Homeland Security Network Blog

  All Africa Somalia: US Targets Smugglers Supplying Islamic State In Somalia By Jeff Seldin Washington — The United States is trying to curb the flow of weapons to the Islamic State terror group's affiliate in Somalia, taking aim at a smuggling operation that is also helping to arm its al-Qaida-linked rival, al-Shabab, with weapons from Iran. The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday announced sanctions against eight individuals and one company all involved in the yearslong effort to smuggle millions of dollars of weapons between Yemen and Somalia. Among those targeted are Abdirahman Fahiye, believed to lead IS-Somalia's day-to-day operations, Mohamed Ahmed Qahiye, who heads IS-Somalia's intelligence wing, and Isse Mohamoud Yusuf, a former pirate who continues to run weapons on behalf of IS. The sanctions "take direct aim at the networks funding and supplying both ISIS-Somalia and al-Shabab," Brian Nelson, the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement,...

The Jerusalem Post WATCH: Terrorist Kills Israeli 50-Year-Old, Injures Three In Saturday Terror Attack The terrorist, Muhammad al-Jabari, belonged to a terror group claiming to be affiliated with Hamas's al-Qassam Brigades. By ANNA AHRONHEIM, JERUSALEM POST STAFF IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi on Sunday toured the scene of the deadly terrorist attack that took place in Kiryat Arba late Saturday night and ordered forces to increase security in the area. Ronen Hanania, a 50-year-old resident of the Jewish community, was shot dead by the Palestinian terrorist outside a convenience store on Saturday vening. Kohavi was presented with additional steps to increase security in the area, including the deployment of additional troops and the blocking of roads in the area of Hebron. The Chief of Staff visited after Israeli troops mapped the terrorist’s home ahead of its possible demolition. The terrorist behind the attack The terrorist, identified as Hebron resident...

    National Defense JUST IN: Report Warns U.S. Needs Space-based Weapons to Defend JADC2By Meredith Roaten The Space Force needs to deter adversaries from attacking space infrastructure that is critical for data collection and communications, according to a new report from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Satellites and space-based sensors will be a linchpin for joint all-domain command and control — the Pentagon effort to more quickly and effectively collect and transmit data to warfighters anywhere it's needed. This effort starts with the transport layer of satellites in low-earth orbit that the Space Development Agency will start launching in December, said Tim Ryan, a senior fellow at the institute and author of “The Indispensable Domain: The Critical Role of Space in JADC2.” Released last week, Ryan’s research found that there is currently no back up for the transport layer satellites, he said. While the satellites in space will be...

  Fox News ISIS Resurfacing In Iraq As Country Looks To Hit Back At Terror Organization 'Our eyes will stay focused on the terrorism,' one Iraqi leader says By Ali Kamal BAGHDAD, Iraq -The Islamic State caliphate, which held large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, was defeated in 2018, yet analysts are seeing signs, including a growing number of attacks in northern and western Iraq, of a resurgence, a cause for concern that needs to be watched closely. "The Islamic State has begun to regain its activity in an attempt to gather what remains of its members," Fadil Abu Ragheef, an Iraq-based expert on terrorist groups, told Fox News Digital. He said that while the organization had lost the main centers of power it held under the first generation of its leadership, it continues to pose a danger in the areas where it still has strength, the northern cities...

  The Washington Post ISIS Fighters Terrorize Mozambique, Threaten Gas Supply Amid Ukraine War By Sudarsan Raghavan PEMBA, Mozambique — The boy’s scars streak under his ears and circle his neck, dark razor marks left by the Islamic State militants who overran his village. The fighters tried to recruit him. When he refused, the torture began. He was 13. But the boy’s deepest trauma surfaces when he talks about what happened to his uncle. His eyes dim and his voice gets low, almost disappearing in the breeze. “They beheaded my uncle that day, along with others,” recalled R.A., who is now 16 and living in a refugee camp. “He was begging for help, but I could do nothing. I was too scared. I could hear the machete striking him. I could hear his screams.” In northern Mozambique, one of the Islamic State’s newest branches is fueling a brutal insurgency that has...

