fbpx

Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

Australian ‘terror bomb package mailed from Turkey’ “No surprise”

by

Australian ‘terror bomb, from turkeyAn Australian man sent his unsuspecting brother to Sydney airport to catch an Etihad Airways flight carrying a homemade bomb disguised as a meat-mincer built at the direction of a senior Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) commander, police said on Aug. 4.

Detailing one of Australia’s “most sophisticated” militant plots, police said high-grade military explosives used to build the bomb were sent by air cargo from Turkey as part of a plot “inspired and directed” by ISIL, police Deputy Commissioner National Security Michael Phelan said.

The plot targeted an Etihad Airways flight on July 15 but the bomb never made it past airport security, he said.

“This is one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil,” Phelan said.
Police allege that one of the two men charged late on Aug. 3 had been introduced to ISIL by his brother, who they said was a senior member of the group in Syria.

Communication between the accused man and ISIL began around April, police said. Under the instruction of the unidentified ISIL commander, the men built a “fully functioning IED” [improvised explosive device].

One of the brothers was unaware that he was carrying a bomb, disguised as a commercial meat mincer, in his luggage, and tried to check it in at the airport, police said.

“We’ll be alleging that the person who was to carry the IED on the plane had no idea they were going to be carrying an IED,” Phelan said.

Such a device would work like a large grenade, exploding with enough force to blow a hole in an airplane, even if it went off in the cargo hold, said Professor Greg Barton, a security expert at Deakin University in Melbourne.

“I think the logic would be that you pack your explosives in and seal it up, and if someone does a quick physical inspection it just looks like what it is, a meat grinder, because it’s not electrical or electronic, it’s less likely to be suspicious.”

Police said there was “a little bit of conjecture” about what happened next, but it appeared one of the accused then left the airport, taking the luggage with him. The man’s brother boarded the plane and has not since returned to Australia.

“I want to make it quite clear – it never got near screening. I don’t want anyone to suggest that it … penetrated airport security layers … because it did not. It didn’t go anywhere near it,” Phelan said.

Etihad said in a statement on Aug. 4 it had been working closely with the Australian investigation.

August/04/2017

0

Turkey, US accuse each other of terror sponsorship in Syria

by

Turkey and the United States have been accusing each other of supporting various terrorist groups in Syria.

Brett H. McGurk, the US special envoy to the international coalition against the Daesh terrorist group, has suggested that Turkey facilitates al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria’s Idlib Province.

He said in a speech delivered at a Washington-based think tank on July 29 that Idlib has turned into a “safe zone for al-Qaeda terrorists on the Turkish border,” asking “why and how” a deputy to al-Qaeda’s leader had allegedly managed to travel to the Syrian province.

He said it might not be the best approach for some partners of the US “to send tens of thousands of weapons and turn their faces to the other side as foreign fighters enter this area,” according to reports.

The US, McGurk reportedly said, intended to work with Turkey to have the border closed to recruited militants.

Ankara has strongly denounced McGurk’s “provocative” remarks, accusing Washington of terror sponsorship in Syria by supporting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant group that has been fighting the central Turkish government since 1984.

“Our reaction to the statements of Brett McGurk, in which he associated Turkey with the presence of terrorist organizations in Idlib, was brought to Mr. McGurk’s attention at a high-level démarche, and his statements, which could be characterized as provocative, were protested,” Turkish media on Monday quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Huseyin Muftuoglu as saying.

Muftuoglu also said that the US had to end its support for the Kurdish Democratic Party, aka PYD.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be named, also told Hurriyet Daily News that Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Onal had urged the US envoy to “correct” his statements.

The official added that Onal warned that such remarks could harm mutual cooperation between Turkey and the US, which is seeking cooperation with Ankara for the post-Daesh period in Syria.

Syria has been gripped by militancy since March 2011, when a section of the opposition in the country took up arms against President Bashar al-Assad. A vast mix of foreign terrorists soon blended with the armed opposition, joining the fight against the Syrian government.

Source: presstv.com

-1

Iran security forces neutralize terror group

by

Iran security forces neutralize terror groupIran’s security forces have managed to neutralize a terrorist cell, Iranian news agency Tasnim told Panorama.am.

As the Iranian media reports, in an armed operation conducted in Chabahar City in the south-eastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan of Iran, the country’s intelligence forces managed to arrest five members of a terrorist cell and kill two others.

