Terrorism

Hundreds of vile Islamic State supporters have joined a secretive internet network applauding the London Bridge attack. MI5 are probing messages of hate on secretive encrypted apps, some of which falsely claim more attackers joined knife maniac Usman Khan. Khan, a convicted terrorist who left prison last year, murdered Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, before being shot dead by police on Friday. One fanatical jihad supporter tells fellow chatroom users the attack was launched by “Islamic State fighters” in response to “calls to target the nationals of the coalition countries”. A photograph of three police officers lining up to tackle Khan mocks them with the caption: “British police in the face of the Islamic State lions carrying a knife!” Another claims there was “not one but two attackers”. One sick poster shows a jihadist watching as Big Ben blows up and another posted before the attack shows an explosion on Tower Bridge. A … [Read more...] about Vile ISIS fans in secret internet network applauding London Bridge terror attack

The grief-stricken girlfriend of a Cambridge graduate killed in the London Bridge terror attack has paid a touching tribute to him and his work to help life's "underdogs". Just hours after she broke down at a vigil, Leanne O'Brien posted an inspiring message of hope in memory of her boyfriend Jack Merritt. She wrote on Facebook : "My love, you are phenomenal and have opened so many doors for those that society turned their backs on. "Together, we will make a difference." Mr Merritt, 25, and fellow University of Cambridge graduate Saskia Jones, 23, were stabbed to death when convicted terrorist Usman Khan, 28, launched his rampage at Fishmongers' Hall. The victims were murdered by an extremist they were trying to help after he was released from prison on licence in December last year. It has emerged that Mr Merritt was the first person to confront Khan - who was armed with two kitchen knives and a fake suicide vest - when the attack began just before 2pm on Friday. Mr Merritt, from … [Read more...] about Girlfriend of London Bridge terror victim posts inspiring message of hope

A Brisbane man has faced court accused of giving video editing software to a relative who was working for the media unit of the Islamic State terrorist organisation. The 27-year-old faced Richlands Magistrates Court on Wednesday, charged with attempting to provide support to a terrorist organisation, Australian Federal Police say. Police allege the Algester man provided video-editing software to a relative who had travelled to the conflict zone - and was working for the media unit of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). A Brisbane man has faced court accused of giving video editing software to a relative who was working for the media unit of the Islamic State terrorist organisation (stock image) He was arrested after a joint raid by ASIO and federal and state police in Algester on Tuesday. He was charged with attempting to provide support to a terrorist organisation, contrary to two sections of the criminal code, which carry a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment. … [Read more...] about Australian IT geek is charged with terrorism ‘after giving video editing software to a relative who became a press officer for ISIS’

It has been a deeply depressing week: bombings in Iraq, scores dead in a Pakistani church, a new alliance of extremist Islamic brigades formed in Syria and the siege of a top-end mall in Nairobi, with at least 72 people killed by militants from the Somalia-based al-Shabaab group. Twelve years after the 9/11 attacks, our tolerance for such violence is higher. But every few months, there is an incident that is sufficiently close to home, literally when a soldier is killed on the streets of London, or figuratively when weekend shoppers are targeted, to provoke the existential dread that is the aim, by definition, of terrorism. There are, however, several reasons to be more cheerful about the future than the week's events might suggest. First, the al-Qaida central leadership is, most analysts agree, very much weaker than before. The death of Osama bin Laden crippled an organisation that owed much of its influence to its media image. The current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is an effective … [Read more...] about Does the carnage in Nairobi mean jihadist terror is resurgent?

US-led airstrikes have killed a French jihadi based in Syria who was linked to the chief planner of November’s Islamic State atrocities in Paris and was “actively planning” new attacks, the Pentagon has said. Pentagon spokesman Col Steve Warren named the dead man as Charaffe al-Mouadan, a French national, who he said had a direct link to the Paris attack cell leader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and was killed on 24 December. It appeared to be the first successful targeting of anyone directly linked to the deadliest attack on civilians in France since the second world war, and in line with pledges by the US president, Barack Obama, and other western leaders that terrorism would not go unpunished. “Al-Mouadan was actively planning attacks against the west,” Warren said. “We will hunt Isil [Isis] leaders working to inspire attacks against US and our allies. As long as Isil external attack planners are operating, the US military will hunt them and kill … [Read more...] about Isis jihadi linked to Paris terror attacks killed in US-led airstrikes, says Pentagon