From territorial to virtual: Is ISKP the next Al Qaeda?


“We beat them through their own app; all they can do is delete our IDs,” an Islamic State (IS) supporter from Qawqaz, the Arabic name for the Caucasus region, boasted in a closed chat room on the Darknet.

He was live-updating other IS members about the attack that killed more than 140 people at a concert hall near Moscow in March — the worst attack to hit Russia in years. Soon after, the militant Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for the attack. While there was no official word on the motive, security analysts have pointed out that for at least two years preceding the attack, the ISKP had been fixated on Russia, frequently criticising Putin in its propaganda.

Read more…
Source: Dawn News


Sign up for our Newsletter


Related:

  • Egypt: Explosion hits near convoy of Alexandria security chief

    March 24, 2018

    An explosion in the coastal city of Alexandria has killed at least two people, including a policeman, in what officials called an assassination attempt against the city’s security chief. The blast occurred near the Tolip Hotel on Saturday afternoon in Rushdi, a neighbourhood in Egypt’s second city, close to the motorcade of Major General Mostafa al-Nemr, the head ...

  • US, Jordan launch new counterterrorism training centre

    March 22, 2018

    Jordan and the United States unveiled a counterterrorism training centre south of Amman on Thursday aimed at boosting the capacity of local forces in a region beset by conflict. The centre connected to the Jordanian Police Academy was opened in Suwaqah, 70 kilometres (43 miles) from the Jordanian capital. It aims to prepare security forces to cope ...

  • Afghanistan: 2 killed in roadside blast in Kabul

    March 19, 2018

    At least two people were killed when a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) bomb exploded in Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul on Saturday. Khaama Press quoted the security officials as saying that the explosion took place in the vicinity of Paghman district. Deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Nusrat Rahimi said two civilians were killed after ...

  • Nigeria: FG Calls for Defeat, Disruption of Insurgents’ Theatre of Operation, Drugs Acquisition

    March 18, 2018

    The federal government on Saturday called for the defeat and disruption of Boko Haram insurgents and other terrorists’ theatre of operation and their ability to acquire drugs and other chemical agents. This was the submission by experts and stakeholders at the end of a five day summit on National Chemical Security in Abuja. According to the National ...

  • U.K. Subway Bomber Convicted of Attempted Murder

    March 16, 2018

    An 18-year-old Iraqi refugee whose homemade bomb exploded in a packed London subway carriage in 2017 injuring 51 passengers was convicted Friday of attempted murder. Ahmed Hassan planted an explosive device in a carriage with 93 passengers on Sept. 15. The bomb partially exploded during morning rush hour at Parsons Green subway station in West London. Twenty-three people ...

  • Boko Haram Planning IED Attacks In Maiduguri – Police Warn

    March 16, 2018

    The Borno state police command has revealed that Boko Haram insurgents are planning to attack Maiduguri, capital of the state, with vehicles primed with improvised explosive device (IED). Ahmed Bello, an assistant commissioner of police, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday. Bello said the attack was beng coordinated by dislodged Boko Haram from Sambisa forest but ...

  • IDF retaliates following explosion on northern Gaza border

    March 15, 2018

    Two explosive devices were detonated close to an army patrol along the border fence with the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, prompting IDF retaliation against Hamas and Islamic Jihad positions. No IDF soldiers were wounded in the explosions, which took place inside the Hamas-run coastal enclave. Contradictory reports out of Gaza and in Palestinian media said ...

  • US, Nigerien Troops Kill ISIS Militants 2 Months After Deadly Ambush

    March 15, 2018

    U.S. forces and partner troops killed 11 Islamic State militants in Niger during a firefight that occurred two months after a deadly ambush, as part of a mission that is only now is coming to light. U.S. Africa Command confirmed Thursday that U.S. troops and Niger government forces were on a Dec. 6 mission in the country’s ...

  • Sukma Attack: India Needs To Stop IEDs From Bleeding the CRPF

    March 14, 2018

    Yesterday, Maoists blew up a mine-protected vehicle (MPV) in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, killing nine Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans and injuring three more. The troops travelling in the vehicle were returning to their camp in Palodi from Kistaram — an area cut off from the rest of the state where the armed insurgents have almost complete control. Organised days after ...

  • Cops foil terrorists plot to bomb state buildings, arrest four suspects

    March 14, 2018

    Four terror suspects arrested in Marsabit last month planned to bomb government and judicial buildings, police boss Joseph Boinnet has said. Boinnet on Wednesday said intelligence reports revealed that the suspects were part of a cell that was planning a major terror attack in Nairobi. “These terrorists were targeting a government and a judicial building to rescue ...

