Daily Terrorism Weather

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24 July 2012

Al-Qa'ida

Yemen airstrikes kill at least 5 militants 24 July 2012 By: Ahmed al-Haj Cross Reference: Middle East Yemeni warplanes killed at least five al-Qaida-linked militants in overnight airstrikes against hideouts in the southern Abyan province, a security official said Tuesday.

Al-Qaeda emerges as Bulgaria bomb suspect 24 July 2012 By: Kaveh Afrasiabi Cross Reference: Europe

As the Israeli government seizes on last week's suicide bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria as an opportunity to discredit Iran and Hezbollah, the on-going investigation in Bulgaria is increasingly pointing the finger at a different culprit - al-Qaeda. As reported in Lebanese media, an al-Qaeda cell has taken responsibility for the suicide bombing that took the lives of five Israeli vacationers, as well as a bus driver and a suicide bomber. [1] This has been corroborated by Bulgarian media reports that focus on two individuals, an American and a former Guantanamo inmate from Sweden with ties to al- Qaeda. Although the DNA evidence is still under investigation, on Thursday when Bulgarian media began identifying the suspected suicide bomber as Mehdi Ghezali, US officials quickly rejected this and insisted that "there was no evidence" linking him with the bomb. The same "anonymous" US officials simultaneously told the New York Times that this was a "tit-for-tat" Hezbollah job launched by Iran in revenge for Israel killing Iranian nuclear scientists. Emboldened by the US government's endorsement of his allegations against Hezbollah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasted no time in appealing to the European Union to add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations, while vowing massive retaliation for the attack.

Source: Asia Times Online http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NG25Ak03.html

Al-Qaida leader threatens to carry out more attacks on US soil 24 July 2012 By: Jonathan Dienst An al-Qaida leader in Iraq has threatened to soon carry out an attack inside "the heart" of the U.S. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released an audio recording boasting that operatives from his al-Qaida affiliate are in the midst of planning a major terror operation. "Soon you will witness them in the heart of your homeland, as our war with you has just begun, and so await them," al-Baghdadi said.

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Federal and local security officials told NBC New York there are no new specific threats inside the U.S. The officials said that overseas terror leaders often make unsubstantiated claims and threats about targeting American interests. This latest terror threat message did not specify where or when such a plot might take place. New York, which officials say has faced more than a dozen unsuccessful terror plots since 9/11, appears not to be a target. "There is no specific or credible threat to New York at this time," said FBI New York spokesman J. Peter Donald.

Source: MSNBC http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/23/12909634-al-qaida-leader-threatens-to- carry-out-more-attacks-on-us-soil

Afghanistan

Thirteen Afghan police "defect" to Taliban 24 July 2012 By: Sharafuddin Sharafyar An Afghan police commander and 12 junior officers have defected to the Taliban after poisoning seven comrades, government officials in the western province of Farah said on Tuesday. The commander, named only as Mirwais, was in charge of a checkpoint in the Bala Boluk district when he and his unit defected to the Taliban and handed over their equipment and weapons, including military vehicles. "He was a police commander for a checkpoint in Shewan village. He joined the Taliban with a Humvee, a Ranger (SUV), radios and 20 guns," said Abdul Rahman Zwandai, a spokesman for the Farah governor. The seven police were poisoned because they refused to join the rebellion, he said. All were taken to the Farah hospital and an investigation would be launched. Farah, bordering Iran, is one of western Afghanistan's most insecure provinces, although the west is relatively secure compared to insurgent strongholds in the east and south. The defection was the first time that police had joined the Taliban and taken so much equipment with them, Zwandai said, and will worry Western backers looking to hand security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. But national intelligence officials denied reports in some Afghan media that two members of the country's High Peace Council, which leads government efforts to reconcile with the Taliban, had also defected to the insurgency.

Source: Reuters http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/24/afghanistan-police-idINL4E8IO22K20120724

Iraq

Iraq Blasts Point to Spillover 23 July 2012 By: Sam Dagher and Ali A. Nabhan

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Iraq suffered its worst day of violence in nearly two years as bombings and attacks in nearly two dozen towns left almost 100 people dead, in what Iraq's government characterized as a clear spillover of sectarian violence from neighboring Syria. Attacks broke out at dawn Monday and lasted throughout the day, targeting security and military sites and several predominantly Shiite areas across the Shiite-majority country. As late as 11 p.m. local time, reports came in of a bombing in the Hay Ur neighborhood of Baghdad, raising the death toll to at least 96 people and 318 wounded, according to official reports.

