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Terrorism arrests ramp up in Europe in wake of Paris attacks http://trib.al/lEM3fKA
With European nations on heightened alert after last week’s Paris attacks, police forces across the continent have made new arrests in crackdowns on Islamist extremism and the flight of combatants to battlegrounds in the Middle East.
- Paris: 12 arrested on suspicion of helping the gunmen behind last week’s attacks
- Belgium: 13 suspects detained during raids against an Islamist group Belgian authorities fear had planned to attack police; two killed and one wounded in a Thursday raid in the eastern town of Verviers
- France: two detained in connection with the Belgian arrests
- Germany: two arrested after raids on 12 homes and a mosque in a crackdown on alleged Salafist radicals
- Austria: one detained on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization, planning to travel to Syria and researching how to build bombs
Apart from the dozen arrests in Paris, none of the cases have been connected to the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Paris grocery store last week. The head of European Union police agency Europol, however, points to a large number of radicalized Muslim extremists across Europe, and says their lack of command structure and growing sophistication make it “extremely difficult” for law enforcement agencies to foil every terrorist attack.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/europe-terrorism/article22484756/?click=sf_globe
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The Jihadist in Our Family
Video Feature: Malaysian Muslims Travel to Syria to Fight Assad
Why would a teacher from Malaysia leave his family behind to wage jihad in Syria? http://nyti.ms/17JbdgA
Click on this link for the video:
KUALA KETIL, Malaysia — A year ago, Mohd Lotfi Ariffin bid his family goodbye and headed for Syria, where he intended to fulfill what he saw as his religious duty fighting President Bashar al-Assad. He left behind his wife, their six children and his job as a religious school teacher here to fight with his fellow Sunnis more than 4,000 miles away.
Mr. Lotfi, 46, was one of a few dozen Malaysians who officials in this moderate Muslim majority country say have traveled to Syria to join militant rebel groups, including the Islamic State, the Nusra Front and Ajnad al-Sham. Security experts estimate that there are more than 18,000 foreign fighters involved in the conflict.
Some Malaysians, like Mr. Lotfi, document their journey on social media — posting photographs and videos from Syria, some lighthearted travelogues and other posts depicting the gruesomeness of the war there.
Mr. Lotfi’s Facebook fan pages, since taken down, included many such posts, and they received hundreds and sometimes thousands of “likes.”
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The Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant (ISIL)
Malaysia and the Islamic State (IS)
The Terrorist Attack on Charlie Hebdo, and developments..
Australia and Terrorism, with special reference to the Islamic State (ISIS)
South Thailand: Muslim Insurgency
You can expect more bombs to go off in South Thailand!
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Jump in terrorism in recent times: Top 10 notorious terrorist groups to know about
Jump in terrorism in recent times: Top 10 notorious terrorist groups to know about http://str.sg/Z97
1. Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS)
Founded by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) holds large swathes of Iraq and Syria under its control. It is also known as the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant (ISIL), Islamic State (IS), or Daesh, which is seen as derogatory.
A few terrorist organisations have declared that their ultimate aim was to establish an Islamic “caliphate”, but ISIS has made it a reality. They have committed widespread atrocities and instituted a brutal interpretation of Islamic law in areas they hold, which includes dozens of towns spread over Iraq and Syria.
2. Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda was formed in 1988 by Osama bin Laden, who was killed in 2011 in an operation by US Navy Seals. The group shot to infamy after the 2001 September 11 attacks, but it has been eclipsed in the past year by the Islamic State.
Since the death of Osama, the network has been led by Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri.
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ISIS was itself part of the network, until it was formally ejected from Al-Qaeda early last year for being too brutal.
3. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
Formed in 2006 by the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi wings of al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is seen as one of the most dangerous offshoots of al-Qaeda.
Both brothers in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris on Jan 7 were trained by the group, also known as the al-Qaeda in Yemen.
4. Taleban
The Afghan Taleban was founded in 1994 under the leadership of Mullah Mohammed Omar, who remains its commander and spiritual leader. The organisation’s main goal is to form an Islamic state in Afghanistan. It ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 during which it imposed strict syariah law.
5. Pakistan Taleban
Last December, the Pakistani Taleban, also called Tehreek-e-Taleban Pakistan (TTP), stormed the Army Public School in Pakistan’s north-western city of Peshawar on a weekday, slaughtering 148 people – including 132 children – in the country’s deadliest terror attack.
They are also behind the shooting of Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai.
6. Al-Nusra Front
The Al-Nusra Front or The Front for the Defence of the Syrian People is sometimes known as al-Qaeda in Syria.
It announced its existence with a video posted online in 2012, and aims to replace the regime of President Bashar al-Assad with an Islamic state.
7. Boko Haram
Boko Haram aims to impose a hardline form of Islamic law in Nigeria.
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In January 2015, they began their deadliest massacre in Baga, a town in the north-east of Nigeria and as many as 2,000 have been killed, according to Amnesty International.
Last year, they kidnapped hundreds of students, including more than 200 schoolgirls who remain missing. The group has reportedly used women and young girls as human bombs in attacks.
Boko Haram controls about 20,000 square miles of territory in north-east Nigeria, The Telegraph reports in January.
8. Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and splinter groups
Closer to home, the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is Al-Qaeda’s branch in South-east Asia, and is responsible for the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people.
It is based in Indonesia, and was formed in the early 1990s with the aim of establishing a caliphate in the region.
9. Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf, a criminal gang that operates in Sulu, is responsible for frequent kidnappings for ransom, along Sabah’s coast and adjacent waters.
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The group has long had links with al-Qaeda and recently pledged allegiance to ISIS.
10. Lashkar-e-Taiba
Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people, including one Singaporean.
Since the attack, it has used another organisation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) as a front organisation, reports say. The JuD claims it is a humanitarian charity, and continues to operate openly in Pakistan.
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weehingthong 