Category: Terrorism

Kenya announce closure of refugee camps

7/5/2016

"playground" in Dadaab Camp, Kenya

Kenya is currently hosting over 600 000 refugees in camps. They announced today that they will be closing the refugee camps. Most of the people living in the camps have fled from Somalia and the fighting there. While the majority are from Somalia there are about 250 000 who have fled violence in South Sudan, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi.

Many of the people living in the camps have been there for more than 25 years. Children born in Kenya know nothing of their parents’ home. The Dadaab camp near the Somali border is the largest in the world with over 350 000 people.

The government of Kenya announced the closure of the refugee camps last year, but bowed to international pressure to continue to maintain them. This time they have closed the Department of Refugees. A combination of economic, security and environmental concerns have been given as the reason for the move.

Kenya is currently dealing with the terrorist group Al-Shabab which is associated with Al Qaida. The terrorists were responsible for numerous deadly attacking on Kenyan civilians.

Kenya, having taken into consideration its national security interests, has decided that hosting of refugees has come to an end," CNN

Amnesty International has condemned the move to forcibly send people back to Somalia where they have a good chance of encountering violence and death.

Sources:
CDC
CNN
Amnesty International

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Gunmen in Egypt target tourists

9/1/2016

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Beach at Hurghada

Terrorists in Egypt have ramped up their attacks on tourists. On January 7th a tourist bus leaving to view the pyramids was attacked. ISIL has claimed responsibility for the violence. Gunmen on a motorcycle were reported to have attacked the tourists in Cairo with gunfire, birdshot and Molotov cocktails. An estimated 15 attackers threw flares at the security post during the melee. Only one person is in custody.

No tourists have reported injuries.

On January 8th a resort on the Red Sea was the target. The Bella Vista Resort in the town of Hurghada was attacked by two or three men who arrived by water. They were reported to be waving black flags. One attacker was killed immediately and the other is believed to have been fatally wounded as well. One of the attackers had a suicide bomb.

This latest attack saw two European tourists stabbed. Their wounds are not life threatening.

Egypt depends heavily on the tourist industry for an influx of foreign currency.

British FO Egypt travel advice January 9, 2016

But the increasing violence in the country has kept many tourists away. The Russian plane full of holiday makers that was brought down by a bomb has cast a pall over the area.

Extremists have made easy targets of tourists.

Tunisia has had its formerly lucrative tourist industry shattered by terrorists who killed 22 tourists at the national museum in Tunis and then, a further 38 were murdered at a beach resort a few months later. The resulting collapse has left those who depended on the tourist industry without means.

Libya is far too dangerous for tourism. It’s tourism industry collapsed as that country descended into civil war in 2011. It has been reported that many of the Roman ruins have been looted and damaged since chaos has come to that country.

If you decide to travel to Egypt, be sure to heed the advice of your government information services. The Canadian advice page, dated today, still lists Hurghada as a safer place to travel. Other than that it advises Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to that country.

Sources:
Al Jazeera
Al Arabiya
Canada Travel Advice

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Nigerian police bust Boko haram sleeper cell

9/12/2015

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A sleeper cell of Boko haram extremists has been destroyed in Abuja. The capital city of Nigeria had been infiltrated with the extremist followers in order to uncover soft targets and set them up for attack.

The Boko haram group reject western culture and western trappings such as education. They are particularly violent and have been blamed for the deaths of at least 17 000 people over the past six years. Over two million people have been displaced because of their terrorist tactics.

This is the same group that captured and kidnapped school girls who were writing exams. Many of the girls were married off and other sold as slaves. Many of the more than 200 girls from Chibok are still missing more than a year later.

Since the election of President Muhmmadu Buhari, there has been more effective action against the fanatics, but violence continues to dog the region. This weekend suicide bombers on an island in Lake Chad blew themselves up taking 30 people with them. Two hundred people were injured in the attack.

A former military man, Buhari has initiated sweeping reforms which now include supplying the military with bullets and footwear. While much money had been earmarked for the military under the former regime, little was actually spent on equipping the troops.

In spite of the stepped up military actions, the extremists continue their mayhem. On the weekend a group of them invaded a small town near Chibok and all but destroyed it. They looted and burned most of the town. Operating with seeming impunity, they struck the village twice. Two days earlier they rustled 200 head of cattle from the community.

The terrorist group is seeking to establish a caliphate that would enforce their philosophy. They have made friends with the terrorist of the Islamic State.

