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Islamic Terrorism in the West ( Mega thread)

Not strictly an Islamic problem, and not conventional terrorism, but:

https://www.thestar.com/news/fgm/2017/07/14/canadian-girls-are-being-taken-abroad-to-undergo-female-genital-mutilation-documents-reveal.html

Canadian girls are being taken abroad to undergo female genital mutilation, documents reveal

Canada has done little to understand the scope of the problem and is lagging far behind other developed countries in their efforts to prevent “vacation cutting,” experts say.

By Jayme PoissonNews reporter

Fri., July 14, 2017

Thousands of Canadian girls are at risk of female genital mutilation, government officials believe. And some are being taken overseas to have the dangerous procedure done - an illegal act known as “vacation cutting.”

Officials from the federal government’s Global Affairs Ministry warn that, as with forced marriage, the “one chance rule” applies to these cases, meaning a professional might get only one opportunity to speak to a potential victim and save her, according to documents obtained by the Star.

And yet Canada has done little to understand the scope of the problem and is lagging far behind other developed countries in efforts to prevent it, experts say.

“Based on the limited information available, it is possible that a few thousand Canadian girls are at risk, some of whom will be taken overseas for the procedure,” wrote Elaine Cukeric of the federal government’s Vulnerable Children’s Unit in a June 2015 email to a Canadian consular official in Nairobi, Kenya. At the time, the unit - tasked with dealing with issues related to Canadian children abroad - was reaching out to consulates in Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan where cutting is prevalent and asking for their experience dealing with the practice so that “we might develop an effective strategy.”

In a statement to the Star, a Global Affairs spokesperson said the federal government “recognizes that female genital mutilation/cutting is one of the most severe violations of the human rights of women and girls” and when made aware of a case they provide “appropriate consular services.” The spokesperson could not say how many cases her ministry has dealt with in recent years because they “do not have a specific category to track cases of (FGM)” and, further, are “not aware of any updated statistics on the issue of Canadian girls at risk.”

Female genital mutilation (FGM) - also known as female genital cutting or female circumcision - is a procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to external female organs. It can be inflicted on girls as young as 1 and varies in severity from partial removal of the clitoris, to excising the clitoris and labia and stitching up the walls of the vulva to leave only a tiny opening - known as infibulation.

FGM has no health benefits for girls and women. It can cause severe bleeding, problems with urination and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths, according to the World Health Organization. It can also deny women sexual pleasure. FGM affects more than 200 million women worldwide, according to UNICEF. It is a crime in Canada, as is sending a child elsewhere to have the procedure done.

What is unknown - beyond anecdotal evidence - is whether FGM is happening within Canadian borders. In the U.S., a doctor in Michigan was recently charged with carrying out the practice on up to 100 young girls, according to federal prosecutors, who say that no Canadian victims have been identified yet. There have also been cases in the U.K., France and Australia.

Cukeric’s email correspondence, and dozens of additional emails sent by government employees over the past three years and released to the Star through an access to information request, reference multiple cases the government is aware of in which Canadian girls have undergone or are alleged to have undergone cutting abroad.

Government officials reference summaries of specific cases they are aware of, which are housed in internal servers. Many of the cases arose because “a relative (aunt/cousin) was the complainant,” said a Nairobi official. A different consular official in Nairobi wrote that their office had seen “several cases, not all of them successful.” Other officials mention known cases in Somalia and Pakistan - where it is “understood they have a lot of experience dealing with” FGM cases.

In one email chain from September 2015, officials reference a case in which a “little girl” was “alleged to be removed from Canada for the purposes of female circumcision.” (The child’s location in Canada and the country she was allegedly taken to have both been redacted to protect her privacy.)

Local police and children’s services “were unable to prevent the girl from leaving,” said one email.

FGM is practised in 29 countries, mainly in Africa, the Middle East, India and other parts of Asia. It is seen by some as a rite of passage into womanhood or a condition of marriage. Though it is not considered an Islamic practice - it predates the religion - for some, it is a religious ritual or requirement and there is tremendous societal pressure placed on families to have it done.

In another document from June 2015 summarizing an hour-long phone call with a senior consular officer in Nairobi, the official describes the “very delicate cases” and focuses on Somalia as an example.

The official explains that many Somali families relocated to Canada during the civil war in the 1990s, and some grew “concerned about the development of Canadian values.” In one example, a family might tell their children they are going on vacation to Australia, but instead, according to the documents, they travel to a small, remote village in Somalia for the girls to be cut. The official adds that the Canadian government has found out about these cases because “having grown up in Canada, the girls know their rights” and use social media to tell a friend, who in turn contacts Canadian authorities.

The consular official then listed a series of challenges associated with intervening, including the “right of the father to prohibit movement” and the fact that locally engaged staff overseas “may be less concerned with FGM and therefore less likely to act.”

It is also very difficult for victims of FGM to speak out against their families, the official said, adding that telling the embassy their story means they might never see their parents or siblings again. “It becomes the most difficult decision of their young lives,” she said.

In another summary of a discussion about FGM with a Toronto-based expert whose identity has been censored, the expert tells the Vulnerable Children’s Unit that Global Affairs had previously received accounts of “some girls who have been severely beaten and/or sexually abused by family members prior to (FGM), sometimes due to the girl’s attempt to contact authorities for assistance.”

