Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Africa Horn

Al-Shabaab Attacks Security Base in Waajid, Somali Forces Capture Key Operative

2025-03-23

[ShabelleMedia] Al-Shabaab militants launched an attack on a security outpost manned by South West State forces in Waajid, a district in Somalia’s Bakool region, leading to a brief but intense clash, authorities said Friday.

The firefight, which lasted for an extended period, saw both sides exchange heavy gunfire. However, South West State officials reported that their forces successfully repelled the attackers, capturing several militants and confiscating weapons.

In an official statement, South West State authorities confirmed the arrest of a key Al-Shabaab media operative, identified as Abdullahi Ahmed Mohamed (also known as Abdiasis). The suspect, who was reportedly filming the attack, has been detained in Waajid prison, where he is undergoing interrogation. Security forces also seized his recording equipment.

Additionally, local security forces said they had discovered and neutralized multiple improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted by Al-Shabaab operatives. The explosives were found near Waajid’s airport and along a key road connecting the town to the airstrip.

Authorities in Waajid have reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining security and preventing further attacks by Al-Shabaab, which has been waging an insurgency in Somalia for years.

Link

-War on Police-

Gunman who shot dead his mom, brother and hero Austin SWAT officer was also on the FBI's TERROR watchlist: Slain cop was paramedic at Parkland school shooting

2023-11-15

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Murder-suicide instead of turning it outward on the surrounding society? I can live with that.

The shooter, who has not been officially named, had been on a terror watchlist

He was flagged to the FBI before he killed elite Texas cop Jorge Pastore Saturday

Three others who died in the hostage situation were Eman Ahmed El Nemr-Nassar, a mother, Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, 35, her son and Riad Mohamed Nassar, 32, her other son

Cops responded to the killer's home at 2.49am on Saturday when a frantic woman 'screaming for help' called 911 to say she had been stabbed and two other people were still trapped in the home.

Austin police previously identified the gunman as a male and sources added he had been found dead in the home with two of his victims.

Three who were found dead in the hostage situation have been identified as Eman Ahmed El Nemr-Nassar, a mother, Ahmed Mohamed Nassar, 35, her son and Riad Mohamed Nassar, 32, her other son, by members of Austin's Islamic community.

It is not clear which of the sons was the shooter.

'Three of the family members of the beloved brother Mohamed Nassar, passed away,' the Austin mosque shared online.

Mohamed, the father, is the owner of the home where Pastore was killed, according to property records. He moved away less than a year ago, according to CBS Austin. It's unknown what part of the shooter's background the FBI is interested in.

More about Officer Pastore can be seen here.

Link

Africa Horn

Over ‘100 militants’, 20 pro-gov’t forces killed in a fierce battle in central Somalia

2023-10-08

[ShabelleMedia] The Minister of Information of Somalia, Daud Aweys said that 100 al-Shabaab

...... the personification of Somali state failure...
members were killed in a heavy fighting in the south of Mudug region.

The Minister of Information told the news hounds that al-Shabaab was defeated in the bloody battle that took place on Wednesday in the forest areas near the Shabeelow settlement.

During the presser, the information minister said bases and military equipment belonging to the Death Eaters had also been destroyed in the joint offensive in the area.

In addition, he said that the army is currently engaged in the last operations to eradicate al-Shabaab from the Mudug region in central Somalia, which falls under the Galmudug
...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth...
state.

According to him, another operation was underway in the forest of Mahaday district, where he said that leaders and other al-Shabaab fighters have been isolated for 10 days by SNA.

Aweys added that 19 leaders were killed in the ongoing operations in Galmudug and HirShabeelle, who were among over 1,600 Death Eaters who died in a two-month assault.

A big shot of the al-Shabaab, who is named Khalif Gambi, was injured in the army offensive, according to Somalia’s information minister, who spoke to the local media.

Another Shabell Media article adds:

At least 30 pro-government fighters and dozens of al-Shabaab ~~bandidos~~ gunnies were killed in Somalia in some of the bloodiest fighting of a year-long offensive against the al Qaeda-linked group, an army officer and clan elder said on Thursday.

The festivities on Wednesday in the Shabellow forest were the latest demonstration of the uphill task Somali troops and allied snuffies face in their effort to root out al-Shabaab, which has been waging an insurgency since 2006.

A military campaign launched last year by the army and allied clan-based militias in central Somalia seized significant swathes of land from the ~~bandidos~~ gunnies early on but has registered mixed results of late.

Although government forces have captured several major towns, al-Shabaab has been able to reclaim some of the territory it lost and conduct deadly raids on military bases.

