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<p>This year's Ramadan was the most violence since 2007, with 671 people killed. Police said the deadliest of today's attacks took place when a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a residential area in the town of Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding dozens. "My shop's windows were smashed and smoke filled the whole area," says a shoe shop owner, who survived an attack near his store in New Baghdad. "I went outside of the shop and I could hardly see because of the smoke. ... At the end, we had a terrible day that was supposed to be nice because of Eid."</p>

The Obama administration believes the bloody suicide attacks and car bombings in Baghdad that have killed dozens of Iraqis in recent days were likely carried out by al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). On Saturday evening, the State Department announced that the attacks bear the hallmarks of AQI - led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is now based in Syria.

SNIPPET: "Gufran Ahmed Kauser Mohammed, 30, and Mohamed Hussein Said, 25, face an indictment charging them with conspiring to provide and attempting to provide material support to three U.S.-designated terrorist organizations that have operated in Iraq, Syria and Somalia, according to authorities." SNIPPET: "The defendants, while based overseas in 2011-13, allegedly sent thousands of dollars via Western Union to an al-Qaida terrorist affiliate, al-Nusrah Front, which is fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. They also allegedly sent funds to al-Shabaab, another terrorist group seeking to overthrow the U.S.-backed transitional government in Somalia."

t wasn’t just any terrorist message that triggered U.S. terror alerts and embassy closures—but a conference call of more than 20 far-flung al Qaeda operatives, Eli Lake and Josh Rogin report. The crucial intercept that prompted the U.S. government to close embassies in 22 countries was a conference call between al Qaeda’s senior leaders and representatives of several of the group’s affiliates throughout the region. snip Several news outlets reported Monday on an intercepted communication last week between Zawahiri and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda’s affiliate based in Yemen. But The Daily Beast has learned that the discussion...

Two brothers in law who went on a sponsored walk wearing comedy mankinis had to be picked up by police - after they were pelted with stones and eggs by residents who told them 'this is a Muslim area' and demanded they leave. Steven Ellis, 41, and Jason Hendry, 22, wanted to walk eight miles from Solihull to Birmingham city centre wearing the outfit featured in 2006 film Borat to raise money for Birmingham Dogs' Home. But they ended up being escorted by officers after they were attacked as they passed through the Sparkbrook area of the city, claiming police...

August 3, 2013 Benghazi Leads to Iran, Not Al Qaeda Mark Langfan ..... Why is Obama doing everything in the world to cover-up the truth in Benghazi? Why is Obama administering lie detector exams every few days to all the CIA operatives who were in Benghazi? Is it to cover-up the fact that Obama was running guns to the Syrian rebels? Why do that? Both the then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and then-CIA Director Petraeus were openly advocating arming the Syrian rebels. Is it such a big deal that the United States was secretly arming enemies of Iran's puppet Assad...

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A suspected U.S. drone killed four alleged al-Qaida members in Yemen on Tuesday, as the U.S. and British embassies evacuated staff amid reports of a threatened attack by al-Qaida that has triggered temporary shutdowns of 19 American diplomatic posts across the Muslim world. Yemeni officials have suggested al-Qaida threats to multiple potential targets in the Arabian Peninsula country in recent days, including foreign installations and government offices in the capital Sanaa as well as to the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straits at the entrance to the Red Sea to the south. It is not clear if these...

On 19 July 2013, Martin E. Dempsey, the Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered an unclassified letter to Senator Carl Levin concerning the risks of US military intervention in Syria. While the letter is was ostensibly delivered to the Senate, it actually delivered the equivalent to ten American thermonuclear bombs hitting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem simultaneously. While the letter was supposedly written by Dempsey, it was surely approved and intensely vetted by President Obama himself. So while the letter had Dempsey’s signature, it was Obama’s policy. The Dempsey/Obama letter outlined all the catastrophic effects which would...

The US State Department has ordered citizens and non-emergency government staff to leave Yemen "immediately" due to security threats. --SNIP-- The BBC's Abdullah Ghorab, in Sanaa, says the Yemeni capital has been experiencing unprecedented security measures, with hundreds of armoured military vehicles deployed to secure the presidential palace, vital infrastructural buildings and Westerns embassies in the capital. Our correspondent says that a security source confirmed Yemeni intelligence services had discovered that tens of al-Qaeda members had arrived in Sanaa over the past few days from other regions in preparation for the implementation of a large plot. The source described the...

