Terrorism Watch

Q&A with Dr. Robert J. Bunker on the shift and its broader significance Coalition forces recently captured and destroyed an  ISIS drug cache  in southern Syria, which was valued at $1.4 million and included more than 300,000 pills of the drug captagon. The discovery brought attention to a new development in the operations of ISIS terrorists. With the loss of its so-called “caliphate”—and the loss of money from taxes and oil, the group is turning to drug trafficking. This new line of business for the terrorist network raises some serious questions. First off, consumption of drugs and alcohol are banned under Islam, so why do ISIS fighters get a free pass? The drugs, meanwhile, are unlikely being made entirely by ISIS, so another question arises on who is supplying the drugs or ingredients? To answer these questions, I reached out to Robert J. Bunker, adjunct research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. The following is a Q&A from

Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Dokubo, has warned that reliance on computer systems, wireless networks and ubiquitous Internet-enabled smart devices, including smartphones, televisions and various tiny devices, has made Nigeria vulnerable and susceptible to potentially debilitating attacks. According to him, the Internet-driven world is fast-paced and leaves little room for individuals and organisations to properly guard very sensitive data or documents. Dokubo spoke in Abuja, while delivering a paper on ‘Cyber Security and Economic Development’, at a workshop organised by the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria in Abuja, on Thursday. He said findings from several studies and researches on cybersecurity had warned that due to malpractices by operators, Information Technology security personnel were suscept

Mexico City — Mexico's federal attorney general's office says Friday that accused drug lord Damaso Lopez has been extradited from the border city of Ciudad Juarez to the United States. Lopez is known by his alias "El Licenciado," a title for college graduates. He is facing US charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine and commit money laundering and could face life imprisonment if convicted. Lopez was the right-hand man of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and helped him escape from a Mexican prison in 2001. Later, he battled Guzman's son for control of the Sinaloa cartel after the kingpin was captured in 2016. Lopez was arrested in Mexico City in 2017. This frame grab from video shows Damaso Lopez, known by the nickname "El Licenciado," escorted by police after his capture at an upscale apartment building on a major boulevard in Mexico City, in 2017. File picture: Jorge Barrera/AP Mexican officials blame him for violence in

Durban - Cyber crimes, terrorism, counter-terrorism, money laundering, human trafficking and transnational organised crimes were major talking points on Friday before BRICS security ministers went into a closed meeting. The ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met at Durban’s Maharani Hotel for day two of their 8th BRICS National Security Advisers meeting ahead of the summit next month. National security adviser of India, Ajit Doval, said terrorism was an issue confronting all BRICS nations and had reached new proportions. Terrorists were using technology and exploiting legal loopholes in the system to further their agendas. He said networks were becoming complex and interconnected, with the sponsorship of terrorism by some states continuing. Doval also called for an effective international mechanism to verify the actions of the states to eliminate safe havens of terrorism from these territories. “New methods of terror financing such as virtual cur

Separatist leader Aasiya Andrabi and two of her woman associates were on Friday handed over to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) for 10 days’ custodial interrogation in connection with a case of waging war against the country. The trio were airlifted from Srinagar on Friday morning and brought to Delhi. The separatists have called for a daylong shutdown in the Valley to protest her arrest. Amid tight security, Andrabi and her associates were produced in a Patiala House court before District and Sessions judge Poonam Bamba. Due to security reasons, the court proceedings were held in-camera. The judge allowed the plea of the NIA that Andrabi, who is chief of the banned outfit Dukhtaran-e-Milat, and others were required to be quizzed as investigation has revealed that by their activities in cyber space they “are running a concerted campaign to solicit support” from terrorist entities from Pakistan. The NIA had sought the custody of Andrabi and her two associates Sofi Fehmeed

When the patrolling team was cordoning off the forest near Pedadabba village, Naxals triggered an IED blast and fired indiscriminately, leading to the gunbattle between the two sides. RAIPUR: Three Maoists were killed in an encounter with the security forces at Katekalyan in the Maoist-affected Dantewada district on Friday. The gun-battle took place at the remote forested hilly terrain of Dabba about 400 km south of Raipur. "Based on a tip-off a team of Dantewada district reserve guards (DRG) left on the search operation early morning. Maoists triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) close to Dabba forest injuring one of our jawan. They resorted to firing on the troopers who swiftly retaliated the attack. Three rebels were killed in an encounter. The forces recovered three rifles and items of daily use from the spot", Dantewada superintendent of police Kamal Lochan Kashyap told the Express. The bodies were yet to be identified. The naxalites escaped into the nearby

