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Tag: Syria

  • Wife And Suspected Son Of IS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Detained

    Wife And Suspected Son Of IS Leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Detained

    BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities detained a wife and suspected son of the leader of the Islamic State group several days ago, and she is being questioned, two senior Lebanese officials said today (Dec 2).

    A military official said the woman and child were detained about 10 days ago while carrying fake identification cards.

    Both officials refused to give further details about the woman who is believed to be one of the wives of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group’s reclusive leader. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

    The military official said the woman is a Syrian citizen and is being questioned by authorities.

    The announcement of the arrest comes amid attempts to reach a prisoner-exchange deal between Lebanese authorities and the Islamic State group and the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s Syria branch, who have been holding more than 20 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage since August.

    They have demanded the release of Islamist prisoners being held by Lebanese authorities.

    Last night, the Nusra Front threatened to kill one of the soldiers it is holding captive.

    The wife’s arrest could be used as a bargaining chip for Lebanese authorities in their attempts to win the freedom of the troops.

    A judicial official said the interrogation is being supervised by Lebanon’s military prosecutor, Mr Saqr Saqr. He added that a DNA test is underway to confirm that the child is the son of the detained woman.

    The Lebanese daily As-Safir was the first to break the news, saying they were detained near a border crossing point with Syria. It added that the arrest was made in “coordination with foreign intelligence agencies”.

    Very little is known about al-Baghdadi’s personal life, including how many wives and children he has. Conservative interpretations of Islam allow for a man to marry up to four wives.

    Al-Baghdadi’s first wife is believed to be Iraqi citizen Saja al-Dulaimi, who was reportedly held by Syrian authorities and freed in a prisoner exchange with the Nusra Front earlier this year.

    In March, the Nusra Front freed more than a dozen Greek Orthodox nuns, ending their four-month captivity in exchange for Syrian authorities releasing dozens of female prisoners. AP

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • United Nations Suspends Distribution Of World Food Program Vouchers In Embattled Middle East Countries Due To Lack Of Funds

    United Nations Suspends Distribution Of World Food Program Vouchers In Embattled Middle East Countries Due To Lack Of Funds

    A lack of funds has forced the United Nations to stop providing food vouchers for 1.7 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday.

    “Without WFP vouchers, many families will go hungry. For refugees already struggling to survive the harsh winter, the consequences of halting this assistance will be devastating,” said the U.N. agency, which needs $64 million to support the refugees for the rest of December.

    Suspension of the assistance program comes as many vulnerable Syrian families enter their fourth bleak winter in difficult living conditions after fleeing a homeland racked by conflict since March 2011.

    “This couldn’t come at a worse time,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres in a statement.

    The impact could be particularly devastating in Lebanon, where more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees — one-quarter of the country’s permanent population — are scattered across some 1,700 communities, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Many live in makeshift settlements, sheds, garages and unfinished buildings.

    The electronic voucher program has already injected about $800 million into local shops in the countries hosting refugees, and WFP will immediately resume it if new funding arrives, it said in the statement.

    It was not clear how hungry Syrian refugees might fill the gap left by WFP suspending its voucher program.

    WFP had warned last month that it might be forced to impose such a suspension and said it might have to announce a similar measure in January for people reliant on aid within Syria, where at least 7.6 million people are internally displaced.

    The Rome-based agency has already cut rations for 4.25 million people it is providing food supplies to in Syria.

    “WFP will not be able to continue its life-saving operations inside Syria in February without additional funding,” WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told Reuters on Monday.

    The U.N. refugee agency has said that a lack of cash has forced it to prioritize as it helps those in need prepare for winter, with preference for people at higher, colder altitudes and vulnerable refugees such as newborn babies. REUTERS

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • 60 Of Estimated 550 Germans in Syria and Iraq Are Believed To Have Died

    60 Of Estimated 550 Germans in Syria and Iraq Are Believed To Have Died

    BERLIN – The number of Germans fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq has increased sharply to 550 and around 180 have returned, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.

    “We are concerned about the high number of departures. Especially in the last six weeks, it has risen further,” Hans-Georg Maassen told Welt am Sonntag.

    By now we are counting 550 people, that is how many have left Germany to go to Syria and Iraq,” he added. The previous number was 450 people.

    Around 60 of them have been killed during fighting, with at least nine killing themselves in suicide attacks, Maassen said. “That is a sad success for the Islamist propaganda.”

    As with other Western European countries, Germany is struggling to stop the radicalization of young Muslims, some of whom want to become jihadists in Syria or Iraq. Officials also worry that they might return to plot attacks on home soil.

    Since Germany is part of the alliance fighting Islamic State, the country is “naturally” a target for the militants as well as al Qaeda members, Maassen said.

    Intelligence services estimate that around 180 jihadists have returned to Germany after having fought in Syria and Iraq, Maassen said.

    In one of the largest sweeps against alleged Islamists in Germany yet, authorities last week arrested nine men suspected of supporting militant groups in Syria and raided numerous properties in several German states.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • 3 More Malaysians Arrested For Link to ISIS

    3 More Malaysians Arrested For Link to ISIS

    KUALA LUMPUR — A man and two women were picked up by police last night (Nov 21) for allegedly being involved in terrorism, said Malaysia’s national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar.

