The Ministry is undertaking the exercise with support from other state security agencies.

It explained that the exercise is to prepare the country against any potential threats posed by terrorists.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0HKGiBKOjYpvaQeiiCDQkJmy8P2iMakx”]Speaking at a media briefing in Accra, the Director of Counter-terrorism at the Ministry for National Security, COP George Asiamah, said threats posed by terrorism require proactive state measures hence the exercise.

Although he said Ghana has not experienced such attacks internally, “some regional, global trends and recent incidents in the neighbouring states gives serious cause for concern.”

“These threats and trends have necessitated for a holistic approach to preventing acts of terrorism. Terrorist acts culminate in crisis situations requiring a multi-agency response including strategies beyond conventional warfare to make us combat ready and ever prepared to combat terrorist threats. To this end therefore, we are going to embark on a security exercise coded Exercise Home Shield,” COP Asiamah added.

COP Asiamah further explained that, the ‘Exercise Home Shield’ will among other things include a simulation of terror attacks to assess how prepared the country’s security agencies are to handling such situations.

“This is a simulation exercise to mimic real life professional scenarios for an objective assessment of capabilities of counter-terrorism response agencies. In a nutshell, it is a form of rehearsal to sharpen our capabilities to respond to terrorist attacks and to recover from it,” he added.

Canada, UK issues terror attack alert in Ghana

The Canadian and US governments had recently issued terror alert to its citizens traveling to Ghana.

“There is a threat of terrorism. Terrorist targets could include shopping malls, government buildings, public areas such as bars, restaurants, hotels and sites frequented by Westerners. Be aware of your surroundings in public places,” a notice posted by the Canadian government in August added.

Man arrested for false terror alert at Accra Mall

The Ghana Police on November 3, 2017, arrested a 30-year-old suspect in connection with a false terrorist attack alert at the Accra Mall.

“The suspect was arrested in his hideout at Offinso in the Ashanti Region on 1st November, 2017, and is currently assisting Police in investigations,” the Police said in a statement.

–

By: Godwin A. Allotey & Anass Seidu/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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The advice offered on its website only seeks to offer practical and up to date information to British Nationals, a statement from UK government has said.

“The British Government provides advice to British citizens travelling to countries across the world. Our aim is to provide practical, accurate and up to date information and advice to help British nationals make informed decisions about their safety and travel abroad. “

The statement further said recent media reportage “wrongly suggested that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have issued a new warning with regard to terrorism in Ghana.”

“We have not issued new [travel] advice,” it added.

“Our travel advice for Ghana was last updated on 24 April and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/ghana. This contains a section on terrorism – something that is standard practice for all travel advice. This advice is similar to that of other countries in the region and around the world.”

The advice notes that most visits are trouble-free, but notes that there has been a recent increase in petty street crime whilst violent crime can occur at any time.

On possible terror attacks, travel advice on its website said “terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Ghana.”

The UK said possible attacks are likely to occur in places visited by foreigners.

While there have been no recent attacks in Ghana, the UK said terrorist groups in west Africa have demonstrated their threat to Ghana by mounting attacks in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali, targeting beach resorts, hotels, cafes and restaurants visited by foreigners within the last two years.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The UK said possible attacks are likely to occur in places visited by foreigners.

[contextly_sidebar id=”nghkFWM0EDw1Gqb6Gfu4Xxym8p3UjT9B”]Ghana has seen no terror attack on its soil though some nationals have had confirmed ties to terror group ISIS.

The UK acknowledged this but says on its website that “while there have been no recent attacks in Ghana, terrorist groups in west Africa have demonstrated their capability and intent by mounting attacks in 2015 and 2016 in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Mali, targeting beach resorts, hotels, cafes and restaurants visited by foreigners.”

Thus, the UK has urged its nations to be “vigilant in these locations.”

“While Ghana has no recent history of terrorism, groups associated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Islamic State of Libya and Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) present a threat to the wider region…“There’s a heightened threat of terrorist attack globally against UK interests and British nationals, from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria. You should be vigilant at this time.”

The UK referenced a National Security statement indicating enhanced security measures in response to attacks elsewhere. It has continued to monitor the threat.

Ghana’s National Security in 2016 declared travelers from Libya, Mali and Niger high risk following tangible threats of terrorist attacks on the country.

Canada’s terror fears

The Canadian government also warned its citizens traveling to Ghana to be wary an of imminent terror attack Ghana, according to a May 2017 notice.

The notice said “there is a threat of terrorism. Terrorist targets could include shopping malls, government buildings, public areas such as bars, restaurants, hotels and sites frequented by Westerners. Be aware of your surroundings in public places.”

