LYON, France – An international counter-terrorism operation in East Africa has led to the arrest of 37 suspects and the seizure of both small arms and heavy weapons. Those arrested include suspected members of ISIS, Al Shabaab and several foreign terrorist fighters.
Arrests were made across eight East African countries during a joint INTERPOL and AFRIPOL operation (November-December 2024) aimed at identifying and arresting suspects with links to terrorism and strengthening key border controls. In Kenya, police arrested 17 people including two suspected ISIS members, several foreign terrorist fighters and others involved in terrorism financing, radicalization and propaganda.
Read more…
Source: INTERPOL
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Islamic State cells now operating in Malaysia, says anti-terror chief
November 22, 2017
State terrorists no longer act as lone wolves but have organised themselves into cells in Malaysia, police said today. Special Branch Counter-Terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the first cell detected in Malaysia was the group targeting the “Better Beer Festival” in September. He said the cells usually have between three and 10 members and have no direct links ...
- Israel intercepts massive explosives shipment to Gaza
November 22, 2017
Israel has prevented a shipment containing several tons of explosives from reaching the Gaza Strip, the Defense Ministry revealed Wednesday. The shipment was intercepted at the Kerem Shalom crossing, through which goods enter the coastal enclave on a daily basis. The explosives were discovered thanks to an innovative laboratory set up at the crossing that tests ...
- The good dog who is bad at sniffing out bombs
October 19, 2017
This is Lulu, the Labrador who joined the CIA as one of their newest recruits. Her mission: to sniff out explosives. But weeks into her training programme Lulu just wasn’t making the grade. A life at the United States Central Intelligence Agency, it seems, was not for her. So she had to be dropped from the puppy ...
- Tougher penalties for suspects even ‘slightly involved’ in terrorism plots
October 12, 2017
New, tougher sentences have been proposed to deal with “less sophisticated” yet “equally dangerous” terror plots. The Sentencing Council, which draws up penalty guidelines for England and Wales, issued the first draft of sentences for terrorism-related offences ever handed to a court. In view of the heightened terrorist threat in the UK, stricter punishments may now apply ...
- Thirty years of DNA forensics: How DNA has revolutionized criminal investigations
September 18, 2017
The name Colin Pitchfork might not be as recognizable as Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer. But for those in the forensic science community, it’s a name that holds weight. Pitchfork was the first murderer to be caught using DNA analysis. When 15-year-old Dawn Ashworth was raped and murdered in Leicestershire, England, in late July 1986, Alec ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- 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 ...
- Iran Detains Islamic State Linked Group
June 24, 2017
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry is saying that its forces have detained members of a group linked to the Islamic State group it says intended to carry out terrorist acts in holy cities across the country. The ministry says its forces confiscated three Kalashnikov rifles, night vision goggles, three suicide belts, three phones for remote detonation, a large ...
- Turkish police catch five ISIL suicide bombers near Syrian border
June 24, 2017
Police have apprehended five suspected suicide bombers from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Turkey’s border with Syria, the governor’s office of the southern province of Hatay stated on June 24. “Five attackers who were sent to our country from Syria to carry out suicide bombings were caught in an operation on ...
- Pakistan: 11 dead after car bomb near police chief’s office in Quetta
June 23, 2017
A powerful car bombing near the office of the provincial police chief in southwestern Pakistan on Friday has killed 11 people and wounded 20, officials said. The explosion near the police chief’s office in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, was powerful enough that it was heard across the city, shattering windows of nearby buildings, said ...
- Pyro-Terrorism In Israel: 7 Points to Ponder
November 26, 2016
We will probably never know the whole story behind the 200+ fires that set Israel ablaze over the past 3-4 days. But pyro-terrorism should not surprise us. We were forewarned. Long ago. Fire as a Weapon of War Fire has been used in warfare throughout human history. Villages have been burned to the ground to prevent the ...
- How Police Trace Cellphones in IEDs Like the Ones in NYC
September 19, 2016
A cellphone makes a convenient detonator for an improvised explosive device. But it’s also one of the most conveniently trackable devices under the eye of American law enforcement. Less than 48 hours after a bomb exploded in a dumpster on a streetcorner in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York—and another device a few blocks away failed ...