A Yemeni drone specialist who had traveled to Iraq to train other Iranian-backed fighters was among those killed in a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad last week, American and Iraqi defense officials said, illustrating the extensive cooperation among militant groups supported by Tehran.
The July 30 airstrike in Musayib, a town south of Iraq’s capital, targeted militants preparing to launch an attack on U.S. forces, officials have said. The strike killed Hussein Abdullah Mastoor al-Shabal, a Houthi commander, though the Pentagon was unaware of who he was until after an assessment of the operation’s results, said the U.S. official, who like others in this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the airstrike.
Read more…
Source: The Washington Post
Related:
- UN strengthens ties with Eurasia regional body to tackle terrorism and crime
November 19, 2019
The UN chief said these interconnected issues are important to the stability and security of SCO member states “Breaking up trafficking organizations and addressing the criminal use of fixed routes is crucial to countering movements of foreign terrorist fighters and arms, including to and from Iraq and Syria”, he said. “Our two organizations are also committed to ...
- Blast in Balochistan
November 17, 2019
Pakistan’s relative calm is now occasionally breached with blasts or targeted killings in Balochistan. On Friday, it was again in the grip of bloodshed when two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were martyred and five others injured in an explosion in Quetta’s Kuchlak area. The explosion is believed to be caused by an improvised explosive device ...
- Powerful IED defused near EDI Pampore
November 15, 2019
A powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) fitted in a pressure cooker was recovered and defused near Entrepreneurship Development Institute in Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu national highway. A senior police officer said the IED was recovered by a joint team of security forces personnel outside the EDI. “It was a two kg powerful IED kept in a pressure cooker. Alert ...
- Philippine Military: Suspected IS-linked Militant with Improvised Bombs Arrested
November 7, 2019
Soldiers recovered 16 pipe bombs and arrested an Islamic State-linked militant in a follow-up operation in the southern Philippines, after security forces killed three men, including two foreigners, as they allegedly tried to launch a bomb attack using suicide vests, the military said Thursday. The man, identified only by his nickname or alias “Mang,” was captured ...
- Armored Kamikaze Trucks Were ISIS’ Secret Weapon
November 3, 2019
In the early 2000s, the video game Command & Conquer: Generals included a playable terrorist faction which could build kamikaze suicide trucks from factories to blow up opponents on the cheap. At the time the concept struck the author as not only a distasteful caricature but also simply ridiculous. After all, if you’re strong enough to have factories, ...
- Kenya: Police intensify search for most wanted terror suspect
November 3, 2019
Police have zeroed in on most wanted terror suspect Abdullahi Banati as the mastermind of a group targeting security forces in parts of the North Eastern region. According to a security brief seen by the Sunday Nation, the group’s operations include an intelligence wing that shares information on potential targets. Mr Banati is not a new name to ...
- YPG/PKK plants explosives in glass bottles in Northern Syria
November 1, 2019
Large number of explosives, mines defused during sweep and clear activities in Ras al-Ayn YPG/PKK terrorists have planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in glass bottles in areas they fled in northern Syria, said Turkish forces, who continue sweep and clear efforts in the region. Turkish Armed Forces and the Syrian National Army (SNA), a rebel group which ...
- Isil faces the future without Baghdadi – one it has long planned for
October 27, 2019
The death of Isil leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi came as a shock to his followers on Sunday, but not a surprise. They had been meticulously planning for his demise for some time. A fearsome ideologue who tried to spark a war of civilisation between Islam and the West, a man who created the most brutal terrorist group ...
- British police have foiled 24 terror plots since ISIS-inspired Westminster attack in March 2017
October 22, 2019
Britain’s top police chief says investigators have foiled 24 terrorist plots since April 2017. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick today gave the updated figure, which includes 16 Islamist plots and eight inspired by extreme right-wing views. At the beginning of last month the UK’s most senior counter-terrorism officer said the number of foiled terrorist plots since the March ...
- Kenya: The growing threat of IED attacks
October 22, 2019
Kenyan soldiers continue to suffer the brunt of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) attacks putting the rising use of the IEDs by Al-Shabaab in the spotlight. There is no doubt that IEDs are increasingly the weapons of choice for the terror group. The group frequently targets Somali and AMISOM military convoys with IEDs as part of their deadly ...