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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They said vigilante groups are getting more sophisticated with arms, a situation which if left unchecked, could lead to their growth into terrorist groups.

The observations were part of concerns raised by various stakeholders at CODEO’s seventh Roundtable Discussion of the year, dubbed ‘The Menace of Political Party Vigilantism and Ghana’s Electoral Politics’, held at Cape Coast in the Central Region on Thursday.

The stakeholders included representatives of all security agencies in the Region, civil society organisations, political parties and the media.

According to the participants, the growing menace of political vigilantism threatens to the Police Service which many believe has suffered massive political manipulations over the years.

Briefing the media after the roundtable discussion, a member of the Advisory Board for CODEO and former National Security Coordinator, Kofi Bentum Quantson, lamented, “You look at what is happening in our country, and you ask yourself if there are patriots in Ghana. If you love your country, will you ask people to beat up others?”

He added, “The word patriotism should permeate through all our interventions in dealing with vigilantism because it involves thuggery. If you look at what is happening in this vigilantism business, you also see arrogance and impunity: we will do it damn the consequences.”

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By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Among the measures it is deploying will be smarter software that can spot extremist material and greater use of human experts to vet content.

It said terrorism was an “attack on open societies” and tackling its influence was a critical challenge.

It said it had worked hard to remove terrorist content for a long time but acknowledged that more had to be done.

The steps it plans to take were outlined in an editorial published in the Financial Times newspaper.

The steps apply mainly to Google’s video sharing site YouTube.

More work

In addition, it said, it would work with Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter to establish an industry body that would produce technology other smaller companies could use to police problematic content.

“Extremists and terrorists seek to attack and erode not just our security, but also our values; the very things that make our societies open and free,” wrote Kent Walker, Google’s general counsel. “We must not let them.”

Labour MP Yvette Cooper said Google’s pledge to take action was “welcome”.

Chairing of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, Ms Cooper oversaw a report that was heavily critical of social networks and the efforts they took to root out illegal content.

“The select committee recommended that they should be more proactive in searching for – and taking down – illegal and extremist content, and to invest more of their profits in moderation,” she said.

“News that Google will now proactively scan content and fund the trusted flaggers who were helping to moderate their own site is therefore important and welcome, though there is still more to do,” she added.

Google’s announcements comes a few days after Facebook made a similar pledge that would involve it deploying artificial intelligence software to police what people post.

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Source: BBC

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Pakistan-born Khuram Butt, 27, and Rachid Redouane, 30, both from Barking were the other two attackers.

Meanwhile, another victim has been named as Australian nurse Kirsty Boden, 28, who her family said had run towards London Bridge to help people.

Seven people were killed and 48 injured in Saturday night’s attack – the three attackers were shot dead by police.

Fresh arrest

Zaghba, Butt and Redouane drove a hired van into pedestrians on London Bridge at 21:58 BST before stabbing people in the area around Borough Market.

Armed officers killed all three within eight minutes of receiving a 999 call.

The Metropolitan Police said Butt had been subject to an investigation in 2015, but there had been no suggestion this attack was being planned.

In other developments:

• Theresa May says she expects a review will be launched by the police and security services following the attack, amid an election row over police numbers
• The Metropolitan Police said a 27-year-old man had been arrested in Barking on Tuesday in connection with the investigation
• A property in Ilford, east London, was also searched by police at about 01:30 BST, but no arrests had been made, the Met said
• The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited injured members of the public at the Royal London Hospital
• NHS England said 32 people remained in hospital, with 15 in a critical condition
• A national one-minute silence was held in the UK in memory of those who were killed
• All 12 people arrested on Sunday after the attack have now been released without charge

The so-called Islamic State (IS) group has said its “fighters” carried out the attack.

An Italian police source has confirmed to the BBC that Zaghba, who lived in east London, had been placed on a watch list, which is shared with many countries including the UK.

In March 2016, Italian officers stopped Zaghba at Bologna airport and found IS-related materials on his mobile phone. He was then stopped from continuing his journey to Istanbul.

Redouane was a chef who also used the name Rachid Elkhdar and police said he claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan. He married a British woman in Dublin in 2012 and lived in Rathmines in the Irish capital.

Butt featured in a Channel 4 documentary last year about Islamist extremists with links to the jailed preacher Anjem Choudary called The Jihadis Next Door.

The married father-of-two, who worked for London Underground as a trainee customer services assistant for nearly six months last year, could be seen in the programme arguing with police officers in the street, after displaying a flag used by IS in a London park.

Two people in Barking, east London, had also raised concerns about Butt, BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani said.

