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:
- U.S. officials warn threat from homemade bombs is skyrocketing
January 14, 2022
With domestic extremism on the rise, U.S. officials say the threat from homemade bombs is also surging. There were more than 400 bombing incidents in 2020, up 70 percent from the year before. The FBI and DHS’s CISA are now urging merchants to report unusual purchases of key ingredients. Read more… Source: NBC News
- Toronto man charged after possessing homemade bombs, crossbow
January 13, 2022
A man faces multiple firearm-related charges after Toronto police officers alleged the accused had homemade bombs and a crossbow. According to a statement issued by the service Wednesday afternoon, officers began their investigation on Monday in the Leslie Street and Queen Street East area. Toronto police tell CityNews that officers were tipped off that someone owned ...
- Oklahoma: Man arrested for placing an improvised explosive device outside of the Hard Rock Casino in Catoosa
January 12, 2022
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said they arrested Zachary Schmidt on for leaving a bag containing an improvised explosive device (IED) outside of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tuesday night. Around 8 p.m. on Jan. 11 Cherokee Nation Security Guards found a suspicious bag under some stairs outside and after searching ...
- South Africa: Three suspects arrested at Beitbridge Border Post for allegedly smuggling explosives
January 12, 2022
Three suspects (one woman and two males) were, in the early hours of this morning, Wednesday 12 January 2022 at about 00:58, arrested by the police at Beitbridge Border Post for allegedly being in possession of commercial explosives. The Police were called by members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) after they came across ...
- Kenya: DCI releases names of 8 most wanted terror suspects
January 12, 2022
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has released names of 8 most wanted terror suspects, appealing to the public for information that may lead to their arrest. In an update shared on Twitter, DCI said that the 8 terror suspects, are linked to the Al-Shabaab terror network. Adding that, the suspects are armed and dangerous and have ...
- Northern Ireland: County Armagh man jailed for making blast bomb
January 11, 2022
An “eccentric” Co Armagh weapons collector who admitted making a “blast-incendiary improvised” bomb has been handed a 15 month sentence. Although ordered to serve half his sentence in jail and the rest on licence, Sean Fintan Burns will soon be freed due to time spent on remand. Sentencing the 34-year-old at Craigavon Crown Court, Judge Patrick Lynch ...
- Operation Flycatcher: disrupting Sri Lanka’s terrorist networks
January 11, 2022
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Boosting the ability of frontline border officers to detect travelers as potential terrorists was the focus of a counter- terrorism (CT) and border management operation led by INTERPOL across Sri Lanka. Codenamed Operation Flycatcher II, the five-day (8 – 12 November) operation saw the arrest of six suspects linked to terrorism, with ...
- Northern Ireland: Woman arrested over Derry New IRA bomb-making probe
January 11, 2022
Detectives from the PSNI’s Terrorism Investigation Unit (TIU) investigating the bomb-making activities of the New IRA have arrested a 52-year-old woman in the Creggan area of Derry earlier today, Tuesday, January 11, 2022. Detective Inspector Clara Heaton said: “The woman, who has been taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave Police Station in Belfast for ...
- Pakistan: Joint security forces operation in Kalachi Jahan Khani area recovered 2 suicide vests and cache of explosives
January 11, 2022
Dera Ismail Khan: CTD and Pakistan Army joint intelligence-based operation against terrorists of Tehreek-e-Taliban Gandapur group in Kalachi Jahan Khani area, 2 rocket launchers with 7 shells, 2 suicide vests and cache of explosives hidden underground for terror attacks. https://twitter.com/KP_Police1/status/1480791418838962177 Source: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police – Twitter
- South Africa: Four suspected robbers arrested for attempted murder and possession of explosives
January 10, 2022
Four suspects aged between 25 and 37 were arrested by police on charges of business robbery, attempted murder and possession of explosives. It is alleged that yesterday at 23:00, police responded to a report of a burglary in progress at a shopping centre on St Johns Avenue in Pinetown. Upon arrival at the scene police spotted ...
- Illinois: Police Link Mysterious Explosions Around Rogers Park To TikTok Bomb Challenge
January 6, 2022
Loud explosions have alarmed and confused West Ridge and Rogers Park residents for months. The blasts have caused windows to rattle and fences to break, residents said. They have flocked to social media and community police meetings to report hearing the booms and to share theories on their origins. After responding to calls of explosions and investigating ...