Source: The Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443570904577545231575003126.html?mod =googlenews_wsj

Middle East

Syrian forces battle rebel push on central Aleppo 24 July 2012 By: Oliver Holmes Syrian troops fought rebels trying to seize central Aleppo on Tuesday and quelled a jail mutiny on the outskirts of the northern city, killing 15 prisoners, opposition activists said. After a week of bloody battles between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and his opponents in Damascus, fighting intensified in Aleppo, a commercial city that long seemed immune to the 16-month-old upheaval convulsing Syria. Rebels seeking to capture downtown Aleppo were combating Syrian troops and intelligence men at the gates of the Old City, a U.N. World Heritage site, residents and activists said. The deaths in the prison mutiny were caused when Assad's forces used machineguns and teargas on inmates overnight, activists in contact with surviving prisoners said. Their accounts could not be verified independently due to Syrian restrictions on media access. As the struggle for Syria intensified, Western leaders seized on an admission by Damascus that it has chemical and biological arms and could use them if foreign powers intervened. "Given the regime's stockpiles of chemical weapons, we will continue to make it clear to Assad and those around him that the world is watching and that they will be held accountable by the international community and the United States should they make the tragic mistake of using those weapons," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a speech to veterans in Reno, Nevada. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Syria's chemical weapons were under "strict surveillance by the international community" and that their use would be unacceptable. Israel, which has publicly discussed military action to prevent Syrian chemical weapons or missiles from reaching Assad's Lebanese Shi'ite militant allies Hezbollah, said there was no sign any such diversion had occurred.

Source: Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/24/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8610SH20120724

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Syria threatens to use chemical weapons in case of a foreign attack 23 July 2012 Syria threatened Monday to unleash its chemical and biological weapons if the country faces a foreign attack, a desperate warning from a regime that has failed to crush a powerful and strengthening rebellion. The statement — Syria’s first-ever acknowledgement that the country possesses weapons of mass destruction — suggests President Bashar Assad will continue the fight to stay in power, regardless of the cost. “It would be reprehensible if anybody in Syria is contemplating use of such weapons of mass destruction like chemical weapons,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said during a trip to Belgrade, Serbia. “I sincerely hope the international community will keep an eye on this so that there will be no such things happening.” Syria is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas, Scud missiles capable of delivering these lethal chemicals and a variety of advanced conventional arms, including anti- tank rockets and late-model portable anti-aircraft missiles. During a televised news conference Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi stressed that the weapons are secure and would only be used in the case of an external attack. “No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used, during the crisis in Syria no matter what the developments inside Syria,” he said. “All of these types of weapons are in storage and under security and the direct supervision of the Syrian armed forces and will never be used unless Syria is exposed to external aggression.”

Source: Wall Street Journal http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/arab-league-secretary-general-ready-to- give-assad-safe-exit-if-he-steps-down/2012/07/23/gJQAHbid3W_story.html

Mortar shell from Syria lands near Israeli border 23 July 2012 By: Eli Ashkenazi and Gili Cohen In second incident this week, a mortar shell lands close to border in northern Golan Heights; IDF: It is the result of fighting between Syrian army and rebels. A mortar shell from Syria landed Monday near the Israeli border in the northern Golan Heights, a few days following a similar incident after which Israel filed a formal complaint with the UN.

Source: Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/mortar-shell-from-syria-lands-near-israeli- border.premium-1.453131

Yemen airstrikes kill at least 5 militants 24 July 2012 By: Ahmed al-Haj Cross Reference: al-Qaida Yemeni warplanes killed at least five al-Qaida-linked militants in overnight airstrikes against hideouts in the southern Abyan province, a security official said Tuesday.

