Europol-coordinated operation tackles the threat of terrorist-operated websites


Ten countries joined forces with Europol to disrupt the online propaganda activities of religious and politically motivated terrorist organisations across the ideological spectrum.

This joint effort, known as Operation HOPPER II, targeted key assets in the online dissemination of terrorist propaganda, including those of the so-called Islamic State, al-Qaeda and its affiliates, and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. The operation specifically targeted terrorist-operated websites used to disseminate terrorist propaganda, thereby limiting the ability of terrorist organisations to recruit, radicalise and mobilise recruiters online.

Read more…
Source: Europol


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • 3 arrested over suspected terror links in Malaysia

    September 14, 2017

    Malaysia’s police have arrested three people suspected of being involved in activities related to the Islamic State (IS) terror group. This included a man who was said to have received instructions from Mahmud Ahmad, now Malaysia’s most wanted terrorist, and from a Saudi Arabian bomb-making expert on how to make a large-scale improvised explosive device (IED). The ...

  • Bomb squad searches property in Derbyshire street

    September 13, 2017

    Police officers were spotted in Godfrey Drive, Kirk Hallam – and a man has been arrested A bomb disposal team has been helping police search a house in Kirk Hallam. Officers were spotted outside a property, in Godfrey Drive. Police said a 44-year-old man has been arrested. A Derbyshire police spokeswoman said: “There is nothing to suggest the safety of the ...

  • French police find more explosives after raid near Paris

    September 7, 2017

    French police unearthed a second stash of explosive materials near Paris on Thursday after a similar find in a nearby suburb on Wednesday, a justice official said as three suspects were questioned by anti-terrorism investigators. Thursday’s swoop was carried out at a garage rented by one of the three detained in the wake of Wednesday’s raid ...

  • New IRA develops new kind of under-car bomb, Northern Ireland police say

    September 1, 2017

    Dissident Republicans have developed a new and highly dangerous under-car bomb, police in Northern Ireland have warned. The device, which involves a pressure plate designed to detonate when a car drives over it, was used to target an off-duty officer in Londonderry in February – but it did not detonate. A similar device was found in the ...

  • British paramedics to start carrying antidote to deadly nerve gas amid fears terrorists are plotting a chemical strike on Britain

    August 26, 2017

    Paramedics are being equipped with an antidote to some of the deadliest nerve agents amid fears terrorists are plotting a chemical strike on Britain. Thousands of frontline medics have already received the epipen-style devices that could combat VX or sarin, the as well as training on what to do in a mass casualty attack. Security chiefs fear ...

  • Spain to push EU leaders for better counter-terrorism coordination

    August 25, 2017

    Spain will ask the leaders of France, Italy and Germany to discuss cross-border counter-terrorism at a summit in Paris on Monday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Friday after dual attacks in Catalonia. Rajoy praised the police response despite mounting questions over poor communication between different investigators and an informal tip-off from Belgium which failed to ...

  • Isis claims responsibility after suicide bomb and gun battle kills ‘at least 30’ in Afghan capital

    August 25, 2017

    Isis has claimed responsibility for an attack on a mosque in Kabul that left at least 30 dead. The group’s propaganda agency, Amaq, released a statement shortly after the attack saying its fighters were behind the killings. Gunmen stormed the Shia mosque, attacking worshippers gathered for Friday prayers. A cleric who was leading the service was among those killed, police said. The ...

  • Viable suicide vest found in rubble of Spain attackers’ bomb factory

    August 23, 2017

    The terror cell that killed 15 people and injured more than 130 in north-east Spain last week had created a suicide vest packed with viable explosives and were in the process of making several more when a blast ripped through their bomb factory, police have said. A search of the rubble at the factory in a disused house ...

  • Lebanon Foiled ISIS Barbie Doll Bomb Plot On Flight From Australia To Abu Dhabi

    August 21, 2017

    Lebanese intelligence helped foil a plot by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) to bring down an airliner with bombs hidden inside a Barbie doll and a meat grinder, the country’s interior minister said Monday. Nouhad Machnouk told reporters that Lebanese police intelligence stopped the explosive device plot on the Emirati flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United ...

  • Brussels police shoot at car ‘full of explosives’

    August 8, 2017

    Police in Brussels have opened fire on a car believed to be filled with explosives. Shots were fired after a high-speed chase through the suburb of Molenbeek. The vehicle then reportedly got stuck in traffic, at which point it reversed into a police car. Belgian broadcaster RTL quoted a police spokesman as saying: “We got the driver out, ...