- Washington: Centralia police arrest Olympia man accused of December ATM bombing, theft
January 6, 2022
Centralia detectives have arrested an Olympia man accused of bombing and stealing from a First Security Bank ATM last month. Ryan Thomas Moulder, 39, is one of two people police believe used an unknown improvised explosive device at the ATM on Tower Avenue in Centralia Dec. 19, according to a Tuesday press release. The second person ...
- Indonesian prosecutors seek life for Bali bombing suspect
January 5, 2022
Indonesian prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a life sentence for a top terror suspect who eluded capture for 18 years and accused him of masterminding a series of deadly attacks in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Aris Sumarsono, 58, whose real name is Arif Sunarso but is better known as Zulkarnaen, sat impassively as the prosecution ...
- North Carolina: Dunn man pleads guilty to possession of weapons of mass destruction after blast injures SBI agents
January 5, 2022
A 36-year-old man from Dunn pled guilty to three counts of possessions of a weapon of mass destruction that seriously injured two State Bureau of Investigations agents in 2019. Agent Tim Luper received second-degree burns and dislocated his shoulder during the explosions, while agent Brian Joy suffered third-degree burns. Deputies with the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office stopped ...
- Israel: Mortar shell from British Mandate period discovered in forest near Jerusalem
January 2, 2022
A British mortar shell from Israel’s War of Independence period was discovered on Saturday near Maale Hahamisha, a kibbutz not far from Jerusalem, the Israel Police said. The 81mm. shell was found by a father and son who were walking in a tree-covered area. Police sappers were summoned and found that the shell held 500 grams of ...
- Pakistan: IS-K network dismantled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
December 30, 2021
A network of the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) terrorist group has been dismantled in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. A top Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) official told reporters here on Wednesday IS-K had started becoming active in the province after May this year. The militant outfit wanted to sow fear and disrupt investments in the province by attacking ...
- Russia: Supporter of Ukrainian neo-Nazi group detained for 2 months in Rostov-on-Don
December 28, 2021
A supporter of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi radical youth gang MKU from the southern Rostov Region who plotted the murder of a journalist has been detained for two months, a source in the regional law-enforcement agencies told TASS on Tuesday. During the questioning, a video of which was released by the FSB, the suspect said that he ...
- Michigan: Grand Rapids police to detonate seized explosives, say blast noise likely near disposal site
December 28, 2021
Grand Rapids police plan to detonate seized and old explosives as part of a controlled disposal process Thursday, Dec. 30. Police issued an advisory Tuesday, Dec. 28, mostly for people who may be near the disposal site at the city’s yard waste and compost area, 2001 Butterworth St. SW. The intermittent detonations will likely be heard by ...
- Russia: IS member who plotted Moscow court blast handed 19 years behind bars
December 28, 2021
An Islamic State member (IS — terrorist organization, outlawed in Russia) who plotted an explosion in a Moscow military court and sought to travel to a combat zone in the Middle East has been sentenced to 19 years in prison, the FSB press office told TASS. “The Second Western Military District Court has sentenced Umarov A.S. ...
- UK: Man accused of having homemade explosives in Plymouth
December 20, 2021
A man charged with having homemade explosives, bomb-making equipment and indecent images has appeared in court. Stefan Gojke, 66, is charged with five counts of having explosive substances without a lawful purpose in Plymouth between August and September 2019. Five other charges relate to the alleged possession of a stun gun, ammunition and indecent images. Read more… Source: BBC ...
- Washington: FBI investigates ATM explosion at Centralia bank
December 19, 2021
The Centralia Police Department said Saturday afternoon that two unidentified suspects exploded the 1st Security Bank ATM on South Tower Avenue this morning using an improvised explosive device and then fled in a late 1990s or early 2000s four-door Honda Accord. One of the suspects is described as a white man, but no other identifying information ...
- Pakistan: 2 killed, 4 injured in suicide attack on ANP vehicle in Bajaur
December 19, 2021
Two people were killed while four others were injured in a suicide attack on an Awami National Party (ANP) vehicle in Bajaur tribal district, officials said on Sunday. Speaking to Dawn.com, Bajaur District Police Office Samad Khan confirmed the casualties, adding that the blast occurred near the Pak-Afghan border in Sur Qamar area within Laghrey police ...
