Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Terrorism Tag

Posted by Amy Miller on May 04, 2015 25 Comments
Last night, two gunmen were killed after firing on a security guard outside of a "Draw Mohammed" free speech event in Garland, Texas. Bruce Joiner, the Garland ISD security officer who was shot in the attack, was hospitalized with an ankle wound but released last night. CNN has a good condensed timeline of events:
The men drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center in North Garland, got out of their car and began shooting just as the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest" inside was ending around 7 p.m. (8 p.m. ET). An unarmed security guard, Bruce Joiner, was shot in the ankle. He was later treated and released from a hospital. Garland police, who were helping with security, fired back, killing both gunmen. The exchange lasted about 15 seconds, police said.

Posted by Amy Miller on April 27, 2015 2 Comments
Earlier this month, officials with the United Nations had a delicate situation on their hands. The situation in Yemen was spiraling, and their best laid plans were quickly being turned to rubble as Saudi coalition airstrikes smashed through key territory in an effort to protect strategic port cities from the advance of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The international community was concerned. For both Saudi and Iran, the airstrikes represented a turning point in discussions that had spiraled from tense to impossible; the UN fired (he "resigned," officially) envoy and Moroccan diplomat Jamal Benomar, citing his apparent inability to get the warring factions to play nicely, and doubled down on the diplomacy narrative as world leaders began to express impatience with the bloodshed. Benomar has now opened up to the media, accusing Saudi of derailing an impending peace deal in Yemen and solidifying already-stubborn positions on who should be involved in Yemen's democratic political process. From the Wall Street Journal:

Posted by David Gerstman on April 27, 2015 9 Comments
Yesterday afternoon Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon warned Iran not to arm Hezbollah.
“Iran continues to try and arm Hezbollah and it is striving to arm the Lebanese terror group with advanced weapons in every way it can, and by using every avenue,” Ya’alon said in a speech at Israel’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv. “We will not allow the transfer of sophisticated weapons to terror groups, and in particular Hezbollah.” “We know how to reach [Hezbollah] and those who direct it, at any time and any place,” Ya’alon continued. “We will not allow Hezbollah to establish a terror infrastructure on our borders with Syria, and we know how to lay our hands on anyone who threatens Israeli citizens, along our borders or even far from them.”
It wasn't clear if Ya'alon was referring to airstrikes targeting weapons depots in Syria, attributed to Israel, that occurred Wednesday and Saturday last week, or if he was threatening future action. Subsequent to Ya'alon's talk it appeared that he may have intended both.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 23, 2015 19 Comments
As the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev entered the penalty phase yesterday, jurors were shown a photo of the Boston Marathon bomber giving the finger to a jail security camera after his arrest. The Boston Globe reported:
Jurors view footage of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev making obscene gesture Jurors in the death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Wednesday were shown video of him making an obscene gesture as well as holding his fingers in the shape of “V” to a surveillance camera in a courthouse holding cell three months after he was arrested in the terror attack. A prosecutor had shown a picture of Tsarnaev making the obscene gesture to the jury in US District Court in Boston at the end of her opening statement in the penalty phase of the trial on Tuesday, underlining her argument that he was “unconcerned, unrepentant, and unchanged” after the attack. On Wednesday, video of the incident, which happened on July 10, 2013, was shown to jurors at the request of Tsarnaev’s defense team.
The gesture is blurred in this video but you'll get the idea:

Posted by Amy Miller on April 20, 2015 4 Comments
Over the past four weeks, Saudi Arabia has led a series of airstrikes aimed at quashing the spread and rise to power of Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen. Backed by the Iranian government, the Houthi have risen from obscurity to prominence. Once a regional threat, the group began late last year to branch out on more aggressive missions aimed at securing strategically important sites around the country. They moved into the capital city of Sana'a, and earlier this year managed to stage a violent and successful coup against the western-backed Hadi government. Iran's involvement---which they deny, of course---has been the subject of contention for coalition partners in the region, who argue that the Iranians are using the Houthi rebels as a proxy occupation force and means to greater control over the increasingly volatile Arabian Peninsula. Similarly, Saudi's airstrikes against Houthi advancement have been painted not as strategic, but as an unnecessary attack on civilians caught in the crossfire. Today, Iran released a statement alleging that one Saudi Airstrike hit too close to the Iranian embassy in Sana'a, shattering windows and causing damage but fortunately not injuring anyone inside.

