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Showing posts from September 3, 2017

Hafiz Tohar, the military wing chief of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), has been maintaining close links with Pakistan’s ISI

NEW DELHI: When Indian Prime Minister Narendra  Modi  and  Myanmar  State Councillor Aung San  Suu Kyi  decided Wednesday to broaden the bilateral security and counter-terrorism partnership, the drivers were New Delhi’s concerns over  ISI infiltration into the ranks of Rohingyas and Yangon’s fight against the Rakhine terrorists.   India and Bangladesh, through their joint counter-terror cooperation, have recently discovered that the ISI had allegedly played a key role in masterminding a terror attack in Myanmar’s Rakhine state ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit. India-Bangladesh-Myanmar may now move toward trilateral info-sharing mechanism to counter this threat in the region, people familiar with the issue said.   India and Bangladesh recently discovered that Hafiz Tohar, the military wing chief of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), has been maintaining close links with Pakistan’s ISI and the spy agency may have played a key role in the terror attacks that killed several member

Pakistan's biggest bank kicked out of US, fined over terror financing charge

NEW YORK: US banking regulators ordered  Pakistan 's  Habib Bank  to shutter its  New York  office after nearly 40 years, for repeatedly failing to heed concerns over possible terrorist financing and money laundering, officials said Thursday. Habib, Pakistan's largest private bank, neglected to watch for compliance problems and red flags on transactions that potentially could have promoted terrorism, money laundering or other illicit ends, New York banking officials said. The state's Department of  Financial Services , which regulates foreign banks, also slapped a $225 million fine on the bank, although that is much smaller than the $629.6 million penalty initially proposed. Habib has operated in the United States since 1978, and in 2006 was ordered to tighten its oversight of potentially illegal transactions but failed to comply. New York regulators said Habib facilitated billions of dollars of transactions with Saudi private bank, Al Rajhi Bank, which reportedly

Spanish, Moroccan police dismantle terror plots

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Five of the suspects were arrested in Morocco and one was arrested in Melilla, an autonomous Spanish city on the North African coast bordering Morocco, the Anadolu Agency reported. Spanish police arrest a man suspected of belonging to an Islamist militant cell that simulated decapitations in the Spanish north African enclave of Melilla. (REUTERS/Jesus Blasco de Avellaneda) Spain seeks legal action against Catalan independence bid Morocco arrests two over Catalonia attacks Death toll from Spain attacks rises to 16, say local officials Spanish and Moroccan police on Wednesday arrested six suspected terrorists from Morocco and a Spanish North African city in a joint operation to dismantle a terrorist cell. Five of the suspects were arrested in Morocco and one was arrested in Melilla, an autonomous Spanish city on the North African coast bordering Morocco, the Anadolu Agency reported. A 39-year-old Spaniard, who was a teaching assistant at juvenile rehabilitation center in Me

Islamic State tried to recruit undercover BBC reporter — report

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British broadcaster says jihadist sought to enlist journalist to carry out terror attack similar to June assault that later took place at London Bridge The Islamic State group reportedly attempted to recruit an undercover BBC journalist to carry out a terror attack at London Bridge similar to a recent combined car-ramming and stabbing attack claimed by the terror group at the historic site. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories  Free Sign Up In a BBC report airing Monday evening , a journalist for the British broadcaster described his experience communicating with an IS operative on an encrypted messaging service during a period of several weeks in July 2016, during which the terrorist implored him to carry out an attack at London Bridge. “He was trying to persuade me into carrying out an attack and he also gave me the option of either doing it alone or along with a team,” said the journalist, whose identity was not disclosed.

Hurriyat insider nails brass for terror funding, to turn approver

NEW DELHI: Even as top  Hurriyat  leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and  Yasin Malik  plan to stage a sit-in protest at the  NIA  headquarters here on September 9 and court arrest in J&K terror-funding probe, the investigation agency has achieved a breakthrough by getting one of the arrested accused in the case to record a confessional statement before a magistrate nailing the alleged role of the Hurriyat brass in channelising money sourced from Pakistan into subversive activities in J&K.  The statement has been recorded under Section 164 of CrPC, making it admissible in court. According to sources, the Hurriyat `insider' who agreed to turn `approver' has revealed how top Kashmiri separatists allegedly further agenda of Pakistan-based forces to keep the militancy fires burning in Kashmir.  The modus operandi includes receiving funds from Pakistani sources, including  ISI , and routing them through Kashmiris having business interests in the Gulf.  Th

What these 5 terrorist groups in Malaysia want and what’s their modus operandi

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Malaysia takes terrorism very seriously. You might have noticed (and probably freaked out a lil at) the  increase in police and military  presence in recent years. In fact, there was a big swoop ahead of the SEA Games, where  19 men were arrested  by the Special Branch for allegedly planning to attack the closing ceremony, as well as the Merdeka Day parade. In 2016,  it was reported  that a total of 112 Malaysians were arrested to travel to Syria to join up with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), 60 Malaysians are already there, while 27 Malaysians have died fighting for them. Worryingly, the number of new terrorist groups  keeps growing ! They keep popping up like snails in a garden after it rains. We take a look at some of big ones in Malaysia, what their purpose is, and their modus operandi . We will only be talking about groups that have appeared in recent times, so not mentioning  Al Ma’unah , the  Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army  (MPAJA), the  communists  or th