To note, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry released a statement on June 9, informing that 41 Wahhabi terrorists of Daesh (Islamic State) had been arrested due to the operations conducted in Iran’s Kermanshah, West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan Provinces, as well as in the capital city of Tehran.

0

10 dead, including 3 attackers 48 wounded after terror attack in London Bridge

by

London AttackA terrorist attack at two sites in central London has left at least ten people dead, including three attackers, London police have confirmed.

The attack took place late Saturday night when a white van veered off the road and mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge.

The drivers then got off the vehicle and began stabbing people with large knives in the Borough Market area of bars and restaurants.

“Armed response officers then responded very quickly and bravely and confronted the three male suspects who were shot and killed on Borough Market,” Mark Rowley, Britain’s top anti-terrorism officer, said following the attack.

“The suspects had been confronted and shot by police within eight minutes of the first call. The suspects were wearing what looked like explosive vests but these were later established to be hoaxes,” he added.

According to the commissioner of London’s Metropolitan police, at least 7 people were killed in the attack.

“It has now been confirmed sadly that seven members of the public have died,” Cressida Dick told reporters on Sunday.

She also said that the situation was under control, adding, “but large police cordon still in place.”

Dick went on to say that police patrols will be increased in London, including those conducted by armed officers.

According to London Ambulance Service, 48 people were taken to hospital for treatment and a number of other patients were treated for less serious injuries in the center of the city.

Among the wounded there are at least 6 foreign nationals.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed that two Australian citizens “have been directly impacted.”

Also, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that four French citizens were injured, one seriously.

Following the attack British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that “the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism.”

Later on Sunday, May called for a tougher stance at home against extremists, urging tougher controls on cyberspace to prevent use by terrorists.

She also said Britain’s main political parties suspended campaigning Sunday, but added that the campaigns will resume on Monday and that the general election will be held on Thursday as planned.

0

Nice Update: At Least 75 Dead as Truck Plows Into Crowd in Southern France, Driver Killed

by

nice terrorby Phil Helsel, Becky Bratu and Emmanuelle Saliba,

A truck plowed into pedestrians during Bastille Day celebrations in the popular French seaside city of Nice Thursday, leaving at least 75 people dead, officials said.

The deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes department where Nice is located, Eric Ciotti, told French broadcaster BFM-TV early Friday that 75 people were confirmed dead. Former Nice mayor Christian Estrosi said 77 were dead.

A spokesperson for France’s Interior Ministry said on Twitter: “The individual who was driving the truck was neutralized. Investigation will determine if he was acting alone.” Police urged residents to stay in their homes.

The truck struck the crowd at around 10:40 p.m. local time (4:40 p.m. ET) shortly after a fireworks display, officials and witnesses said.

Estrosi, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region that includes Nice, told French media that the driver also shot at people and was fatally shot by police. A senior U.S. military official told NBC News that guns and explosives were found in the truck.

“White truck literally racing through crowds of all ages. People either caught in path or forced to jump onto rocks over beach barrier,” witness Andrew Botros, an Edinburgh man who owns a holiday apartment in Nice, told NBC News in a Twitter message. “Some dead. Horrific,” Botros said.

A senior U.S. military source told NBC News that French authorities are reporting that the truck “purposefully” and “maliciously” struck the crowd.

0

French Citizen Arrested in ‘Advanced Stages’ of Planning Terror Attack

by

In the wake of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has announced the arrest of an individual in the “advanced stages” of a terror plot.

The arrest came after a police raid in Argenteuil, in the northern outskirts of Paris. The French national’s apprehension led authorities to conduct raids which they believe foiled the plot.

Cazeneuve said there were no links “at this stage” between this plot and the attacks in Paris and Brussels.

0

What goes up must come down Erdogan facing with biggest wave of terror

by

Erdogan in problemTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to curb what he calls “one of the biggest and bloodiest terrorist waves” that his country has ever seen.

Speaking in Istanbul two days after five people were killed in a bombing attack in the Turkish city, Erdogan vowed to overcome Kurdish fighters and Daesh Takfiri terrorists who he said posed an unprecedented threat to the country’s security.

“We will hit these terrorist organizations as hard as possible,” he said Monday.

The Turkish head of state added that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and other groups were in cahoots with the Daesh Takfiri group in their terrorist operations.

“Faced with the terrorists’ new strategies we will develop new modes of combat and quickly overcome them,” Erdogan said, promising to refrain from sacrificing democratic values.

