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Tag: terrorists

  • 7 Held Over Melbourne Christmas Day Terrorist Plot

    7 Held Over Melbourne Christmas Day Terrorist Plot

    Police have disrupted a terrorist plot to detonate improvised explosive devices at locations in central Melbourne, possibly on Christmas Day, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says.

    Seven people were arrested overnight at properties in Flemington, Meadow Heights and Dallas in Melbourne over the alleged plot, which police said was inspired by the Islamic State (IS) group.

    Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews described the plot as an “act of evil”, while Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said police had seized “the makings of an improvised explosive device”.

    Speaking at a press conference today, Mr Turnbull said: “Overnight our police and security agencies have disrupted a very substantial terrorist plot.

    “Overnight, the Victoria Police, working with the Australian Federal Police and ASIO, have arrested seven persons, five of whom are still in custody, searched five premises and are continuing to search them.

    “What they have uncovered is a plot to explode improvised explosive devices in central Melbourne in the area of Federation Square, on or about Christmas Day.

    The raids were part of a counter-terrorism operation involving Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police and ASIO.

    Commissioner Ashton said it was believed a number of people were intending to carry out an attack involving explosives and other weapons.

    “Over the last fortnight … we have had to conduct a criminal investigation relating to the formation of what we believe was a terrorist plot,” he said.

    Police believe the locations to be targeted include Federation Square, Flinders Street Station, and St Paul’s Cathedral.

    Commissioner Ashton said: “We believe [the plot] was going to involve an explosive event, the use of explosives, and we gathered evidence to support that.

    “There has also been evidence that we will lead around the possibility of an intention to use other weapons. That could include knives and/or a firearm.

    “Certainly these [people] are self-radicalised, we believe, but inspired by ISIS and ISIS propaganda.”

    A 24-year-old man from Meadow Heights, a 26-year-old man from Dallas, a 22-year-old man from Campbellfield, a 21-year-old man from Flemington and a 21-year-old man from Gladstone Park remain in police custody.

    A 20-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man, both from Meadow Heights, were released without charge.

    The five people in custody were expected to face court this afternoon, charged with acts in preparation of a terrorist event, Commissioner Ashton said.

    Commissioner Ashton said four of the five were Australian-born with a Lebanese background.

    “The age groups range between 20 and 24 or 25. There is another suspect in this matter who will be charged that was an Egyptian-born Australian citizen. All the others were Australian-born,” he said.

    Premier Daniel Andrews said there would be an increased police presence at large gatherings in Victoria over the Christmas period.

    Commissioner Ashton said he spoke to Cricket Australia about providing additional security at the MCG during the Boxing Day Test, which starts on Monday.

     

    Source: www.abc.net.au

  • MHA: Five Maids Worked In Singapore Radicalised But Did Not Pose Imminent Security Threat

    MHA: Five Maids Worked In Singapore Radicalised But Did Not Pose Imminent Security Threat

    In the past two years, five maids working in Singapore were radicalised, although they “did not pose an imminent security threat” at the time, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

    The maids were among some 70 foreigners investigated during that period, and had been radicalised through social media. Some of the foreigners were later deported after the authorities in their home countries were informed of their cases.

    The statement yesterday came after Indonesia’s anti-terror police commandos rounded up four women in the past week on suspicion of terrorism. Among them was Dian Yulia Novi, 27. She had worked in Singapore between 2008 and 2009, said an MHA spokesman.

    Dian had allegedly been planning to mount a suicide bomb attack on the presidential palace in Jakarta. In a television interview broadcast last Tuesday, she said she was first exposed to radical Islam through Facebook by opening profiles of extremists while working as a maid abroad.

    She worked for a family with three children here, and as a maid for three years in Taiwan.

    But Dian did not show signs of being radicalised during her time in Singapore, said the MHA spokesman, who added: “Our security agencies are in contact with their counterparts regarding her case.”

    Most of the 70 foreigners investigated in the past two years “were radicalised through their exposure to radical propaganda on social media”, said MHA. Some then radicalised others using radical propaganda from online sources.

    The Straits Times understands that the five maids were among those radicalised via social media.

    While they did not plan to carry out acts of violence in Singapore at the time they were investigated, their presence posed a security concern for Singapore, MHA said.

    Six Bangladeshis charged with offences under the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act are serving their sentences here.

    With radicalisation through the Internet being a worldwide phenomenon, MHA said social media platform owners have to ensure “their platforms are not used to promote radicalism and terrorism”.

    A more effective approach in the longer term may be sensitising the public to the dangers of extremist rhetoric and equipping them with social media literacy so they will not be vulnerable to terrorist propaganda online, added the ministry. Those who notice people showing signs of radicalisation should inform the authorities.

    “The security agencies meanwhile continue to work closely with their foreign counterparts to share intelligence on terrorism activities,” said MHA.

    Dian was a member of a cell based in Solo, Central Java. She had hidden a “rice cooker” bomb in her room, where she was arrested on Dec 10.

    The arrests of Dian and three other women mark a shift in strategy, with Indonesian militants recruiting women instead of men to mount attacks, national police chief Tito Karnavian has said.

    Maids from Indonesia said they were worried about being typecast after the news.

    “It affects us too because people will think other Indonesians will end up the same way,” said Ms Sri Hartatik, 35, who has worked here for 11 years. “It is common for Muslims, including domestic workers here, to read about religion on social media,” she said. But not everyone does so, she added, and neither does she.

    Mr Gary Chin, chief executive of maid agency Nation Employment, said that employers should watch out for sudden changes in their helpers’ behaviour, show them concern and take an interest in who their friends are.

    “If they sense anything amiss, they should inform the agency as well, so that we can arrange for counsellors or family members to speak to the domestic helper.”

