Africa, France, India, UK - This Week's Terrorist Attacks

Three Americans killed in Kenya terror attack

By Ryan Browne and Michael Callahan, CNN

Washington (CNN) The Americans -- a US service member and two civilian contractors working for the Defense Department -- were killed in the attack carried out by Al-Shabaab, US Africa Command, which is responsible for military relations with nations on the continent, confirmed to CNN. Two DOD members wounded in the attack are now in stable condition and are being evacuated, Africa Command said.

The attack occurred at a Kenya Defense Force in Manda Bay, Kenya. Sources have previously told CNN that the base was used by US Special Operations forces working with the Kenyans.

Africa Command said the US uses the airfield for missions such as providing training to African allies, responding to crises and protecting US interests in the region.

The names of those who were killed and wounded have not been released.

Al-Shabaab has previously pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda.

French police shoot man wielding knife &
yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’

French police secure an area in Villejuif near Paris, France, January 3, 2020 ©  REUTERS/Charles Platiau

A man armed with a knife and yelling “Allahu Akbar” rushed at police officers in the northeastern city of Metz only two days after a stabbing attack near Paris which left one person dead and several injured.

The suspect was shot in the thigh multiple times and was on a list of individuals being monitored for links to militant and extremist groups, according to the prosecutor’s office. An investigation is currently underway to discover the man’s specific motivations. His name has not been released.

Metz public prosecutor Christian Mercuri added that the suspect is known to have a “personality disorder.” The prosecutor’s office is currently in contact with the French anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office about the attack. 

Of course he does, as do all radical and fundamentalist Muslims. See: Dr Wafa Sultan's statement on 'Islamic Insanity' - Sidebar - http://northwoodssaveachild.blogspot.com/

“I praise the quick thinking of the @PoliceNat57 (Moselle police force), which intervened to apprehend the individual. A probe is underway to determine the precise motivation and circumstances behind the act,” French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner wrote on Twitter.  

Immigration Activist Stabbed to Death By Immigrant She Was Housing

This incident occurred only two days after a man went on a rampage with a knife just outside of Paris in the suburb of Villejuif. That attack left one person dead and two injured, the assailant was shot and killed by responding officers. (See story immediately below).

French prosecutors treating deadly stabbing
outside Paris as terror attack

French anti-terrorist investigators said Saturday they have taken over the probe into an attack by a knife-wielding man who killed one person walking with his wife in a park south of Paris before being shot dead by police.

Police said the man, identified as 22-year-old Nathan C., attacked several people around lunchtime Friday in the suburb of Villejuif and they initially treated the incident as a criminal, not terrorist, incident.

But in a statement, the French national anti-terrorist investigation body (PNAT) said that while Nathan C. was known to have had psychiatric problems, worrying evidence had also emerged about his conversion to Islam and radicalisation.

“Investigations over the past few hours have allowed us to establish that he was certainly radicalised (and to show)... organised preparation for his move towards the act,” the statement said.

Additionally, they “showed a murderous path, thought out and chosen, of such a nature as to gravely disturb public order by intimidation or terror,” it said.

Earlier a local magistrate told a press conference that Nathan C. had shouted the Muslim invocation “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) during the attack.

Nathan C. converted to Islam in mid-2017 and is believed to have suffered serious psychiatric problems since he was child, with several spells in hospital. In June stopped treatment he was being given.

Police found literature characterized as Salafist in a bag after the attack, Philippe Bugeaud of the Paris investigative police told the press conference.

There was also a letter “with phrases fairly typical of a Muslim man who self-flagellates and who knows that he may be about to take the plunge,” Bugeaud added.

Nathan C.’s apartment in Paris also bore “every sign that it was going to be no longer lived in,” magistrate Laure Beccuau said.

Nathan C. apparently spared a first person who said he was a Muslim and had recited a prayer in Arabic, she said.

He then attacked the couple, killing the husband and seriously injuring the wife before wounding a woman jogger in the back.

Beccuau said the two women had now left hospital.

France remains on high alert after being hit by a string of attacks by jihadist extremists since 2015, with more than 250 people killed in total.

HMP Whitemoor: Terror police probe assault on prison officer

BBC

The assault by two inmates at Whitemoor was "quickly resolved," the prison service said

A prison officer at a maximum security jail has been attacked by two inmates wielding bladed weapons and wearing fake suicide vests.

The attack, in which four other prison staff were injured, happened this morning at HMP Whitemoor near March, Cambridgeshire, as cells were unlocked.

One officer, thought to be the initial target, was stabbed and slashed, the others had rushed to help.

One of the inmates is a terrorist prisoner, the other a violent offender.

The officer's injuries are not thought to be life threatening and no arrests have been made.