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The official said the attacks late on Monday concentrated on the al-Mahfad area, where militants took refuge after they were driven out from strongholds in the city of Zinjibar and the nearby town of Jaar, both of which the army recaptured from militants two months ago. Yemeni media said earlier that the militants were consolidating their positions in al-Mahfad, quoting witnesses who said they saw military hardware headed to the area in in trucks. Local residents, cited in the reports, are appealing to the government to concentrate airstrikes against militants in the area. In Sanaa, also Monday night, gunmen fired at the car of Yahya al-Arasy, press secretary to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the official added. Al-Arasy escaped unharmed. The attackers tried to stop him during his drive home in the city's west, but he escaped by accelerating through a hail of bullets, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity according to regulations. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday that two unknown gunmen on a motorcycle assassinated a security official in Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramaout province, as he was heading home. The attackers escaped. Al-Qaida militants, after being defeated in Zinjibar, Jaar and Shoqra, have intensified their attacks mainly against security officials and ranking army officers.

Source: Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_21144009/yemen-airstrikes-kill-at-least-5-militants

Europe tightens arms embargo against Syria 23 July 2012 By: Sebastian Moffett and Justyna Pawlak Cross Reference: Europe The European Union tightened an arms embargo on Syria and expanded other sanctions on Monday to try to hasten the end of the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels that is escalating towards civil war. The new embargo rules require EU countries to search planes and ships, starting from Tuesday, if they suspect they are carrying arms, dual-use goods or equipment used for repression to Syria. "These sanctions are important because they will allow ships to be examined to see what cargo they're carrying, and that will prevent, I hope, any arms reaching Syria," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. The EU decision sharpens differences with Russia, which has provided the Syrian government with weaponry and has blocked Western moves to get a U.N. Security Council resolution threatening Syria with sanctions. All 27 EU countries must enforce the sanctions - including Cyprus, which some Western diplomats suspect is used by Russia as a shipment route to supply arms to Assad. Cypriot President Demetris Christofias has dismissed this idea as "fairy tales". Ashton said it would be up to EU governments to implement cargo inspections, which British Foreign Secretary William Hague said should damage Assad's access to weapons. "I hope it will mean that the European Union will be more effective together at preventing any flow of arms to the Syrian regime," he said.

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The tighter EU sanctions could also make it more difficult to supply weapons to Assad's opponents. U.S. intelligence officials say weapons funded by sympathizers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar are crossing the Lebanese border to the rebels. The new sanctions include a ban on the Syrian national airline that will prevent the flag carrier landing at EU airports, although it will still be able to fly over EU countries and make emergency stops.

Source: Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/us-syria-crisis-eu-idUSBRE86M0XS20120723

Netanyahu's ex-deputy warns against attacking Iran 24 July 2012 By: Jeffrey Heller Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ex-deputy said on Tuesday the Israeli leader's attempt to recruit hawkish rebels from former coalition partner Kadima was aimed at boosting cabinet support for striking Iran. Asked on Army Radio whether he believed such a political deal related to Iran had been in the works, Kadima chief Shaul Mofaz said: "I am saying this with a very heavy heart and with deep foreboding that this is happening in Israel." A spokeswoman for Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party accused Mofaz of making irresponsible comments on national security. Tzahi Hanegbi, a defector from centrist Kadima, called Mofaz's allegations fiction aimed at "stirring up fears that Israel is going to take action." Mofaz served as vice premier for more than two months in the grand coalition that Kadima subsequently left last week in a dispute over formulating a new law that would end blanket military conscription exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews. Four Kadima legislators revolted after the party bolted the government but their bid to rejoin the coalition at Netanyahu's behest failed on Monday when they could not muster the minimum seven defectors required under law to form a new faction.

Source: Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/24/us-israel-iran-idUSBRE86N0YS20120724

Turkey sends missile batteries to Syria border 24 July 2012 By: Al-Salama Cross Reference: Europe Turkey sent batteries of ground-to-air missiles to the border with Syria on Sunday, media reports said, boosting its firepower as rebels in Syria seized several border posts.

Central Asia

Tajik troops strike ex-warlord after general killed 24 July 2012 By Roman Kozhevnikov

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Tajikistan's security forces said on Tuesday they had launched a military operation in the remote eastern region of Gorno-Badakhshan against a former opposition warlord accused of killing a security services general at the weekend. The operation, using helicopter gunships, appeared to be the largest of its kind in the volatile ex-Soviet nation, which borders Afghanistan and China, since late 2010, when troops hit rebel forces in a retaliatory attack in a nearby region. Maj.-Gen. Abdullo Nazarov, head of the Gorno-Badakhshan branch of Tajikistan's State Committee on National Security (GKNB), was beaten to death on Saturday by a group of people who stopped his car in a region neighboring Afghanistan. A source in Tajikistan's security services, who requested anonymity, told Reuters that a "special operation" was under way in the autonomous region, which lies in the Pamir mountains. "Tolib Ayombekov, a former opposition warlord who now commands the Ishkashim detachment of border guards, is accused of the murder," the security source said. The GKNB, successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said in a statement: "Ayombekov and his accomplices have declined to face justice".

