Terrorism infoNew, interactive 2011 counterterrorism resource available
The national Counterterrorism Center has developed a multi-media Web site which offers useful information on terrorism; among other things, the site offers an an interactive map with information on specific terrorist activities and their relative geographical locations, as well as an interactive timeline that features wanted and captured terrorists, and other terrorism-related events
Terrorist profiles, terrorist group details, timelines, and maps are now available to the public through the National Counterterrorism Center’s (NCTC) newly released multi-media Web site.
What began as a wall calendar within the intelligence community during the 1990s, has been transformed into a Web site that encompasses an interactive map with information on specific terrorist activities and their relative geographical locations, as well as an interactive timeline that features wanted and captured terrorists, and other terrorism-related events.
Information on seventeen terrorist groups from the Al Shabaab, the Islamist insurgent group fighting to overthrow the Somali government, to the Kongra-Gel, the Kurdish separatist group active in northern Iraq, is provided along with an interactive map.
The timeline portion of the Web site organizes historical and terrorist events based on the month and date of their occurrence, such as the founding of the Arab league on 22 March 1945, all the way up to 11 February 2010, when fifteen civilians were kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo. No mention of the Moscow bombing is made on the timeline, even though “Moscow airport blast to force security rethinking” (25 January 2011 HSNW).
Following the release of the counterterrorism calendar in 2009, NCTC spokesperson, Leslie Jewell, commented on the resource’s utility:
A calendar featuring terrorist incidents, bad guys with bounties on their heads, deadly chemical agents, and terrorist organizations may not sound like the typical desk calendar to most Americans, but it’s a prized resource for law enforcement and national security personnel. In addition to profiles on known terrorists and terrorist organizations, the calendar provides invaluable first-responder information on suspicious substances, a variety of biological and chemical threats, and indicators of suspicious financial activity and forged documents. Our multimedia web version of the calendar provides easier, broader access to this information for emergency services providers, government personnel, researchers, and the general public.
For those who wish to have the information at hand, the NCTC allows for visitors to download the resource in a 160 page-long PDF.