At the same time, officials acknowledge they likely aren’t seeing the majority of cases.

“I think (FGM) is highly under-reported at the consular level, as most victims are young … and often not in a position to help themselves,” said yet another consular official in Nairobi in an email sent in March of this year. She added that for older girls, “it is often done in conjunction with a forced marriage, so the two issues are closely linked and might be reported as (forced marriage) instead of (FGM).”

In 1997, the Criminal Code was amended to include female genital mutilation as a form of aggravated assault. It’s not just the person performing the mutilation who could face justice. Provisions in the code also allow for others to be charged, for example, if a parent actively participates in the offence by holding a child’s hands or requests that someone perform it. And the amendments make it illegal to remove a child from Canada for the purpose of female genital mutilation.

There has never been a criminal conviction for female genital mutilation in Canada.

In its statement to the Star, Global Affairs say efforts to prevent FGM “remain collaborative,” and it also sent statements on behalf of the RCMP; the Department of Justice; Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; and Status of Women Canada. They reference various steps taken by government agencies. For example, the RCMP is currently in the midst of developing an internal policy to deal with FGM. The Justice Department has given nearly $350,000 in funding to an organization in Quebec, RAFIQ, to develop “tools on the physical and psychological consequences of FGM.”

“The purpose of this project is to try to empower other women to denounce this kind of practice and to help young women to understand why it is not a good practice,” said Maria Montejo, chair of the board of RAFIQ.

The statement from Global Affairs also says that, “going forward, we will do more work with local women’s organizations.”

While there is some progress being made, Canada’s efforts fall short of what other countries are actively doing, said Corinne Packer, a senior researcher at the University of Ottawa’s school of public health. Packer co-authored a 2015 report on Canada’s response to FGM for the Canadian Medical Association Journal and reviewed the government responses provided to the Star.

“We’re behind the ball. We’re putting our head in the ground like an ostrich,” she said, adding that by the time a girl is overseas, it’s often too late. More work needs to done on prevention in Canada, Packer said.

Earlier this summer, U.S. Homeland Security launched a pilot program to help prevent vacation cutting. The program is based on an initiative at London’s Heathrow airport, where security agents are trained to identify girls who are risk.

Canada’s Justice Department, in a 2014 internal memo also obtained by the Star through an access to information request, acknowledges that the U.K. has “recently initiated a more proactive approach to FGM with a view to increased prosecutions.”

Kowser Omer-Hashi, a former Somali refugee now living in Toronto, was subjected to FGM. She is a former midwife who has been campaigning against the practice for more than two decades.

“We have a prime minister who declared himself a feminist and has a daughter the same age as children who could be losing their lives at this moment,” Omer-Hashi said. “If that doesn’t touch his heart to do something about FGM, I think there is no hope.”

In the internal emails obtained by the Star, government officials speaking amongst themselves suggest, and at times admit, that the Canadian response has not been adequate.

In the 2015 email chain discussing the case in which the “little girl” was alleged to have been removed from Canada for the purpose of FGM and neither local police nor children’s services believed they were able to intervene, one official from Global Affairs asks for an update on how the case unfolded.

“I believe we never heard back from local partners (CAS and others),” said one response.

But in the same chain, another official said that at a recent meeting about FGM, the Department of Justice and the RCMP said local authorities “had jurisdiction to do more to prevent removal” under Canada’s laws.

In yet another email in the chain, which is largely censored, Sean Blane, deputy director of the Consular Operations Bureau, said: “I think this speaks to our need for policy of process.”

Blane said at another point in the thread, “I honestly think if we’re going to do any work on FGM it could be on prevention while in Canada.”

With files from Michele Henry

Jayme Poisson can be reached at jpoisson@thestar.ca  or 416-814-2725.
 
Merkel is a Quisling and has, in my opinion, doomed Europe with her actions.  If they had half a brain and some balls, they'd round these fuckers up and fly them back as cargo.
 
There is an inevitable and bloody conflict coming, when enough people say "enough" and fight back.

And it won't be the first time that Europe purged itself of jihadi invaders and occupiers.

Meanwhile, few countries remember their history better than the majority, and protect their borders.
 
When that day comes, I hope they're able to take their countries back.  Merkel should reflect on what happened to Benito when the masses had enough of his shit and saw the light.
 
Loachman said:
by David French July 14, 2017 5:19 PM
A compelling piece from a member of the foreign-policy elite
David French is a "member of the foreign-policy elite"? 

a)  :stars:

b)  :rofl:        Your choice.

Clearly we're working with different definitions.
 
Journeyman said:
David French is a "member of the foreign-policy elite"? 

a)  :stars:

b)  :rofl:        Your choice.

Clearly we're working with different definitions.

I suggest you read the actual article.  The member of the foreign policy elite that David French refers to is Cheryl Bernard.  specifically him making reference to an article she wrote.
 
Sorry, I got side-tracked by "by David French July 14, 2017 5:19 PM

A compelling piece from a member of the foreign-policy elite .... " which suggests that this right-wing shill was somehow an elite anything.