Source: Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/24/us-tajikistan-security-idUSBRE86N07820120724

South Asia

Chinese Consulate blast injures two 24 July 2012 By: Salis bin Perwaiz Cross Reference: East Asia A Rangers soldier and another person were injured on Monday when a bomb exploded outside the Chinese consulate, located in Clifton near the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi. Police said the bomb was planted on a motorcycle parked in front of a hotel management institute located opposite the consulate.“The police were informed about the blast at about 11:15am,” SP Farrukh Ali of the Clifton Division told The News. Two people, Rangers 72 Wing Sepoy Mohammed Irfan and a watchman of a bungalow situated near the consulate, were injured in the blast.The two men were taken to a nearby hospital. In his statement to the police, the injured soldier of the paramilitary force said he was deployed at the consulate and having a conversation with a watchman of a nearby bungalow when the explosion occurred. The SP said the bomb disposal squad and forensic experts reached the scene of the blast and after examining the site and collecting samples, they determined that the blast was carried out using a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED), weighing around 600 grammes, planted on a motorcycle. The police official said with the help of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell, it was discovered that the motorcycle belonged to a man named Ali, a resident of District Central. The police located Ali and during questioning, he informed them that he had sold the motorcycle to a shopkeeper in Akbar Road area two months ago. The police went to the shop, but it was shut due to Iftar time.

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The SP said the police had no footage of the blast as there were no CCTV cameras installed outside the consulate.

Source: The News http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-122353-Chinese-Consulate-blast-injures-two

Thousands flee violence in India's Assam, 17 killed 23 July 2012 By: Biswajyoti Das At least 17 people, including a six-month-old child, were killed and many wounded in fighting between indigenous tribes and Muslim settlers at the weekend in India's northeastern Assam state, police said on Monday. Authorities imposed a night-time curfew to prevent more violence and federal troops moved into remote areas to deal with threats of more violence. About 50,000 villagers fled their homes and took shelter in relief camps out of fear, said Donald Gilfellon, a senior civil servant in the Kokrajhar district, adding that 37 camps were set up to help the refugees and more would be opened if needed. Sparking the clashes, unidentified men killed four youths on Friday night in the state's Bodo tribe dominated Kokrajhar district, police and district officials said. In retaliation, armed Bodos attacked Muslims, suspecting them to be behind the killings. Police said unidentified groups set ablaze houses, schools, and vehicles, firing indiscriminately from automatic weapons in populated areas. The body of a six-month-old child was found by villagers on a river bank along with the body of a woman on Sunday, police said. "Seventeen people have died in the violence. Many people have left their homes because of insecurity and they are living in relief camps," a senior police officer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters by phone. Ringed by China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan, India's northeast is home to more than 200 ethnic and tribal groups and has been racked by separatist revolts since India's independence from Britain in 1947. Strong anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment against Bangladeshi settlers has emerged among Hindu and Christian tribes in recent years.

Source: Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/us-india-violence- idUSBRE86M06W20120723?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedbur ner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+ World+News%29

U.S. Missiles Kill 9 Suspected Militants in Pakistan 24 July 2012 Cross Reference: US and Canada U.S. drones fired eight missiles at a compound owned by a powerful militant commander in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing nine suspected insurgents, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

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It was unclear whether the commander, Sadiq Noor, was at the compound in Dre Nishter village in the North Waziristan tribal area during the attack. Noor is the most important commander for Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a prominent Pakistani militant focused on fighting in Afghanistan. The nine suspected militants who were killed were believed to be Bahadur’s fighters, said the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. U.S. officials rarely discuss the covert CIA-run drone program in Pakistan in detail.