  • Afghan authorities seize truck with 16 tons of explosives in Kabul

    August 6, 2017

    Afghan intelligence authorities have seized a truck in the capital Kabul carrying more than 16 tons of explosives hidden in boxes marked as poultry feed. Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) said in a statement that the truck, with Pakistani license plates, was seized in District 9 of the capital on Sunday. “It was loaded with explosives to ...

  • Police: IS ‘commander’ directed plane bomb plot in Australia

    August 4, 2017

     A commander in Islamic State ordered a group of Australian men to build a bomb destined for an Etihad Airways flight departing from Sydney, police have said. The improvised explosive device was intended to be smuggled on to a flight on 15 July but the plan was aborted before it reached airport security. Australian Federal Police Deputy ...

  • Royal Marine terror bomb maker Ciaran Maxwell jailed for 18 years

    July 31, 2017

    A terrorist who infiltrated the British military and supplied bombs to dissident Irish republicans has been jailed for 18 years. Ex-Royal Marine Ciaran Maxwell made 43 purpose-built hides across England and Northern Ireland, in which he stashed anti-personnel mines, mortars, ammunition and 14 pipe bombs – four of which were later used. As well as bomb-making materials, ...

  • Australian plane bomb plotters ‘planned to use meat mincer filled with explosives’

    July 31, 2017

    Four Australian-Lebanese men accused of plotting to bring down a plane planned to use poisonous gas or a crude bomb disguised as a meat mincer, reports say. The men, who were arrested in raids in Sydney on Saturday night, are not thought to be two sets of fathers and sons, despite earlier reports. The Sydney Daily Telegraph said that ...

  • Sydney terror raids ‘disrupted’ plot to bring down plane, Malcolm Turnbull says

    July 30, 2017

    Authorities in Sydney have seized material that could be used to make an improvised bomb, as investigations continue into an alleged terror plot to bring down a plane. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning confirmed raids carried out in Sydney yesterday “disrupted” what appeared to be an “elaborate” conspiracy, and said extra security was in place ...

  • Cabinet Office, NATO, Europol and Global Cyber Alliance confirmed to speak at UK Security Expo 2017

    July 27, 2017

    UK Security Expo announce launch of 2017 conference agenda with the addition of two new programmes covering Cyber Security and Counter Terror for FMs Following on from the success of the 2016 agenda, UK Security Expo will feature an extended educational offering with 9 conference programmes, 250 individual sessions and 200 speakers covering the entire breadth ...

  • US Homeland Sec boss has snazzy new laptop bomb scanning tech – but admits he doesn’t know what it’s called

    July 20, 2017

    Flying into America? Don’t worry about that crackdown on laptops and similar gear in your carry-on luggage. It’s no longer happening. No, instead, the US has something else up its sleeve. New screening technology in airports will sniff out any bombs in your IT kit. So says Homeland Security boss John Kelly has, although he doesn’t ...

  • Hungary Searches International Trains After Bomb Threat

    July 19, 2017

    Hungarian police say they are inspecting all international trains arriving in Hungary after receiving an anonymous bomb threat. MAV, Hungary’s state railway company, said Wednesday that police haven’t found any explosives on any of the trains searched so far. But the checks will be held on all international trains entering Hungary until midnight (2200 GMT; 6 ...

  • ISIS chemical weapons expert killed in Hawija district

    July 14, 2017

    ISIS chemical weapons senior expert Abu al-Baraa has been killed by unknown gunmen in Hawija district in Kirkuk Governorate, a military source said Friday. Earlier, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS leader, had transferred him to Syria and no one knows how he returned to Hawija district, the source added. ISIS terrorists were developing the chemical weapons in the labs ...

  • UK: Oldham man jailed for Ukraine terror offence

    July 14, 2017

    A British man who travelled to Ukraine to join anti-government fighters has been jailed. Benjamin Stimson, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to an offence under UK terrorism laws. The 41-year-old, who is the first Briton involved in the Ukrainian conflict to have faced charges, travelled out in 2015 to join pro-Russian rebels. He was jailed for five ...

  • Chilling picture shows female Isil fighter holding child moments before detonating suicide vest

    July 8, 2017

    At first sight the picture appears to show a mother cradling her young child as she flees an Islamic State-held area of Mosul. But a closer look reveals she is holding a trigger., which she will pull seconds later. An Iraqi TV station captured the moment before a suspected female Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) suicide ...

  • Man arrested at Liverpool airport over Manchester Arena attack

    July 7, 2017

    A 19-year-old man has been arrested at Liverpool John Lennon Airport in connection with the Manchester Arena bombing. He was held on suspicion of offences contrary to the Terrorism Act and remains in custody, said Greater Manchester Police. It is understood he was on an inbound flight to the UK. A property on Thelwall Avenue in the Fallowfield ...