But if people are actually reading, I recommend this from Business Insider:
Is terrorism getting worse?
Frederic Lemieux, PhD
LINK

Despite the intensity of media coverage and public perception, terrorism is actually not more frequent today than a few decades ago. For instance, terrorist attacks were far more common during the Cold War period than during the post-9/11 era. Some experts believe terrorism peaked during the 1970s.
Despite the recent attacks, the U.K. and Western Europe experienced relatively low terrorist activity during the period 2000 to 2016 compared with the period 1970 to 1995.

In the United States, terrorism attacks were in sharp decline from 1970 to 2011, decreasing from approximately 475 incidents a year to fewer than 20.

Worldwide, terrorism is highly concentrated in a handful of countries.
Terrorist attacks in 2014 were mainly concentrated in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria. These countries saw 78 percent of the deaths and 57 percent of all attacks in the world. Since 2000, only 3 percent of deaths caused by terrorist attacks took place in Western countries, including Australia, Canada, members of the European Union and the United States.

In the U.S., the number of deaths represents 2.2 percent of the worldwide terrorist death toll. The violence committed in Western countries by organized terrorist groups such as al-Qaida or IS represents approximately 30 percent, while so-called “lone wolfs” account for 70 percent of the attacks.

All in all, terrorism activity in Western countries is not worse than before the 9/11 era. The opposite is true.




13020131826104.jpg
 
A million plus Russians, with about 75% being military-age single males, did not flood into Europe, Scandinavia, and the UK during the Cold War, sucking up resources, burning cars, harassing people, and driving up rape rates, however.

Conventional terrorism is rightly a concern, which should not be casually dismissed, but it is the huge influx of society-altering foreigners who have no respect for their host culture that seems to be the biggest worry for people.
 
IMAO mass refugees /migrants can be weaponized  and cause terror if and when that mass flux of migrants are drastically increasing the rate of violent and sexual crimes.

 
Journeyman said:
Sorry, I got side-tracked by "by David French July 14, 2017 5:19 PM

A compelling piece from a member of the foreign-policy elite .... " which suggests that this right-wing shill was somehow an elite anything.



But if people are actually reading, I recommend this from Business Insider:





13020131826104.jpg

Good article.  I'm curious about what they said about PETA that caused the correction  [:D
 
While this guy evidently didn't have any sort of realistic plan to actually carry out his stated goal, the possibility of mega attacks and truly grotesque casualty figures is always in the background. You can only wonder how many people are out there thinking of how to do attacks with  casualties in the thousands:

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/2017/07/25/bay-area-isis-supporter-wanted-to-redefine-terror-kill-10000/

Bay Area ISIS Supporter Wanted to 'Redefine Terror,' Kill 10,000
BY PATRICK POOLE JULY 25, 2017

A 22-year-old  man from Oakland, California, man was indicted Friday on charges related to material support for ISIS.

His case represents the 130th ISIS-related arrest in the U.S. since March 2014.

According to the Justice Department, Amer Sinan Alhaggagi opened up social media accounts on behalf of ISIS and was willing to commit a suicide bombing.

Even more disturbing, according to the indictment, Alhaggagi said he wanted to "redefine terror" and kill 10,000 people here in a domestic terror attack.

The indictment also states that Alhaggagi discussed selling poison drugs and attacking a gay club in San Francisco.

"The whole Bay Area is going to be up in flames," he reportedly said.

He had also spent time in Yemen, and had planned to flee the country through Mexico following his attacks.

Alhaggagi was arrested in November 2016 and held on unrelated charges until last week's indictment.

Regarding the case, the Justice Department announced:

According to the indictment, Alhaggagi, 22, of Oakland, California, is alleged to have knowingly attempted to provide services and personnel to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), between July and November of 2016, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B. ISIS is a designated foreign terrorist organization. The indictment alleges that the services Alhaggagi attempted to provide included opening social media accounts for the use, benefit and promotion of ISIS, and that the personnel he provided was himself.
But the indictment reveals more stunning details about Alhaggagi's plans.

ABC News 7 in San Francisco, which has been following the case for months, reported:

The 22-year-old was born in Lodi and grew up in the East Bay. He attended Berkeley High and was living an apartment complex in West Oakland at the time of his arrest. Prosecutors say by the time he was arrested, he had been communicating with a confidential source working for the FBI and they allege Alhaggagi spent months planning attacks and discussing his willingness to kill and be killed for ISIS.
The government says this was only one of several violent plans Alhaggagi discussed [...]

In that December 2016 court hearing, prosecutors revealed Alhaggagi talked about plans to sell cocaine laced with rat poison in Bay Area nightclubs. The undercover agent says he was looking for information on the exact mixture of strychnine and cocaine to use in that scheme. He showed the agent an ISIS bomb-making manual he downloaded on a computer and he sent the agent photographs of guns he said he obtained.

"He then told confidential source number one, 'I live close to San Francisco, that's like the gay capital of the world. I'm going to handle them right, LOL,' meaning laughing out loud. 'I'm going to place a bomb in a gay club, Wallah or by God, I'm going to tear up the city.' And I quote, 'The whole Bay Area is going to be up in flames,'" the federal prosecutor explained to Judge Westmore in his argument to have Alhaggagi detained.

He also told the court how Alhaggagi took the undercover agent, posing as an ISIS supporter from Salt Lake City, on a tour of the Bay Area including the Cal Berkeley campus. The feds say he wanted to plant backpack bombs at the dorms and went along with the undercover agent to set up a storage unit where he would store supplies for his plans.