    The inspector-general of police said the arrests were made in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor by the force’s counter-terrorism division.

    Mr Khalid, in a statement, said the three suspects aged between 28 and 34 were believed to be linked with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. (Isis).

    “The first suspect, a woman, is the wife of an earlier suspected terrorist charged in court on November 11,” Mr Khalid said.

    The second suspect was an event manager in Kuala Lumpur, while the male suspect was an executive assistant.

    “All three suspects are believed to have been involved witth ISIS via Facebook,” he said.

    Mr Khalid said the three were also found to have been involved in gathering funds, which was used to send Malaysians to join Isis in Syria.

    “All three have been arrested to facilitate investigations under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012,” Mr Khalid said.

    Yesterday, a third Malaysian was charged at the Sepang Sessions Court with supporting the ISIS terrorist group.

    Mohamad Fauzee Ahmad allegedly entered Syria between June 29 and Sep 18 to lend support to terror activities involving firearms and explosives.

    The 43-year-old was reportedly seen as advancing a religious struggle in Syria.

    If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 30 years in jail, or face a fine and forfeiture of assets used in the commission of the offences under Section 130J(1)(b) of the Penal Code.

    Judge Nor Haffizah Mohd Salim reportedly set January 15 for mention. DPP Ishak Mohd Yusoff prosecuted the case.

    Fauzee is the third person to be arrested upon returning from Syria, where ISIS is operating.

    The other two arrested and charged were Muhammad Fauzi Misrak, 32, and Mohammad Na’Im Abd Rashid, 26.

    They were reportedly charged on Nov 11. Fauzi’s case is due for mention on Dec 19 while Na’Im’s case is on Dec 15.

    The duo had allegedly fought for ISIS between Dec 13 last year and July 14.

    They were arrested with 12 others between Oct 15 and Oct 17.

    On Tuesday, The Malaysian Insider reported that at least five ISIS militants had returned to Malaysia, but lack of proof was holding back police from arresting them.

    According to a senior intelligence source, under Sosma, there were a number of boxes which police needed to tick.

    “Getting statements from sources in the Middle East to confirm that a Malaysian citizen was there fighting alongside ISIS forces is insufficient,” the official said.

    “Police must build a strong case before a Malaysian suspect who fought alongside Isis forces in the Middle East can be charged in court here.”

    On Monday, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told Parliament that Malaysian ISIS fighters were returning to spread militant ideology in the country.

    He said police checks showed that those who returned were not driven by disillusionment or the desire to surrender to the Malaysian authorities, but to influence and recruit others.

    “The police are monitoring and they know, those who opted to return are doing so because they want to influence other Malaysians to join their cause, regardless if they are Muslims or not.”

    39 Malaysians have been officially identified as being involved with Isis in Syria, whose aim is to set up an Islamic caliphate in the region.

    The New Straits Times, however, reported that there were 45 Malaysians in Syria and 15 in Iraq.

    It also reported that police may have difficulty in tracing exactly how many have returned as their departure from Malaysia to Syria was not properly tracked.

    Between January and June this year, police arrested 23 people in various parts of Malaysia over alleged links to the terror group.

    The Malaysians fighting alongside Isis forces in the Middle East were influenced to take up the struggle via social media, intelligence sources previously said.

    Some, like former Kedah PAS Youth information chief Lotfi Ariffin who was killed in Syria, had not only posted about his activities with the militants on Facebook, but had issued call-to-action messages, too.

    To date, five Malaysians have been killed in action in Syria. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Dutch Mother Rescues Daughter From Islamic State

    Dutch Mother Rescues Daughter From Islamic State

    A mother defied official warnings to travel to the Syrian city of Raqqa to rescue her daughter from the clutches of Islamic State terrorists.

    The woman, from Maastricht, named only as Monique was told that it was too dangerous to attempt the journey to free her daughter Aicha, 19.

    “Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. This is what I think is right,” she told family and friends

    After an appeal for help from her daughter, a Dutch convert to Islam, for help last month, the mother was told by police not to try and rescue her because it was too dangerous.

    She was also warned that the “provision of assistance” to jihadists, such as her daughter, could be a criminal offence. She travelled from Turkey to Raqqa, the self styled capital of Islamic State, wearing a burka after arranging via Facebook a rescue rendezvous with he daughter.

    The pair then escaped across the Syrian border back to Turkey where Aicha was arrested because she does not have a passport.

    After converting to Islam aged 18, Aicha married Omar Yilmaz, a notorious Dutch jihadi, who is a former soldier, after seeing him interviewed on television.

    “She wanted to go home, but could not leave Raqqa without help,” said the mother.

    Dutch foreign ministry officials have intervened to bring the mother and daughter back from Turkey before the end of the week.

    “It is quite remarkable that the mother managed to find and get her daughter,” Françoise Landerloo, the family’s lawyer told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper.

     

    Source: www.telegraph.co.uk