• Bus bombing signals tough road ahead for Philippines

    Al Qaeda-linked Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf is continuing its attacks in the Philippines; the latest attack, in Makati City, has killed five; last year, the same terrorist organization claimed responsibility for killing 116 people in a burning ferry in Manila Bay, the deadliest terrorist attack in the country’s history; lawmakers propose installing CCTVs on city buses

  • Lt. Col. Cabangbang flushes out Abu Sayyaf leader

    Government forces killed an Abu Sayyaf leader in an encounter at a remote village in Basilan Island, southern Philippines on Tuesday; Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist separatist group founded in the 1990s with links to external terrorist organizations, has about 400 members at present

  • Egypt's Christians fear change will not be for the better

    Egypt has the largest Christian community in the Mideast; Egypt’s Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population, increasingly live in fear of discrimination and persecution, and political change — which many outside and inside Egypt welcome — may not be a change for the better; whatever the changes bring, Egypt’s Christians are not likely to end up with someone in power as tolerant of them as even President Hosni Mubarak has been; “The Muslim Brotherhood has a long-term commitment to establishing an Islamic state under Shariah rule in Egypt,” says one expert; “The Copts and other Christians should be worried. They would be reduced to ‘dhimmi’ status — denied the right to celebrate Christmas and weddings or otherwise publicly display their faith”

  • Russian extremists remotely detonate suicide bombs

    Investigators believe that the suicide bomb in Russia’s airport was remotely triggered by a cell phone; officials found melted circuit boards that suggest a cell phone was embedded with the bomb; CCTV footage corroborates this theory; Russian extremists from the northern Caucasus often include remote triggers in their suicide bombs to allow handlers remotely to detonate the explosive device in the event that the attacker changes their mind or becomes incapacitated; in a recent failed attack, a spam text message prematurely triggered a female suicide bomber’s explosive device on New Year’s eve foiling a plot to kill hundreds in central Moscow

  • Russia fears increasing domestic radicalization

    In an increasing trend, the suspected mastermind behind the recent Russian airport bombing is an ethnic Russian who converted to radical Islam; terrorists are increasingly recruiting more ethnic Russian Muslim converts to their cause; several recent prominent figures in Islamic terrorist groups have been ethnic Russian converts; the latest suspect, Vitaly Razdobudko, is believed to also be behind a failed attack planned for New Year’s Eve; authorities have been searching for Razdobudko since he went missing last October

  • Russia's counter terrorism woes

    A recent editorial in the Washington Post illustrates Russia’s difficulties in successfully deterring terrorist attacks; the Post blasts Russian leaders citing corruption as a significant reason for their inability to successfully develop counter-terrorism policing abilities, intelligence agencies, and to secure public areas; the editorial also blames Putin’s hard line stance on the northern Caucasus region as fueling extremist movements; in 2010 terrorist attacks in the Caucasus doubled; as a stark warning, the Post reminds readers that the 2014 Winter Olympic Games is scheduled to be held on the border of the Caucuses

  • Middle East upheavals complicate U.S. counterterrorism efforts

    If the democratic surge in Egypt causes Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood to join the government, the toughest counterterrorism challenge ahead may come as U.S. officials are forced to work with this new government, seeking common ground against terrorist enemies even if the Islamic faction tries to distance Egypt from its neighbor, Israel; American political leaders have long fused counterterror aims with support for Israel, but even those Arabs — let alone more religious Islamist organizations such as the Brotherhood — who oppose al Qaeda and jihadism, insist on the distinction between terrorism, on the one hand, and what they consider as a legitimate resistance to continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands; contending with an altered Arab world landscape with rising Islamic factions could thus force hard choices on the United States

  • Free program to detect suspicious vehicles unveiled

    Funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and administered by the TSA, the First Observer program encourages parking lot operators to watch for oddities such as improperly parked cars, civilians conducting surveillance, and strange odors such as diesel from gasoline vehicles

  • The threat: The Muslim Brotherhood

    The Muslim Brotherhood, established in Egypt in the 1920s, is described by one scholar as “the mothership for the jihadi ideologies and thinking—- therefore one can say today’s Al Qaeda, and today many other jihadists, are off shoots of the Muslim Brotherhood”; among the Brotherhood’s graduates: Al Qaeda’s number two leader, the Egyptian doctor Ayman al-Zawahiri who was imprisoned for three years on weapons charges following President Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981; Hamas, the terror network behind suicide bombings and rocket attacks in Israel; the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, whose goal is the destruction of Israel

  • Western analysts, Israel: Egyptian regime will weather the storm

    Israeli and western analysts agree Egyptian regime will remain as popular uprising gains strength while government clamps down on protesters; little to no concern of Muslim Brotherhood takeover: government shuts down Internet access, cellular service, and other personal communications in an effort to contain the rebellion as turmoil spreads across Egypt; journalists under assault; former IAEA chief El-Barradai under house arrest; ruling party headquarters set ablaze

  • U.S. ditching terror color warning system

    By the end of April, terror threats to the United States will no longer be described in shades of green, blue, yellow, orange and red; the new plan for a terrorism alerts system calls for notifying specific audiences about specific threats; in some cases, it might be a one-page threat description sent to law enforcement officials describing the threat, what law enforcement needs to do about it, and what the federal government is doing, one of the officials said; the five-tiered color-coded terror warning system, created after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, was one of the Bush administration’s most visible anti-terrorism programs; the use of colors emerged from a desire to clarify the nonspecific threat information that intelligence officials were receiving after the 2001 attacks

  • U.K. changes terrorist surveillance procedures

    U.K. home secretary announces changes in manner in which terrorist suspects may be detained and questioned; modifications are in response to claims of overreaction to 9/11 and the London bus bombings; critics claim changes not enough

  • New, 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

  • Moscow airport blast to force security rethinking

    Experts say it is significant that those who masterminded the Moscow attack chose to bomb the arrivals hall of the airport — Moscow’s busiest — because it was an easier target than the heavily-policed departures area; one expert says: “Arrivals has always been thought of as the ‘soft’ area of an airport —- Nobody is flying anywhere, the baggage has all been screened, because it has been on planes already, and crucially, people are leaving the airport. It’s very rare that you ever saw somebody carrying a bag in to arrivals”; airports may begin screening people who come to meet friends and family at arrivals; “What will happen is that the barrier will get further and further back, so no longer is it just at departures, but at the airport door, or in some cases on the road as you drive up to the terminal,” says the expert

  • Khalid Sheikh Mohammed killed Daniel Pearl

    U.S. officials used a forensic technique called vein analysis to corroborate the confession of Daniel Pearl’s self-professed killer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who also is suspected of planning the 9/11 attacks on the United States; Mohammed was not part of the original plan to abduct Pearl; he told U.S. investigators that he was pulled in later by another senior al Qaeda operative; Mohammed was asked to take over because the kidnappers — midlevel and low-level Pakistani militants — did not know what to do with Pearl; Mohammed’s involvement presented al Qaeda with an opportunity for what it saw as a propaganda victory; a new report on Pearl’s assassination details problems in bringing to justice others suspected of involvement in the crime, including the recent release by Pakistan of a man thought to have been one of the main players