The FBI's investigators say one sign of how serious he was about his support for ISIS came when he showed up at a meeting with the undercover agent at the storage unit with three backpacks to be used to carry bombs.

Alhaggagi's lawyer released a statement Friday saying, "Amer is not anti-American and does not support ISIS or any other terrorist organization. He is completely nonviolent and he took no actions to harm anyone."

His family gave the following statement to local media, saying he had never been radicalized:

We were shocked to learn of the accusations involving Amer. Amer is not and has never been radicalized in any way. He grew up in this country and loves it here. He is peaceful and kind. He was very young and immature when he got involved in the online conversations that are the basis for these accusations. He did not think those conversations were serious and he never had any intent to harm anyone. We love him and continue to fully support him.

In another ISIS-related case I reported on here at PJ Media earlier this month, a U.S. soldier stationed in Hawaii and arrested for supporting ISIS has now been charged, federal officials said Saturday.

U.S. Soldier Arrested for Supporting ISIS... https://t.co/a0YCUSynX8

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) July 11, 2017
Ikaika Erik Kang is accused of offering classified documents and military training to the terror group.

Federal prosecutors also presented images of Kang swearing allegiance to ISIS, including kissing the group's flag.
 
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BELGIUM TERROR ATTACK Brussels in lockdown after knife maniac slashes soldiers with a ‘machete’ and is shot dead in city centre
A 30-year-old man, said to be from Somalia, charged at a group of soldiers in what officials have called a terror attack
By Gemma Mullin and Chloe Kerr
25th August 2017, 8:39 pmUpdated: 26th August 2017, 12:41 am

The Belgian capital was placed in lockdown with a massive police response following the horror, which came an hour before an almost identical attack on two police officers outside Buckingham Palace.

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The scene after a man reportedly armed with a 'machete' knifed two soldiers on patrol in Brussels

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A police officer can be seen tending to the 31-year-old on the ground in Brussels city centre

The soldiers - who suffered injuries to their face and hand - opened fire on the attacker as the 30-year-old man, believed to be from Somalia, charged at them with a large bladed weapon.

Pictures showed police and medics battling to save the suspected terrorist's life before he was taken to hospital, where he later died.
Officials said the man had no known extremist links - but the prosecutor's office said: "We believe it is a terrorist attack".

A spokeswoman for federal prosecutors said the man had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for "God is Great") twice during the attack.
She added: "With the identity that we currently have, it is a 30-year-old man who is not known for terrorist activities."

Belgian Federal Police spokesman, Jonathan Pfunde, said: "A man armed with a knife attacked a group of soldiers. The soldiers fired at him and neutralised the individual."

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Police secure the scene in downtown Brussels after a reported attack on Belgian Army soldiers
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A tent can be seen set up at the scene after a man was shot dead by soldiers


It happened at 8.20pm local time (7.20pm BST) near the on Emile-Jacqmain Boulevard, according to local reports.

Witnesses staying nearby hotels said the area was put into lockdown, while a cordon was set up around the scene.

Pictures since emerged showing emergency services working on the man, who was later taken to hospital in a critical condition.
The attack comes just a week after 15 people were murdered in twin terror attacks in Spain.

The alleged ringleader of the Spain terror attacks Abdelbaki Es Satty was in Brussels shortly before the bombings there in 2016, according to reports.

Police are reportedly investigating whether he was involved in the ISIS assaults on Brussels airport and a Metro station that killed 32 people on March 22, 2016.

An hour after the attack in Brussels, a man said to be "armed with a sword" attacked two police officers outside Buckingham Palace in London.

He was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and assault on police just after 8.35pm on Friday evening.

In Brussels, the streets are patrolled by soldiers and regular officers due to a heightened security threat level in the wake of militant attacks in Paris and the Belgian capital in 2015 and 2016.

In June, troops shot dead a suspected suicide bomber in Brussels' central train station but there were no other casualties, in what authorities treated a terrorist incident.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel tweeted: "All our support is with our soldiers. Our security services remain on alert. We are following the situation closely."

Brussels resident Freddie Martyn told Sky News: "I arrived on the scene minutes after the incident happened.
"As I got there police were running towards me trying to cordon off the area.

nintchdbpict000348000248.jpg


One side of the road I saw an ambulance with someone in there, which I'm guessing was the soldier because on the other side there was another man in civilian clothing being given CPR."

He added: "It was all quite frightening."

Thomas da Silva Rosa tweeted: "A man with a machete attacked soldiers on patrol in Brussels centre, now shot dead."
Ryan MacDonald wrote: "Sound of gunshot, heavy police presence outside on Boulevard Emile Jacqmain, Brussels."

More on LINK.
 
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

'WE WILL SEND THEM TO ALLAH'
Mayor promises anyone who shouts ‘Allahu Akbar’ in Venice will be gunned down

An Italian mayor has ordered cops to shoot on sight anyone who shouts ‘’Allahu Akbar’’ rather than risk a terror attack
By Nick Pisa
23rd August 2017, 11:23 pm Updated: 25th August 2017, 2:06 am

Cops in Venice have been told to shoot potential terrorists on sight.

The Italian city’s mayor has ordered them to target anyone shouting “Allahu Akbar”, Arabic for God is Greater.