Source: World Time http://world.time.com/2012/07/24/u-s-missiles-kill-9-suspected-militants-in-pakistan/

Attack on NATO supply trucks in Pakistan kills driver, injures another 24 July 2012 Gunmen in northwest Pakistan attacked two trucks ferrying supplies to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing a driver and injuring another in what was believed to be the first ambush of an alliance supply convoy since Pakistani authorities ended a seven-month blockade of the supply routes. The trucks were moving through the tribal region of Khyber on their way to the Torkham border crossing when assailants on two motorcycles drove up and opened fire with AK-47 rifles, witnesses and local authorities said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but following Islamabad’s decision earlier this month to reopen transit routes used by Afghanistan-bound NATO supply convoys, Pakistani Taliban militants had warned that they would begin launching attacks on the convoys. Pakistan shut down NATO supply routes through the country last November after U.S. airstrikes mistakenly killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border. The soldiers’ deaths were widely viewed by Pakistanis as a last straw for the troubled U.S.- Pakistan relationship, which had already been severely strained by Washington’s ongoing drone missile campaign against militants in the country’s northwest, the American commando raid deep into Pakistani territory that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011, and the release of a CIA contractor accused of killing two Pakistani men in the eastern city of Lahore in January 2011.

Source: LA Times http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/07/attack-on-nato-supply-trucks-in-pakistan- kills-driver-injures-another-.html

Southeast Asia

Scores injured in Manila protests 23 July 2012 Thousands protested the government's perceived failure to help laborers, and scores were injured in Manila, Philippines, officials said Monday.

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About 5,000 students and peasants were in the demonstration, and some burned effigies of President Benigno Aquino III and Uncle Sam, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said. The report said they were stopped from getting near the Batasang Pambansa, the National Assembly. The newspaper said 6,000 police, fire trucks and steel barricades blocked protesters. The demonstration was led by the leftist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or Bayan. The Inquirer said a scuffle broke out when a group led by the militant League of Filipino Students tried to break through the police line. Bayan said 95 protesters, mostly students, were hurt, and 11 of those injured required treatment, while the Philippine National Red Cross reported 16 injuries. Police said some officers, two television crews and a garbage truck driver were injured. The newspaper said Bayan demonstrations of varying size were conducted peacefully in provincial capitals.

Source: UPI Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/07/23/Scores-injured-in- Manila-protests/UPI-69991343060578/#ixzz21YD5XOV5

East Asia

Chinese Consulate blast injures two 24 July 2012 By: Salis bin Perwaiz Cross Reference: South Asia A Rangers soldier and another person were injured on Monday when a bomb exploded outside the Chinese consulate, located in Clifton near the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi.

Africa

Kenya to receive drones in fight against Al-Shabaab 24 July 2012 By: Luiz Sanchez Cross Reference: US and Canada In an effort to improve Kenya’s counter-terrorism operation, the US has promised to send eight drones as part of a 40+ million dollar military aid package to the African nation. The package is part of the ongoing efforts by the US to curb the power of suspected Islamist terror cells around the Middle East and Africa. “This assistance will improve the tactical effectiveness and operational reach of the Kenyan National Defence Forces engaged in CT (counter-terrorism) operations against al Shabaab in Somalia,” the Wall Street newspaper quoted a Pentagon document as saying. The Kenyan military aid package is part of a larger counter-terrorism initiative aimed at tackling Islamic militant groups such as Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab militants in the region. The

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aid promises to deliver trucks, communications gear and rifles to Burundi, Djibouti and Uganda. The drone is known as ‘Raven,’ and unlike the Predator drones, the Raven possess no offensive capabilities. The primary use of these hand-launched drones is reconnaissance, as it is mounted with infrared surveillance and real-time colour imagery, and a self-guiding GPS navigational system. The craft is meant to identify potential targets for the military, allowing them to spot the movements of suspected terror groups and neutralize them before they pose a threat. Drones have gained notoriety for their widespread use in places such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Over the past decade there have been several recorded instances where drone strikes had been carried out on civilian targets, mistaking them for enemy combatants. The use of drones with offensive capabilities has been met with disapproval by many people, mainly due to the fact that there have been so many civilian casualties as a result of the strikes.