Posted by Amy Miller on April 19, 2015 23 Comments
I was only 10 years old on the day that Timothy McVeigh parked his fertilizer bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. At the time, I didn't know what it meant to have witnessed the "deadliest terror attack to date" on U.S. soil; all I knew was that 168 people had died, and from my ten year-old perspective, that seemed like everyone in the world. Twenty years later, my perspective has matured. I've seen skyscrapers explode and fall down, and high school students run screaming from armed gunmen. I've seen videos of beheadings and shootings and massacres, and yet there's something still very raw associated with my memories of of the Oklahoma City bombing. Today marks the 20 year anniversary of the attack, and hundreds of people gathered together at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum on the former site of the Murrah building to pay tribute to those lost.
President Bill Clinton, attending the annual ceremony for the sixth time, thanked the people of Oklahoma for their resilience and outpouring of compassion that followed the bombing — a reaction to the tragedy that became known as the "Oklahoma standard."

Posted by Amy Miller on April 17, 2015 12 Comments
A car bomb exploded today outside the U.S. consulate in Erbil. According to the State Department, all officials are accounted for, but as of now no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Via NBC News:
There were no immediate reports of injuries to consulate personnel or local guards, the State Department official said. The Associated Press, citing one of its reporters at the scene, said that the blast set nearby cars on fire. Talmadge Payne, an American working as a consultant for a non-government organization in Erbil, told NBC News that he was sitting on the roof of his hotel, about a half-mile from the consulate, and felt the blast. "If I could feel the blast from here it must have been pretty significant," he said. "The room shook, and a few things fell off the shelves." He said there was a firefight, then about 10 minutes of calm, then more gunfire.
Photos posted to Twitter show a sizable explosion that caused extensive damage and may have killed up to 3 people:

Posted by Amy Miller on April 16, 2015 1 Comment
The wheels on the bus go thump-thump-thump...right over the guy tasked with fixing an impossible mess. It's official: Jamal Benomar, the UN's special advisor on Yemen has resigned. For the past four years, Benomar has been the person tasked with guiding the various factions in Yemen through a peaceful, post-Arab Spring transition. The UN hasn't provided any information regarding a possible reassignment for Benomar; however, when asked who was slated to replace him, officials said that they would select "someone who can talk to all parties." Because that's what's happening in Yemen right now---talking. But I digress. For a while, it seemed like Benomar was making progress---but then things began to unravel:
U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks were private, said that ministers from the Sunni-led Gulf Cooperation Council met Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a trip to Kuwait in late March and told him of their unhappiness with Benomar.

Posted by Amy Miller on April 11, 2015 3 Comments
On Wednesday, a jury in Boston found Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty of capital murder. The prosecution went 30 for 30 on all counts, including all 17 charges that include a penalty of either death or life in prison. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge George O'Toole announced that the second phase in Tsarnaev's trial---the penalty phase---will begin on April 21st. Attorneys for both sides will present before the same jury on "aggravating and mitigating factors." This means that the prosecution will (most likely) present evidence that supports the maximum penalty, while defense counsel does her best to keep her client alive. Details from HuffPo:

Posted by Amy Miller on April 08, 2015 19 Comments
A Massachusetts jury is ready to release the verdict in the Boston Marathon bombing trial. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is accused on 30 counts; 17 of those counts carry a sentence of either death or life in prison. In terms of the end result, it could come down to Count 1: Conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. If Tsarnaev is found guilty on this count, he will become eligible for the death penalty. During the trial, prosecutors focused on the devastation caused by the attack, while defense attorneys focused on mitigating factors affecting Tsarnaev's conduct. They tried to emphasize the role his 26 year-old brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev played in the bombing:
On Monday, the jury saw a video of the moment a bomb exploded and disemboweled an 8-year-old boy and ripped the leg off his sister. The blast killed a 23-year-old graduate student from China. The jurors heard more horror from April 15, 2013. At one point, prosecutors played a video that showed the scene after a bomb exploded -- blood and injured victims everywhere and the sounds of a child howling. His mother lost her leg.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on April 04, 2015 10 Comments
This Holy Week, we reported that Islamic fanatics made a dawn raid of a Christian university in Kenya. Currently, the death toll is 147 and looks like it will increase. The event, as well as the massacre of the Coptic Christians in Libya, were the focus of an address Pope Francis gave during his Good Friday service.
Pope Francis has condemned the "complicit silence" about the killing of Christians during a Good Friday service in Rome. Tens of thousands of pilgrims joined him for the Way of the Cross ceremony, recalling Jesus' crucifixion. Among the cross bearers were Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and Nigerians who had escaped Boko Haram persecution.

Posted by New Neo on April 03, 2015 7 Comments
Religious wars continue:
Islamist gunmen burst into a Kenyan university before dawn Thursday, shooting students and taking hostages in a terror attack that left 70 dead, Kenyan officials said. Two attackers were killed in the ongoing security operation, and one was arrested, authorities said.... Joel Ayora, who was on the campus and witnessed the attack, said gunmen burst into a Christian service. Taking hostages from the service, they then "proceeded to the hostels, shooting anybody they came across except their fellows, the Muslims." The attackers separated students by religion, allowing Muslims to leave and keeping an unknown number of Christians hostage, Agence France-Presse reported... The dangerously porous border between Somalia and Kenya has made it easy for Al-Shabaab militants to cross over and carry out attacks.
The attack is now said to be over, with four terrorists killed and over 140 students murdered. Fifty or so who had been held hostage (mostly females) have been freed.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 31, 2015 7 Comments
ISIS doesn't just want to recruit new soldiers into the fold---they want to show those soldiers that joining the cause is more than just a one-off decision. It's a future. Over the last few days, the Islamic State in Syria has posted several pictures of "graduation ceremonies," celebrating the end of training for green recruits and the beginning of their service in what ISIS fighters hope to portray as a legitimate caliphate. Why the trappings of statehood? Because that's the goal, here:
“There are two messages being sent by ISIS besides the obvious shock factor: First, their caliphate is an actual functioning and legitimate state. Second, this is long-term struggle,” said Ryan Mauro, national security analyst and adjunct professor of Homeland Security for the Clarion Project. “This is a way of saying that ISIS has succeeded (in creating a state) where Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists have failed.” By promoting their special force in a series of propaganda photos, experts said ISIS is sending a message to potential recruits that it has created a professional, deadly and well-equipped force ready to protect its expanding Caliphate.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 30, 2015 4 Comments
Last time we checked in, the White House was wallowing in a state of denial over the devolving situation in Yemen. The UN held a meeting to discuss the fall of the Western-backed Hadi government, and while the diplomats were talking, Iran executed a blatant arms dump on behalf of the Houthi rebels, who have been contributing to chaos in Yemen since late last year. America postured while the Saudis went to war, launching air strikes against Iranian-made missile launchers and destroying Houthi-controlled military barracks and air bases. Now, as coalition air strikes rage on, the Saudis have constructed a blockade as a way of preventing Iran---or anyone else---from rearming the Houthi. Via the AP:
As night fell, intense explosions could be heard throughout the rebel-held capital Sanaa, where warplanes had carried out strikes since the early morning. Military officials from both sides of the conflict said that airstrikes were targeting areas east and south of the third largest city of Taiz, as well as its airport, while naval artillery and airstrikes hit coastal areas east of Aden. "It's like an earthquake," Sanaa resident Ammar Ahmed said by telephone. "Never in my life have I heard such explosions or heard such raids."