Anti-terror chiefs want more support from social media companies to fight 'lone wolves'

WASHINGTON (AFP) - As militant attacks are increasingly being carried out by homegrown "lone wolves," top counter-terror chiefs of four Western powers said they need more support from social media companies to detect potential threats. While traditional intelligence methods are foiling large-scale plots coordinated from abroad, the officials from the United States, Britain, Germany and Canada said on Thursday (Sept 7) that isn't enough to uncover attacks by self-radicalised individuals like those this year in Britain that have killed dozens. Paddy McGuinness, the British deputy national security adviser for intelligence, said many countries are still too focused on foreign-derived attacks planned or directed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Al-Qaeda. After the four attacks in Britain this year, he said at a Washington intelligence forum that "we are dealing with conspiracies that really do not involve an overseas element." "We'

Trump Administration Looking to 'Real World' Measures Against Cyber Enemies

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Whether it be meddling in a U.S. presidential election or accessing the fingerprints of some 6 million federal workers, American officials are warning a cyberattack on the United States may be met with more than a retaliatory cyberstrike. Instead, nation states, terrorists and other adversaries attacking the U.S. though cyberspace likely will face "real world" consequences under a doctrine being developed by President Donald Trump. "I think what we'll do on the deterrence side is end up figuring out a means and method to apply elements of national power outside of cyber to punish bad behavior," the president's homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, told a national security conference Wednesday in Washington. "There's very little reason to believe that an offensive cyberattack is going to have any deterrent effect on a cyber adversary," he added. "In fact, it's going to encourage them to hurry up and become better hackers and

Oil and gas tankers could be “weaponised” by terrorists, industry warned

Oil and gas tankers could be “weaponised” by terrorists and used to block global shipping routes or create massive explosions several miles wide, security experts have warned. And the advent of the autonomous age, where ships would be remotely controlled rather than crewed, could make it easier for “dark forces” to seize control of huge quantities of highly explosive material. The maritime world has several bottleneck shipping straits, such as the Suez and Panama canals, which if blocked could cause worldwide disruption, an expert panel at the Offshore Europe conference heard. The audience was told that criminal or terror related organisations, like Al-Qaeda lacked the ability to code the necessary software to hijack ships. But they could, it was said, hire malicious “black hat” hackers to help carry out the technical work, which would likely just mean the modification of existing malicious software – malware. Dominic Armstrong, of corporate intelligence firm Herminius, sai

Cyber and terror attacks under spotlight at Offshore Europe

The growing physical and digital threats that the world faces today will be discussed by a panel of experts, including the BBC’s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, at Offshore Europe on Wednesday (September 6). The broadcast journalist and best-selling author, who was partially paralysed in the legs after being shot six times by terrorists in Saudi Arabia, will speak alongside leading security, intelligence and risk management consultant Dominic Armstrong and world-leader in electronic warfare Professor David Stupples at the session chaired by Oil & Gas UK Chief Executive Deirdre Michie. “The world is a very different place these days with most weeks bringing dreadful stories of terror attacks and cyber breaches,” said Deirdre Michie. “Now more than ever we need to be aware of the risks each of us could be exposed to in our personal and working lives.  Our Offshore Europe Cyber and physical attacks – understanding & managing the risks session will be an extremely topical an

Turkish airstrikes kill 7 PKK terrorists

At least seven PKK terrorists have been killed on Thursday in the airstrikes by Turkish forces in the country's southeastern and eastern provinces. The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey. Turkish General Staff, in a statement, said that during a counter- terrorism  operation, Turkish fighter jets targeted the PKK terrorists preparing for attacks on bases, the Anadolu Agency reported. "Two terrorists were killed in the rural area of Silopi district of southeastern Sirnak province, five terrorists were killed in the rural area of Diyadin district in eastern Agri province" the statement added. Moreover, one PKK terrorist surrendered in Mardin's Nusaybin district. Earlier, Turkey security forces have killed at least five PKK terrorists in eastern and southeastern Turkey. The Turkish Armed Forces had said at least four terrorists, who were plotting a terrorist attack in Baskale district of Van province, were ki

Boko Haram: Report Warns Of Dangers Of ‘Abandoning’ Local Vigilante

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Boko Haram militants. [Photo credit: Pulse.ng] Nigeria’s North-east could suffer further criminality and insecurity, if the federal government fails to invest in exit programmes for thousands of vigilantes who have helped in fighting Boko Haram insurgents, the International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned. In a new report titled Vigilantes: Double-edged Sword in African Counter-insurgencies, based on field research in Nigeria, Uganda, South Sudan and Sierra Leone, the Brussels-based think tank observed that Nigeria’s CJTF (Civilian Joint Task Force) and similar vigilantes in these other countries have assisted governments in providing local security. According to a press statement issued by Nnamdi Obasi, Senior, Adviser, ICG, on Nigerian CJTF vigilantes, the report observed that by participating in efforts to counter Boko Haram, they ‘‘acted as a bridge between civilians and security forces, helping the state regain a measure of local legitimacy while protecting the local comm