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said an investigation into Butt began in 2015, but “there was no intelligence to suggest that this attack was being planned and the investigation had been prioritised accordingly”.

At any one time there are about 500 active counter-terrorism investigations concerning 3,000 people of interest.

–

Source: BBC

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They say Qatar backs terrorist groups including Islamic State (IS).

The Saudi state news agency SPA said Riyadh had closed its borders, severing land, sea and air contact with Qatar and largely isolating it.

It cited officials as saying it was to “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism”.

The unprecedented move is being seen as the most serious split yet between powerful Gulf countries, who are also close US allies.

The row comes two weeks after the same four countries blocked Qatari news sites. Controversial comments by Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, appearing to criticise Saudi Arabia, appeared online.

The government in Doha dismissed the comments as fake, attributing the report to a “shameful cybercrime”.

In the latest developments:

• The United Arab Emirates has given Qatari diplomats 48 hours to leave the country. Abu Dhabi accuses Doha of “supporting, funding and embracing terrorism, extremism and sectarian organisations,” state news agency WAM said
• The UAE state airline Etihad Airways said it would suspend all flights to and from Doha from 02:45 local time on Tuesday
• Bahrain’s state news agency said the country was cutting ties with Qatar because Doha was “shaking the security and stability of Bahrain and meddling in its affairs”
• US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaking in Sydney, urged the countries to resolve their differences through dialogue.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels also expelled Qatar from its alliance because of Doha’s “practices that strengthen terrorism” and its support to groups “including al-Qaeda and Daesh [also known as IS], as well as dealing with the rebel militias”, according to SPA.

Qatar has provided its warplanes to carry out air strikes against the Houthi rebels.

Qatar, which is due to host the football World Cup in 2022, has so far made no public comments on the latest developments.

–

Source: BBC

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A city official said several suspects were detained after police raided the flat early on Thursday morning, Ria Novosti reported.

Neighbours were moved away and witnesses said three men were led out in handcuffs, the agency said.

The main suspect in the metro bombing, Akbarzhon Jalilov, died in the attack.

Aged 22 and from the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, his remains were identified by his parents on Wednesday.

The flat raided at around 05:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Thursday was in Tovarichesky Prospekt in the east of St Petersburg.

Sources told Interfax news agency that investigators were examining possible links between the three men and the alleged bomber. Jalilov himself had been renting a flat in the north of Russia’s second city.

Russia’s Investigative Committee made no reference to the arrests but said on Thursday they had established that “several citizens of Central Asian republics were in contact with Jalilov”.

While searching the flat they had been living in, investigators said they had found “items of significance for the investigation”.

–

Source: BBC

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The king said Europe’s biggest refugee crisis was not an accident, and neither was the presence of terrorists among them: “The fact that terrorists are going to Europe is part of Turkish policy and Turkey keeps on getting a slap on the hand, but they are let off the hook.”

Asked by one of the congressmen present whether the Islamic State group was exporting oil to Turkey, Abdullah replied: ”Absolutely.”

Abdullah made his remarks during a wide-ranging debriefing to Congress on 11 January, the day a meeting with the US president, Barack Obama, was cancelled.

The White House was forced to deny that Obama snubbed one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East, attributing the cancellation to “scheduling conflicts,” although Obama and Abdullah met briefly at Andrews Air Force Base a day later.

Present at the meeting in Congress were the chairmen and members of the Senate Intelligence, Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, including Senators John McCain and Bob Corker, and Senators Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid, the Senate Majority and Minority leaders respectively.

According to a detailed account of the meeting seen by MEE, the king went on to explain what he thought was the motivation of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Abdullah said that Erdogan believed in a “radical Islamic solution to the region”.

He repeated: “Turkey sought a religious solution to Syria, while we are looking at moderate elements in the south and Jordan pushed for a third option that would not allow a religious option.”

The king presented Turkey as part of a strategic challenge to the world.

“We keep being forced to tackle tactical problems against ISIL [the Islamic State group] but not the strategic issue. We forget the issue [of] the Turks who are not with us on this strategically.”

He claimed that Turkey had not only supported religious groups in Syria, and was letting foreign fighters in, but had also been helping Islamist militias in Libya and Somalia.

Abdullah claimed that “radicalisation was being manufactured in Turkey” and asked the US senators why the Turks were training the Somali army.

The king invited the US politicians present to ask the presidents of Kosovo and Albania about the Turks.

Abdullah said that both countries were begging Europe to include them, before Erdogan did.

Abdullah was supported in his remarks by his foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, who said that the Albanian president (Bujar Nishani) was a Catholic married to a Muslim, and that that was a model which should be protected in a Muslim majority country.