While BBC doesn't report it, other media outlets say the attackers yelled 'Allahu Akbar' as the attacked the guards.

The Met Police said its counter-terrorism command unit had been called in "due to certain circumstances relating to this incident".

Like for instance - they were both radicalized Muslims and they yelled 'Allahu Akbar'? But we wouldn't want to say that on BBC lest someone get the idea that Muslim radicals are violent and insane.

A spokesman said it was "deemed appropriate" for counter-terrorism officers to respond.

"However, we must stress that at this early stage of the investigation we are keeping an open mind with regards to any motives and enquiries to establish the full circumstances of the incident are ongoing," they added.

A prison service spokesman said: "The incident was quickly resolved by our brave staff and our thoughts are with the injured officers at this time.

"We do not tolerate assaults on our hardworking officers and will push for the strongest possible punishment."

In a tweet, the general secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA), Steve Gillan, wrote: "Having liaised with the Whitemoor committee today an official statement will be made tomorrow morning by the POA in a press release.

"Nothing will be said on social media by the POA that compromises an ongoing police investigation into a very serious incident."

HMP Whitemoor houses more than 400 Category A and B prisoners on three wings, including a number of the highest-risk inmates.

In February last year, a "small number" of prison staff there had to receive medical treatment after violence broke out.

11 suspects charged for seeking to establish
‘Islamic rule through jihad’ in India

FILE PHOTO: Indian Anti Terrorist Squad commandos and local police outside a suspected militant's house ©  Reuters / Pawan Kumar

An Indian counter-terrorism unit has named 11 suspects it says were involved in organizing religious courses which called for “jihad” to establish “Islamic rule” in India, carrying out a wave of arrests in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The suspects “conspired and conducted religious classes with the objective of establishing Islamic rule in India, through violent jihad and promoting unlawful activities,” India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The accused were charged with criminal conspiracy for their role in the religious courses, and most have already been taken into custody as part of an ongoing investigation, the agency added.

Dubbed the “Ansarullah case” – or “Supporters of God” in Arabic – the probe was first opened last July, when investigators uncovered a burgeoning terror cell with links to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The cell proselytized a violent message through courses on how to wage “jihad” and create an Islamic “caliphate.” The group was also thought to have collected funds to finance a terror operation in India.

Police raids in both India and the UAE last year led to the arrest of 16 suspects, five of which were thought to have ties to the notorious Islamic State terrorist outfit. It is unclear whether any of the 11 named in Wednesday’s charge sheet were affiliated with any other known militant groups.

Battleground Niger: Almost 90 people dead

in jihadi attack on army base

FILE PHOTO: A Nigerien security agent participates in a simulated raid on a militant camp © 

More than two dozen soldiers were killed in a suspected jihadist attack on an army base in Niger, near the border with Mali. 63 attackers also died in the onslaught.

The attack took place at Chinagodrar on Thursday, and is the latest in a slew of terror attacks on the Nigerien army on the country’s western border. Nigerien Defense Department spokesman Colonel Souleymane Gazobi blamed the attack on “terrorist elements.”

The attack comes a month after 71 Nigerien soldiers were slain by Islamist terrorists at another outpost near the Malian border. The attack, a Defense Department spokesman said, was of “unprecedented violence,” and was marked by “artillery fire and the use of suicide bombers by the enemy.”

Much of western Niger has been under a state of emergency for more than two years, as attacks from militants based in Mali are commonplace. Fighters aligned with Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have been blamed for the attacks, which have hammered the Nigerien military for several years.

Across the border in Mali, French troops are currently engaged in counterterrorism operations against these militants, and carried out France’s first armed drone strike against terrorists in Mali late last month. French troops were initially deployed to Mali in 2013 to quell a jihadist insurgency, but have remained on the ground as the insurgents expanded their reach to Burkina Faso and Niger, using Mali as a staging area for attacks.

U.N.: Terrorism reaches unprecedented levels

in West Africa, Sahel

By Don Jacobson

The Sahel region of Africa is experiencing an unprecedented upsurge in terrorism, a top U.N. official said this week. File Photo by Nicolas Remene/EPA-EFE

(UPI) -- West Africa and the Sahel region are suffering from an unprecedented upsurge in terrorism aimed at military and civilian targets, a top United Nations official said.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, head of the U.N. Office for West Africa and the Sahel told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday the region was under "relentless" attack from terrorists in countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, where terrorism-related casualties have jumped five-fold since 2016.

"The humanitarian consequences are alarming" for the region, which is experiencing "a devastating surge" in jihadist terrorist attacks, he said.

Chambas noted that West Africa and the Sahel, a semi-arid belt stretching 2,400 miles across the breadth of the continent, had seen more than 4,000 deaths in 2019 alone as compared to some 770 three years earlier.

