6 March 2014
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6 March 2014 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY THE PTSS DAILY began as a FLASH POINTS means of keeping PTSS Marshall Center Alumni abreast of news GLOBAL STRATEGIC OVERVIEW related to terrorism. THE PTSS SPECIAL: LEGAL ISSUES IN CBT DAILY is neither an academic COUNTERTERRORISM NEWS BY journal nor the effort of a research NATION & REGION directorate or a large staff. Early each morning, articles ALGERIA that are cited in THE PTSS DAILY are culled from AUSTRALIA hundreds of sources with the intent of providing you BAHRAIN with the most current news, discussions and commentary CAMEROON CANADA on terrorism and related issues such as piracy or narco- EGYPT terrorism. These articles, curated from news media, GERMANY academic and international sources or submitted by IRAN many of you, give our growing network a snapshot of IRAQ this pernicious threat. NIGERIA PAKISTAN/AFPAK Every effort is made to ensure that credible articles are PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA chosen, but the intent of THE PTSS DAILY is to deliver QATAR wide coverage. You – the professional – must be the RUSSIA final discriminator on the merit of a particular article and SOMALIA its value to your profession. To ensure that THE PTSS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DAILY is both relevant and valuable to the reader, we AL QA’IDA & AFFILIATES welcome and highly encourage comments from you. COMMENTARY & OPINION CYBER WARFARE GEORGE C. MARSHALL LEGAL ASPECTS & LAWFARE EUROPEAN CENTER FOR SECURITY STUDIES NETWORK NOTES LTG (Ret.) Keith W. Dayton, Director SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Dr. Robert Brannon, Dean, College of International TERRORIST FINANCING Security Studies WMD TERRORISM PTSS DAILY EDITORIAL STAFF MAJ Daryl DeSimone, Executive Editor Mrs. Brenadine C. Humphrey, Managing Editor James Wither, Contributing Editor Sam Mullins, Contributing Editor Cristian Guerrero-Castro, Global Strategic Overview Col (Ret.) Professor Nick Pratt, Founding Editor This is a Curated News Aggregation SUBSCRIPTIONS service. All material is copyrighted. For reuse, please contact original copyright To subscribe, unsubscribe, submit comments or news holder. Contributor Comments and Reader items, please e-mail: [email protected]. Comments are copyrighted by individuals. Contact the PTSS Daily for reuse permissions. Thought for the Day | back to top | "It is important to emphasize that the mere existence of credible allegations that civilians were killed or injured in these incidents does not necessarily establish any violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law. Still less does it provide clear evidence of the commission of a war crime". ~Ben Emmerson, UN Special Rapporteur UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) session in Geneva. Flash Points | back to top | JTIC Flashpoints JTIC 6 March 2014 IRAQ: At least 16 people were killed and 69 people were wounded when seven vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) and two improvised explosive devices (IEDs), were detonated by unidentified militants in six predominantly Shia Muslim areas of the capital Baghdad early on 5 March. One VBIED was also reportedly dismantled by police in the al-Jadeeda area of the city. (Al-Jazeera/Al-Shorfa) AFGHANISTAN: At least five Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were killed and 17 were wounded in a reported International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) airstrike targeting unidentified militants near an army check post in the Bandoka area of Charakh district in Logar province on 6 March. ISAF stated that it was investigating the circumstances of the incident (BBC/Pajhwok) PHILIPPINES: A teacher – identified as Alrashid Jahang - was kidnapped by 10 suspected Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) militants after the militants flagged down Jahang’s motorcycle near the village of Liang in the town of Patikul in Sulu province on 5 March. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) THAILAND: One soldier was wounded when an IED, emplaced by suspected southern separatist militants, detonated when an army patrol - providing security for teachers – attempted to remove anti- military banners on the Ban Duwa – Ban Thanon road in the Mayo district of Pattani province early on 5 March. (Bangkok Post) EGYPT: An IED emplaced by unidentified militants detonated targeting a reserve gas pipeline near the city of Port Said in Port Said governorate early on 5 March. Separately, an IED emplaced by unidentified militants detonated near a court complex in the city of Qena in Qena governorate on the same day. No casualties were reported in either attack. (Al-Shorfa/Aswat Masriya) LEBANON: Jabhat al-Nusra in Lebanon militants fired three rockets into the Beqaa Valley in Beqaa Governorate on 5 March. A casualty report was unavailable. The group claimed responsibility on its purported Twitter account, stating it carried out the attack against the "party of Iran's strongholds in response to its massacres in greater Syria”, a reference to Hizbullah militants fighting on be-half of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and vowed to carry out more attack against the group. (The Daily