Judeh said that when the Russian bombing campaign prevented Turkey from establishing safe zones in northern Syria to stop refugees from coming to Turkey, “Turkey unleashed the refugees onto Europe”.

Both Judeh and Abdullah bridled at the $3bn deal offered by Europe to Turkey, noting that Turkey had only 2m Syrian refugees out of a population of 70m, whereas Jordan was facing “a bigger problem proportionally”.

Jordan and Turkey are officially allies. The Turkish prime minister, Ahmed Davutoglu, cancelled an official visit to Jordan after the latest bomb attack in Turkey, which on 13 March killed 34 people in Ankara.

The Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK), an offshoot of the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The postponed visit is due to take place this weekend and Davutoglu will be mindful that Abdullah told senators that Turkey was using the Kurds as an “excuse” for its policies in Syria.

Galip Dalay, research director at Al Sharq Forum and senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at Al Jazeera Center for Studies, said it was wrong to portray Turkey as having a strategic goal of establishing an Islamist government in Syria.

He said: “Turkey did its best in the first eight months of the Syrian crisis to find a political solution to the crisis, which would have included [Syrian President] Bashar Assad. Back then, Turkey was criticised in the region and the West for being too soft on the Assad regime and being too optimistic about the possibility of reform. When it became clear, after eight months of arduous attempts, that Assad had no intention of initiating a political and democratic process to meet the demands of the protestors, Turkey threw its weight behind the opposition.”

Dalay said that the claim Turkey was buying oil from the Islamic State group was a Russian fabrication concocted by Moscow after Turkey shot down the Russian fighter. “Turkey is not the only one saying there is no evidence to support this claim. The United States said it too.”

The Turkish government would not comment officially on Abdullah’s reported remarks on 11 January. But a senior Turkish source accused the king of becoming “the spokesman for Bashar al-Assad”.

He said the portrait emerging from these remarks was not one of a king speaking but of a “Western journalist with a fuzzy state of mind and little familiarity with the region”.

He said: “Turkey is definitely carrying out an intense struggle against Daesh [a reference to the Islamic State group]. Bombings take place in Turkey, not in Jordan. When this is the case, groundless accusations by King Abdullah are totally unacceptable.

“Moreover, his tackling of the Daesh issue with such unfounded information also raises the question about whether Jordan could play a meaningful role in the fight against Daesh.”

He said the king’s claims that IS was selling oil to Turkey were not only absurd but showed that Abdullah did not have the slightest idea about what was going on in Syria.

“The king’s statements and accusations against Turkey are not the first. Unfortunately, all of his allegations are the same as the slanders frequently expressed by the Assad regime.

“It would be to Jordan’s and the region’s interest if Jordan, as a friend of Turkey, were to work for a strategic cooperation with a strategic power like Turkey, instead of acting like the spokesperson of Assad.”

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Source: middleeasteye

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He was killed by the security forces in a shop after the attack in the airport’s southern terminal.

The airport has been shut after what the authorities described as an extremely serious incident.

The man was on a watch-list of radicalised individuals and had been involved in a shooting hours earlier in the north of Paris, officials say.

The suspect in the earlier incident was stopped at a checkpoint and fired at police with a pellet gun before escaping in a car that was later found abandoned in the southern suburbs.

He is then believed to have used stolen another car that was found at Orly airport. The timing of the sequence of events fits, says the BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris.

A security operation is continuing at the airport with bomb disposal experts involved and a search for any possible accomplices.

Police say the attacker was not carrying any explosives.

No-one else was hurt in the incident.

Orly – located 13km (8 miles) south of Paris – is the capital’s second largest airport.

Police have warned people to stay away from the security cordon and people intending to travel to Orly have been advised to make alternative arrangements as all flights in and out of the airport have been suspended.

Scores of passengers have been unable to disembark from aircraft that landed at Orly as the huge security operation takes place.

The French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the man approached a military patrol in the airport and tried to seize a weapon from one of the soldiers.

She managed to keep hold of the gun, and two other soldiers opened fire on the attacker, killing him.

His motivation is not yet known.

The soldiers were part of Operation Sentinel – involving thousands of soldiers deployed to provide back-up to the police after the Paris attacks of November 2015.

France has presidential elections starting from next month and remains under a state of emergency following earlier attacks.

Witnesses said the airport was evacuated soon after the shooting.

“We were sitting in Hall Three when all of a sudden people started running and telling us to run with them,” Ellie Guttetter, 18, from the US said.

“The people running were passengers and flight attendants. It was pretty chaotic and everyone was panicking – it was scary.”

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Source: BBC

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