Posted by Amy Miller on March 26, 2015 3 Comments
Last night, members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested a national guardsman at Chicago's Midway Airport after a long-term investigation revealed that he was allegedly planning a terror attack on an Illinois military post. Army National Guard Spc. Hasan Edmonds, 22, was on his way to Cairo to join ISIS when he was apprehended without a struggle. Agents also arrested Edmonds' cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 29, at his home in the Chicago area. Watch: According to CBS Chicago, an undercover FBI agent originally made contact with Edmonds in late 2014; this eventually led to a series of messages in which Edmonds told the agent that he was planning to travel overseas with his cousin to join ISIS:
"The State has been established and it is our duty to heed the call," he allegedly wrote. "I look forward to the training. I am already in the american kafir [infidel] army ...and now I wish only to serve in the army of Allah alongside my true brothers." In another message, he allegedly wrote, either he and his cousin would make it overseas, "or bring the flames of war to the heart od [sic] this land with Allah's permission." Jonas Edmonds allegedly told the undercover employee that they would use uniforms and information from Hasan Edmonds to access the facility and target officers.
The FBI released some information today about what the official charges look like:

Posted by Amy Miller on March 26, 2015 21 Comments
We now know a little bit more about the Germanwings pilot who deliberately crashed into a mountain, killing himself and 149 other people; but friends and family are still baffled as to why 28 year old Andreas Günter Lubitz would lock himself into the cockpit and initiate the plane's deadly descent. Lubitz reportedly had taken a hiatus from his pilot training in 2008 due to "burnout." Friends close to Lubitz told investigators that the break came about as a result of Lubitz's "depression." That break lasted for several months, but he was deemed "100% fit to fly" well before this week's tragedy. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr went into detail about the hiatus and the security precautions the airline takes with all its employees:
"We are shaken. This is our worst nightmare, that such a tragedy could happen in our group," CEO Carsten Spohr told reporters in Cologne. The company carefully vetted its crews and did not only test them on technical abilities but also made psychological checks. He said the co-pilot had taken an 11-month break, during which he worked as a flight attendant but that he passed all the relevant checks upon restarting. Spohr said the break was not unusual and declined to give details of the reasons behind the pause in training. "No matter your safety regulations, no matter how high you set the bar, and we have incredibly high standards, there is no way to rule out such an event," Spohr said. "This is an awful one-off event."
Officials are slowly ruling out the possibility that this was an act of terrorism---Lubitz had no known affiliations with any terror organizations---but the evidence that has been reviewed so far is no less horrifying for it.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 26, 2015 12 Comments
Someone needs to go check the cable connections at the White House, because the comms department clearly hasn't watched TV or read the internet in the past month. Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest executed what may be the most impressive whiff in recent memory. ABC News White House Correspondent Jon Karl asked a very pointed question about how Yemen's place in the war on terror has changed, given the fall of the Hadi government and subsequent withdrawal of US troops. Earnest's response? The White House does continue to believe that a successful counterterrorism strategy is one that will build up the capacity of the central government to have local fighters on the ground to have local fighters take the fight to extremists in their own country. Watch:

Posted by New Neo on March 15, 2015 3 Comments
United States officials report that ISIS has lost 25% of the territory it once held. Although it would be good if that were true---and perhaps it is---the announcement sounded a bit hesitant:
...a U.S. assessment...determined that Kurdish fighters are responsible for the majority of the territory retaken from ISIS in northern Iraq. “We assess ISIL’s front lines have been pushed back in northern and central Iraq,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said at a Pentagon briefing today, referring to the militant group also known as ISIS. “ISIL no longer has complete freedom of movement in roughly 25 percent of populated areas of Iraqi territory where they once operated freely.”... Warren said the term "freedom of movement" equates to losing territory “if they don’t have freedom of movement they don’t control it.”... But he cautioned that the assessment was “not an exact science,” pointing to what he described as the “fluid battleground” inside Iraq.
Note the emphasis on Kurdish fighters. As for Iranians, Warren denies that the US is working with them, although he admits there's an "alignment of some interest between ourselves and Iran" in fighting ISIS. Note, also, how Warren uses the administration-approved term "ISIL" in referring to the group rather than the more generally used "ISIS."
Accessibility by WAH