361Security
  • Intelligence
    • Blogs >
      • Paul Ashley
      • Brandon Scott >
        • Book
      • Haqmal
    • Analysis
    • Regions >
      • Global
      • Africa >
        • Kenya
        • Nigeria
        • Somalia
      • Asia >
        • Afghanistan
        • Myanmar (Burma)
        • India
        • North Korea
        • Pakistan
      • Europe >
        • Russia
      • Latin America >
        • Brazil
        • Colombia
        • El Salvador
        • Honduras
        • Mexico
        • Venezuela
      • Middle East >
        • Iran
        • Iraq
        • Jordan
        • Kuwait
        • Lebanon
        • Libya
        • Saudi Arabia
        • Syria
        • Turkey
        • Yemen
    • 'The First 300' Project
  • Services
    • US Government Services
    • Jobs Portal >
      • Leads
    • Shop
    • External Links
    • Consulting
    • Human Security
    • Development Nexus
    • Request For Information
    • Market Security
    • Key Leader Dossiers
    • Information Security
    • Literature Reviews
    • Cultural Intelligence
    • Research Resources
    • Forums (Beta)
    • Files
    • Security & Stability
    • Terrorist Profiles
  • Communications
    • About
    • Advertising
    • Public Affairs
    • Contributors >
      • Zachary Alpert
      • Paul Ashley
      • Michael Bassett
      • Ben Eden
      • Jeffrey Hawn
      • Nick Heras
      • Attila Laczko
      • Brandon Scott
      • Chris VanKirk
    • Mailing List

Terrorist and Security Report - Europe

10/16/2015

Comments

 
Europe – Six European Union warships have started military operation, patrolling international waters in the Mediterranean Sea to catch human traffickers who bring refugees to Europe it was reported on the 7 Oct 15.  The mission off the coast of Libya - the departure point for many of the refugees - launching on the 7 Oct includes an Italian aircraft carrier, a French frigate and one British, one Spanish and two German ships.  On board the Werra, one of the German ships taking part, the 100-person strong crew has already carried out several exercises, including a simulation of an attack carried out by traffickers, to which they responded by opening fire.  For this mission, the team includes sailors trained in boarding ships on the high seas, the Werra's captain Stefan Klatt said.  The EU gave the go-ahead for the operation in international waters in Sep 15 but its ships are not, for now, allowed to pursue traffickers into Libyan waters.  "We follow the traffickers and want to arrest them and seize their ships," the captain said, adding that he'll get as close to Libyan waters as he can.  At least three other vessels supplied by the Belgian, British and Slovenian navies are expected to arrive in the area at the end of October to complete the force, which also include four aircraft and 1,318 personnel.  The planning of the mission -  EUNAVFOR MED -  started in Jun 15 with the first phase focusing on compiling and analysing information on the trafficker networks.  Over the past few weeks, it has identified 20 "escort" boats - the type used by traffickers who take people out to sea in fishing boats and dinghies before leaving them and returning to Libya in the escort boat.  It could have taken action against all of the 17 Libyan and three Egyptian "escort" boats spotted, had phase two of the operation already been up and running.  On the map, the operation will patrol over 10 areas off the Libyan coast: four along the 12-nautical mile mark which separates international from Libyan waters, and the others further out to sea.  The whole of the north-western coast of Libya from the Tunisian border to Sirte will be on lockdown, apart from an area directly in front of Tripoli, left open to prevent a total maritime blockade.  Traffickers hoping to take people out of the area by boat will still run into EUNAVFOR MED once they get into international waters.  But the operation will need a green light from the UN Security Council and Libyan authorities to venture into Libyan waters - authorisation which appears to be still some way off.
 
