China/Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) – A terror group has called on radicals to strike China and a host of other nations. The magazine is published on TIP's Telegram channel "Voice of Islam” said and was reported on the 1 Sep 17. The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) recently published the 21st edition of its propaganda rag, Turkestan Al-Islamiyyah or "Islamic Turkestan”. The online magazine, in Arabic, aims to recruit militants and pushes TIP’s terror agenda. Focussing on its activity in China and Afghanistan, the latest issue centres on the perceived oppression of Muslims in East Turkestan and in Myanmar. In a chilling call to arms, it urges militants fighting in Syria to prepare for a future ‘jihad’ against China. The magazine is published on TIP's Telegram channel "Voice of Islam”, and from there is disseminated on various terror channels, including ones which support various terror groups including Al-Qaeda. As well as calling for action against China, it identifies several other targets in numerous countries popular with British tourists. In an article by ‘Abu ‘Abdallah Al-Maghribi’, he calls on Muslims to prepare attacks on Christians in Palestine, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan, southern Algeria, Mali and Burma. He also urged for terror on southern Philippines, East Turkistan, Chechnya, Central Africa, Pakistan, Kashmir and Bangladesh. And an Islamist going by the name of Abu Jundallah writes about alleged injustices at the hands of the Chinese Government. He focuses on the Uyghur people in East Turkestan, and there is a report on the ‘fight-back’ from the Uyghur against the Chinese Government. A host of editorials calls for action and strikes against the Chinese. Another, by ‘Sheikh 'Abd Al-Haqq’, TIP commander in Khorasan, an Afghan region, calls for the mujahedeen fighting with the TIP in Syria to get ready for the upcoming holy war in East Turkestan against China. The worrying propaganda comes as Islamic State is thought to have turned its attention towards holy buildings, particularly churches and cathedrals. Experts are worried barbaric ISIS terrorists could attempt to blow up a Christian place of worship as they strive for one last attack in their death throes. Following the Spanish terror cell which was uncovered following the deadly attack in Barcelona last month, officers believe, according to evidence and information they gathered, that the Sagrada Familia was planned to be blown up. The Roman Catholic church is believed to have been the target for a much bigger attack, using a stash of gas cylinders found in an Alcanar house. Islamic State’s mouthpiece, 'Rumiyah’, last published an edition in July. Among the run of the mill threats to Europe and the West, a Cathedral in Dresden is pictured in the materials, and experts fear a cathedral in Germany could be the group’s next target. The magazine claimed it was the 'optimal place of attack' due to its location, near nightclubs and bars. Security is being beefed up on the continent in response to the perceived threat.
Pakistan/United States – US banking regulators ordered Pakistan's Habib Bank to shutter its New York office after nearly 40 years, for repeatedly failing to heed concerns over possible terrorist financing and money laundering, officials said on the 7 Sep 17. Habib, Pakistan's largest private bank, neglected to watch for compliance problems and red flags on transactions that potentially could have promoted terrorism, money laundering or other illicit ends, New York banking officials said. The state's Department of Financial Services, which regulates foreign banks, also slapped a $225 million fine on the bank, although that is much smaller than the $629.6 million penalty initially proposed. Habib has operated in the United States since 1978, and in 2006 was ordered to tighten its oversight of potentially illegal transactions but failed to comply. New York regulators said Habib facilitated billions of dollars of transactions with Saudi private bank, Al Rajhi Bank, which reportedly has links to al Qaeda, and failed to do enough to ensure that the funds were not laundered or used for terrorism. "DFS will not tolerate inadequate risk and compliance functions that open the door to the financing of terrorist activities that pose a grave threat to the people of this State and the financial system as a whole," DFS Superintendent Maria Vullo said in a news release. "The bank has repeatedly been given more than sufficient opportunity to correct its glaring deficiencies, yet it has failed to do so." Habib permitted at least 13,000 transactions that were not sufficiently screened to ensure they did not involve sanctioned countries, the agency said. And the bank improperly used a "good guy" list to rubber stamp at least $250 million in transactions, including those by an identified terrorist and an international arms dealer, regulators said. In an August letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Habib company secretary Nausheen Ahmad called the proposed fine of $629.6 million "outrageous" and "capricious" and said the bank had decided to close its New York operations "in an orderly manner." But DFS said Habib will have to surrender its license after it meets the agency's requirements. "DFS will not stand by and let Habib Bank sneak out of the United States," Vullo said.