Source: The Daily News Egypt http://thedailynewsegypt.com/2012/07/24/kenya-to-receive-drones-in-fight-against-al- shabaab/

US begins training elite counter-narcotics teams across Africa 23 July 2012 By Zoe Flood Cross Reference: US and Canada Similar units are planned for nearby Nigeria, as well as Kenya in East Africa. "We have an interest in and have been heavily invested in the region over the past few years," Jeffrey Scott, a spokesperson for the US Drug Enforcement Adminstration (DEA), told The Daily Telegraph. "We have supplemented our in-country offices with training and support similar to that provided in Afghanistan and elsewhere, with a view to ramping up the capacity of our counterparts." The move follows on from an earlier increase in US efforts to crack down on drug trafficking in Central America, according to reports in The New York Times. The American authorities are reportedly concerned that traffickers are seeking alternative routes after crackdowns in more traditional staging points including Mexico and Spain. "We see Africa as the new frontier in terms of counterterrorism and counternarcotics issues," Jeffrey P. Breeden, the chief of the DEA's Europe, Asia and Africa section, was quoted as saying in The New York Times. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), an estimated 50 tons of cocaine are trafficked through West Africa annually, while significant volumes of heroin are also believed to be in transit. Traffickers benefit from weak governance, less sophisticated surveillance and law enforcement capacity, and underdeveloped border controls. West Africa was identified as a key cocaine transit route some years ago, with then UNODC head, Antonio Maria Costa, describing Guinea Bissau as under "attack" from cocaine traffickers in 2007.

Source: The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ghana/9421456/US-

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begins-training-elite-counter-narcotics-teams-across-Africa.html

EU to back stabilisation force in Mali 23 July 2012 Cross Reference: Europe The European Union said on Monday it was ready to back the deployment of an African stabilisation force under UN mandate in Mali, and threatened sanctions against those threatening democratic change. EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels asked EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton to make "concrete proposals" on support for "the possible deployment of a well-prepared Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States) force in Mali, under a UN mandate and in conjunction with a government of national unity and the African Union." In March, Mali was rocked by a coup, which opened the way for Tuareg forces and Islamist groups, including al Qaeda-linked groups, to take control of the desert northern part of the vast west African country. Politicians in the capital Bamako are trying to form a national unity government and the putschists have stood down from power, though they remain an active force. Malian authorities have sought aid from Ecowas to help reclaim the north, but the United Nations has thus far withheld a mandate, demanding more clarity from the 15-nation west African body on its mission.

Source: News 24 http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/EU-to-back-stabilisation-force-in-Mali-20120723

Ivorian army accused of refugee attacks 23 July 2012 Displaced people at Duekoue in the volatile west of Ivory Coast have accused the army of attacking them and burning a camp while UN peacekeeping troops stood idly by. Last Friday, a big crowd from the town raided the camp for 5 000 displaced people on its outskirts, in reprisals for the death of four people allegedly killed Thursday by people from the camp. "The FRCI [Republican Forces of Ivory Coast] shot at us, and killed people," one displaced person said on Sunday, as others said the small number of Moroccan UN troops at the camp had failed to intervene. The United Nations said that at least seven people were killed in Friday's raid, but witnesses spoke of nine bodies and said the toll could be higher. The Nahibly camp outside Duekoue, which had sheltered 5 000 people, was a smoking mess of burned tents and plastic sheeting. Most people from the camp came from the Guere ethnic group, which has tense relations with the Malinke people, who made up most of the attackers, according to witnesses.

Source: News 24 http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Ivorian-army-accused-of-refugee-attacks-20120723

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Somalia: Al Shabaab Executes Three, Found Guilty of High Treason 23 July 2012 Al Shabaab executed three members who they claimed were American and British intelligence agents in the southern city of Merka, Garowe Online reports. The three men were being investigated by the Al Shabaab since the beginning of the year, according to the judge who sentenced the three men to death on Monday. The three men were executed by firing squad in the outskirts of Merka, where according to sources, people were forced to watch the executions. Al Shabaab's Lower Shabelle region head, Mohamed Abu Abdallah, who spoke shortly after the sentences said that Al Shabaab would locate any other foreign agents in their midst. "These three men are part of a group of agents that work with Western intelligence agencies, and we after the other agents," said Abu Abdallah. According to the statement made by Al Shabaab representatives, the three men executed were, Issaq Omar Hassan, Yasin Usman Ahmed who were allegedly working with the CIA, and Mukhtar Ibrahim Sheikh who was accused of working with the British intelligence agency, MI6. According to local sources, the men were accused of being behind the killing of Al Shabaab agent and foreign fighter Bilal el Berjawi who was killed earlier this year in Elasha Biyaha.