- Kenya: Police Hunt for Suspect behind October 12th Attack that Killed 10 GSU Officers
October 19, 2019
Police have released an image of a suspected al-Shabaab militant believed to be the mastermind of the October 12th attack that killed 10 Kenyan security officers. The 10 General Service Unit (GSU) officers, who were on a routine security patrol, died after the vehicle they were traveling in ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in ...
- Al-Shabaab use mortar bombs to strike fear
October 19, 2019
Despite increasing concern that Al-Shabaab has become even more daring after attacking the Halane Base Camp, the African Union peacekeeping force says the group is gambling with mortar bombs to strike fear. Mortar bombs fire explosive shells at close targets. The Halane Base Camp houses the headquarters of high profile institutions and agencies in Somalia’s capital ...
- Police arrest ‘masterminds’ of bomb attack on Dhaka police
October 14, 2019
The two alleged operatives of Neo JMB, an offshoot of the banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Majahideen Bangladesh, said they crafted the bombs at the extremist hideout in Narayanganj’s Fatullah which was raided on Sept 23, according to the police. The militants, identified Md Mehedi Hasan Tanim and Md Abdullah, are also responsible of planning and carrying out ...
- Who Is JAD, the Group Blamed for Attacking Indonesia’s Chief Security Minister?
October 13, 2019
Homegrown terror group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah made headlines once more with last week’s daylight attack by one of its members on Chief Security Minister Wiranto. The shadowy group has been the most active of its kind in Indonesia over the past few years, and it is believed to have been behind the terror attack in Jalan ...
- Predicting terror activity before it happens
October 7, 2019
New model utilizes data science to predict terror groups’ lifetime lethality after first 10 attacks Data scientists have developed an early-warning model that can successfully predict how lethal a terror organization will become in the future based on only its first 10 attacks. The predictive model, developed by researchers in Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, will ...
- NIA recovers IED materials from Bengaluru module of Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
September 24, 2019
The National Investigation Agency said on Tuesday that it has recovered Improvised Explosive Device materials from the Bengaluru module of Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) which was busted this year. The items were seized based on the information provided by Jahidul Islam, one of the terror operatives held by the investigation agency, an NIA release said. These operatives, ...
- Police seize huge cache of explosives, arms from Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province
September 23, 2019
Police have foiled a major terror bid by recovering a huge amount of explosives, arms and ammunition in two different intelligence-based search and strike operations in Dera Ismail Khan on Sunday. According to the police, more than 20 kilograms (kg) of explosives, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs), hand grenades, bulletproof jackets and material used in suicide ...
- 3 improvised explosives believed to be meant for dynamite fishing recovered in waters off a Mactan Island resort, Philippines
September 21, 2019
Scuba divers who volunteered in the coastal and ocean clean-up drive organized by Maribago Bluewater Resort on Mactan Island found three homemade explosives during the activity held on Saturday morning, September 21. Erik Monsanto, the resort’s marketing and communication manager, said Maribago Bluewater Resort led the activity in line with celebration of the International Coastal Clean-up ...
- One in three planned attacks linked to far-Right, says police chief
September 20, 2019
Neil Basu, the UK head of counter-terrorism, said seven of the 22 plots foiled since March 2017 have been linked to the far-Right. Around 80 of the 800 live investigations were linked to Right-wing terrorism. The Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner said yesterday: “It’s small but it’s my fastest-growing problem. Despite the increases, Right-wing terrorism remains a ...
- Drones are levelling the playing field in the asymmetrical arms race – and superpowers are worried
September 17, 2019
The potential use of drones to cripple as much as half of Saudi national oil production this week highlights a growing threat in modern-day conflict. The attack has shown that Saudi Arabia — the world’s third largest defence spender — is incapable of defending arguably its most protected non-military installation in Abqaiq. It is estimated ...
- Islamic State supporter plotted ‘lone wolf’ attack on barracks using drone to drop weapons, court told
September 10, 2019
An Isil supporter plotted a “lone wolf” attack on a military site by adapting drones to drop weapons, a court heard. Hisham Muhammad, 25, allegedly sketched designs and built prototypes to work out how they could be used to launch an attack on an army barracks in Greater Manchester. He also amassed a stash of weapons at his rented home ...
- Derry bomb: PSNI release images of IED that ‘would have killed’
September 10, 2019
Police have released images of an explosive device they believe was being made ready to kill officers. The bomb, along with a command wire, was found in the Creggan area of Derry during a security operation yesterday. The PSNI are describing the bomb as a Command Wire Initiated Improvised Explosive Device. It was found in a vehicle parked in a driveway. ...