Europe – Moldovan police working with the FBI are reported to have stopped four attempts by smugglers to sell nuclear material to extremists in the Middle East over the past five years.
The most recent case was in February when undercover agents were offered a large amount of radioactive caesium it was reported on the 7 Oct 15.  Investigators say much of the material is believed to come from Russia.  They say some gangs have alleged links to Russia's intelligence services.  Police and judicial authorities in Moldova shared information with to highlight how dangerous the nuclear black market has become, the report said.  They say the deterioration in relations between Russia and the West has made it more difficult to know whether smugglers are succeeding in selling radioactive material originating from Russia abroad.  "We can expect more of these cases," said Moldovan police officer Constantin Malic, who investigated all four cases.  "As long as the smugglers think they can make big money without getting caught, they will keep doing it."   In many cases deals were broken up by police in the early stages but ringleaders managed to escape - possibly with their nuclear contraband.  In the case involving the caesium, the would-be smuggler wanted 2.5m Euros (£1.8m) for enough radioactive material to contaminate several city streets.  At a club in the Moldovan capital Chisinau he told a potential client - who was really an informant: "You can make a dirty bomb, which would be perfect for the Islamic State. If you have a connection with them, the business will go smoothly."  A sample vial of less-radioactive caesium 135 was produced and police pounced, arresting the man and two others.
The three other thwarted deals.  In 2010 three people were arrested after a sawn-off piece of a depleted uranium cylinder was exchanged for cash.  Investigators broke up a deal in 2011 to sell weapons-grade uranium to a potential buyer in the Middle East  Late last year a sample of unenriched uranium was exchanged for $15,000 (£9,800). Six people were arrested but five got away.  It is not clear whether the cases in Moldova indicate a more widespread nuclear smuggling operation, the report says.  Eric Lund, spokesman for the US State Department's bureau in charge of non-proliferation said Moldova had taken "many important steps" to strengthen its counter nuclear smuggling capabilities.
 
Germany – Islamic State militants have been making their way into Germany mingling with tens of thousands of asylum-seekers arriving in this country, according to German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere on the 3 Oct 15.  Germany's intelligence services have regularly received inputs about attempts by ISIS militants or other radical islamist groups to smuggle their people into the country and this heightened fears that there may be terrorists among the refugees, he said.  The secret services, however, have no concrete indication that extremists having orders to carry out attacks are among the migrants, even though "such a danger is always a possibility," he said.  He also spoke of the threat posed to Germany's internal security by extremist Islamic organisations such as salafists who try to radicalise the refugees by indoctrinating them in their reception centres and to "use them for their purposes. 
Intelligence agencies have information that these groups are trying to recruit fighters for the war in Iraq and in Syria and very often, minors are their targets.  Around 790 jihadists from Germany have already travelled to that region to join the ISIS forces.  Germany's interior ministry estimates that more than 60,000 refugees have entered the country since the beginning of this year and for the whole year it expects their number would go up to 800,000.
 
Spain – Spain's Interior Ministry says Spanish and Moroccan police have arrested 10 people on suspicion of recruiting jihadi fighters for the Islamic State group.  Four of the suspects, two men and two women, were arrested in Spain, with raids taking place in Badalona, Toledo and Valencia, while the other six arrests happened in Morocco, a ministry statement says on the 4 Oct 15.  The women arrested in Spain were both Moroccans, while one of the men was a Spanish national of Moroccan ancestry and the other a Portuguese citizen converted to Islam. All are suspected of recruiting people to fight in Syria and Iraq, the statement says.  The arrests took place on Sunday and investigators also seized a considerable amount of computer equipment and data which is being analyzed, the statement says.
 
United Kingdom – Will Kerr, Police Service of Northern Ireland assistant chief constable, said on the 2 Oct 15 that the threat from the New IRA, Continuity IRA, and Óglaigh na hÉireann (ONH) was at present severe, and that a dissident republican terror attack is “highly likely.” Kerr said the main armed republican groups which oppose the ceasefire would aim to ramp up their violence ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising against British rule in 2016. He noted that the republican dissidents had honed their skills and improved their rocket and bomb-making technology by studying improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Islamist insurgents in Iraq.  Northern Ireland’s most senior counter-terrorism officers say that a dissident republican terror attack is “highly likely.”  The chief constable of Northern Ireland, George Hamilton, appearing alongside Kerr, agreed with Kerr on the danger posed by the three main armed republican groups which oppose the peace process. He said that how the PSNI respond to the threat is “critically important for public confidence.”  Analysts say that PSNI recruits from the Catholic/Nationalist community in Northern Ireland remain high on the dissident terror groups’ hit list. They note that Sinn Fein has given its backing to the PSNI, but that there has been a drop in the number of Catholic/Nationalist recruits to the police.  Will Kerr said the main armed republican groups which oppose the ceasefire would aim to ramp up their violence ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising against British rule in 2016.  Kerr also noted that the republican dissidents had honed their skills and improved their rocket and bomb-making technology by studying improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Islamist insurgents in Iraq.  Kerr estimated that there was a “hardcore of several hundred” hardline republican activists keeping the armed republican campaigns going.  He said there was “certainly an ambition” by dissident republicans dramatically to increase their violence in the lead-up to the centenary of the 1916 rising.

Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    Archives

    July 2023
    June 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    February 2019
    December 2018
    April 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011

    Categories

    All
    Afghanistan
    Africa
    Algeria
    Al Nusrah Front
    Al-Nusrah Front
    Al Qaeda
    Al Qaeda
    Al Shabaab
    Al-Shabaab
    Americas
    AMISOM
    Anarchists
    Ansar Al Sharia
    Ansar Al-Sharia
    Anti-Semitic
    AQAP
    AQIM
    Arab Spring
    Arab-spring
    Argentina
    Asia
    Asymmetrical Warfare
    Australia
    Austria
    Baghdad
    Bahrain
    Bangladesh
    Belgium
    Blackmarket
    Boko Haram
    Bomb
    Borneo
    Bosnia
    British
    Burundi
    Cairo
    Caliphate
    Cameroon
    Canada
    Car Bomb
    Cartels
    Caucasus
    Central-african-republic
    Chad
    Charity
    Chechen
    Chechnya
    Chile
    China
    Colombia
    Crime
    Crimea
    Cuba
    Czech
    Denmark
    Diaoyu
    Djibouti
    Drug Trafficking
    Dubai
    Egypt
    Elections
    Eln
    El-salvador
    Eta
    Ethiopia
    Europe
    Execution
    Explosives
    Farc
    Fatah
    Financing
    France
    Gas-attacks
    Gaza-strip
    Germany
    Global
    Golan-heights
    Great Britain
    Greece
    Guantanamo-bay
    Gulf Cooperation Council
    Hamas
    Haqqani
    Haqqani-network
    Hezballah
    Holland
    Hostage
    Human Trafficking
    Ied
    India
    Indonesia
    Inspire
    Insurgency
    Iran
    Iraq
    Ireland
    Isil
    Isis
    Islamic-revolutionary-guard
    Islamic State
    Islamist
    Israel
    Italy
    Japan
    Jeffrey Hawn
    Jerusalem
    Jihadist
    Jordan
    Kabul
    Kashmir
    Kenya
    KGB
    Kidnapped
    Kidnapping
    Kosovo
    Kurdistan
    Kuwait
    Latin America
    Latin-america
    Lebanon
    Lej
    Let
    Libya
    London
    Los Zetas
    Maghreb
    Malaysia
    Mali
    Maoist
    Maritime
    Mauritania
    Mecca
    Mek
    Mend
    Mexico
    Middle East
    Milf
    Militants
    Militia
    Mogadishu
    Morocco
    Mortar-attack
    Muslim-brotherhood
    Myanmar
    Narcotics
    NATO
    Netherlands
    Niger
    Nigeria
    Northan Ireland
    North Korea
    Norway
    Nuclear
    Pakistan
    Palestine
    Peru
    Philippines
    Pij
    Pipe-bomb
    Pira
    Piracy
    Pirates
    Plf
    Plfi
    Poland
    Portugal
    Presidential-elections
    Propaganda
    Puntland
    Putin
    Qatar
    Quds-force-brigade
    Reconnaissance
    Rocket-attack
    Russia
    Sahrawi-republic
    Salafist
    Saudi Arabia
    Saudi Arabia
    Security
    Senegal
    Senkaku
    Serbia
    Shooting
    Sierra-leone
    Sinai
    Small Arms Proliferation
    Smuggling
    Somalia
    South-africa
    South-sudan
    Space
    Spain
    Spectacular
    Sri-lanka
    Strategic Defense
    Sudan
    Suicide Attack
    Switzerland
    Syria
    Tahrir
    Taliban
    Tanker
    Tanzania
    Terrorism
    Terrorists
    Terrorist Threat
    Thailand
    Threats
    Training
    Ttp
    Tuareg
    Tunisia
    Turkey
    UAE
    Uganda
    Ukraine
    UN
    United Kingdom
    United-nations
    United States
    Uvied
    Uyghur
    Vbied
    Vehicle-borne-ied
    Warfare
    Weapons
    West-bank
    Worldwide
    Yemen

    RSS Feed

© 2011 - 2023