He also accused Europe of “two-faced behavior” for allowing PKK supporters to camp outside a summit between the European Union and Turkey in the Belgian capital city of Brussels last week.

he PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey, which has an 18-25 percent Kurdish population.

However, the Ankara government considers the PKK a terrorist group and has waged a campaign of attacks against it, resulting in a three-decade conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people.

The Saturday deadly bombing in Istanbul was the sixth of its kind to rip through various Turkish cities over the past eight months.

0

Era of ignoring Saudi terror sponsorship over: Germany

by

bcfdc645-193a-4456-9159-4d634931de67

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel (Photo by AFP)

Germany says it will no more ‘look the other way’ as Saudi Arabia continues to nurture terrorism throughout the world.

“We must make it clear to the Saudis that the time of looking the other way is over,” German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday, referring to the Western policy of turning a blind eye on Saudi ties to extremist groups worldwide.

“From Saudi Arabia, Wahhabi mosques are financed throughout the world,” he said, adding that in Germany, many people “considered dangerous persons emerge from these communities.”

Thomas Oppermann, the chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, which is headed by Gabriel, also said, “We will prevent Saudi help in the building or financing of mosques in Germany, where Wahhabi ideas are to be disseminated.”

He asserted that Wahhabism provided the “complete ideology” of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group – which is causing death and destruction mainly in Iraq and Syria.

Takfirism, or the practice of accusing others of being “infidels,” is a characteristic of Wahhabism, the radical ideology dominating Saudi Arabia and freely preached by clerics in the Arab country.

Saudi Arabia also provides widely-reported support for Daesh, even as a recent opinion survey showed that an overwhelming majority of the country’s people oppose the terrorist group. The study, which was conducted by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in September, showed that 92 percent of Saudi people hated and rejected the group, and that it has “the worst reputation among the Saudi general public.”

The remarks by German officials come less than a week after the country’s BND foreign intelligence agency warned about a shift by Saudi Arabia to the “impulsive policy of intervention” in other countries, saying that Riyadh was ready to take military, political, and financial risks to ensure its influence in the region.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has, however, rejected the agency’s stance and called Riyadh “a key partner in regional conflict resolution.”

0

Iran: Terror cell linked to Daesh ISIS busted in western Iran

by

f5b2624c-3957-4dce-8207-33e60865bb84The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has busted a terror cell linked to the Takfiri Daesh terrorists in western Iran.

The spokesman for the IRGC in Kermanshah Province said on Tuesday that members linked to the terror group were arrested in a joint operation with forces of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.

Colonel Mohammad Kalantari, who was speaking to the semi-official Mizan news agency, would not elaborate on further details, including in which city or town the cell was active. The westernmost Iranian province of Kermanshah neighbors Iraq, where Daesh controls some parts far from the Iranian border in the west and north of the Arab country.

Kalantari said the arrested individuals “were militarily prepared and possessed guns and bandoleers.”

It was not clear whether the cell was plotting an attack inside Iran or it was just organizing militants for terror activities in Iraq.

IRGC’s chief commander in Kermanshah said on Tuesday that numerous terror cells working for Daesh have been busted in the province over the past two years. Brigadier General Bahman Reyhani said during a briefing with reporters that all the busted cells had been recruiting and organizing militants for Daesh “outside Iran.”

Iran has previously warned that it will intervene militarily inside Iraq if Daesh manages to reach the 40-kilometer buffer zone outside of the Iranian western borders.

Daesh has been suffering back-to-back defeats in areas under its control in Iraq with pro-government forces managing to liberate over the past few months two key towns of Tikrit and Baiji in the north and major positions in the desert province of Anbar in the west. The anti-Daesh drive in Syria has also gained a fresh momentum since the country began to enjoy Russia’s air support on September 30.

0

Turkey “State is the killer banner” Some 10,000 People Rally in Istanbul After Ankara Terror Attack

by

1028330021Turkish citizens took to the streets of Istanbul condemning twin blasts in Ankara.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Almost 10,000 Turkish citizens took to the streets of Istanbul on Saturday condemning twin blasts in Ankara, which claimed the lives of at least 86 peace protesters, local media reported.
The protesters patrolled by numerous police officers marched down Istanbul’s central street, according to the Turkish IMC television channel.
Some people carried banners reading “the state is a killer” and “we know the killers”, blaming the Turkish government for the deadly attack.
Rallies were also carried out in other Turkish cities, including Batman and Diyarbakir, where the police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.

0