August 5, 2013 Terror Threat Intelligence Not New Agencies knew of threat to embassies, officials for months Bill Gertz Intelligence regarding al Qaeda plans to attack U.S. embassies, officials, and interests last Sunday was known for months by U.S. intelligence agencies but was used only recently to trigger the closure of embassies and issuance of public warnings of impending attacks. Al Qaeda “chatter” about coming terrorist operations, mainly against 22 U.S. embassies and consulates, and threats to attack or bomb officials in the Middle East and elsewhere was widely reported in classified intelligence reports over several months. The report said...

<p>NBC-DFW Channel 5 in Dallas just aired an exclusive bombshell report on Maj. Nidal Hasan that he receives a VIP military helicopter trip every day to and from the jail so he can use facilities to research and study resources on the military base. They also said that a special Sheriff has been hired to stand 12 hours a day watching Hasan at the jail when he is returned to his cell at the county jail.</p>

Maulana Asim Umar, from a video by As Sahab. His face is intentionally blotted. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group. As Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda arm, has released a video featuring Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Maulana Asim Umar, who calls on Indian Muslims to participate in the "global jihad to give a final push to the collapsing edifice of America." The video, titled "Why is There No Storm in Your Ocean?," was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. It was produced in May, but posted on jihadist forums on July 23. Asim Umar tells the Muslims of India that...

Editor's note: Below is Thomas Joscelyn's testimony to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, on al Qaeda, the nature of the group's central command and its relationship with its affiliates, and the future challenges the West faces in battling the terror organization. Chairman Poe, Ranking Member Sherman and members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here today to discuss the threat posed by al Qaeda. We have been asked to "examine the nature of global al Qaeda today." In particular, you asked us to answer the following questions: "What is [al...

The recent series of prison breaks is not coincidental. In less than a week, we have 500 senior Al Qaeda leaders escape during two assaults on prisons in Iraq, more than 1,000 in a prison assault in Libya, and another 250 in a particularly nasty Taliban assault on a Pakistani prison.

By all accounts, the attack was planned with care and executed with precision. At two notorious Iraqi prisons, Abu Ghraib and Taji, al-Qaeda combatants last week used mortars, small arms, suicide bombers, and assault forces to free 400 prisoners, including several who had been on death row. AQ spokesmen hailed those released as “mujahedeen,” holy warriors, who will rejoin the jihad on battlefields throughout the Middle East and beyond. Soon after, we were seeing headlines such as this: “Al Qaeda Is Back.” Where had al-Qaeda gone? Dig deep in the memory hole — all the way to last summer. At...

In Mantua, Italy, there was another event to inspire more dialogue.From the Gazzetta di Mantova: SERRAVALLE: First the broke in to the rectory at Libiola and stole money of the fund for the children of Grest; then, not satisfied, they went to the nearby church which, after last year’s earthquake, is a simple temporary structure of plastic and, next to the altar defecated and urinated. It was a contemptuous, vandalic, and sacrilegious act. Those responsible would also be identified, because a woman saw them leaving the tent. Those concerned are four young men of Moroccan origin, one a resident of...

Now wait a minute. We're constantly told that no Muslims in the U.S. -- none -- adhere to Al Qaeda's understanding of Islam, and only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise. So how did Amiir Farouk Ibrahim, no doubt known to all and sundry back home in Pennsylvania as a solid and respectable burgher of serious mien, come to misunderstand his peaceful religion so resoundingly? "American passport found at al Qaeda base in northern Syria," by Bill Roggio for the Long War Journal, July 23 (thanks to Jerk Chicken): A passport said to belong to an American citizen was found among a...

The threats against Israel are changing and the global jihad is literally at its doorstep, the head of Military Intelligence warned on Tuesday. “It is possible that in the long run the winds of change will bring with them an opportunity, but in the short term the risks are increasing,” said Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi during a graduation ceremony for hundreds of new intelligence officers. “Syria, which is the most disturbing example, attracts thousands of global jihad activists and Muslim extremists from the region and around the world, who base themselves in the country, not only to bring down Assad,...

Said al-Shihri, described as the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has been killed in an operation in southern Yemen, government officials say. Al-Shihri was reportedly killed with six others in the Hadramawt area.

SNIPPET: "The U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa announced Thursday that a grand jury has indicted Shelton Thomas Bell, 19, of Jacksonville, on charges of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to terrorists. He faces up to 15 years in prison for each of the two charges. According to the indictment, Bell had planned to travel to the Arabian Peninsula and join Ansar Al-Sharia, which is an alias for al-Qaida there. The group has taken responsibility for multiple attacks on Yemeni forces, including a suicide bombing during a parade in May 2012, which killed more than 100 Yemeni soldiers. The...