Luigi Brugnaro, mayor of the tourist hot spot of Venice, revealed the order at a summer think tank and was applauded by delegates.

He said: “Anyone who shouts Allahu Akbar in St Mark’s Square can expect to be gunned down by snipers within four paces.

‘’We need to increase our security when it comes to terrorism. We had four would be terrorists arrested in Venice a few months ago who wanted to blow up the Rialto bridge.

‘’They said they wanted to go and meet Allah so we will send them straight to Allah without having to throw them off the bridge, we will just shoot them.’’

Last night he added:’’I have never been politically correct, in fact I am politically correct and that’s why we also need a naval blockade against people coming into Italy from north Africa.’’

The cry Allahu Akbar was first used by the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century before he went into battle.

nintchdbpict000004732539.jpg

Earlier this year, four suspect terrorists were arrested in Venice for plotting to set off explosions on the Rialto Bridge

It was found in notes made by 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta after the Twin Tower attacks in New York.

The document contained the passage: “Shout, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.”

It has also been used by the killers of Lee Rigby and witnesses reported the Paris Bataclan attackers also yelling the phrase.

Last night no-one from the Venice police department was available for comment and a spokesman would only say:’’We never discuss operational security.’’

nintchdbpict000184499226.jpg

Controversial mayor Luigi Brugnaro has been applauded by delegates for his straight talking towards ISIS

More on LINK.
 
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

TERROR BLAST
Dramatic moment ‘terror cell’ blow themselves up after being surrounded by Russian special forces

Cops tracked the four alleged extremists to a house in Psedach, Russia
By Sam Christie
25th August 2017, 12:56 amUpdated: 25th August 2017, 6:57 am

Police tracked the four alleged extremists to a house in the village of Psedach in south western Russia's Republic of Ingushetia.

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Police tracked the four alleged extremists to a house in the village of Psedach in south western Russia's Republic of Ingushetia

scblow9.jpg

But they began shooting at the officers before blowing themselves up rather than be captured

They were being hunted by the secret services in connection with the attempted murder of policemen.

But they began shooting at the officers before blowing themselves up rather than be captured.

Footage shows how the specialist troops surrounded the lair and began shooting at the property with rifles, machine guns and mortars.

No one else was injured in the blast, which was captured in footage taken by Russian national anti-terrorism committee

Realising that the game was up the militants then decided to blow themselves up rather than be captured.

A video shows how the huge explosion from their suicide bombs ripped the roof off the little cottage.

No one else was injured in the blast, which was captured in footage taken by Russian national anti-terrorism committee.

An unnamed Federal Security Service source said: "They were given an opportunity to give themselves up and to stay alive.

"They blew themselves up, committing suicide - which is forbidden in Islam."

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Police found an arsenal of weapons inside the house after the explosion

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The four dead men were believed to be members of an Islamist terror cell


The terrorists were believed to be members of the Khunzakh militant group.

Two of them, Bekhan Soltukiev, 34 and Mikhail Cherbizhev, 31 were wanted for a series of attacks on police officers.

The special services identified the third man who died in the blast as Khasan Khatsiev.

They have yet to release the identity of the fourth man killed in the explosion, which completely destroyed the building

Video and more on LINK.
 
Just a reminder that it ain't just ISIL or AQ out there ...
Hizballah: Recent Arrests Reveal Pre-Operational Planning
NJ Department of Homeland Security, August 21, 2017

On June 1, federal authorities arrested two individuals tied to Hizballah’s Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO)—which is responsible for planning intelligence-gathering, counterintelligence, and terrorist activities on behalf of the group internationally—for attempting to provide material support, among other charges. Ali Mohamad Kourani conducted surveillance on a variety of targets in New York City, including FBI offices, an Army National Guard facility, a US Secret Service facility, a US Army armory, and John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport.

The recent arrests of Samer el Debek and Ali Mohamad Kourani indicate Hizballah has both the intent and capability to attack the United States and the West. Hizballah operatives continue to gather intelligence on security practices and military technologies in the United States, and possess the technical training and resources to target Western interests. Since 2008, IJO operatives have been implicated in over 20 terrorist attacks and plots globally, including the bombing of an Israeli tour bus in Burgas, Bulgaria, killing six and injuring 32 others, in 2012 ...
 
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

What happens when an ISIS member returns to Canada? The story of one Toronto-area man
By Stewart Bell
National Online Journalist, Investigative  
Global News

He had been in Syria for almost six months, serving in the morality police of the so-called Islamic State, when he decided he’d seen enough.

The recruiters had promised an Islamic utopia but it was just a cruel police state, one he wasn’t willing to die for. He was frightened and disillusioned.

He wanted to go home to Canada.

He left the city of Manbij during the night, taking a motorcycle north to Jarabulus and crossing into southern Turkey, where he was arrested and deported.

“All that’s behind me,” the Pakistani-Canadian, lanky and in his 20s, told Global News in an interview after returning to the Toronto area last summer.

“We all do things that we regret.”

There are said to be dozens like him across Canada, “returnees” who have spent time in terrorist groups and come home. And with ISIS collapsing in Syria and Iraq, more are expected to turn up.

They raise obvious security concerns. Are they determined to carry on the fight from Canada — recruiting, fundraising and plotting? Or are they disenchanted and want only to resume ordinary lives?