Source: All Africa http://allafrica.com/stories/201207240048.html

Europe

Cyprus: terror suspect similarity with Bulgaria 23 July 2012 A man held on suspicion of helping to plan attacks against Israeli tourists on Cyprus displayed similar behavioral patterns to a suicide bomber who killed six in a Bulgarian seaside resort, the island's justice minister said Monday, but stopped short of drawing any links between the two. Loucas Louca said that the case was "very sensitive," and although the actions were not similar "some patterns of his behavior were the same as that of the terrorist in the Bulgarian terrorist attack." Louca said the 24-year-old suspect belonged to an organization which is not on a European Union list of known terrorist groups. He declined to name the organization, or give any further details because he said the investigation is ongoing. Cyprus authorities have remained tight-lipped about the man's identity or his intended target, but have said they believe he was acting alone. State media have widely reported the suspect to be a Swedish passport holder of Lebanese descent with affiliations to Lebanon's Hezbollah, who was monitoring and recording the movements of Israeli tourists and other Israeli interests on the island. In a closed-doors hearing Monday, a Cyprus court renewed a police request to extend the suspect's detention until Friday when investigators are expected to formally charge him. The suspect was arrested two weeks ago following a tip from foreign intelligence agencies. Bulgarian officials continue to investigate last week's suicide bombing.

1 3 POTOMAC INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES I NTERNATIONAL C E N T E R F O R T E R R O R I S M S TUDIES 901 North Stuart Street Suite 200 Arlington, VA 22203 Tel. 703-562-4513, 703-525-0770 ext. 237 Fax 703-562-1000 [email protected] www.potomacinstitute.org Prof. Yonah Alexander, Director

Source: The Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/23/2908197/cyprus-terror-suspect-similarity.html

London 2012: More troops deployed for Olympics 24 July 2012 More than 1,000 troops who had been on standby to bolster security at the Olympic Games have been deployed. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the 1,200 troops were to be used because ministers were clear that "we don't want to leave anything to chance". Earlier this month 3,500 personnel were drafted in after security provider G4S admitted it was short of staff. The new deployment decision was taken at a meeting of the cabinet's Olympics committee, chaired by David Cameron. It is the latest step to strengthen security at the Games after G4S said it could not deliver enough guards. Mr Hunt told an Olympics security briefing the next 48 hours were "critical" for security and transport". Earlier, he said that the move to bring in extra troops was not because G4S's performance had deteriorated - he said it had actually improved. "With three days to go until the opening ceremony, with an incredibly busy weekend, we don't want to leave anything to chance and we just decided that this is the right measure to take because for the public the most important thing is a safe and secure Games," he said.

Source: BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18966360

Bulgarian police widen suicide bombing probe 24 July 2012 By: Atika Shubert Bulgarian police have widened their investigation into last week's bombing attack on Israeli tourists to towns near the border with Romania, asking hotels for surveillance video that might have captured the suspected bomber. Hotels in the Black Sea coastal city of Varna say police have been asking for video showing a particular suspect and are giving a sketch of the suspect to management. Investigators also have questioned workers at a car rental agency near the Black Sea coast where the man attempted to rent a car before Wednesday's attack, the agency's owner told CNN.

Source: CNN http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/22/world/europe/bulgaria-bombing-probe/index.html

Five Sentenced In Bashkortostan For Online Extremism July 23, 2012 Cross Reference: Technology and Cyber Three historians, a businessman, and an on-line journalist in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan have been given suspended jail terms for extremist activities.

1 4 POTOMAC INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES I NTERNATIONAL C E N T E R F O R T E R R O R I S M S TUDIES 901 North Stuart Street Suite 200 Arlington, VA 22203 Tel. 703-562-4513, 703-525-0770 ext. 237 Fax 703-562-1000 [email protected] www.potomacinstitute.org Prof. Yonah Alexander, Director

The five were charged with extremism in 2010 after they posted on the Internet materials calling for the creation of an administrative district -- called Ufimskaya guberniya -- that would replace the Republic of Bashkortostan. Materials were also published in which Bashkortostan's indigenous people, the Bashkirs, were depicted as an uncultured group devoted to resisting Russian dominance. The court in the city of Ufa ruled that the appeal was an attempt to overthrow by force the government of Bashkortostan. The court gave the defendants suspended jail terms of between one and four years. The defendants say they will appeal the verdicts.