  The Daily Skeptic by Noah Carl During the last two weeks, there’s been a lot of talk about nuclear weapons in Ukraine: specifically, that the Russians might use them. In an interview with NPR, the political scientist Matthew Bunn said “his best estimate” of the chance Russia uses a nuclear weapon is 10 to 20 percent. And in a widely discussed article, the physicist and ‘existential risk expert’ Max Tegmark gave the chance as 30%. In a speech on October 6th, Biden referred to the “prospect of Armageddon” and claimed Putin is “not joking” when he talks about using nuclear weapons – comments the New York Times described as “highly unusual for any American president”. And in an article published four days later, the former CIA director Leon Panetta claimed, “Some intelligence analysts now believe that the probability of the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine has risen from...

  The Jerusalem Post Security Forces Arrest Alleged Terrorists; East Jerusalem Clashes Rage On IDF enter Nablus, Karawat Bani Hassan, arrested wanted men; clashes break out between security forces and rioters in east Jerusalem. By JERUSALEM POST STAFF IDF soldiers entered Nablus on Sunday evening to arrest Hamza al-Azzi, who was wanted under suspicion of taking part in terrorist activity. At the same time, IDF soldiers and Border Police officers worked together in the village of Karawat Bani Hassan to arrest another wanted person allegedly connected to terrorist activity, as well as to confiscate terrorist funds. Both of the people arrested were transferred for further investigation by security forces. East Jerusalem clashes rage on This was just as there were additional reports of violent clashes between security forces and rioters in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported four people injured so far as a...

The Times Of Israel Hezbollah Terror Chief Welcomes Border Deal, Claims ‘Resistance’ Prodded Israel Hassan Nasrallah drops threats against Israel’s offshore drilling, says group’s drones achieved goal of deterrence By TOI staff The leader of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah on Tuesday cautiously welcomed the agreement between Israel and Lebanon to settle a maritime border dispute, claiming his group’s “resistance” helped prod Israel toward a deal. Hezbollah had repeatedly threatened Israel during the negotiations and launched several drones at Israel’s offshore gas installations. “Tonight we will not issue threats. Tonight there will only be joy and clapping,” Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address, adding that Hezbollah will “remain on alert” until the agreement is signed. “We don’t need to send out drones or carry out maneuvers because the goal was for the enemy to understand that the resistance is serious,” he said. The terror chief also said, “Israel is more...

  Insider Secretary of the Army warns officers to keep 'out of the culture wars' following the investigation of a Major who called out Tucker Carlson by Isabella Zavarise Army Secretary Christine Wormuth warned leaders about engaging in social media at a press conference on Monday.Her comments come after an investigation found Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe's Twitter activity was inappropriate.In 2021, Donahoe criticized a Tucker Carlson segment about efforts to accommodate women soldiers. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth warned general officers about engaging with social media, advising them to keep "out of the culture wars" at a press conference on Monday, according to Task & Purpose, a publication covering the United States Armed Forces. At the annual Association of the US Army meeting in Washington, DC, Wormuth said one of the most important things to herself and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville is that the Army remains apolitical,...

    The Washington Post U.S. Conducts Back-To-Back Raids In Syria, Killing Key ISIS Operatives By Karoun Demirjian The U.S. military announced on Thursday that it had conducted two raids in Syria within a day of each other, killing two key ISIS targets and their associates. According to U.S. Central Command, American forces conducted an airstrike in northern Syria on Thursday that targeted and killed Abu-Hashum al-Umawi, a deputy wali, or governor, in Syria, as well as “another senior ISIS official associated with him,” whom the military did not name. “This strike will degrade ISIS’s ability to destabilize the region and strike at our forces and partners,” Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, said in a statement announcing the raid and al-Umawi’s death. “Our forces remain in the region to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.” The operation against al-Umawi followed a Wednesday night helicopter raid in...

