ISIS Leader Reportedly Killed Again
In the new terror environment, there is a 23 percent chance of an Islamic State (ISIS) terror attack occurring somewhere in the West on a Saturday. To further illustrate the home grown jihadi threat, the FBI have reportedly arrested a Huntsville man, Aziz Sayyed on terrorism charges linked to Huntsville and Madison County area, including Redstone Arsenal. Birmingham, UK man Afik Razaq is set to be stripped of his British citizenship after working in Syria for group linked to al-Qaeda.
Russia said on Friday that it killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, 30 other leaders, and 300 terrorists in a strike on May 28th that targeted an IS meeting in Raqqa, Syria. The US has said that it cannot confirm the Russian story on the fate of al-Baghdadi. It was reported that in ‘pre-emptive’ Russian airstrikes on June 6th and June 8th that ISIS field commanders Abu Omar al-Baljiki and Abu Yassin al-Masri were killed along with 180 ISIS militants, 16 automotive and armored vehicles and tanks, one artillery, four control posts and an ammunition storage depot.
A ISIS suicide bomber detonated a bomb near a mosque in Syria's Idlib on Friday, killing body guard of key jihadi commander and other rebels.
More than 100 ISIS militants launched a counterattack in Mosul on Wednesday, killing 11 Iraqi Federal Police and four civilians. The U.S.-led coalition has released 4,374 weapons from the air against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria in May. ISIS has claimed an attack in Israel for the first time Friday, after three Palestinian men stabbed and killed an Israeli police officer in Jerusalem. Police shot and killed the terrorists.
On Wednesday, 19 people were killed when the al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab launched a car bomb and gun attack on the busy Posh hotel and adjacent Pizza House restaurant in the Somali capital. Posh Hotel is the only venue with a discotheque in the capital and popular with tourists and young people. In a separate incident, two soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb, planted by the Islamist militant group al Shabaab, struck a car carrying government troops in Central Shabelle. At least four people have been confirmed dead and 11 others injured after a public service vehicle ran over a bomb Friday in Mandera, that borders Somalia. It was reported that the US will send almost 4,000 additional American forces to Afghanistan to break the stalemate in the war. ISIS fighters have reportedly captured some territory around Tora Bora, the former stronghold of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province. The caves had until now been under al-Qaeda-allied Taliban control. Fighting between the two rival terrorist organizations began late on Tuesday night and fighting continued into the day, with ISIS militants battling the Taliban and some local villagers in the area. Two ISIS gunmen and a suicide bomber killed at least four people and wounded eight more in an attack at a Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Thursday.
A US airstrike has killed a senior ISIS media official belonging to the Afghan branch of the ISIS group. In addition to killing Jawad Khan, the strike in Nangarhar province on June 3rd also destroyed a major ISIS media production hub disrupting the affiliate’s connection to the ISIS leadership in Syria. An Afghan soldier has attacked US troops at a military base in Northern Balkh province, wounding seven. The NATO-led Resolute Support mission said one Afghan soldier was killed and another injured in the incident at Camp Shaheen, in Mazar-e Sharif city.
US troops are on the ground in the besieged Philippine city of Marawi, where the Philippine military is battling ISIS-linked Muate militants for control. US Special Operations forces are reportedly providing military assistance in the battle for the city but not directly engaged in combat.
Christians are reportedly being given hijabs by neighbors and friends who are Muslims in Marawi to help them escape ISIS. Militants
On the international security front, strategically placed Djibouti has accused neighboring Eritrea on Friday of occupying disputed territory on the border between the two countries after Qatar withdrew its peacekeepers. Qatar mediated between Djibouti and Eritrea to end an armed conflict between them, but Doha withdrew its forces on June 14th, days after the two East African countries sided with Saudi Arabia and its allies in their standoff with Qatar.
Iran has warned that the US Senate's decision to impose new sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear program is an "unquestionable" violation of a nuclear deal reached in 2015 between Tehran and six major powers including the United States. A Chinese naval squadron reportedly arrived in Bandar Abbas port, Iran on June 15, 2017, for a four-day friendly visit. The two sides are expected to hold high-level meetings, idea exchanges, and sports contests to deepen mutual understanding and build trust. Previously, the Chinese Navy squadron, comprising of guided-missile destroyer Chang Chung, replenishment ship Chao Hu and guided-missile frigate Jin Zhou as well as a helicopter, held joint naval exercises with Iranian naval forces.
China's top political adviser, Yu Zhengsheng, during a meeting with Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat in Beijing, noted that the Chinese government appreciated the role that Pakistan had played in the fight against terrorism urged Islamabad to increase "military-to-military cooperation.
A reportedly deranged man set off an explosion outside a kindergarten in Xuzhou on Thursday killing seven and wounded 65 people.
British security officials believe that Lazarus group hackers in North Korea last month were behind the cyber-attack that crippled parts of the British National Health Service and other organisations around the world. The British National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) led the international investigation. The US Computer Emergency Response Team has also warned about Lazarus and North Korean capabilities. The Lazarus group is believed to have targeted Sony Pictures in 2014 is also thought to have been behind the theft of money from banks.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities are checking reports that a yacht, Katalexa with three crew on board was 'hijacked or arrested' by a North Korean ship.
