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Frankfurt Airport evacuation sparked by man shouting ‘I will kill you all, Allahu Akbar’ when confronted for not wearing mask
17 Jan 2021 04:22
FILE PHOTO: A flight passenger walks at Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt, Germany,
September 21, 2020. © REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
German police have taken into custody a Slovenian man who refused to wear a mask at Frankfurt Airport and threatened to kill everybody, thus prompting an evacuation of parts of the building and a train station’s closure.
Frankfurt Airport’s Terminal 1, along with its adjacent train station, was shut down on Saturday evening amid a large-scale police operation, involving both state and federal law enforcement.
It was reported initially that the evacuation was triggered by a piece of abandoned luggage. In an update on Sunday, however, police said that the disruption stems from an encounter between a maskless 38-year-old Slovenian man and patrol officers who confronted him about his lack of protective gear.
The man, who apparently was incensed at the demand, became “aggressive” towards the officers, and said: “I will kill you all, Allahu Akbar,” according to police.
Taking into account the man’s overall demeanor, the officers took the threat in earnest, and subdued him as he attempted to flee the scene. Footage circulating online appears to show a police officer pointing a gun at somebody lying on the ground inside the terminal.
Amid the frantic chase, the officers apparently lost track of the man’s luggage, which he left behind while trying to escape. “Due to the still unclear location [of the luggage], a large area of departure hall B was cordoned off,” police said, noting that a bomb unit dispatched to comb the scene soon issued the all-clear.
The 38-year-old suspect, who is known to police, has been detained for making threats and resisting officers.
Around the time of the showdown involving the maskless man, police said they received a report of an “armed person” spotted at the terminal. Believing the two incidents might be related, they ordered an additional evacuation, closing off the regional train station as well. After about 2.5 hours of meticulous search, the operation was terminated, with police failing to find any armed individuals. A separate investigation into the alleged sighting of an armed person is underway.
Around 100 police officers were involved in the large-scale effort.
Frankfurt Airport is the fourth busiest in Europe by passenger numbers, and the busiest by cargo traffic.
Obscure Islamist Group Targets Turkish Military in Northwest Syria
By Sirwan Kajjo
January 17, 2021 06:03 PM
FILE - A Turkish military convoy drives through a town in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, Oct. 20, 2020.
A little known Islamist group said it was behind an attack Saturday that targeted a Turkish military outpost in the province.
WASHINGTON - A small Islamist militant group has claimed responsibility for an attack on Turkish forces in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.
The Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron said it was behind the attack Saturday that targeted a Turkish military outpost in the northern countryside of Idlib.
“The sniper platoon of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Squadron targeted one of the main bases of the ‘Turkish NATO’ military stationed near the town of Batbo, north of Idlib,” the extremist group said Sunday in a statement published on social media.
Three Turkish soldiers were wounded as a result of the assault, according to local news media. The Turkish government has not commented.
Idlib is the last major stronghold controlled by forces opposed to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is the most powerful Islamist group present in Idlib, but other al-Qaida-affiliated groups and Turkish-backed rebels also have a significant presence in the Syrian enclave.
The HTS, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.
As part of a de-escalation agreement with Russia, Turkey has deployed forces in Idlib and set up several observation posts throughout the rebel-held parts of the province.
Russia has been a staunch supporter of the Assad government, while Turkey backs several rebel groups.
It must be an uncomfortable situation for Turkey to patrol Idlib while they support several terrorist groups operating there. They must protect Russian allies and possibly interfere with anti-government operations as they funnel money and arms to the terrorist groups.
New group
Since its founding in August 2020, Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq has claimed responsibility for at least three other attacks on Turkish forces in Idlib.
Experts say the extremist group represents a trend among jihadis in northwest Syria that openly oppose the HTS and Turkey.
“They actually believe that you have to actively fight against the Turkish presence in northwest Syria because they think it’s an apostate occupation of Muslim lands,” said Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a Syria researcher at Swansea University in Britain.
Although the group has no allegiance to al-Qaida or the Islamic State terror groups, its leaders promote the establishment of a strict Islamist state in Syria.
“Khayal al-Manhaj is considered as the main theorist of Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq whose works support these trends,” al-Tamimi told VOA.
It is not clear how many fighters are in Ansar Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, but experts believe most of its members have defected from the HTS and other al-Qaida-affiliated groups.
Several other Islamist factions also have emerged in recent months in Idlib in opposition to a new cease-fire deal reached between Turkey and Russia in March 2020. Their attacks have primarily targeted Russian-Turkish joint patrols on the strategic M4 highway.
The question is - who, besides Turkey, is providing the money needed to support these terrorist groups? My guess is Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and western intelligence. No point in seeing a good war come to an end when there is lots of money to be made.
Idlib Province, Syria
US, Afghan officials slam killing of 2 female
Supreme Court judges in Kabul
17 January, 2021
by ANI
Kabul [Afghanistan]: US and Afghan officials on Sunday condemned the killing of two female supreme court judges in Kabul, holding the Taliban movement responsible for the incident.
Earlier in the day, two female judges were reported to have been killed in an armed attack in the Afghan capital. Although no group has yet claimed responsibility, some accuse the Taliban, which just as other radical Islamist groups in the country, adhere to a radical interpretation of Sharia law that prohibits women from working, much less holding government positions. The Taliban's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid is reported to have denied the group's involvement.