Star) BAHRAIN: Two children, aged 10 and 11, were wounded when an IED detonated prematurely as they attempted to plant it in the village of Daih west of the capital Manama on 6 March, under the instruction of a group of unidentified militants. The incident follows the death of three people in the same village on 3 March in an IED attack which was subsequently claimed by Saraya al-Ashta on a purported social media site run by the group, although the claim could be independently verified. (Reuters). ISRAEL/IRAN: Israeli navy forces seized a Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel Klos C in international waters off the coast between Sudan and Eritrea on 5 March, which was reportedly carrying dozens of Iranian-supplied surface-to- surface M302 Syrian-manufactured rockets, which were allegedly intended for Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip. Iranian officials, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas denied the Israeli announcement, with Hamas claiming it was a “silly joke” and “a new Israeli lie aimed to justify and prolong the blockade of Gaza”. (Reuters/BBC/Maan News Agency) PAKISTAN: In a statement released on 6 March, the central leadership of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) expressed frustration with splinter groups not abiding by the ceasefire announced on 1 March, and threatened to take action against them. TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid stated, “We have a religious obligation to uphold agreements. Some unknown forces are out to sabotage the process. If we discover that they are mujahideen groups then we would have to take them to task.” (Dawn) INDIA: Fourteen Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters were detained by police in the capital Delhi in connection with earlier clashes with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists outside the BJP headquarters in Delhi which left 28 people wounded – including 23 supporters of the two parties and four policemen – late on 5 March. The detained suspects were being held for rioting, stone pelting, damage to public property and attacking police officers. (BBC/Times of India) FURTHER READING: OSINT Summary: Suspected Taliban attack kills three Turkmenistan border guards https://janes.ihs.com/CustomPages/Janes/DisplayPage.aspx?DocType=News&ItemId=+ ++1703330&Pubabbrev=JTSM JTIC Brief: Spate of attacks highlight persistence of Uighur militancy in China’s Xinjiang https://janes.ihs.com/CustomPages/Janes/DisplayPage.aspx?DocType=News&ItemId=+ ++1702587&Pubabbrev=JTSM Unbowed and unbroken- Somalia’s Al-Shabaab emerges seemingly unscathed following internal purge https://janes.ihs.com/CustomPages/Janes/DisplayPage.aspx?DocType=News&ItemId=+ ++1702897 JTIC Country Briefing – Sudan https://janes.ihs.com/CustomPages/Janes/DisplayPage.aspx?DocType=Hybrid+Publicati ons&ItemId=+++1513421&Pubabbrev=JTIR Flashpoints courtesy of JTIC. Global Strategic Overview | back to top | Intensity based on number of fatalities, wounded and damage Today’s Conflict Areas and Intensity Low / Medium / High Syria Afghanistan Iraq At Least Five Killed, 20 Wounded In Syria Bomb Blast Al Bawaba 6 March 2014 At least five were killed and approximately 20 wounded in a bomb blast near a security headquarters in Hama, Syria. "A truck packed with explosives detonated... near a branch of the military intelligence, killing at least five people and injuring more than 20," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports. According to witnesses on the ground, two members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) blew themselves up inside base 17, an army base in the northern province of Raqa. Read more at: http://www.albawaba.com/news/hama-bomb-syria-559347 Five Taliban Killed In Eastern Afghan Province Xinhua 6 March 2014 Afghan security forces raided a Taliban hideout in eastern Laghman province, killing five militants on Thursday, a local official said. "Units of national security stormed a Taliban hideout in Badpakh district Thursday morning killing five rebels including a commander named Mullah Hazrat and his brother named Khayal," spokesman for provincial administration Sarhadi Zawak told Xinhua. Read more at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-03/06/c_133166587.htm Wave Of Violence Kills 24 Across Baghdad Al Bawaba 6 March 2014 At least 24 people have been killed in a series of attacks targeting Shia neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and security forces’ checkpoints, officials say. The officials said on Wednesday that 14 people were killed and more than 70 others injured by nine bombings that hit six different areas of the capital. Another explosion near the University of Technology in central Baghdad left three people dead and several others injured. Read more at: http://www.albawaba.com/news/iraq-baghdad-559210 Special: Legal Issues in CbT | back to top | UN Report: Killing Civilians Countering Terrorism Do Not Violate IHL Asian Tribune By Daya Gamage 6 March 2014 "It is important to emphasize that the mere existence of credible allegations that civilians were killed or injured in these incidents does not necessarily establish any violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law. Still less does it provide clear evidence of the commission of a war crime".