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EU Airstrike on Somali Pirates
Echoes US Drone Strategy
Chistian Science Monitor
This morning's airstrike on Somali pirates by a European Union military helicopter brings the EU more in line with US military methods in the country, but key differences in priorities remain. The raid, launched from one of nine EU Naval Force warships patrolling off the Somali coast, wrecked five pirate attack boats and destroyed fuel supplies and a weapons cache, officials and witnesses said. It follows a strengthening of the EU force’s mandate, approved two months ago, that now allows airstrikes on known pirate “logistics” on the ground, not just at sea. Military commanders with the EU Naval Force, headquartered in Britain, took pains today to stress that the mission was conducted entirely from the air. “At no point did EU Naval Force ‘boots’ go ashore,” the force's press office said in a statement.
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English Language al-Qaeda
Training Manual Revealed
The London Telegraph
An English language guide for Westerners seeking to join al-Qaeda has been published, with recommendations on how to cope with the hardships and dangers of life as a jihadist. The guide includes rules such as keeping clean, not using mobile phones and thinking of virgins in paradise when bomber-drones are overhead. Described as a “must-read” source, it has emerged on the internet shortly after it was leaked that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular had been penetrated by a British spy who managed to smuggle out the latest version of their “underpants bomb”. The guide was written by Samir Khan, an American who served as the top propagandist for the Yemen-based branch of the terrorist movement, which is considered the most dangerous to the West. He was killed by a drone attack in September.
House Report: Justice Dept.
Should Cut Ties with CAIR
The Daily Caller
The Department of Justice is being encouraged to follow in the footsteps of the FBI in cutting off all non-investigative ties to the country’s largest Muslim advocacy organization, the Council on American Islamic Relations. The Fiscal Year 2013 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill, which passed the House on Wednesday, contains in its Committee Report (a separate public document that spells out how agencies are expected to spend the money allocated to them) a recommendation that Atty. Gen. Eric Holder follow in the FBI’s footsteps and sever ties with CAIR. In 2009, the FBI ended its relationship with CAIR and its affiliates across the country due to the conviction of those involved in the Holy Land Foundation terrorist funding trial, in which CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator.
Video: Feinstein Says Bomb
Plot Leak Must Be Prosecuted
FOX News
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, said Sunday that the press leak on the covert operation to disrupt an Al Qaeda affiliate's sophisticated bomb plot "has to be prosecuted," calling the leak "serious" and harmful to the government's "sources and methods." The story about the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula bomb plot was first reported by the Associated Press. As has been previously reported, Feinstein said the government asked that the story be held -- the AP held the story until Monday. But the publication, the senator said, still "jeopardizes" the mission and the ability of the United States to work with other countries. To boot, she said it gave "a tip-off" to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be more careful about who they use as couriers and bombers.
Russia Foils Terror Plot on Winter Olympics
ABC News (AU)
Russian security agencies say they have foiled a plot by Islamic militants to attack the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the special services had confiscated arms, ammunition and explosives -- including surface-to-air missiles and a flamethrower -- in the breakaway Abkhazia region of Georgia. "Russia's FSB was able to establish that the fighters planned to move the weapons to Sochi from 2012 to 2014 and use them to carry out terrorist acts before and during the Olympic Games," the NAC said in a statement. NAC said the seized cache included Igla and Strela portable surface-to-air missiles, two anti-tank guided missiles and 36 mortar bombs as well as a flame thrower, grenade launchers, explosive devices, and anti-tank and anti-personnel mines.
Algerian Islamists: Widespread Fraud in Elections
AP/Yahoo! News
An alliance of Islamist parties expecting a strong showing in Algeria's elections accused authorities Friday of widespread fraud as initial figures pointed to them finishing third, with a spokesman suggesting unrest could ensue. The people of this oil-rich North African nation voted for a new parliament Thursday, in an election authorities billed as a response to the pro-democracy movements sweeping the Arab region. Results are released Friday. Abderrazzak Mukri, a campaign manager for the alliance, said that the results the parties are seeing from the Interior Ministry differ dramatically from those gathered by the alliance's observers saying, "there is a process of fraud on a centralized level to change the results that is putting the country in danger...we are not responsible for what could happen."
At Least 50 Dead as Blasts Rock Damascus
AP/FOX News
Syria's health minister says 50 people have been killed in two strong explosions that ripped through the Syrian capital. That makes Thursday morning's bombings the deadliest attack on the capital since the country's uprising began 14 months ago. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The explosions heavily damaged a military intelligence building and left blood and human remains in the streets. The blasts happened at about 7:50am when employees are usually arriving at work. Medical workers were collecting human remains from the streets after the explosions, and there were smoldering cars and pickup trucks in the area. The outer wall of a military intelligence building collapsed, although the structure inside appeared intact. The Syrian government blamed "terrorists."
Would-Be Al Qaeda Bomber Was CIA Informant
FOX News
The would-be bomber in the airline plot was actually working as a US intelligence informant, but the CIA had Al Qaeda fooled from the start. FOX News has learned that a government source familiar with intelligence confirmed that an international sting operation infiltrated the Al Qaeda cell. The informant was apparently one and the same as the bomber got the device out. Last month, US intelligence learned that Al Qaeda's Yemen branch hoped to launch a spectacular attack using a new, nearly undetectable bomb aboard an airliner bound for America, officials say. But the man the terrorists were counting on to carry out the attack was actually working for the CIA and Saudi intelligence, US and Yemeni officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The dramatic sting operation thwarted the attack before it had a chance to succeed.
Hezbollah Building New Military Bases in Lebanon
The Daily Star
Recently uploaded satellite images to the online Google Earth portal reveal what appears to be a Hezbollah military training ground constructed since 2006 in remote hills in the eastern Bekaa Valley along the border with Syria. The facility near Janta includes a suspected driver training course, a 100-meter firing range and a possible urban terrain assault course, according to imagery analysts and European intelligence officials who first noticed the unusual hillside markings in 2008. Google Earth images also reveal considerable -- and surprisingly overt -- construction activity in sealed-off Hezbollah security pockets in southern Lebanon. The scale of the activity hints at the enormous efforts Hezbollah has undertaken since the 2006 war to prepare itself for the possibility of another conflict with Israel.
CIA Uncovers Al Qaeda Bomb Plot
Using 'Undetectable' Materials
FOX News
A team of FBI experts are examining a sophisticated new Al Qaeda bomb to figure out whether it could have slipped past airport security and taken down a commercial airplane, US officials said. The bomb was confiscated after the CIA unraveled a terror plot by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to destroy a US-bound airliner using an underwear bomb around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Usama bin Laden. The plot involved an upgrade of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jetliner over Detroit on Christmas 2009. This new bomb was also designed to be used in a passenger's underwear, but this time Al Qaeda developed a more refined detonation system. A second threat stream, that involved surgically-implanted body bombs, was being monitored out of the Middle East.
USS Cole Bombing Suspect Killed in Air Raid
Sky News
An al Qaeda leader wanted in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole has been killed in an air raid in Yemen, a tribal chief has said. The United States has confirmed that Fahd al Quso died in the attack on Sunday, verifying earlier reports by local officials. Following his death al Qaeda militants attacked an army base in the southern Abyan province, killing 20 soldiers and capturing 25, according to the Yemeni military. "Fahd al Quso, who was wanted by the United States for the attack against the USS Cole, was killed tonight (Sunday) in an American raid on the Rafadh region," tribal chief Abdel Magid bin Farid al Awlaki said. Al Qaeda, which has strongholds in southern and eastern Yemen, confirmed Quso's death in a text message sent to the media.
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