The Somali forces initially drove back the al-Shabaab fighters in the Shabellow forest on Wednesday but were then surprised by sniper fire, Major Ahmed Nur told Rooters.

"We killed al-Shabaab like flies, but when we tried to take the weapons from their dead, hidden snipers took out our men," he said.

He said 30 government soldiers and allied snuffies were killed, while 55 al-Shabaab fighters died. A local clan elder, Abdullahi Mohammed, said 33 pro-government fighters and "dozens" of al-Shabaab were killed.

Nur added that 10 of his colleagues were maimed on Thursday when a helicopter — believed to be operated by one of Somalia’s foreign allies — mistakenly bombed them.

The current phase of the offensive against al-Shabaab has focused on central Somalia. The government has promised a second phase that will go after the group in its strongholds in the country’s south, where analysts say the group will be even harder to defeat.

Somalia publishes names of Al-Shabaab leaders killed, injured and surrendered

[ShabelleMedia] The government of Somalia has published the names and the roles of Al-Shabaab commanders killed in the latest military operations in central regions.

The statement disclosed some defectors who held tighter positions in Al-Shabaab. Among them is Khalif Gambe, who served as head of the group’s Jabhad wing in Galmudug state.

Gambe is on the list of several commanders captured alive after being wounded in the fighting between Al-Shabaab and Somali government forces in the Galmudug state.

As many as 19 Al-Shabaab leaders including more than 4,600 members died in the two-month operations which became the highest casualties inflicted upon the militant group.

Read the full list:

Khalif Gambe – surrendered
Shuuke Ali Dheeg – Killed
Salad Ali Geedi – Killed
Nur Dek – surrendered
Mohamud Bashir – Killed
Olol Ali Guled – Killed
Isse Barre – Killed
Hassa – Killed
Maslah – Killed
Abdullahi H. Qodah – Killed
Abdullahi Ilow – Killed
Dabashe – Killed
Shu’ayb – Killed
Bagah – Killed
Asod – killed
Muhajir – Killed
Saylici – Killed
Sheikh Abdi – Killed
Ahmed Mohamed Herow – Killed
Yonis Shafi’i – Killed
Abdijabar – Killed
Nur Ga’al – Surrendered

Link

Britain

British rapper-turned Jihadi Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 32, who was long thought to be one of the ISIS Beatles is found dead in his Spanish prison cell while awaiting a verdict on terror charges

2023-07-27

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A former British rapper once believed to be the ISIS killer 'Jihadi' John has been found dead in his prison cell in Spain.

Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary,

...another Anjem Choudary protégé and 2nd gen jihadi...

32, had been tried earlier this month at a court in Madrid on suspicion of heading an itinerant jihadist cell he allegedly formed after leaving Syria, and was awaiting the verdict.

He is understood to have been found dead at a prison in El Puerto de Santa Maria in Cadiz, south west Spain. One unconfirmed local report said his body presented no obvious signs of any violence.
too bad.
An internal Spanish Prison service investigation will now take place and his family will be given the right to hold their own autopsy aside from the official post-mortem to establish the exact cause of death.

A separate probe will be carried out by a court in the town of El Puerto de Santa Maria.

He was arrested with two men described as aides less than a week after they were smuggled onto a beach on Spain's south-east coastline in April 2020.

Abdel Bary was born in Egypt but schooled in London. He was stripped of his British citizenship after allegedly joining ISIS and was charged after a long-running investigation sparked by his arrest at a hideaway rented flat in Almeria.

Investigating judge Maria Tardon concluded in her written ruling outlining her decision to charge him that he had been smuggled into Spain by boat with two Algerian men less than a week before he was located and held.

He was warned before his trial at Madrid's Audiencia Nacional court, which finished on July 14, he could face nine years in prison if convicted.

On the opening day of his trial he denied all terrorism charges against him, insisting he had never been in the Syrian city of Raqqa before claiming he went to the country for humanitarian reasons.

Prosecutors said in a pre-trial indictment that the former British national, the son of Adel Abdel Bari

...an Al Qaeda Big Turban who didn't spend nearly enough time in prison — or possibly too much, depending on one’s philosophy about such things...

who confessed to murdering more than 200 people in a series of Islamist bombings in Africa, used bitcoin to buy stolen or cloned bank cards on the Dark Web.

His alleged accomplices, named before the trial as Abderrazak Seddiki, 30, and Kossaila Chollouah, 27 were accused in a pre-trial indictment of playing other key roles in the fraud including carding which is a type of credit card scam in which a criminal steals or fraudulently uses credit card details to buy prepaid gift cards.