“In the worst-case scenario, one or more of those returnees with terrorist and/or combat experience may target elements of Canadian society,” said an RCMP report obtained under the Access to Information Act. “They may use Canada as a base for targeting others, including the United States.”

How Canada is dealing with returnees is seldom discussed in public. Few are charged, owing to the challenge of proving what they did abroad. And most seek anonymity for understandable reasons.

But declassified national security documents and interviews with officials, experts and a self-professed Canadian ISIS returnee, offer a unique glimpse into the secretive world.

“Any individual, of course, that we know is returning from a conflict that we suspect of being involved with a terrorist organization, we will pay very close attention to,” RCMP assistant commissioner James Malizia said in an interview.

Returnees are “one of our highest priorities,” said Malizia, who is in charge of the RCMP’s national security program. “We’re keeping a close eye on the situation as it unfolds in Syria and Iraq and other conflict zones. Certainly, it’s a concern to us.”

One of those returnees now lives in a spacious house with a satellite dish and a two-car garage and attends a university in the Toronto region. Because he fears arrest, he agreed to speak to Global News on the condition he not be identified.

Many of the details of his account could not be verified but Global News has viewed evidence of the RCMP’s interest in him, and those familiar with his story, including an academic expert who has spoken with him, believe he is credible.

After graduating from a Greater Toronto Area high school in 2012, the Canadian said he traveled to Pakistan, the country he left with his parents at age six, and applied to attend university in Lahore.

The mosque he attended was affiliated with the armed Islamist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and the discussion often turned to the need to liberate Muslim lands. “They talked mostly about jihad,” he said.

Among the Lashkar devotees, many of whom had fought in Afghanistan, young men were expected to take up arms in northern Pakistan or Syria. Not wanting to battle the Pakistani military, he chose Syria. “They were sending people,” he said, estimating between 10 and 15 had left.

The recruiter told him what to do, he said. Using his own money, he bought a plane ticket to Istanbul, then made his way to Sanliurfa, a Turkish city near the border, where he met the ISIS facilitators who brought him to Syria.

It was January 2014 when he arrived in Jarabulus. The first stop was the screening office, where he was asked about his experience and Islamic knowledge, and whether he wanted to be a fighter or suicide bomber.

He was assigned to the ISIS morality police, known as Al-Hisbah, and sent to Manbij, a city in Aleppo district. Former U.S.  president Barack Obama’s defense secretary, Ash Carter, has called Manbij a key city for foreign fighters and a base for “external operators” plotting attacks in the West.

ISIS had just taken control of the city from rebel forces and needed the Husbah to impose its brutal, uncompromising vision of an Islamic society on the population. Music, shaving, mixing of the sexes, cigarettes, homosexuality, satellite dishes, alcohol and drugs were among the many things banned.

The enforcers of this rigid agenda were members of the Hisbah police, like the Canadian. Armed with a Glock pistol that he bought himself, he patrolled the streets ensuring the strict ISIS codes of dress and conduct were obeyed.

Punishments could be severe. Those caught flirting were locked in a cage for a day, he said. Smoking brought a lashing. Thieves had their fingers or hands amputated. Women whose faces were uncovered would be beaten, the United Nations reported in August 2014. Video shows those accused of homosexuality being thrown off rooftops.

The most terrifying sentence was for “apostates,” meaning anyone suspected of disloyalty to ISIS beliefs. They were publicly shot or beheaded and then crucified and left for days as a warning to others.

ISIS ties two men to crucifix in Manbij, Syria, June 2014.An ISIS video obtained from the Middle East Media Research Institute shows one such atrocity in Manbij on June 8, 2014. Two men, described as “Allah’s enemies” and “infidels,” are shown kneeling and blindfolded with their hands tied. After they have been shot dead, their bloodied bodies are taken to a wooden scaffolding and tied with their arms outstretched.

“People would die for their crimes,” the Canadian said. “It is what it is. You can’t sugar coat it.” But while he acknowledged he had witnessed killings, he said he never killed anyone himself. He insisted he was gentle with people. “I’d be too nice,” he said. “I’d be slack.”

Several suspected extremists have been arrested in Turkey and returned to Canada but the RCMP report said there were risks associated with receiving information about returnees from countries with poor human rights records.

“The RCMP should be wary of utilizing information about subject X when it has been provided by a country’s law enforcement forces that are known to use torture, unreasonable detention, or lack of due process,” it said.

Stopping would-be terrorists before they reach a training camp or combat zone is critical, Malizia said. “The advantage for us is we’re able to intercept someone before they receive the combat skills which would, of course, render them a higher risk if they were to return to Canada.”

But a lot of them aren’t stopped. By the end of 2015, about 180 extremists “with a nexus to Canada” were active in terrorist groups around the world, including about 100 in Syria and Iraq, according to the most recent government figures.

The Canadian said it didn’t take him long to see the rot in the heart of ISIS. For all its angry rhetoric about defending Muslims, ISIS killed a lot of them. He said delegations from rival armed factions would arrive in Manbij for talks, only to be shot dead as they were leaving in their vehicles.

As for ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, while he sent his fighters on suicide missions, he went to lengths to safeguard his own personal security. And while it was supposed to oppose nationalism, the Canadian said the Arabs who dominated ISIS looked down on South Asians like him.