WHAT REALLY DIED IN AUSCHWITZ What really died at Auschwitz ? Here's an interesting viewpoint. The following is a copy of an article written by Spanish writer Sebastian Vilar Rodrigez and published in a Spanish newspaper on Jan. 15, 2011. It doesn't take much imagination to extrapolate the message to the rest of Europe - and possibly to the rest of the world. "I walked down the street in Barcelona and suddenly discovered a terrible truth - Europe died in Auschwitz ... We killed six million Jews and replaced them with 20 million Muslims. In Auschwitz we burned a culture,...

Finally we got to remember the man and not the act as the horror of Woolwich was temporarily put to one side. At last, among family, friends, comrades and his extended Greater Manchester clan, the celebration of a special character “who put a smile on everyone’s face” took centre stage. The presence of Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson may have reminded mourners of the city in which Fusilier Lee Rigby was ­horrifically slain and the global impact images of his death had. But this funeral was about saying thank you for the life of a loyal...

An Al-Qaeda front group operating in Syria has killed a rebel chief in a firefight in the coastal province of Latakia, a monitoring group said on Friday. The killing comes amid soaring tensions between the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) and its supporters and groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda, mostly made up of non-Syrian fighters. Better known as Abu Bassir al-Jeblawi, rebel chief Kamal Hamami was shot dead Thursday by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), one of the main jihadist groups operating in Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. He was killed when ISIS fighters...

'Abu Qatada will be moved to RAF Northolt in west London and deported to Jordan in the early hours of Sunday morning. It marks the end of a near decade-long legal battle to remove the preacher, who the Government has described as a "truly dangerous individual" and a "key player" in al Qaeda-related terrorism. Sky News understands the 51-year-old will be driven from Belmarsh prison in southeast London to RAF Northolt around midnight tonight. A military aircraft will be waiting to take off around 2am on Sunday, heading for an isolated airstrip near the Jordanian capital Amman. The cleric will...

Note: Photos included. SNIPPET: The IRGC's point man in Peru, Edwar Quiroga "Hussein" Vargas is hard at work these days trying to breath life into not-so-large-or-widespread anti-government protests."

Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld of the New York-based American Center for Democracy's Economic Warfare Institute warns that last July "al-Qaeda's English-language online magazine, Inspire, published an article called 'It Is of Your Freedom to Ignite a Firebomb,' which featured instructions on how to build an incendiary bomb to light forests on fire. "A few months later, Russia's security (FSB) chief, Aleksandr Bortnikov warned, 'al-Qaeda was complicit in recent forest fires in Europe' as part of the terrorists' 'strategy of a thousand cuts.' Bortnikov spoke of 'extremist sites [that] contained detailed instructions of waging the forest jihad and stressed that such a...

KHARTOUM, Sudan - An American diplomat and his driver were shot to death Tuesday in the Sudanese capital, the U.S. Embassy said, a day after a joint African Union-United Nations force took over peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region. It was not immediately known if the motive for the attack was political or a random crime. "This afternoon, the American officer succumbed to his injuries and passed away," said Walter Braunohler, the spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum. Braunohler said the diplomat, whose name was not released, worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry identified...

Horrific video shows Syrian Catholic priest being 'beheaded by jihadist fighters in front of cheering crowd'A Syrian Catholic priest has been beheaded by jihadist fighters in Syria, it has been claimed. The death of Franciscan Father Francois Murad has been confirmed by the official Vatican news agency. The gruesome killing has raised further concerns about the West arming rebels in the fight against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Grainy footage purported to show the 49-year-old’s death has been posted on the internet. Father Francois, was killed on 23 June in Gassanieh, in northern Syria. He had been staying...

**** WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEOS INCLUDED IN THIS ARTICLE **** The Boston Marathon bombing by the Tsarnaevs is not the first notable attack upon Americans by Eastern European Muslims. In 2007, a young Bosnian Muslim named Sulejman Talovic opened fire in the Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City, killing five people and seriously injuring another four before being taken out by officers. There will be more to come, as long as we keep observing the modern world’s sick obsession with multiculturalism. As he was killing his victims, Talovic repeatedly proclaimed that Allah was great, and the night before the massacre...