"The United States condemns today's assassinations of female supreme court judges and calls for a prompt investigation. My condolences to the families of the victims and wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured. The Taliban should understand that such actions for which it bears responsibility outrage the world and must cease if peace is to come to Afghanistan," the Embassy's Charge d'Affaires Ross Wilson tweeted.
The sentiment was echoed by the Afghan leadership as well.
"President Ashraf Ghani condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack on women judges this morning in Kabul that left two judges martyred and wounded two others. The President said the Taliban and other terrorist groups' continued assassinations and acts of violence against our defenseless citizens are in contradiction with Islamic teachings and the spirits of peace ... The President called on the Taliban to agree to a permanent ceasefire and demonstrate their will for peace in practice," Fatima Murchal, a deputy spokesperson for the president, tweeted.
The Afghan government and Taliban militants continue fighting each other despite the intra-Afghan talks currently ongoing in Qatar's capital of Doha. (ANI/Sputnik)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house. Unless otherwise noted, the author is writing in his/her personal capacity. They are not intended and should not be thought to represent official ideas, attitudes, or policies of any agency or institution.
Group reiterates support for Anti-Terrorism law in Philippines
posted January 17, 2021 at 08:44 pm
by Manila Standard
The group Liga Independencia Pilipinas (LIPI) on Sunday reiterated their support to the Anti-Terrorism Act, which is facing several petitions against it at the Supreme Court.
Jose Antonio “Ka Pep” Goitia, Liga Independencia Pilipinas (LIPI) Secretary General, leads the burning
of an anti-communist banner denouncing the New People’s Army (NPA).
“The Anti-Terrorism Law is of paramount importance to our national security as the nation endured decades of violent extremism perpetrated by the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed and legal fronts causing the destruction of billions-worth of businesses and properties, killings of innocent people, kidnappings, radicalization of our youth, illegal taxation, and other crimes,” said Jose Antonio “Ka Pep” Goitia, LIPI Secretary General, in a statement.
Goitia also said that Mindanao “is now a mecca of transnational terrorism in Southeast Asia,” that ISIS has claimed the islands of Southern Philippines as its East Asia province, and turned the place “into a bootcamp co-opting locals to join their cause.”
The goal of this Islamist network, he said, “is to establish a hardline, fundamentalist Caliphate in several Southeast Asian countries” that includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, the southern Malay province of Thailand and Mindanao.
ISIS was responsible for the siege of Marawi, leaving more than 180 government soldiers dead and thousands injured. The city was reduced to rubble and countless citizens of the city were displaced, Goitia noted.
“Over the years, radical Islamist groups and Islamist separatist forces in the Philippines have carried out over 40 major bombings against civilians and civilian property, mostly in the southern regions of the country around Mindanao, Basilan, Jolo and other nearby islands,” he said.
“Isn’t this enough proof to justify the policy?” the LIPI secretary-general added.
To negate the importance of this landmark law, Goitia said, “is an insult to all Filipinos.”
Various opposition groups had been manufacturing “false narratives in their respective echo chambers, claiming this will escalate human rights abuses such as stifling dissent, prosecute political opponents, and totally disregard individual rights of people,” he said.
LIPI, however, believes the claims against the Anti-Terrorism Act or Republic Act 11479 are “preposterous and unsubstantiated.”
“The law is only being used by the opposition as a tool to undermine the Duterte administration for them to consolidate their power base and plunge this country into an abyss of hate and chaos,” Goitia said.
He noted that the declaration of policy of the law states: “It is the policy of the State to protect life, liberty and property from terrorism, to condemn terrorism as inimical and dangerous to the national security of the country and to welfare of the people, and to make terrorism a crime against humanity and against The Law of Nations. The State shall uphold the basic rights and fundamental liberties of the people as enshrined in the Constitution.”
Section 25 of the ATA adopted the consolidated List of terrorist individuals, groups of persons and organizations or associations under the United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 1373, Goitia said.
It further states the Anti-Terrorism Council or ATC “may designate any of these persons or groups upon finding of probable cause that any are involved in organizing, associating, committing to attempting to commit or conspire in the commission of the acts as defined and penalized under this Act.”
The LIPI official said the law protects the rights of detainees under Section 30, while Section 31 imposes a penalty up to ten years on any enforcement agent or military personnel who violated the rights of persons under their custody.
Even one of the most credible and respected international news agency’s analysis of the law is correct, said Goitia.
“The bill exempts advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action, other similar exercises of civil and political rights, which are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person’s life, or to create a serious risk to public safety,” he said.
“Liga Independencia Pilipinas is a staunch supporter of the Anti-Terrorism Law. From the creation of the bill until it was passed, LIPI had been aggressively promoting the advantages of the law in relation to our national security,” the group said. (JOG)
France closes 9 places of worship under campaign against
Islamic extremism
ANI, PARIS
Published: Jan 16, 2021, 11.19 PM(IST)
France has closed nine places of worship under the nationwide campaign against Islamic extremism, the country's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
"In line with the orders of the president of the Republic and the prime minister we are taking decisive steps against the Islamist separatism. Out of 18 places of worship under special surveillance nine have been closed upon my request," the minister wrote on his Twitter page on late Friday.
According to the Figaro newspaper, three of the closed facilities were located in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis near Paris.
France has intensified its campaign against the Islamism after the October murder of Samuel Paty, a history teacher who showed cartoons with Prophet Mohammad to his students.
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