The most significant new development has seen the focus of terrorist attacks shifting eastward from Mali to Burkina Faso, while the West African coastal states are also under a greater threat.

The terrorism wave has uprooted about 500,000 people in the region, a tenfold increase in displacement from recent years.

The U.N. official noted terrorist attacks in the Sahel are often linked to efforts by "violent extremists" to engage in organized criminal activities such as the weapons trade and illegal artisanal mining, flourishing in areas where state control is weak.

Chambas, however, noted that governments, local group and regional organizations are organizing and fighting back to in response to the situation.

However, they are obviously losing and need considerably more help. 

Man 'plotted terror attacks on London tourist hot spots'

The London Pride parade was among the potential targets, the court heard

A man who was cleared over a sword attack on police outside Buckingham Palace went on to plan a series of terror attacks, a court has heard.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 28, was found not guilty of a terror charge over an incident outside the palace in 2017, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

He is accused of later planning attacks on places including London's Madame Tussauds and London Pride parade.

Mr Chowdhury, of Kirkwood Road, Luton, denies the charge.

He appeared in court alongside his sister, Sneha Chowdhury, 25, who is accused of doing nothing to stop his plans.

Ms Chowdhury, of the same address, denies two charges of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.

Woolwich Crown Court heard that, in the attack outside Buckingham Palace in August 2017, two unarmed officers suffered cuts to their hands when they fought to disarm Mr Chowdhury as he shouted repeatedly "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest).

Mr Chowdhury had claimed the incident outside Buckingham Palace had been an attempt at suicide.

But the prosecution told the court that after he was cleared at the Old Bailey, Mr Chowdhury bragged to undercover officers who had him under surveillance that he had deceived the jury.

He also unwittingly confided in the officers, who were working to earn his trust from January 2019, plans to target busy London tourist attractions, with Madame Tussauds and an open-top tourist bus among the potential targets discussed, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said.

Sneha Chowdhury is accused of doing nothing to stop her brother's plans

"Believing them to be as sincerely committed as he was, he told them of his devotion to the cause of violent Islamic extremism, the basis for this devotion and the skewed religious beliefs that underpinned it," Mr Atkinson said.

He said Mr Chowdhury was "motivated by dreams of martyrdom for the cause of Islam, and inspired by preachers of hate".

"The object was to unleash death and suffering on non-Muslim members of the public who happened to be present, using a firearm, sword and even a van as part of an attack," he said.

The prosecutor told jurors they could consider Mr Chowdhury's "assertions" to the undercover officers that he was "indeed trying to carry out a terrorist attack in 2017 and that he had deceived the earlier jury that acquitted him of it".

Mr Atkinson added: "Whatever the position in 2017, he was unquestionably preparing for terrorism in 2019."

Madame Tussauds is a top tourist attraction famed for its waxworks of celebrities and historical figures

Mr Atkinson said Mr Chowdhury's sister had "better reason than anyone" to understand what her brother was thinking and wanting to achieve, but she did nothing to stop him.

The prosecution said Mr Chowdhury used his sister's bank account on 10 March 2019 to buy two Red Oak Bokken wooden training swords, which were delivered to their home address.

Mr Chowdhury was also able to buy a replica Glock gun and looked into firearms training, Mr Atkinson said.

He also sought to involve the undercover officers in his firearms-related training and carrying out terrorist attacks, Mr Atkinson added.

In the lead up to the Buckingham Palace incident he had made references on WhatsApp to the "Westminster jihad attacker"' Khalid Masood, who had killed five people in March 2017, and wrote it was "a good way to go".

Mr Chowdhury is charged with one count of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and of disseminating terrorist publications.

30 Killed in Nigeria Bomb Blast on Crowded Bridge

By Reuters

FILE - People cross a bridge linking Cameroon and Nigeria at Gamboru in Borno, Nigeria, April 27, 2017. An improvised explosive device that detonated on the bridge Jan. 6, 2020, killed at least 30 people.

At least 30 people were killed in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno after an improvised explosive device detonated on a bridge, sources told Reuters on Monday.

The bomb detonated at roughly 5 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) on a crowded bridge in the market town of Gamboru that leads into neighboring Cameroon.

Witnesses in the market town said more than 35 injured people were taken to the local hospital following the attack.

"It is an unfortunate day for us to witness this frustrating and devastating incident in our community," eyewitness Modu Ali Said told Reuters.

"I just heard a loud sound of explosions, before I realized I saw many of our friends and colleagues were killed," Said added.

Two sources with the Civilian Joint Task Force, a group of citizens formed to fight Boko Haram, confirmed the attack and the early death toll estimates.

No group immediately took responsibility. Both Boko Haram and the regional offshoot of Islamic State, known as ISWAP, are active in the area.