“I saw hypocrisy, a lot of hypocrisy,” he said.

Seeing killings affected him, and he got scared. He knew he would one day be sent to the front lines but he didn’t want to die. He had kept in touch with his Canadian family on the internet and wanted to see them again.

He spent a week planning his escape, he said. Using Google Maps to plot a route, he reached the Turkish border crossing at Jarabulus and was arrested. He said he showed the Turkish authorities his Canadian passport and Ontario driver’s license. But they wouldn’t let him go back to Canada, he said.

“They sympathized with me,” he said. They told him the Canadian authorities would prosecute him so they would deport him to Pakistan instead. “Save yourself,” they told him. The Turkish police drove him to the airport and made sure he got on a flight to Pakistan, he said.

Days after he left, on June 19, 2014, Al-Baghdadi, having captured the Iraqi city of Mosul, declared he had established an Islamic caliphate and that he was its leader. “I was just happy that I was out of there,” the Canadian said.

He remained in Pakistan for two years before moving back to Toronto. As he got off the plane at Pearson airport in the summer of 2016, he went through a passport check without any trouble. He told the immigration officers he’d been in Pakistan. Since he’d used a Pakistani passport to travel to Syria, the officers had no reason to doubt him.

But then he made a mistake.

In posts on social media, he criticized the ISIS leadership. To underscore his point, he said he was an ex-ISIS member. “It slipped out,” he said. Global News independently obtained a copy of the online posts. Before long, two national security investigators were at his door.

When the RCMP identifies returnees it will “meet with them and get a sense of where they’re at, what their intentions are,” Malizia said. “There are some individuals that return from a conflict zone that may still have motives to now maybe conduct an attack or do something in Canada or in another country.”
“But there are others that come back from a conflict zone and may be seized with post-traumatic stress disorder or disillusioned,” he said. “And some do come back and decide to re-integrate themselves in society and try to live a normal life.”

Malizia said if police suspect they were active in a terrorist group, “we’ll fully investigate and if we can lay criminal charges we will.” In addition, police can monitor the social media activities of returnees, revoke their passports and place them on the no-fly list, according to the RCMP foreign fighter report.

The report also said police “community engagement specialists” should “assist the returnee in engaging with supportive community resources, including those who would help steer the individual away from criminal activities associated with terrorism.”

The European Commission’s Radicalization Awareness Network said much the same thing in a recent report. “In the long term, authorities and local communities need to work together to resocialize or integrate returnees into society.”

Around the time the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and RCMP came calling, Mubin Shaikh paid him a visit as well. A U.S. journalist had found the returnee’s contact information in data retrieved in Syria and suggested Shaikh speak to him.

Shaikh had once flirted with radicalism himself but had turned against it and infamously served as an undercover agent in the Toronto 18, the Al Qaeda-inspired terrorists who plotted attacks in Ontario until their arrests in June 2006. Shaikh went on to earn a master’s degree in policing, intelligence and counter-terrorism and became active in deradicalization.

After meeting the ex-ISIS member, Shaikh began spending time with him, often weekly, trying to “contain his ideology and to point him in the right direction, gently challenging some of his ideas.”

Shaikh said he was a “middle space” between the youth and the police. The parents help as well, and he has told his imam. “He’s largely self-deradicalized. He’s not completely there,” Shaikh said. “He’s not a public safety threat.”

Returnees can fall into a gap, Shaikh said. Police have a mandate to investigate but are often unable to lay charges. That leaves the community to deal with them. But who is best placed to take on the sensitive task?

“If you decide that they do need some kind of counselling, the people that you send them to, what qualifications do they have? Just because a person is an imam doesn’t qualify them automatically to do this kind of counseling.” Imams and community leaders need training on how to recognize and confront extremists, Shaikh said.

That is beginning to happen. In March, 20 imams from the Toronto area, Hamilton, Ottawa, and Edmonton attended an RCMP counter-terrorism awareness workshop. They learned about the Salafi jihadist mindset, behavioural indicators, counter-terrorism law and Toronto’s radicalization prevention efforts.

“Government cannot do it alone,” said Hamid Slimi, who heads the national security committee of the Canadian Council of Imams, which took part in the training. “Therefore, council of imams said we will work with the authorities, including RCMP, to combat any potential threat or any misguided radicalized kind of thinking.”

He said returnees were a concern. Where will they go when they come back? What if they bring children back with them? What about the ones nobody even knows about? “Who is going to follow up with them? Authorities? Community is not ready for that.”

The council can play a role but “it doesn’t have a magic wand,” he said. A hotline was to be set up shortly, allowing those with concerns about extremism to speak directly to an imam. Highly qualified people are ready to step up, he said, “but not too many, there is a shortage.”

“We’re still making baby steps.”

The ex-ISIS police officer said returnees must be screened and those who pose a threat should be dealt with. But he doesn’t believe the true believers will ever come back. They will die in Syria, he said.

He insisted Canadians shouldn’t worry about the ones like him who abandoned ISIS. But he said they needed support and guidance. “Don’t keep them isolated,” he said. “You have to have someone to talk to about it.”

He still struggles, he said.

“It’s not like you can become deradicalized right away the next day,” he said. But he said he was focused on his life goals. He has a girlfriend, supportive parents and Shaikh, whom he said “loosened the noose around my neck.”