Source: Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty http://www.rferl.org/content/bashkortostan-extremism/24653855.html

Turkey sends missile batteries to Syria border 24 July 2012 By: Al-Salama Cross Reference: Middle East Turkey sent batteries of ground-to-air missiles to the border with Syria on Sunday, media reports said, boosting its firepower as rebels in Syria seized several border posts. As fighting raged in Damascus and Aleppo, rebels were said to have taken control of three crossing points on the border with Turkey, which is sheltering thousands of Syrians who have fled the conflict at home. A train convoy carrying several batteries of missiles arrived in Mardin in southeastern Turkey and will be transferred to several army units deployed on the border, according to the Anatolia news agency. Television footage showed at least five vehicles in the convoy were carrying air defence missiles, in the latest show of force by Syria's one-time ally, which is now a fervent critic of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned last month after the downing of a military jet initially blamed on Damascus that it now regarded Syria as a "clear and imminent threat".

Source: Hurriyet Daily News http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-sends-missile-batteries-to-syria- border.aspx?pageID=238&nID=26114&NewsCatID=338

Europe tightens arms embargo against Syria 23 July 2012 By: Sebastian Moffett and Justyna Pawlak Cross Reference: Middle East The European Union tightened an arms embargo on Syria and expanded other sanctions on Monday to try to hasten the end of the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and rebels that is escalating towards civil war.

EU to back stabilisation force in Mali 23 July 2012

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Cross Reference: Africa The European Union said on Monday it was ready to back the deployment of an African stabilisation force under UN mandate in Mali, and threatened sanctions against those threatening democratic change.

Al-Qaeda emerges as Bulgaria bomb suspect 24 July 2012 By: Kaveh Afrasiabi Cross Reference: Al-Qaeda

US & Canada

Kenya to receive drones in fight against Al-Shabaab 24 July 2012 By: Luiz Sanchez Cross Reference: Africa In an effort to improve Kenya’s counter-terrorism operation, the US has promised to send eight drones as part of a 40+ million dollar military aid package to the African nation.

US begins training elite counter-narcotics teams across Africa 23 July 2012 By Zoe Flood Cross Reference: Africa Similar units are planned for nearby Nigeria, as well as Kenya in East Africa.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Colombian oil supplies hit by FARC attack 23 July 2012 Colombian oil supplies suffered renewed disruption after FARC armed rebels blew up a section an oil pipeline, military officials said. Crude oil poured into Colombia's river water system after the attack on the 220,000-barrel- per-day Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline. The spill was causing widespread damage to the ecology and the resulting pollution will likely cause major shortages of fish and disrupt river transport, environmental analysts said. It was the second most serious attack on government and state installations in recent weeks and appeared aimed at hitting the economy of Colombia, Latin America's fourth largest oil producer. Earlier this month, a guerrilla group attacked an oil installation in Puerto Asis, southern Colombia, killing five people and injuring three others, military officials said. The Ecopetrol oil well in was attacked with explosives and small arms fire. "It was a demented attack against the civilian population," the Colombian army said in a statement.

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It said units of the 25th Infantry Battalion were sent with the objective of launching offensive operations "against those responsible for this criminal action." Guerrillas with the Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia, know by the Spanish initials FARC, have attacked cities like Puerto Asis along the Ecuadorean border, which Colombian authorities said is a strategic area. The guerrillas can launch attacks in Colombia then cross the border into Ecuador to avoid pursuit by the army, Colombia Reports said. The 480-mile Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline is already working at about one-third of its capacity after earlier disruptions.

Source: UPI http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/07/23/Colombian-oil-supplies- hit-by-FARC-attack/UPI-18691343062990/

Technology and Cyber

Five Sentenced In Bashkortostan For Online Extremism July 23, 2012 Cross Reference: Europe Three historians, a businessman, and an on-line journalist in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan have been given suspended jail terms for extremist activities.

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