Rare video shows Russia moving equipment belonging to a nuclear weapons unit By Haley Ott CBS News A video shared online of a train in Russia carrying equipment belonging to a Russian military unit that handles nuclear weapons should be taken as a message to the West, a military analyst says. The video, which a U.S. official told CBS News could not be independently confirmed, shows an armored personnel carrier with a cannon attached, as well as another vehicle belonging to the unit, being transported on the train, the analyst said. "Such videos are never released by chance. I'm 100% sure that there was a purpose behind posting or releasing such a video," Konrad Muzyka, an aerospace and defense consultant focused on Russia and Belarus, told CBS News. Muzyka said that it was highly unusual to see a video of that particular Russian unit, the 12th main directorate of the Russian...

    The Jerusalem Post Islamic State Cell Plan To Attack Nazareth Muslim School Thwarted By Israeli Forces One of the targets of a thwarted ISIS cell was a a local Muslim high school, which according to the suspects, "operates in the way of 'the infidels.'" By MICHAEL STARR An Islamic State (ISIS) cell in Nazareth was broken up a few weeks ago when six suspects were arrested by the Shin Bet and Israel Police, the Shin Bet announced on Sunday morning. The ISIS cell had planned to attack a variety of targets. One of the main targets was a local Muslim high school, which according to the suspects, "operates in the way of 'the infidels.'" The Shin Bet investigation found plan outlines and research on terrorist targets such as bus stops, a nearby police station, and a park that was frequented by Jews. Israeli intelligence said that the group attempted...

  Kurdistan 24 SDF Confiscate Large ISIS Weapons Cache Near Tal Hamis “This cache is considered one of the largest caches to be seized by our forces after the battle of al-Baghouz." by Wladimir van Wilgenburg ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Wednesday said they confiscated one of the largest weapon caches near the town of Tal Hamis in the Hasakah province. “This cache is considered one of the largest caches to be seized by our forces after the battle of al-Baghouz and the second strong blow to be dealt to the ISIS cells since the battle of Al-Sina’a prison in al-Hasaka,” the SDF said in a statement. “Based on the initial investigations and intelligence information, the terrorist cell was planning to use these weapons in a potential attack on the al-Hol camp, the eastern countryside of the al-Hasaka, in parallel with the last attack on the al-Sina’a...

NBC CIA reveals model used to plan strike against Al-Qaeda leader Zawahiri The model is part of a newly refurbished museum at CIA headquarters that looks at the agency’s work over its 75-year history, including some of its failures and setbacks. By Dan De Luce The CIA on Saturday unveiled the model of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s safe house in Kabul used to plan the U.S. drone strike that killed the Al-Qaeda leader last month. The scale model of Zawahiri’s house was shown to reporters as part of a tour of a newly refurbished museum at the agency's headquarters. “This was the model that was used to brief President Biden on the Zawahiri mission,” said Janelle Neises, deputy director of the CIA museum. The model, about a foot long with precise detail, shows a miniature four-story white structure surrounded by a wall topped with concertina wire. Zawahiri was struck by a Hellfire missile...

  ISIS is threat to entire human race, Iraqi foreign minister says in exclusive interview CENTCOM's Gen. Kurilla warned the al-Hol camp was a 'breeding ground' for future ISIS members By Peter Aitken , David Trulio , Andrew Murray | Fox News UNITED NATIONS, New York – EXCLUSIVE: The Iraqi foreign minister urged Western countries to continue chasing the remnants of ISIS until the organization is completely eliminated because it presents a threat to humanity. "We must take it seriously because, when they started, they were also small. But once they became part of the problem, not only that they have got weapons in their hands, but this has to do with an ideology as ISIS has to do with their culture, with ideas," Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. "So we must fight ISIS...