  • Terrorist attack prevented in Saratov Region – FSB

    March 11, 2018

    Russia’s intelligence service, FSB, prevented a terrorist attack in the Saratov Region, the plotters were killed, FSB reported on Sunday. “The Russian Federal Security Service prevented a terrorist attack in the Saratov Region,” FSB’s public relations department said. “The terrorist attack was plotted by an underground terrorist group.” “On March 11, the criminals, driving a car, opened ...

  • At least 3 soldiers injured in two Al-Shabaab attacks in Somalia

    March 2, 2018

    At least three Somali government soldiers were injured in two separate attacks by terror group Al-Shabaab near Somali capital of Mogadishu on Friday. The police said the three were injured when the militants rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the military base in Afgoye town, about 30 kms south of Mogadishu but were repulsed by ...

  • Burkina Faso attack: Ouagadougou sees gunfire and explosion

    March 2, 2018

    Gunfire and an explosion have been heard near the army headquarters and the French embassy in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou. Witnesses have reported seeing armed men getting out of a car and opening fire before heading towards the embassy. “An attack is under way,” the French ambassador tweeted. Read more… Source: BBC News  

  • Neo-Nazi groups recruit Britons to fight in Ukraine

    March 2, 2018

    Neo-Nazi groups involved in the fighting in Ukraine are actively seeking to recruit British far-right activists, a leading anti-fascist watchdog has warned. At least two Britons are thought to have travelled to the war-torn eastern European country in recent months after encouragement by people linked to the Azov battalion, a notorious Ukrainian fascist militia, according ...

  • Families mourn the deaths of four UN peacekeepers

    March 1, 2018

    The families of the Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers killed by an explosive device in central Mali on Wednesday are mourning their loved ones. The deceased were set to return to the country within just months, but now the families have to wait for the dead bodies instead. Trooper Jamal of Dhumiahayatpur village in Chapainawabganj district left behind ...

  • Colombia’s ELN rebels kill five soldiers in bomb attack

    February 27, 2018

    At least five Colombian soldiers were killed and more than 10 wounded early Tuesday in an attack by the Marxist ELN rebels near the border with Venezuela, the Army said. The attack came one day after the National Liberation Army (ELN) said it would hold a unilateral ceasefire during legislative elections next month. The government had ...

  • Explosion rocks Kabul, near US Embassy and NATO headquarters

    February 24, 2018

    At least two people were killed and seven wounded Saturday in an attack in Afghanistan’s capital for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility. A suicide bomber struck in the diplomatic area of Kabul near NATO headquarters and the U.S. Emassy, Afghanistan Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said, adding that the casualty count could rise. Meanwhile, at ...

  • Hamas teams with Iran and Hizbullah, hits Israeli forces with sophisticated IED

    February 23, 2018

    In an attack that closely resembled the tactics used by Iran-backed Hizbullah, Hamas on Feb. 17 remote detonated two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which injured four Israeli soldiers. The sophisticated attack targeted soldiers from Israel’s Golani Brigade as they were attempting to remove a flag that was affixed to the border fence. The soldiers were wounded ...

  • Israeli intel thwarts ISIS attack on Australian airliner

    February 22, 2018

    An elite IDF intelligence unit was successful in exposing and thwarting an Islamic State (ISIS) terror plot to bomb an airliner flying out of Australia at the end of 2017. According to an army announcement on Wednesday, the IDF’s famed 8200 cyber unit uncovered the plot and then relayed the information to Israel’s intelligence community, which shared ...

  • Another IED recovered in poll-bound Meghalaya, India

    February 20, 2018

    Averting a major tragedy, Special Force-10 commandos on Tuesday recovered another Improvised Explosive Device (IED) left by the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) rebels in poll-bound Meghalaya’s East Garo Hills district, police said. “The 5-kg bomb was recovered on the roadside of Cherangre area and it was later detonated on the spot, Meghalaya Police Chief Swaraj ...

  • Philippines: Arrested IS terror suspect yields bomb parts

    February 20, 2018

    A suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorist and his Filipino companion have been arrested in their apartment in Manila, Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa said on Monday. Dela Rosa said Fehmi Lassqued, who carried a Tunisian passport but was earlier identified as an Egyptian born in Syria, was an IS commander who had been ...

  • Europe will see increase in terror in 2018, as foreign Isil fighters ‘return home with high-tech skills’

    February 13, 2018

    The terror threat to Europe will only increase this year, experts have warned, as growing numbers of foreign fighters return home with “high tech” weapons knowledge learned on the battlefield. Scores of jihadists are expected to trickle back to the UK and the continent, bringing with them skills acquired in Syria and Iraq, such as the ...