Tag Archives: foreign

US

Man makes bomb threat, drives truck through Coast Guard Station in Michigan

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A Michigan man, who claimed to have a bomb with him, drove his truck into the U.S. Coast Guard Station on Lake Michigan early Sunday morning.

The man who remains unnamed, but according to CNN, is 34-years-old, drove his truck through the fence and onto the Grand Haven Coast Guard Station. After breaking into the station, the man supposedly told Coast Guard personnel there a bomb was in his truck. No bomb was found at the scene, but officials were still investigating the area.

No Coast Guard or other personnel were injured during the incident, partially thanks to a phone call intercepted by an Ottawa County dispatcher, according to the AP. The intercepted call was allegedly from the driver of the truck who stated during the call he had a bomb in his truck and planned on blowing up the Grand Haven Coast Guard Station.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Justin Olson said, according to MLive, the phone call allowed the station to enact their “in-place bomb threat procedure,” which “assured the safe evacuation of all” within the station. “We would like to thank the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety and our other partner agencies for their assistance and quick response to the incident,” said Olson. 

A report from the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety stated, according to the New York Daily News, “The incident was initially investigated as a potential act of domestic terrorism due to the circumstances.” The report then claimed the investigation had so far revealed no link to any foreign or domestic terrorist organizations.

The Grand Haven police have also indicated the man is a suspect in an Oceana County house fire. The home supposedly belonged to the driver. All investigations are currently ongoing.

International, US

UN passes resolution to stop foreign fighters and terrorists

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As the world begins to respond to the growing threat of ISIS, the United Nations Security Council met Wednesday and unanimously approved a resolution which forces member states to stop terrorist recruiting and movement within their territories.

President Obama chaired the committee saying, according to the Hill, “I called this meeting because we must come together as nations and as an international community to confront a real and growing threat of foreign terrorist fighters… The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our commitment to meet this challenge.”

The resolution not only calls for states to stop recruiting and movement within their borders, but also requires states to take precautions to ward off potential terrorist attacks from foreign fighters within their borders.

Foreign fighters, in this instance are defined, according to the International Business Times, as, “Individuals who travel to a State other than their States of residence or nationality for the purpose of the perpetration, planning, or preparation of, or participation in, terrorist acts…”  An estimated 12,000 fighters who fit into this definition have already traveled from at least 74 countries to the Middle East to fight on behalf of ISIS.

In addition, the resolution calls for all member states to share information concerning any domestic terrorist concerns with other members.  However, there was no definition given as to what constitutes a domestic terrorist, leaving it up to each state to make up their own definition of a “domestic terrorist.”

In order to show how serious the US takes the issue at hand, the US Treasury Department put immediate sanctions in place against 11 individuals and one Indonesian organization.  The people and group in question are thought to be sending foreign fighters and funds to Islamic terrorist groups, such as ISIS.

In a statement after the sanctions were passed, David Cohen, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said, according to RT, “These steps, taken the same day as the adoption of a new United Nations Security Council Resolution, affirm the commitment of the United States and our partners to degrade and destroy terrorist access to financing.”

International, Politics, US

Increase in airport security ordered for all US inbound flights

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New bomb threats from Al-Qaeda have resulted in the White House ordering heightened airport security for all  direct flights into the U.S. from foreign countries.

The Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson wrote in a statement, ” I have directed TSA to implement enhanced security measures in the coming days at certain overseas airports with direct flights to the United States.”

No U.S. officials have given a specific reason for the increase in airport security.  One counterterrorism official told Reuters Wednesday, the U.S. has been planning on stepping up security at airports for the past month and the increase in security is not the result of any immediate threat.

According to the BBC though, there have been reports of Al-Qaeda members in Yemen and Syria who are in the process of developing bombs which could be smuggled onto planes, passing all security checkpoints.  U.S officials are afraid bombmakers in the Arabian Peninsula have updated the designs and schematics of the infamous shoe-bomb, or the bombmakers might be in the process of developing a way to turn smartphones into explosive devices.

President Obama explained in an interview with NBC News on Sunday, “We’ve seen Europeans who are sympathetic to their cause traveling into Syria and now may travel into Iraq, getting battle-hardened. Then they come back.”  This would explain why all U.S. inbound flights are seeing improved security and not domestic flights.

“I would say broadly speaking that the threat of foreign fighters is a concern that we share with many counterparts in the world, whether that’s European or others in the Western world, where we’ve seen an increase in foreign fighters who have traveled to Syria and other countries in the region and returning,” said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, according to FOX News.  “And so we have been discussing a range of steps we can take in a coordinated fashion for some time.”