Libya's government earlier this month released a key terror suspect who U.S. officials say was involved in planning the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on U.S. diplomatic and intelligence facilities in Benghazi. Faraj al Chalabi, (also spelled Shibli) an al Qaeda terrorist also linked to the 1994 terrorist murder of two German tourists, was detained by the Tripoli government in March. However, al Chalabi was released June 12 based on claims that there was a lack of evidence to hold him custody. A U.S. official said the U.S. government has evidence al Chalabi was linked to the Benghazi attack but did...

"Lebanese Canadian Bank to Pay $102 Million in Hizballah Laundering Case" SNIPPET: "The Beirut-based Lebanese Canadian Bank ("LCB") will pay $102 million as part of a settlement reached this week with federal prosecutors. The LCB was accused in a December 2011 complaint of funneling money to the Lebanese terrorist group Hizballah as part of a global money-laundering scheme. The "settlement shows that banks laundering money for terrorists and narco-traffickers will face consequences for their actions, wherever they may be located. This type of money laundering network fuels the operations of both terrorists and drug traffickers, and will continue to use...

"LI teen faces 30 years in prison for trying to join al Qaeda in Yemen to wage war on American forces" SNIPPET: "Justin Kaliebe, 18, of Bay Shore, was arrested by NYPD and federal agents at JFK Airport in January as he prepared to board a flight to Oman, according to a complaint unsealed in Brooklyn federal court today. He planned to travel by land to Yemen to sign up with al Qaeda, officials said."

Do you remember when Al Gore first brought his “man-made global warming” circus to Capitol Hill? At that time folks could almost feel his glow of self-satisfaction contributing markedly to the very warming trend he so smugly warned the world against.His movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” become the required film de jour for all the trendy folks in the media. Schools in Europe, Britain and the US presented the movie’s contention that man is responsible, not the sun, for the planet’s warming trend, regardless of the fact that the earth has actually been cooling.To even criticize the belief in man-made warming is...

Full title: EXCLUSIVE: Deputy of banned suicide-bomb-endorsing cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi had White House meeting with National Security Council staff --------------------------------------- The UK and U.S. have banned Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who leads the anti-Israel International Union of Muslim Scholars. The Obama administration invited that group's VP, Abdallah bin Bayyah, to a private meeting on the day it announced support for Syria's rebelsThe organization ended its December 2012 board meeting by calling for the end of Israel and the return of its lands to the PalestiniansHours after MailOnline began inquiring with the National Security Council about its meeting with bin Bayyah, the cleric's...

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Seven Al Qaeda-linked militants on a suicide mission attacked the U.N. compound Wednesday with a truck bomb and then poured inside, killing at least 13 people before dying in the assault. At least three foreigners were slain during the raid in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, where the United Nations expanded its presence this year, about 18 months after Islamic insurgents were pushed from the seaside city. The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, calling the U.N. "a merchant of death."

Somali militants attack UN base in Mogadishu, killing 15 Al-Shabaab says its fighters were responsible for suicide attack on compound that killed 15 people including UN personnel

SNIPPET: "The prosecution also told the court that most wanted Dawood has also been declared "international terrorist" and is facing stringent United Nations Security Council sanctions. In the running of organised criminal activities against strategic and economic security of India and its citizens, he plays a pivotal role."

Beirut: Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has urged Sunni Muslims to spare no effort to join the battle in Syria, overthrow President Bashar Assad and set up Islamic rule in the country. Zawahri called on Sunnis everywhere to devote their lives, money and expertise for the fight and prevent a US-allied government from taking over in post-Assad Syria. He urged Sunnis to "rise above their differences" and fight expanding Shiite influence in Syria. The message came in a new audio recording posted today on the Internet. Its authenticity could not be independently confirmed but the message was posted on a militant...

Defenders of the American government’s online spying program known as “PRISM” claimed Friday that the suddenly controversial secret effort had saved New York City’s subways from a 2009 terrorist plot led by a young Afghan-American, Najibullah Zazi.

Note: The following SNIPPET is a quote: Joint Terrorism Task Force in Seattle Launches Rewards for Justice Campaign FBI and Department of State Seek Information from the Public FBI Seattle June 04, 2013 The Puget Sound Joint Terrorism Task Force (PSJTTF) this week launched in Seattle a publicity campaign for the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program. RFJ offers up to $25 million for information that helps stop terrorism. Over the next several months, the greater Seattle community will see photos of wanted terrorists and appeals for information about them publicized on highway billboards, airport displays, bus...

