysts have noted that opposition to the Italian proposals came from the same broad coalition that ensured victory for Brexit: anti-esta