He was alleged to have posted an image of himself holding a severed head on Twitter.

He was accused of posing for a photo with the head in the Syrian city of Raqqa with the caption 'Chillin' with my homie or what's left of him' in August 2014.

The alleged terrorist, who at his trial showed he had put on considerable weight since his arrest, denied it was him with the severed head.

Insisting he and his family had lived in the UK for more than 30 years and completely adopted a Western lifestyle, Abdel Bary told the court trying him: 'Al Qaeda and all the radical extremists… I hate them. I don't agree with their ideology or actions.'

Abdel Bary claimed to be a Syrian national called Ahmed Mohamed Al Oulabi when he was held in Almeria in April 2020.

Reports at the time said he was arrested after police spotters identified him by his ears when he opened a second-floor door to receive a kebab takeout from an Uber Eats kebab delivery man.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

89 solders killed in Niger

2020-01-14

[Twitter-BBC]

Last week, 89 soldiers from Niger were killed in what has become an increasingly volatile crisis in the Sahel.

As President Macron & his counterparts in the region discuss tackling Islamist militants in West Africa, we look closely at the numbers of this deadly conflict. pic.twitter.com/8YXmRnGVQJ
— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) January 13, 2020

Niger's army chief Gen Ahmed Mohamed has been sacked, four days after militant Islamists killed 89 soldiers in an assault on a military base, inflicting the biggest loss on the military in a single day.

Gen Mohamed's dismissal, along with that of three other top officers, was announced by state radio following a meeting of the cabinet.

Gen Mohamed's tenure of more than two years has been marked by a sharp increase in attacks by militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group.

He has been replaced by Maj Gen Salifou Modi.

Niger declared three days of mourning following Thursday's killing of the 89 soldiers at Chinegodar camp in the western Tillaberi region.

Last month, 71 soldiers were killed in an attack on the Inates camp in the same region.

Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou is currently in France with the leaders of four other former French colonies hit by the insurgency in the Sahel.

At the start of the summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Pau, southern France, the leaders laid wreaths in honour of French soldiers killed in action in Mali last month.

Mr Macron has demanded that the Sahel leaders use the summit to reiterate their support for the 4,000-strong French military force there, which has been criticised amid the mounting insecurity.

The leaders of Chad, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania are at the meeting.

And neighboring Mali Graphic of deaths

Link

Africa Horn

SLFA joins the Revolutionary Front ahead of talks for peace in Sudan

2019-09-15

[Sudan Tribune] The Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance (SLFA) headed by Altaher Hajer officially joined the rebel umbrella Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) ahead of peace talks with the transitional government in Khartoum said a statement released on Friday.

"The SRF informs the Sudanese people that the SLFA has joined the Revolutionary Front per the provisions of the Constitution and the regulations of the Front," said a statement signed by the SRF leader Hadi Idriss on.

Idriss added that this move demonstrates the SRF keenness for the unity of the armed opposition groups in support of the peaceful Sudanese revolution and democratic transition in the country.

The SLFA was formed by three armed groups on 7 July 2017. The alliance includes the Sudan Liberation Movement for Justice, Sudan Liberation Movement-Unity and the Justice and Equality Movement of Abdallah Bishr Gali.

The three groups elected Altaher Abubakr Hajer as chairman of the SLFA, Abdallah Yahia as a deputy-chairman while Mahgoub al-Aghbash was elected as head of the legislative council and Ahmed Mohamed Suleiman as the deputy-speaker.

During the recent talks with the Sudanese transitional government that led to the signing of the Juba Declaration on peace in Sudan, the SLFA negotiated and signed the declaration with the SRF groups.

Asked by Sudan Tribune if he would join the large umbrella of armed groups, Altaher said they are considering the matter saying they have been encouraged by the South Sudanese government for the sake of peace in Sudan.

"We are moving in this direction and we have not rejected the issue of unity. We are on the road to join the SRF and the coming days we can be part of the alliance," he said.

Last April, the SLFA joined the Sudanese Historical Bloc (SHB) together with the Hilu (SPLM-N Hilu) and a faction of eastern Sudan Beja Conference led by Zeinab Kabbashi (BC-Kabbashi).

Asked why he did not negotiate the Juba Declaration besides the SLM-N led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, Altaher Hajer said the SHB is just a political declaration that has no established structures.

SRF leader Hadi Idriss, in his statement, said their door is open for all the opposition groups to join them "in support of peace, stability and good governance".