IS accepted a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in March, giving the group its first foothold in sub-Saharan Africa in its efforts to create a global caliphate. BBC

Sources:
Al Arabiya
All Africa
The Gulf Today
BBC

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Omar Khadr bail conditions eased

22/9/2015

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Khadr aged 15 handling land mine in Afghanistan

Op-Ed: Omar Khadr has had his bail conditions eased while waiting for his appeal on a war crimes sentence. He is the Canadian who was captured in Afghanistan during a fire fight. He was severely wounded at the time and has lost the sight in one eye. He was 15 at the time of the fire fight.

Khadr was transported to the Guantanamo Cuba prison camp where he spent 10 years. He confessed to the crimes that the US military brought against him after many years in the camp. He was sentenced to a lengthy prison sentence before being repatriated to Canada where he was incarcerated in an Alberta prison. Since returning to Canada, he maintains that the confession was coerced and invalid.

He has been released since with stringent conditions which included have to wear a tracking device on his ankle, having his computer monitored, living with his lawyer, and only speaking English. In a ruling today, the Alberta court ruled that he is to have the ankle device removed, his computer free of the tracking software because it interferes with the course work he is taking, he will be able to attend early morning prayers and speak to his grandparents.

His visit to his grandparents in Toronto may include a long car or bus ride. Canada’s security agency maintains a list of people who are banned from flying. It is called the Specified Persons List and the names are kept secret. The criteria for being placed on the list may be a “reasonable suspicion” of bad behavior. Unfortunately, a person who has had their name placed on the list will only find out that they are banned from a flight after they have bought a ticket and attempted to clear security.

Khadr’s permission to visit his grandparents in the company of his lawyer must be undertaken before the end of 2015. He has two weeks to complete the visit.

Khadr’s family had been supporters of the Al Qaeda movement and personal friends of the Bin Ladens. His father was killed in Afghanistan and a brother severely wounded. His mother and sister were active in the press denouncing Canada and our way of life which garnered little sympathy for their youngest son. The CBC has reported that Khadr’s mother and sister are not currently living in Canada.

This is a complex situation where there are no winners, only losers. Khadr was taken to Afghanistan by his jihadist parents. He was present during a fire fight there in which he was severely wounded. He spent his teen years in a ‘black’ prison among jihadists. A US medic lost his life and his young family mourns his death. The harm and loss go on and on.

Related reading;
Omar Khadr granted bail by Alberta judge
Omar Khadr granted bail

Sources;
CBC News
Macleans
Public Safety Canada

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Canada suspected jihadists arrested

22/5/2015

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Ten teens were briefly arrested at Montreal’s Trudeau airport. They were believed to be attempting to travel to Turkey and Syria to join the jihadist movement there. The teens’ passports were seized and they were released.

Police were tipped off by the parents of one of the teens.

The National Defense minister had the following to say about the teens’ behavior:

"The truth is that some young individuals have been seduced, often online, by an entire ideology of violence," he said. "There is no excuse for this. Every one of those individuals has grown up in this incredibly tolerant peaceful, pluralistic, prosperous, free society."

The phenomenon of Canadian children becoming enamoured of the idea of Islamic jihad is worrisome for both parents and society as a whole. This year there have been sporadic attacks on Canadians in Canada by its own citizens. And some plans have been disrupted.

A group of six teens are believed to have left Canada to join the jihadist in mid-January. One father reported the departure to the police. He was worried about his son and had confiscated his son’s passport but the boy reported it stolen and was issued a replacement.

Currently there is an investigation and trial ongoing in British Columbia in which a couple, John Nuttall and Amanda Korody are accused of plotting to blow up the legislative buildings in Victoria, BC. They are further accused of conspiracy to commit murder, of possessing explosives on behalf of terrorists and of planting pressure cooker type bombs on the legislative grounds.

Unknown to Nuttall and Korody, the ‘jihadists’ that they met were undercover police. The bombs were duds.

According to Public Safety Canada, they are aware of at least 80 people who have returned to Canada after travelling to areas where terrorists operate. They have some information of extremist travellers’ fate, but all are male. It is know that some young women travel to join the jihadists. At least one apprehended on Tuesday was female. No information on young women.

Some Canadian Extremist Travellers
·         Xristos Katsiroubas, dead
·         Ali Medlej, dead
·         Mahad Ali Dhore, presumed dead
·         Ali Mohamed Dirie, presumed dead
·         Damian Clairmont, presumed dead
·         Andre Poulin, presumed dead
·         Hassan El Hajj Hassan, wanted for murder in Bulgaria

Sources:
CBC News
Victoria Times Colonist
Public Safety Canada

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Kenya announce closure of refugee camps

Gunmen in Egypt target tourists

Nigerian police bust Boko haram sleeper cell

Omar Khadr bail conditions eased

Canada suspected jihadists arrested

Barbara McPherson

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