(image from article) A new report on world international terrorism activities released by the State Department asserts that there were "no known operational cells" of Al Qaeda or Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere during the year 2012. This is despite the report acknowledging Iran's increased presence in the hemisphere along with the country's "marked resurgence" of sponsored terrorism. The State Department released the "Country Reports on Terrorism 2012" late last week which details the United States' assessment of terrorism and counter-terrorism activities in countries around the globe. The Department detailed Iran's "marked resurgence" of terrorism saying: .......

AFP - Al-Qaeda's military chief in Yemen warned Americans in an audio message posted online Sunday that the Boston bombings revealed a fragile security as he urged Muslims to defend their religion.

Note: Photo included with article. SNIPPET: "U.S. authorities have transferred Younis al-Mauritani, held in Afghanistan, to Mauritania, officials in the West African nation said on Saturday. Pakistan said in September 2011 it arrested al-Mauritani, better known in his homeland Mauritania as Youssouf Al Mauritani, during a joint operation with U.S. intelligence services." SNIPPET: "Pakistani military authorities said Al Mauritani was planning to attack U.S. economic interests including pipelines, hydro-electric dams and oil tankers when he was captured."

During his speech at the National Defense University on May 23, President Obama sought to reassure Americans that they are “safer” because of the administration’s “efforts” to fight terrorism. The controversy over the administration’s handling of the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, had been swirling for months. And on April 15, two jihadists set off bombs at the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding more than 250 others.At the National Defense University, defining jihad downLandov “Now, make no mistake, our nation is still threatened by terrorists,” Obama conceded. “From Benghazi to Boston, we have been tragically...

A ‘terrorist cell’ believed to be linked to Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah and housing weapons intended to attack Israeli and Western targets has been discovered in a compound in northern Nigeria, the country’s security services said on Thursday. Nigeria's security services said Thursday they had discovered a home in the northern city of Kano where Lebanese nationals had stored weapons intended to attack Israeli and Western targets in Nigeria. The Kano state intelligence chief, Bassey Etang, and a separate military statement described the compound as hosting a "terrorist cell" tied to the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. No evidence was...

A U.S. attorney in Tennessee is reportedly vowing to use federal civil rights statutes to clamp down on offensive and inflammatory speech about Islam. Bill Killian, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, was quoted by the Tullahoma News this week suggesting that some inflammatory material on Islam might run afoul of federal civil rights laws. "We need to educate people about Muslims and their civil rights, and as long as we’re here, they’re going to be protected," Killian told the newspaper. Killian, along with the FBI special agent that runs the Knoxville office, are set to speak next...

SNIPPET: "An Argentine prosecutor has accused Iran of trying to infiltrate countries in Latin America to sponsor and carry out "terrorist activities". Alberto Nisman said Iran was attempting to set up intelligence-gathering stations in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and other countries in the region. Mr Nisman is investigating a bomb attack that killed 85 people in a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires in 1994." SNIPPET: ""I legally accuse Iran of infiltrating several South American countries to install intelligence stations - in other words espionage bases - destined to commit, encourage and sponsor terror attacks like the one that took place against...

SNIPPET - quote: www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl1955.aspx Treasury Announces New Sanctions Against Iran Actions Target Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Proliferation Activities 5/23/2013     WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury is taking action today against 20 individuals and entities for their involvement in Iran’s nuclear and missile proliferation networks and Iran’s continued attempts to circumvent sanctions. These networks are responsible for moving supplies and providing essential services to Iran’s clandestine nuclear and weapons programs. These actions are designed to increase pressure on the Iranian regime by tightening sanctions against Iran’s energy sector and exposing key proliferation related networks that span the...

French Soldier Stabbed In Neck Near Paris Adam TaylorMay 25, 2013, 1:43 PM A soldier patrolling as part of France's Vigipirate anti-terrorist surveillance plan was stabbed in the neck this afternoon, Reuters reports. A police source told the news agency that the soldier would survive the attack. He is 23 years old, according to CNN. Le Parisien is reporting that the attacker was of Northern African appearance, aged around 30 years old and wearing a jilbab, a type of Islamic garment. The man quickly fled the scene and has not been caught. The attack happened in La Défense, to the...

A Pakistan International Airlines flight en route from Lahore to Manchester, England, was forced to land at London's Stansted Airport on Friday after a pair of male passengers threatened the safety of the aircraft in some way. The plane was escorted to the ground by Typhoon military jets, and the 300 or so people onboard disembarked safely. The two men were taken into custody and have not yet been identified, but the BBC reports that they are 31-year-old and 40-year-old British citizens. A witness told Sky News, "The cabin crew informed us that basically they tried to come into the...