Link

Africa Horn

Car bomb and all-night hotel siege kill 26 in Somalia's Kismayo

2019-07-15

[Reuters] MOGADISHU/GAROWE, Somalia (Reuters) - Kenyans, Americans, a Briton and Tanzanians were among 26 people killed when Islamist gunmen stormed a hotel in the Somali port city of Kismayo, officials said on Saturday, the deadliest attack in the city since insurgents were driven out in 2012.

A car bomb exploded at the hotel in the southern port city while local elders and lawmakers were meeting on Friday night, before three gunmen stormed in, police said. Security forces took 11 hours to end the siege, they said.

The dead included a presidential candidate for August’s Jubbaland regional elections, Jubbaland state president Ahmed Mohamed Madobe said. At least two journalists and a U.N. agency staff member were also reported to have been killed.

Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab, which is trying to topple Somalia’s weak, U.N.-backed government, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Link

Home Front: WoT

'Clock boy' Ahmed Mohamed's lawsuit against Irving ISD, city dismissed

2018-03-15

[DalkasNews] A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Irving ISD, the city of Irving and several individuals by the father of a teen who was arrested after bringing to school a homemade clock that was mistaken for a bomb.

The federal lawsuit had alleged that Ahmed Mohamed's civil rights were violated in September 2015 when Irving police officers took him into custody at MacArthur High School and charged him with making a "hoax bomb." The then-14-year-old was also suspended from school for three days.

The charge against Ahmed was later dropped. The boy and his family have since moved to Qatar. The suit, filed by Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed on behalf of his son, had asked for unspecified damages. It had been amended twice since it was initially filed in August 2016.
He's been hit with Atty's fees in all his losing suits. Hope he posted bond before fleeing.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Islamic Krazed Killers shell Syrian Army HQ in Latakia

2017-08-25

Latakia (Syria News) Ahrar al-Sharm militia announced, on Thursday, shelling the headquarters of the Syrian Army forces in the countryside of Latakia.

The Spokesman of Ahrar al-Sham militia Ahmed Mohamed said that the artillery brigade shelled the headquarters of the Syrian regime forces in Kinsabba Town and Shalaf castle area, in the countryside of Latakia.

The shelling came as a response on the Syrian army and allied militias shelling that was carried out, at dawn today, on al-Najiya area, west of Idlib, Mohamed explained.

Furthermore, Mohamed added that the Syrian army forces are frequently shelling the areas of al-Hadada Town, Tardin, al-Khedr and al-Tofaheya in the countryside of Latakia.

It is noteworthy that the countryside of Latakia joined the areas that follow the de-escalation agreement signed in Astana peace talks 4; however, the government forces are usually violating the agreement.

Link

Down Under

3 to be charged over ISIS-influenced terror attack after they set fire to a Melbourne Shiite mosque

2017-08-21

[DailyMail]

Three men will be charged with terror offences over arson at an Islamic Centre

A fire gutted the Imam Ali Islamic Centre in Melbourne in December last year

Police say the arson was 'inspired' by Islamic State, but not ordered by them

Hatim Moukhaiber, 29, Ahmed Mohamed, 25, and Abdullah Chaarani, 27, charged with setting three fires at the Shiite center over seven months

If found guilty, the men will face life behind bars

Police believe more men were associated with the group

Link

Fifth Column

Judge tosses ‘Clock Boy' discrimination suit against school

2017-05-19

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the father of a Muslim boy who was arrested after taking a homemade clock to his high school in Texas.

Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed sued the city of Irving, the Irving Independent School District and the principal of MacArthur High School on behalf of his son Ahmed Mohamed, whose arrest and three-day suspension for taking a clock ‐ mistaken by a teacher for a bomb ‐ to school on Sept. 14, 2015, attracted national headlines.

Charges later were dropped, but Mohamed filed a lawsuit claiming his son's civil rights were violated by discrimination on the basis of his race and religion. The suit, which sought unspecified damages and attorney fees, also claimed city officials violated the then-14-year-old boy's rights under the Fourth and Fifth amendments during his interrogation and arrest.

Link

Africa Horn

Roadside bomb in Somalia kills 8 soldiers, police say

2017-04-26

[NEWS24] A Somali police official says a roadside bomb in a remote town in Somalia's semiautonomous state of Puntland has killed eight soldiers and injured three others.

Ahmed Mohamed tells The Associated Press that Sunday's blast targeted a military convoy in Galgala. Security forces have been battling Islamic State-linked fighters in the region.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab extremist group claimed responsibility for the blast. ISIS-linked extremists also have carried out such attacks in the past.

Link

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