Philippines/Da’esh – The Islamic State, after losing ground in Syria and Iraq, is switching its attention to a different battleground: the Philippines it was reported on the 12 Sep 17. ISIS's media arm has released a seven-minute video in English that uses militants already in the southern part of the Philippines to encourage would-be fighters to join them as they fight government troops near Marawi, a city of 200,000 people. Since May, Philippine soldiers have been trying to get ISIS-linked militants out of the city, and more than 60 troops have been killed and 200 wounded in clashes. In the video, a fighter calls on Muslims, specifically those in Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, to come to the Philippines to help the fight in Marawi, joining militants from three ISIS-aligned groups: Maute, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and Abu Sayyaf, a onetime offshoot of al Qaeda. Asia is ISIS's new focus, U.S. intelligence officials and private analysts told NBC News, partly because Muslim insurgents have been active in the Philippines' southern islands for decades now, and ISIS sees it as the best place for them to get support and launch attacks. "ISIS wants to be seen as global and the Philippines provides them with an opportunity," a U.S. official said. While intelligence officials were afraid that ISIS losses in the Middle East would translate to a rush of militants returning to their homelands, there has yet to be a mass exodus, officials told NBC News, and it's believed they will likely stay in Iraq and Syria and fight as insurgents.
Pakistan/United States – US banking regulators ordered Pakistan's Habib Bank to shutter its New York office after nearly 40 years, for repeatedly failing to heed concerns over possible terrorist financing and money laundering, officials said on the 7 Sep 17. Habib, Pakistan's largest private bank, neglected to watch for compliance problems and red flags on transactions that potentially could have promoted terrorism, money laundering or other illicit ends, New York banking officials said. The state's Department of Financial Services, which regulates foreign banks, also slapped a $225 million fine on the bank, although that is much smaller than the $629.6 million penalty initially proposed. Habib has operated in the United States since 1978, and in 2006 was ordered to tighten its oversight of potentially illegal transactions but failed to comply. New York regulators said Habib facilitated billions of dollars of transactions with Saudi private bank, Al Rajhi Bank, which reportedly has links to al Qaeda, and failed to do enough to ensure that the funds were not laundered or used for terrorism. "DFS will not tolerate inadequate risk and compliance functions that open the door to the financing of terrorist activities that pose a grave threat to the people of this State and the financial system as a whole," DFS Superintendent Maria Vullo said in a news release. "The bank has repeatedly been given more than sufficient opportunity to correct its glaring deficiencies, yet it has failed to do so." Habib permitted at least 13,000 transactions that were not sufficiently screened to ensure they did not involve sanctioned countries, the agency said. And the bank improperly used a "good guy" list to rubber stamp at least $250 million in transactions, including those by an identified terrorist and an international arms dealer, regulators said. In an August letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Habib company secretary Nausheen Ahmad called the proposed fine of $629.6 million "outrageous" and "capricious" and said the bank had decided to close its New York operations "in an orderly manner." But DFS said Habib will have to surrender its license after it meets the agency's requirements. "DFS will not stand by and let Habib Bank sneak out of the United States," Vullo said.
Philippines/Da’esh – The Islamic State, after losing ground in Syria and Iraq, is switching its attention to a different battleground: the Philippines it was reported on the 12 Sep 17. ISIS's media arm has released a seven-minute video in English that uses militants already in the southern part of the Philippines to encourage would-be fighters to join them as they fight government troops near Marawi, a city of 200,000 people. Since May, Philippine soldiers have been trying to get ISIS-linked militants out of the city, and more than 60 troops have been killed and 200 wounded in clashes. In the video, a fighter calls on Muslims, specifically those in Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, to come to the Philippines to help the fight in Marawi, joining militants from three ISIS-aligned groups: Maute, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and Abu Sayyaf, a onetime offshoot of al Qaeda. Asia is ISIS's new focus, U.S. intelligence officials and private analysts told NBC News, partly because Muslim insurgents have been active in the Philippines' southern islands for decades now, and ISIS sees it as the best place for them to get support and launch attacks. "ISIS wants to be seen as global and the Philippines provides them with an opportunity," a U.S. official said. While intelligence officials were afraid that ISIS losses in the Middle East would translate to a rush of militants returning to their homelands, there has yet to be a mass exodus, officials told NBC News, and it's believed they will likely stay in Iraq and Syria and fight as insurgents.
RSS Feed