The RCMP has not charged him, likely because they don’t have enough evidence. “The RCMP’s last message to me was, ‘Stay focused on school,’” he said.
The investigating officer told him, “If I come back, I will charge you,” he said.

He is uncertain about his future, not knowing if he might be arrested one day. But he also knows that if he had stayed in Syria, he would be dead like his former comrades. He said he was done with all that. “I have too much to lose now,” he said.

“I’ve moved on.”

Stewart.Bell@GlobalNews.ca

Videos and more on Global News LINK.

Another Link (CBC):  Young Canadian ISIS recruit says he saw violence on scale he could never have imagined
 
Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.

Montreal couple was intent on waging jihad, Crown says
The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, September 13, 2017 11:56AM EDT

MONTREAL - The Crown says a young Montreal couple was intent on answering the call from Islamic State to wage jihad in the Middle East and had amassed bomb-making materials at their home.

El Mahdi Jamali, 20, and Sabrine Djermane, 21 are on trial on four charges: attempting to leave Canada to commit a terror act abroad; possession of an explosive substance; facilitating a terrorist act; and committing an act under the direction or for the profit of a terrorist organization.

They have pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutor Lyne Decarie has previously named 31 police and civilian witnesses her team intends to call as it presents its case.

Decarie said today a tip to the RCMP in April 2015 led to a swift arrest and several searches.

Authorities say they found the couple had bags packed with new clothes and had booked plane tickets for a flight to Syria the following month.



More on LINK.

Other related links:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/trial-begins-in-montreal-for-2-people-charged-with-terrorism-related-offences-1.3586099

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/quebec-funds-living-together-project-at-school-linked-to-radicalization-1.2815596

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/montreal-teens-facing-terror-charges-to-remain-behind-bars-over-summer-1.2467110

[Edit to fix LINK]
 
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/645177/France-Hammer-Attack-Allahu-Akbar-Terror-Two-Women-Chalon-sur-Saone-Parsons-Green

Probably didn't like how they were dressed.
 
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2 women killed in knife attack at Marseille train station, assailant shot dead
Incident prompts Paris prosecutor's office to open counterterrorism investigation
Thomson Reuters Posted: Oct 01, 2017 9:09 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 01, 2017 3:38 PM ET

france-security-marseille-police.jpg

Police secure the area outside the Saint Charles train station after French soldiers shot and killed a man after he stabbed two women to death in Marseille, France, on Sunday. (Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)

A man with a knife killed two women at the main train station in the French port city of Marseille on Sunday, in an attack that French authorities were probing for links to Islamic extremism.

Police sources said the victims were aged 17 and 20, and that one had her throat slit while the other was stabbed in the chest and stomach.

The assailant was shot dead by a soldier from a military Sentinelle patrol, a force deployed across the country as part of a state of emergency declared after Islamist attacks that began almost two years ago.

"We have until now managed to avoid such dramatic incidents [in Marseille]. I think it was a terrorist attack and the individual who was killed seems to have had several identities," Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin told reporters.

Paris was rocked in 2015 by multiple attacks that killed 130 people. In 2016, a gunman drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people. Both of these attacks were claimed by ISIS.

Other countries, including Britain, Germany and Belgium, have also suffered attacks by militants using knives, guns, explosives and driving vehicles at crowds.

On Sunday, some 200 police officers cordoned off the area and all roads were closed to traffic.

A witness told Reuters she saw a man take out a knife from his sleeve and then stab a young girl and then a second woman, shouting what could have been "Allahu akbar."

'Barbaric act'

Speaking in Marseille, Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said the man had initially killed one woman and looked to be running away before returning to attack a second woman and then rush toward soldiers from the Sentinelle force who arrived on the scene quickly and shot him dead.

aptopix-france-knife-attack.jpg


Two police sources said the attacker had been carrying a butcher's knife, was around 30 years old and of North African  appearance. One source said he was known to police for common law crimes, while another said digital analysis of fingerprints had come up with several aliases.

"This could be an act of terrorism, but we cannot confirm it fully at this stage," Collomb told reporters.

The Paris prosecutor's office, which oversees all terrorism cases in France, said it had opened a counterterrorism investigation of the Marseille attack.

It did not provide further details, including a possible motive.

Collomb declined to provide any details about the suspect or to identify the victims. He said the assailant's "strange" behaviour of attacking, running away and then returning to strike again was "a point of inquiry."

French troops are part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and has thousands of soldiers in West Africa fighting al-Qaeda-linked militants, operations that have made these groups urge their followers to target France.

Spate of attacks

Security forces have increasingly been targeted by militants in knife attacks. A man wielding a knife attacked a soldier in a Paris metro station on Sept. 15.

President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter he was "disgusted by this barbaric act" and praised the calmness and efficiency of security forces.

French lawmakers are due to vote on a much-criticized anti-terrorism law on Tuesday, which would see France come out of its state-of-emergency in November, although some of the powers would be enshrined in law.

The number of military personnel on the ground is also due to be reduced slightly, although the force is being adapted to make it more mobile and its movements less predictable.

"The presence of Sentinelle soldiers, their speed and efficiency ensured that the death count was not bigger," police union official Stéphane Battaglia told Reuters. 

With files from The Associated Press

© Thomson Reuters, 2017

More on LINK.
 
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