  ABC News Failed Rocket Attack Targets US Military Base In Syria, CENTCOM Says Three 107mm rockets were launched, the U.S. Central Command said Sunday. By Luis Martinez There was a failed rocket attack on the U.S. military base known as Green Village in northeast Syria on Sunday, the U.S. Central Command said. Three 107mm rockets were launched but "failed to strike U.S. or Coalition forces or equipment," CENTCOM said in a statement. "A fourth rocket along with rocket tubes was found at the launch point, approximately 5 kilometers away," it added. This is the same base where a recent attack by Iran-backed militants resulted in retaliatory fire and airstrikes by Apache helicopter gunships on those militants. It's unclear who launched the attack Sunday. U.S. forces are investigating the incident. Full story https://abcnews.go.com/International/failed-rocket-attack-targets-us-military-base-syria/

Washington Examiner Republicans Slam Biden Over Plea Deal Negotiations With Al Qaeda 9/11 Plotters by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter Republicans are condemning the Biden administration’s decision to enter into plea deal negotiations with the al Qaeda mastermind and facilitators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks — which could take the death penalty off the table. Negotiations between prosecutors and defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay could reportedly result in guilty plea deals in which capital punishment would not be a possible punishment for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants. Top Republicans have criticized any such possibility. “Joe Biden’s allies are negotiating lesser sentences for 9/11 attackers,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted. “If they won’t punish terrorists, how can we trust them to lock up criminals in your neighborhood?” The House Armed Services Committee’s Republicans said: “The Biden admin is doing the...

  The Wall Street Journal 9/11 Ceremonies Honor Victims 21 Years After Terrorist Attacks President Biden spoke at the Pentagon; Vice President Harris attended a memorial event in New York By Ginger Adams Otis and Alex Leary Ceremonies commemorating the events of Sept. 11, 2001, were held in lower Manhattan, Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Sunday, the 21st anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. In New York, the families of victims gathered for a ceremony inside the 9/11 Memorial plaza in lower Manhattan. The annual reading of the victims’ names paused for a moment of silence at six points, marking when each aircraft crashed in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, and when the World Trade Center towers fell. Full story https://www.wsj.com/articles/9-11-ceremonies-honor-victims-21-years-after-terrorist-attacks-11662888601

  The Times Of Israel Officers Nab Armed Palestinian Planning ‘Large-Scale’ Terror Attack In Tel Aviv Nablus man, 19, illegally in Israel, captured near Jaffa clock tower with makeshift submachine gun, 2 pipe bombs filled with nails; had served time for bringing knife to Temple Mt. By Emanuel Fabian A Palestinian man carrying a makeshift firearm and two bombs was arrested by officers in Jaffa on Thursday, and later admitted he sought to commit a major terror attack in Tel Aviv, police said. According to police, the 19-year-old resident of Nablus, with no permit to enter Israel, aroused the suspicion of officers of the elite police reconnaissance unit Yasam near Jaffa’s clock tower, a major landmark and tourist attraction. He was detained and found to be carrying a ‘Carlo’ submachine gun and two pipe bombs filled with nails. Police said he had been taken for further questioning by the Shin Bet...

Reuters Canadian manhunt for suspect in deadly stabbings stretches into 4th day By Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer OTTAWA, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Canadian police searched into a fourth day on Wednesday for the remaining suspect in a stabbing spree in which 10 people were killed in and around an indigenous community, rattling a country unaccustomed to acts of mass violence. Myles Sanderson, 30, whose brother and accused accomplice was himself found killed a day after Sunday's attacks in Saskatchewan province, was briefly believed to have resurfaced on Tuesday in the vicinity of the rampage, about 320 km (200 miles) north of the provincial capital of Regina. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued an alert on Tuesday of a possible sighting of the surviving brother in the indigenous reserve of James Smith Cree Nation, urging residents to remain indoors and be vigilant. CBC News reported a heavy police presence on...