    Dr Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, noted that militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is investing heavily in recruiting in cyber space.

    While Singapore has secured its physical space, it “now needs to better protect its citizens and residents, including the labour population, from cyber radicalisation”.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Indonesia Police Chief Warns Of Growing Role Of Women In Terrorism

    Indonesia Police Chief Warns Of Growing Role Of Women In Terrorism

    National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said Friday that terrorist groups have developed a new trend of recruiting women to launch attacks in the country.

    “Using women to carry out acts of terror is becoming increasingly more popular with terror groups because women are seen as less suspicious,” Tito told the press on the sidelines of a ceremony at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta, adding that recruiting women for terrorism was not new in other parts of the world.

    The National Police have arrested three women that have been implicated in a foiled plot to bomb the State Palace. The women include Dian Yulia Novi, Tutin, alias Ummu Abza, and Arinda Putri. They are suspects for their roles in planning and preparing for the thwarted attack.

    The three women are affiliated with the Surakarta terrorist cell, which was reportedly planning to attack the State Palace under the guidance of Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian jihadist who is currently fighting for the Islamic State in Syria.

    National Police Spokesperson Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said that the police had anticipated involvement of women in terrorist groups in the the country but did not expect that women would take on direct and core roles in planning attacks.

    “Terrorist groups here are recruiting women to avoid suspicion when carrying out attacks. It’s a new strategy to deceive the targets,” Boy said.

     

    Source:www.thejakartapost.com

  • Indonesia Police Arrests 3rd Woman In Foiled Bomb Attack On The Presidential Palace

    Indonesia Police Arrests 3rd Woman In Foiled Bomb Attack On The Presidential Palace

    JAKARTA — Indonesian police early on Thursday (Dec 15) nabbed a woman believed to have instructed a female would-be suicide bomber to launch a foiled attack on the Presidential Palace, as a senior Indonesian Cabinet Minister declared that the government is not losing the fight against radicalism.

    National police spokesperson Senior Commander Martinus Sitompul said they nabbed the female suspect, Tutin Sugiarti, 37, at a rented home in a village near Tasikmalaya city in West Java at 4.30am (local time).

    “She has given motivation to Novi to jihad (martyr),” he was quoted as saying in Antara news portal.

    Sugiarti is believed to have played a part in recruiting Dian Yuli Novi, 27, who was arrested on Saturday in Bekasi, West Java. Novi had intended to use a 3kg homemade pressure-cooker bomb for a suicide attack at the palace during the change of guard ceremony on Sunday.

    Sugiarti’s husband Hendra Gunawan, 39, was also arrested but it is not clear if he was involved in the terror plot, the authorities said.

    Sugiarti is the third woman arrested over the planned Sunday attack inspired by the Islamic State (IS), after Novi and Arida Putri Maharani, 25, were arrested by the police counter-terrorism squad over the weekend.

    Novi, who was among a group of seven people arrested, had worked in Singapore as a nanny, while Indonesian reports said Maharani facilitated the use of funds in the making of the bomb. Novi’s arrest came minutes after two men who delivered the bomb were ambushed by the counter-terrorism squad in

    East Jakarta. Another bomb maker was later caught in Central Jakarta.

    Maharani was arrested on Sunday in Sunda, a town in Solo. She is believed to be the wife of one of the two men and was also being prepared as a suicide bomber.

    Authorities said the group was controlled by a new terrorist cell based in Solo. The cell, police said, was set up by Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian militant who is in the Middle East fighting alongside IS militants.

    Naim is the mastermind of a terror attack in Jakarta in January, a July suicide attack on a police station in Solo, Central Java, and more recently, a plot to attack Singapore’s Marina Bay by launching a rocket from Batam.

    Meanwhile, senior Indonesian Cabinet Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, who is close to President Joko Widodo, said the government needs to reinforce Indonesia’s founding ideology, Pancasila, which included national unity and social justice among its five principles.

    He said it has been neglected since the fall of former President Suharto in 1998 ushered in democratic rule.

    “We are not losing control (against radicalism),” he declared.

    Massive protests demanding the arrest of Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who is on trial for alleged blasphemy, have affected the image of Indonesia as practising a moderate form of Islam and shaken the secular government.

    The blasphemy controversy has also given a national stage to the Islamic Defenders Front, previously known as a morals vigilante group with members involved in protection rackets.

    Its leader, Rizieq Shihab, told a Dec 2 protest in Jakarta that Indonesia would be peaceful if there was no blasphemy and other problems such as gays.

    Mr Pandjaitan said the government has Mr Shihab in its sights.

    “We have quite detailed data about him. We’ll see what happens. We know what we are going to do,” he said. “The President is very brave to do whatever is necessary for the benefit of this country. No hesitation at all.”

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Man Rants About ‘Noisy’ Void Deck Funeral, Curses Grieving Family

    Man Rants About ‘Noisy’ Void Deck Funeral, Curses Grieving Family

    Dear Editors,

    This man Apai Izal Kaizoku made insensitive racist remarks about a chinese funeral procession at night. He complain on fb that these “m*therfuc*ers still make noise at this hour”. He said that he wasn’t interested in their nonsense and claimed that if malays did this, they would be called terrorists.

    I don’t understand why this man is so upset over a funeral procession. This has been the way things are in Singapore for many years, each race group have their own processions which cause inconvenience to others but we endure and understand because this is life in Singapore. This is how we live in harmony with one another.

    Does this joker live in a cave? Is he Singaporean? Why make a fuss over a funeral and make such hurtful remarks when people are already grieving their dead? Shame on you, you need to reflect on your poor behaviour abang! You are downright rude!

    Hashim

    A.S.S. Contributor

     

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com