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is pursuing its bid to have the courts declare over 600 persons linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New People’s Army (NPA) as terrorists. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra revealed this yesterday following the cancellation of peace talks between the government and the communist rebels set last week in the Netherlands. “We will continue with our petition in the court, unless and until the President and the government peace panel direct us otherwise,” he told reporters, referring to the petition the DOJ filed before the Manila regional trial court (RTC) last March. The DOJ submitted a list with over 600 personalities – including CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison, former Bayan Muna representative Satur Ocampo and UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz – that it wants to be tagged terrorists. A former UN Permanent Forum on Indigenou

SEOUL, Jul. 4 (Korea Bizwire)  —  Moving forward, South Korean law enforcement agencies will be treating hidden camera crimes as cyber terrorism. This new designation applies not only to those who capture the illicit footage, but also those who distribute such materials. The National Police Agency said that it was adding 159 police investigators currently in charge of cyber terror to a team tapped to crack down on illegal filming. These hardline investigators will be investigating hidden camera crimes in association with the cyber sexual violence investigation team at each local municipality office. The investigators will initially be looking into illegal porn websites that were reported by the public to civic groups, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Korea Communications Standards Commission and other government entities. At present, the police have cracked down on 860 websites that feature illegal footage obtained without the consent of those featured in the

The Parliament, created by the Arab League, also expressed support for the actions of the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government The Parliament urged the international community to assume its responsibilities and take urgent and practical measures to prevent the use of children as fighters in Yemen, and to rehabilitate those who are recruited JEDDAH: The Arab Parliament lauded the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) for its role in rehabilitating children recruited by the Houthi militia in Yemen. The Parliament, created by the Arab League, also expressed support for the actions of the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government. The Parliament stressed that the use of international humanitarian aid by the Houthi militias to trade to poor families in exchange for the recruitment or deprivation of their children (fighting for food) represents a clear and explicit breach of international humanita

State Department Restores Burma and Iraq to its Annual List of Violators I held my breath yesterday, waiting for the US State Department to issue its latest  annual list of governments implicated in the use of child soldiers . Last year’s list was a  disaster : then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson overruled his own staff and left blatant violators – Afghanistan, Burma, and Iraq – off the list. The new list was a relief. It restores Burma and Iraq to the list, acknowledging continued recruitment of child soldiers by government forces in both countries. The United Nations investigated nearly 150 cases of children recruited by government forces in Burma last year, often using force or coercion. In Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces, which operate under the Iraqi armed forces, continued to recruit children.   Niger and Iran were added to the list for the first time this year. The Niger government provides support for a self-defense group known for using child soldiers, while

Cyber-attacks and terror attacks have one major thing in common - both are among the top security concerns in the world today. A closer look reveals many similarities in the challenges they pose for investigators. So, can time-proven terror attack investigation methods help crack cyber-attack cases? Lesson One: Understand the Motive...Understand the Attack Whether you’re investigating a terror attack or a cyber incident, the first step in identifying the attacker is to establish a motive. Terrorists seek to use violence as a means to create terror or fear to achieve a political, religious or ideological aim. Cyber-attacks, on the other hand, seek to either achieve financial gain or accomplish social or political agendas. According to   Richard Clarke , former Special Advisor for cybersecurity during the George W. Bush administration, cyber attackers carry out attacks to: Financially harm the target by disrupting its operations and damaging its reputation (cybercrime)

• FG To Remove Terrorist Content From The Internet The Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, has said the threat to Nigeria from cyber terrorism and violent extremism remains high.Shittu said his ministry would continue to work with the National Assembly to improve counter-terrorism legislation and enforcement, detect, disrupt and prevent terrorism funding, as well as develop measures to detect individuals on the path to extremism. He said the ministry would work with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to remove terrorist content from the Internet, provide lawful, and reasonable access to information for national security purposes. “The law must apply equally online, as it does offline, as we cannot allow cyber terrorists to use ungoverned spaces online,” he said.Speaking at the stakeholders’ conference organised by the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime in Abuja, Shittu said cyber-related threats to Nigeria are increasing in number, type and sophisticat

A Palestinian boy wearing a military costume arrives at a military-style graduation ceremony for youths who were trained at one of the Hamas-run Liberation Camps in Gaza. (Photo: REUTERS / Suhaib Salem) This rise of child soldiers is an alarming trend in the world of Islamist terror. Read the following seven questions and answers about child soldiers and get an idea of the enormity of this problem: How Young Are Children Recruited by Hezbollah? Hezbollah is the Iranian-backed Lebanese terror organization that also controls the Lebanese government. With its stockpile of advanced weaponry and thousands of fighters, many believe it constitutes the  second-strongest military force in the Middle East  (after the Israeli army). Hezbollah begins recruiting children at the age of eight to its  Mahdi  Scouts division. By 16, boys in the Scouts already “engage in jihadi work,” according to the Lebanese paper  Al-Janubiya . The Scouts are given a military course in “combat literacy,”